The UN Human Rights Committee Tuesday stated that the ban on the full face Islamic veil (niqab) by France was a violation of human rights and urged it to review the legislation, The Wire reported. It gave Paris 180 days to report back with consequential actions.
The findings of the panel are not legally binding, but could influence the the country’s courts.
“In particular, the Committee was not persuaded by France’s claim that a ban on face covering was necessary and proportionate from a security standpoint or for attaining the goal of ‘living together’ in society,” it said.
The panel of 18 independent experts oversees compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Implementation of its decisions is not mandatory, but under an optional protocol of the treaty, France has an international legal obligation to comply “in good faith”.
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The findings came after two French women complained about the law, who had earlier been convicted in 2012 under a 2010 law stipulating that “No one may, in a public space, wear any article of clothing intended to conceal the face.”
French authorities did not immediately react to the statement.
The European Court of Human Rights in 2014 upheld France’s ban on the niqab and said that it did not violate religious freedom. The court’s verdicts are binding.
Disagreeing, the UNHRC said that the ban disproportionately harmed the right of women to manifest their religious beliefs and could lead to them being confined at home and marginalised.
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In its findings the panel said the ban had violated the two women’s human rights and called on France to pay them compensation.
Under the ban, anyone wearing the full-face veil in public is liable to a fine of 150 euros or lessons in French citizenship.
The committee’s chair Yuval Shany said that he and several others on the 18-member panel considered it a form of oppression.
