Swiss law banning minarets “clearly discriminatory” – UN human rights chief

GENEVA (1 December 2009) – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Tuesday she regretted Switzerland’s ban on building minarets, which will be enacted as a result of Sunday’s referendum on the subject, adding that such a ban is “discriminatory, deeply divisive and a thoroughly unfortunate step for Switzerland to take, and risks putting the country on a collision course with its international human rights obligations.”

“I hesitate to condemn a democratic vote,” Pillay said, “but I have no hesitation at all in condemning the anti-foreigner scare-mongering that has characterized political campaigns in a number of countries, including Switzerland, which helps produce results like this.”

Noting that the Government of Switzerland did not support the referendum initiative, Pillay said that banning an architectural structure that is associated with one religion only is clearly discriminatory. “Some of the politicians who proposed this motion argued that it wasn’t targeting Islam or Muslims,” Pillay said. “Others claimed that banning minarets would improve integration. These are extraordinary claims when the symbol of one religion is targeted.”

The High Commissioner said she was sad to see that arguments like these had sufficient resonance with a proportion of Swiss voters to overcome their long-standing support of fundamental human rights.

“Politics based on xenophobia or intolerance is extremely disquieting, wherever it occurs,” Pillay said. “Sometimes it is channeled against adherents of a particular religion, as in this case. Sometimes it is channeled against people of different racial or ethnic origin. It is corrosive, and – beyond a certain point -- can become socially disruptive and even dangerous. We are not at that point in Switzerland, but this initiative, taken alongside some of the blatantly xenophobic posters used in this and several recent political campaigns targeting asylum-seekers, migrants or foreigners in general, is a part of an extremely worrying trend.”

The High Commissioner noted that an international conference on racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance, which was held in the Swiss city of Geneva last April, had highlighted the increase in incidents of racial and religious intolerance, including Islamophobia and anti-Arabism, and had specifically noted the stigmatization of people based on their religion and belief.

“I urge people everywhere to take this issue of discrimination extremely seriously,” Pillay said. “If allowed to gather momentum, discrimination and intolerance not only do considerable harm to individual members of the targeted group, they also divide and harm society in general.”

She pointed out that, on 3 November, the UN’s Human Rights Committee expressed concern about the referendum and the inflammatory advertising campaign in support of the ‘Yes’ vote. The Committee, a body of independent experts that monitors states’ compliance with their obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, clearly noted the initiative, if adopted, would bring the State party into non-compliance with articles 2, 18, and 20 of the Covenant.*

(*) See paragraph 8 of CCPR/C/CHE/CO/3 -- English version: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/co/CCPR.C.CHE.CO.3.doc / French version: …CHE.CO.3_fr.doc / Spanish version: …CHE.CO.3_sp.doc