BFF-65 Denmark bans Islamic full-face veil in public spaces

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DENMARK-POLITICS-RELIGION-ISLAM,WRAP

Denmark bans Islamic full-face veil in public spaces

STOCKHOLM, May 31, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Denmark on Thursday became the latest
European country to ban the Islamic full-face veil in public spaces in a move
slammed by human rights campaigners as “a violation of women’s rights”.

“Anyone who wears a garment that hides the face in public will be punished
with a fine,” says the law, which was passed by 75 votes to 30 in the Danish
parliament.

Presented by the centre-right government, the legislation was also backed
by the Social Democrats and the far-right Danish People’s Party.

The new rule will take effect on August 1.

Wearing a burqa, which covers a person’s entire face, or the niqab, which
only shows the eyes, in public will lead to a fine of 1,000 kroner ($156, 134
euros).

The ban also targets other accessories that hide the face such as
balaclavas and false beards. Repeated violations will be fined up to 10,000
kroner.

It is not known how many women wear the niqab and burqa in Denmark.

“I don’t think there are many who wear the burqa here in Denmark. But if
you do, you should be punished with a fine,” Justice Minister Soren Pape
Poulsen was quoted as saying by Ritzau news agency in February. – ‘Neither
necessary nor proportionate’-

Supporters argue the ban enables better integration of Muslim immigrants
into Danish society.

But Amnesty International condemned the law as a “discriminatory violation
of women’s rights”, especially against Muslim women who choose to wear the
full-face veils.

“Whilst some specific restrictions on the wearing of full-face veils for
the purposes of public safety may be legitimate, this blanket ban is neither
necessary nor proportionate and violates the rights to freedom of expression
and religion,” the organisation’s Europe director Gauri van Gulik said in a
statement following the vote.

“If the intention of this law was to protect women’s rights, it fails
abjectly. Instead, the law criminalises women for their choice of clothing
and in so doing flies in the face of those freedoms Denmark purports to
uphold,” she added.

The full-face veil is a hot-button issue across Europe.

Last year, the European Court of Human Rights upheld a Belgian ban on
wearing it in public.

France was the first European country to ban the niqab in public places
with a law that took effect in 2011.

German lawmakers approved a partial ban on “covering the face” last year.

According to that legislation, civil servants and officials including
judges and soldiers must have their faces uncovered. People can also be
required to remove facial coverings in order to match them with their
identity papers.

Austria’s law on banning the full-face Muslim garment in public spaces came
into force last year.

BSS/AFP/MRI/1828 HRS