UN Human Rights Office Criticizes Swiss Minaret Ban The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is criticizing Switzerland’s vote to ban construction of minarets on Muslim places of worship. Swiss voters approved the measure Sunday in a referendum sponsored by two right-wing parties. Switzerland is home to some 400,000 Muslims and has just four minarets. On Tuesday, UN Human Rights office spokesperson Rupert Colville said the decision could violate international human rights treaties.
Rupert Colville: “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. The High Commissioner for Human Rights Navil Pillay has said she hesitates to condemn a democratic vote, but she has 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.” http://www.democracynow.org/2009/12/2/headlines#5 On Dec 3, 4:58 am, Pat <[email protected]> wrote: > On 3 Dec, 01:53, Don Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Interesting development. Perhaps, despite tremendous efforts from the > > PC crowd, some folks are beginning to see the connection between > > Islamic militant terrorism and your friendly neighborhood mosque. In > > the chatter in the control room(water cooler) I heard something about > > some politician offering to allow it when Saudi Arabia allows > > Christian churches to be built there. No going, apparently. > > > Another problem is the Islamic schools popping up all over western > > culture. All funded by rich Arabs for the most part. A study done on > > the text books supplied these kids was a little alarming. Little > > Osamas are being indoctrinated on our home soil. Unless laws are > > changed this problem will increase. I'm still flabbergasted we didn't > > start profiling at the airports after 9/11. I'm shocked folks are > > still whining about the Patriot Act. > > It could just be a numbers game. Given a Muslim population of 1.6 > Billion (1,600,000,000), if 0.01% of them are militant terrorists > (i.e., 99.99% good people), then there are 16,000 problems out there. > And 16 thousand people can, if organised, cause a great deal of > trouble. However, that shouldn't paint the other 99.99% of good > people with the paintbrush called 'Terrorist Potential'. We are ALL > potential terrorists, given the right impetus, so the profiling should > be for ALL. > > > > > If we could get these other countries to open their borders and allow > > freedom of religion I'd feel a lot better about allowing them to build > > more here. I am not, by the way, in favor of interment camps or > > shutting down the mosques already here that have proven themselves > > peaceful and are a compliment to the community. I have to say that or > > some of you would be jumping down my throat accusing me of genocide. > > > -Don > > > On Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 4:28 PM, fran the man <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > On 2 Dez., 17:58, Ian Pollard <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> Fantastic news and, despite what you say, very progressive! :) > > > > Er, Ian, I don't believe I personally put forward any opinion as to > > > the progressive, or otherwise nature of the decision of the Swiss > > > people in my original post. I simply formulated some of the questions > > > which are being publicly discussed in Europe following the referendum. > > > > Formally, the Swiss simply decided to forbid the building of minarets > > > in their country. No more, no less. Symbolically, of course, writing > > > this prohibition into Swiss law means much more - indeed, many > > > different things to different people. Personally, I would incline to > > > the view that what can and cannot be built is more a matter for local > > > authorities and their procedures for granting planning permission. A > > > well-designed mosque with minaret may well improve certain urban > > > landscapes from an architectural/aesthetic perspective, just as many > > > badly designed and situated Christian churches are simply ugly and > > > just don't fit in where they are. > > > > The much deeper question of Islam and the relationship between it, as > > > a religious-cultural-political Weltanschauung and western societies > > > and the values they (we) see as being basic to their (our) self- > > > understanding is complex and multi-facetted. My hope is that this > > > thread may take up some of these issues. > > > > Francis > > > > -- > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > > ""Minds Eye"" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > [email protected]. > > > For more options, visit this group > > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en.-Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en.
