Reuters, Geneva :
The U.N. Human Rights Committee said on Tuesday that France’s ban on the niqab, the full-body Islamic veil, was a violation of human rights.
France had failed to make the case for its ban and ordered it to review the legislation, the committee said in a statement.
“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 committee, a panel of independent experts who oversee countries’ compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, said France had 180 days to report back to say what actions it had taken.
The committee’s findings come after complaints by two French women 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.”
The Committee said the ban disproportionately harmed their right to manifest their religious beliefs and could lead to them being confined at home and marginalised. It also ordered France to pay compensation to the two women.
