French Full Veil Ban Upheld: Just or Unjust?

The European Court of Human Rights upheld a 2010 French law that outlawed the full head covering in a public space.

According to BBC News, “the court ruled that the ban ‘was not expressly based on the religious connotation of the clothing in question but solely on the fact that it concealed the face.’  The BBC also reports that the court’s decision is final and appeals are not allowed.

The decision might make for an interesting class debate.  Does the decision restrict religious freedom or does the decision have nothing to do with religion as the court suggested when it wrote that the ban “was not expressly based on the religious connotation of the clothing in question but solely on the fact that it concealed the face?”

Below is  a clip from CNN about the ban along with several interesting stories about it.

• From the Guardian,  Angelique Chrisafis writes: France’s burqa ban: women are ‘effectively under house arrest‘
• From Al Jazeera America, France defends full-face veil ban at European human rights court
• From Debate.org, A series of reader responses to this question, Is the French ban on Muslim veils in public buildings justified?
• From the BBC, a great review of the veil all across Europe