INTERNATIONAL MUSLIM LAWYERS CONFERENCE 1998

The International Muslim Lawyers Conference, held in Weimar, Germany, in May 1998, was attended by Muslim lawyers from Turkey, Macedonia, Kosova, England, Spain and Germany. The aim of the Conference was to assess the present legal situation of the Muslims in the participants' countries, the primary concern being the open (and in some cases 'legal') discrimination against Muslims.

Although the Conference raised a number of issues, emphasis was placed on religious discrimination in Europe and the European Union. One of the main subjects of discussion was the fact that Muslims throughout Europe were being discriminated against simply because they are Muslims. In Western Europe, such discrimination is relatively subtle, while in Eastern Europe it is far cruder.

Examples of the former can be found in the United Kingdom, where Muslims have been, and can be, summarily dismissed from their employment for praying during their meal breaks, or for wearing hijab. At present, such discrimination is actually permitted by English Law. In France, young girls have consistently been denied education because they cover their hair in public. Furthermore, Muslims, especially those who are immigrant workers, are routinely harassed by the police. In Germany, Turkish Muslims are obliged to pay taxes but are not permitted to vote in elections which decide who will tax them. They are not permitted to slaughter their meat in a halal way, even though the method is the same as that used for kosher meat, which is permitted by German law.

While discussing discrimination against Muslims, the Conference looked at the legal situation of practising Muslims in Turkey. In this country, the Muslim mayor of Istanbul, Tayyib Erdogan, was imprisoned for quoting in public two lines of poetry from a book approved by the State for use in Turkish schools. In other instances of discrimination, women are not permitted to attend university if they cover their hair in public, nor men if they have a beard. The same ban is imposed on civil servants and lawyers. Also, the Imam Khatib schools have been closed by force and the Refah Party has been made 'illegal' because most of its supporters are practising Muslims.

The issue of 'legal' discrimination of Muslims is also prevalent in Macedonia, where the mayor of Gostivar, Rufi Osmani, has been imprisoned for displaying the Albanian and Turkish flags alongside the Macedonian flag at a public rally. In Albania, the policy of the former communist regime to eradicate the practice of Islam continues to be implemented. In Greece, where the Muslims of Thrace have been systematically denied virtually all the rights guaranteed to them by the Treaty of Sevres (1920) and the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), the Greek State has stolen much of their waqf (trust) property. They are no longer free to choose their own leaders or teachers. It is government policy to either eradicate or drive out the Muslims of Thrace.

Whatever form such religious discrimination takes, and however mild or extreme its intensity, all such acts are blatant violations of the rights guaranteed, especially by Article 9 as well as by other articles of the European Convention on Human Rights 1953 (ECHR). Accordingly, they constitute breaches of the duties of the governments who have ratified the ECHR, to secure these rights (Article 1) and to provide remedies for those citizens whose rights have been violated (Article 13), irrespective of their gender, race or religion (Article 14).

Ironically, Turkey and Greece have already incorporated the ECHR into their domestic laws, which means that their citizens are free to invoke the ECHR in their national courts. The UK has also just taken this step, although at present, it remains government policy not to secure Article 9 rights, nor to provide a remedy to anyone whose Article 9 rights have been violated.

The Conference deliberated on the action to be taken for Muslims 'outside' the European Union. It concluded that it is necessary to seek assistance through 'diplomatic channels', as unfortunately, like the UK, the former Yugoslavia did not sign the optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) permitting individual petition to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Assistance can be sought either at a global level or at a European level, asking member states of the UN to raise this issue in the United Nations Assembly and member states of the European Union to raise this issue in the European Parliamentary Assembly. Additionally, letters of protest may be written to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the European Parliament, the Steering Committee for Human Rights and the Committee of Ministers, requesting that these institutions should take 'appropriate action' by reminding the relevant national state authorities of their international and European treaty and covenant obligations; instructing the relevant national state authorities to cease discriminating against its Muslim citizens forthwith; and warning them that until this is done, membership of the European Community and European Union will be denied.[1]

In terms of action for Muslims 'inside' the European Union, any Muslim (or group of Muslims) living in a European state which has signed and ratified the ECHR, and who has been discriminated against for being a Muslim to his or her detriment, is free to invoke his or her ECHR rights in the domestic courts of any such state. Any Muslim who cannot secure justice in the national courts may then commence an action against the government of his or her country in the European Court of Human Rights. An application can be made in person, or by any group or organisation, or by any person authorised by an applicant to represent that applicant.

The Conference further agreed that one of the aims of the organisation of Muslim lawyers must be that the slightest act violating the rights of Muslims in Europe or elsewhere will be answered globally. The Muslims of Europe should invoke those existing laws which recognise the higher aspect of justice, in order to secure justice, while also campaigning for new laws which protect their freedom of religion and mankind's most fundamental right and duty of all: to worship God. "

FOOTNOTES

1. Letters to all 3 committees should be sent to: The Council of Europe Secretariat, Conseil De L'Europe, F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex, France.