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| Europe |
| Southern Swiss voters back ban on full-face veils |
| 2013-09-24 |
| [Ynet] Residents of Italian-speaking Ticino in south of Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... ban use of religious Islamic garment. Amnesty says vote is 'black day for human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... ' while supporters stress burqa is 'symbol of female oppression' People in the southern Swiss canton of Ticino voted to impose the country's first ban on face-covering veils on Sunday, following in the footsteps of French and Belgian restrictions that rights groups say discriminate against Musselmens. Almost two thirds of voters in the Italian-speaking district backed the ban that still needs to be approved by the federal parliament in Bern before coming into effect. Campaigner Giorgio Ghiringhelli, who drew up the proposal, said the result would send a message to "Islamist fundamentalists" he said were in Ticino and across Switzerland. "Those who want to integrate are welcome irrespective of their religion," he said in a statement on the website ilguastafeste.ch. "But those who rebuff our values and aim to build a parallel society based on religious laws, and want to place it over our society, are not welcome," he added. There are roughly 400,000 Musselmens in Switzerland, about 5% of the population. In 2009, voters backed a ban on constructing new minarets and Switzerland's biggest party, the Swiss People's Party (SVP), has long made opposition to immigration a key plank of its electoral appeal. "I would also have voted 'yes' if I had been in Ticino. The burqa is a symbol of female oppression," said Christophe Darbellay of the Christian Democratic People's Party on Swiss television, referring to a head-to-toe covering for Musselmen women. But an earlier attempt to obtain a nationwide ban on burqas in public places was rejected by Swiss parliament in 2012. Cantonal assemblies in Basel, Bern, Schwyz, Solothurn and Fribourg have also rejected similar restrictions. La Belle France was the first country in Europe to pass a law banning full-face veils in public, in 2010, and Belgium later followed suit. The Ticino vote was launched under Switzerland's traditional direct democracy, which allows proposals to be put to the public if enough signatures are collected. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #6 o e o, o e o, oeoooooooooooooooo o. |
| Posted by: Dopey Sinatra 2013-09-24 19:17 |
| #5 ...or burn a cross in your yard. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-09-24 18:07 |
| #4 Idots. The only reason people dress like that is they intend to rob you. |
| Posted by: newc 2013-09-24 10:37 |
| #3 Amnesty International said the vote was a "black day for human rights in Ticino". Let me get this straight: According to AmNasty International, burning Churches and slaughtering Christians in Egypt and Pakistan is perfectly OK, but banning veils is a black day for human rights. Gotcha! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2013-09-24 08:56 |
| #2 "But those who rebuff our values and aim to build a parallel society based on religious laws, and want to place it over our society, are not welcome," he added. How utterly refreshing. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-09-24 08:46 |
| #1 Fortunately, the Swiss do not have a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-09-24 08:44 |