>From the liberal Frankfurter Rundschau: http://www.fr-aktuell.de/english/401/t401001.htm WHEN MUSLIM WOMEN MAY WEAR HEADSCARVES IN GERMANY Constitutional Court hears case of women forced to wear head covering By Ursula Knapp Karlsruhe - At a sitting of the German Constitutional Court held on Tuesday it soon became clear that German local authorities are lost in a maze of contradictions when it comes to the thorny issue of the headscarves worn by Muslim women under their jurisdiction. On the one hand, female teachers admitting to religious neutrality are not permitted to wear headscarves in the classroom, but on the other, authorities complain religious freedom is being abused if deported women are forced to have their picture taken wearing a scarf. The court heard the case of the Iranian woman Nosrat Haj Soltani and her daughter, both resident in Nuremberg. When their applications for asylum were rejected they were required to obtain travel documents before being deported back to Iran. Their refusal to wear headscarves when posing for passport photographs - as required of all Iranian women - led to a session in a photographic studio during which police officers forced scarves onto their heads, as part of an operation sanctioned by a court order. The women claimed contravention of the Constitution on account of infringements of personal privacy and freedom of belief. The Bavarian state government, represented in court by Public Prosecutor Enno Boettcher, rejected the charges. Boettcher claimed that under the terms of the Aliens Act, those awaiting deportation are required to obtain their own travel documents. He reminded the court that since Iran demands female citizens wear headscarves on their passport photographs, any female returning must co-operate in the studio. Boettcher stressed that in Iran all women are required to cover their heads in public as well and that the case was governed by the terms of a general political law concerning clothing regulations. This assertion prompted intense questioning from the panel of judges. If that were the case, asked Judge Lerke Osterloh, why is it that female teachers are banned from wearing headscarves in the classroom. She cited an ongoing legal battle in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg where the state minister for education, Annette Schavan (CDU), intervened to prevent a female Moslem teacher being hired because she insists on wearing her head scarf, an infringement of the state's policy of religious neutrality. Boettcher replied that if a teacher chose to wear a headscarf "in heated classrooms", this was indicative of spiritual conviction. "I do not see that that necessarily follows," remarked the chair of the Second Senate, Jutta Limbach. Reporting Judge Berthold Sommer described his colleagues' difference of opinion as an "ambivalence". The issue of whether wearing a headscarf can be considered a demonstration of religious conviction is important because German law allows for the infringement of religious freedom only in the reasonable pursuit of other legal imperatives. Gisela Seidler, the Munich-based lawyer representing the two Iranians, is adamant German authorities' remit extends to cover only a limited number of photographs. For example, if a Muslim woman has her driving licence photograph taken while wearing a veil and can thus no longer be identified, the state is justified in demanding a new photograph. But the state of Bavaria, she argues, is not entitled to enforce Iranian law within Germany. The court's decision is expected in three months. According to Seidler, the women will then leave for the United States, which has indicated it is willing to grant them entry. _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
