Imposed in the name of secularism, perhaps France’s most sacred ideal, the highly controversial burkini bans – now affecting 25 French towns and cities besides Villeneuve-Loubet, which the court primarily addressed – prohibit Muslim women from wearing full-bodied bathing suits created to respect traditional codes of modesty on the beach.
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The court said local authorities did not have the power to restrict individual liberties in this way without “proven risk” to public order.
What’s worth mentioning is that the Council of State’s ruling deals only with Villeneuve-Loubet, one out of 31 other towns that had imposed similar bans.
France’s highest administrative court on Friday suspended a town’s ban on so-called burkinis, the full-body swimwear used by some Muslim women that has become the focus of intense debates over women’s rights, assimilation and secularism.
She urged parliament to vote to ban the burkini “in order to protect women, secularism and our way of life”.
Amnesty International praised the court decision Friday, calling the local decrees “invasive and discriminatory” and saying their enforcement has led to “abuses and the degrading treatment of Muslim women and girls”. The human rights group’s Europe director, John Dalhuisen, said it had “drawn a line in the sand”.
The images of armed police on French Riviera ordering a middle-aged Muslim woman to remove her top had been a turning point, Mohammad said.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Thursday condemned any “stigmatisation” of Muslims, but maintained that the burkini was “a political sign of religious proselytising”.
Muhammad added that his group received 15 reports of discrimination against Muslim women on French beaches in the last two weeks, even though the women were in hijab and not burkini swimsuits.
Conservative Mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet, Lionnel Luca claimed after the that “rampant Islamisation is progressing in our country” and with the ruling to suspend his town’s ban on burkinis at public beaches “they’ve gained a small additional step”.
“It’s just been so hectic”, she told reporters. If Villeneuve-Loubet’s ban is found to be illegal, that ruling could set a precedent for the others, the BBC reports.
According to a survey in Le Figaro, a majority of French people oppose the wearing of the burkini on beaches-64 percent favor the bans, while 30 percent give the ruling a shrug of indifference.
France’s Council of State has also heard arguments from the Human Rights League and an anti-Islamophobia group. “Today all the ordinances taken should conform to the decision of the Council of State”.
Nevertheless, the mayor of the Corsican town of Sisco said he wouldn’t lift the ban he imposed after an August 13 clash on a beach.
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“While French officials argue the burkini represents Islam’s inability to assimilate to France’s values, the burkini was actually invented to allow Muslim women to participate more in Western culture”, said Araud.
