France Attempts to Systemically Erase Islam in the Name of National Security and Secularism

By Rohaib Latif

Islam is one of the largest and fastest growing religions in the world, comprised of about 1.5 billion Muslims.[1] While Islam is a religion that promotes peace, Muslims are viewed as radicals and terrorists by many people around the world.[2] Hateful rhetoric preached by world leaders towards Muslims gives the general public permission to be discriminatory towards them.[3] Islamophobia is a word coined to express the “extreme fear and hostility towards Muslims.”[4] This “anti-Muslim” racism is the discrimination and oppression of Muslims where a distorted understanding of Islam is promoted by the media and politicians to justify attacks on Muslims and changes in foreign policy.[5]

 Within the last five years, France has been the victim of at least seven major terrorist attacks, all of which France has attributed to Islamist militants.[6] While the world, including Muslim leaders in France and in Muslim majority countries, condemns these attacks, past leaders and President Macron’s responses to these attacks have disproportionately punished the entire Muslim population in France, rather than targeting the bad actors.[7] President Macron and French officials tout rhetoric about being a state that recognizes “freedom to practice religion” and guarantees the “peaceful co-existence” of all religions.[8] However, the French government’s policies and efforts to prevent what they call “Islamist terrorism,” looks like nothing more than a “cultural assault on Islamic religious practices” in order to push forward a “French Islam.”[9]

Understanding the French concept of laïcité is important as this is the reason used by the European courts multiple times to uphold discriminating policies.[10] The term “laïcité” is simply defined as “secularism.”[11] Laïcité has been the law in France since 1905 and deals with the separation of church and state.[12] However, the separation between church and state in France is quite different than how it is interpreted in the United States.[13] In France, the idea behind laïcité is about “freedom from religion, whereas in the U.S., it’s really about freedom of religion.”[14] In the United States, freedom of religion is about “freedom from the government impinging on religion,” whereas in France, laïcité is about “preventing religion from impinging on state affairs.”[15] Laïcité permits religious practice in a private space, but religion should not have a constant presence in the public sphere.[16]

France was brought before the European Court of Human Rights multiple times to address its suppression of religious expression under Article 9 of the Charter, which states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching practice and observance.”[17] For much of the twentieth century, laïcité was not an issue because the majority of France’s population at the time was homogenous.[18] In 1989, three Muslim girls were expelled from school for refusing to take off their hijabs but this situation was not as big of a controversy as recent events have been. Laïcité has evolved quite a bit; back then, France’s Supreme Court ruled that the wearing of hijab in schools was not incompatible with the principle of laïcité.[19] However, the issue of religious expression had taken root, causing laïcité to evolve, which led to Law No. 2004-228.[20]

Law No. 2004-228 brought forth the wearing of headscarves in public schools’ controversy for the third time in fifteen years.[21] Since this law took effect at the start of the academic term in September 2004, in a span of three months, fourteen Muslim girls had been expelled because they refused to remove their hijabs.[22] On December 4, 2008, the European Court of Human Rights case of Dogru v. France became the legal justification for Law No. 2004-228.[23] The applicant in this case argued that by prohibiting her from wearing her hijab, France violated Article 9 of the European Convention of Human Rights.[24] The court ruled in favor of France and reasoned that secularism was one of France’s fundamental principles that ensured equality among the people and protected democratic values.[25] It is important to point out that this law does not outwardly target a single religion directly, but essentially targets religions like Islam, that require a manifestation of faith.[26] The history of Law No. 2004-228 demonstrates that its primary purpose is to prevent Muslim girls from expressing their faith; the fact that it is often referred to as the “Headscarf Ban” is further indicative that this law is an attack on Islam rather than a promotion of secularism.[27]

Law No. 2004-228 was just the first of many controversial positions that France has taken over the last decade that have violated the basic human right of religious freedom and expression. On October 11, 2010, France passed Law No. 2010-1192, which states “No one may, in public space, wear an outfit intended to conceal his face.”[28] While Law 2004-228 only restricted religious expression in public schools, this law, which took effect in 2011, prevented Muslim women from wearing the burqa, or niqab, in all public places, excluding public places of worship.[29] Quite recently, France closed the only Muslim school in Paris; while it was not a private Islamic school, it was predominantly attended by Muslims and was one of the last educational institutions that allowed Muslims to practice their faith by wearing the hijab if they chose to do so.[30] On November 17, 2020, France proposed perhaps one of its most controversial laws: the French Parliament considered opening internment camps for Muslims.[31] Draft law No. 3560, if it were to become law, would place French citizens who are on radicalization watchlists, into “administrative detention centers.”[32] Earlier in January 2021, a group of lawyers, NGOs, and religious bodies from thirteen countries have submitted formal complaints to the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling for action against France’s “breadth of state abuse against Muslims” stretching back more than two decades.[33]

[1] Islam: The World's Fastest Growing Religion, BBC (Mar. 16, 2017), https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-39279631.

[2] Dr. Baker S. Mawajadeh et al., The Culture of Peace and the Prevention of Terrorism from the

Perspectives of Islamic Education and the United Nations, 8 J. of Eudc. & Prac., no. 1, 2017, at 1.

[3] Rebecca A. Clay, Islamophobia, American Psychological Association (2017), https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/04/islamophobia.

[4] What is Islamophobia?, BRIDGE: A Georgetown University Initiative, https://bridge.georgetown.edu/about-us/what-is-islamophobia/ (last visited Nov. 28, 2020).

[5] Islamophobia 101, Cair (May 13, 2009), http://www.islamophobia.org/research/islamophobia-101.html.

[6] France attack: Three killed in 'Islamist terrorist' stabbings, BBC (Oct. 29, 2020), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54729957.

[7] The Editorial Board, Responding to Terrorism, The New York Times (Dec. 4, 2020), nytimes.com/2020/12/04/opinion/macron-terrorism-france.html.

[8] Secularism and Religious Freedom, France Diplomacy, https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/coming-to-france/france-facts/secularism-and-religious-freedom-in-france-63815/article/secularism-and-religious-freedom-in-france (last visited Nov. 29, 2020).

[9] Lanna Hollo, Islamophobia is on the Rise in France, Al Jazeera (Nov. 5, 2019), https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/11/5/islamophobia-is-on-the-rise-in-france/; Myriam Francois, France's Treatment of Its Muslim Citizens Is the True Measure of Its Republican Values, TIME (Dec. 8, 2020, 7:00 AM), https://time.com/5918657/frances-muslim-citizens-republican-values/.

[10] Nelson Tebbe, Review, Understanding Laïcité, 23 J. of L. & Religion 371, 371 (2008).

[11] Id.

[12] Id.

[13]Michael Barbaro, France, Islam, and Laïcité, The New York Times (Feb. 12, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/podcasts/the-daily/france-secularism-laicite-samuel-paty.html

[14] Id.

[15] Id.

[16] Id.

[17] Article 9: Freedom of Thought, Belief and Religion, Equality and Human Rights Commission (Nov. 15, 2018), https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/human-rights-act/article-9-freedom-thought-belief-and-religion.

[18] Michael Barbaro, France, Islam, and Laïcité, The New York Times (Feb. 12, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/podcasts/the-daily/france-secularism-laicite-samuel-paty.html.

[19] Id.

[20] Id.

[21] Dawn Lyon & Debora Spini, Unveiling the Headscarf Debate, 12 Feminist Legal Studies 333, 334 (2004).

[22] Nicole Atwill, France - Implementation of Law Prohibiting Religious Clothing in Public Schools, 12 Word L. Bull. 2004, at 15, 15, available at http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/wlb/200412.pdf.

[23] Dogru v. France, App. No. 27058/05, Eur. Ct. H.R. (2008), https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-90039%22]}. 

[24] Id.

[25] Id.

[26] When Discrimination Masquerades as Equality: The Impact of France’s Ban of Religious Attire in Public Schools, International Center for Advocates Against Discrimination (2014), https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/FRA/INT_CCPR_ICO_FRA_17451_E.pdf.

[27] Id.

[28] Loi 2010-1192 du 11 octobre 2010 interdisant la dissimulation du visage dans l'espace public [Law 2010-1192 of October 11, 2010 prohibiting the concealment of the face in public space], Journal Officiel de la République Française [J.O.] [Official Gazette of France], Oct. 12, 2010, p. 18344.

[29] French 'Burqa' Ban Passes Last Legal Hurdle, France24 (Oct. 7, 2010, 11:29 PM) https://www.france24.com/en/20101007-french-burqa-ban-passes-last-legal-hurdle-constitutional-council-veil.

[30] Elis Gjevori, Only Muslim School in Paris Closed Amid Claims of Islamophobia, TRTWorld (Dec. 9, 2020), https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/only-muslim-school-in-paris-closed-down-amid-claims-of-islamophobia-42199.

[31] Proposition De Loi visant à interner les Français fichés au fichier des signalements pour la prévention de la radicalisation à caractère terroriste en centre de rétention administrative [Law Proposition to detain the French stuck to file the reports for the prevention of radicalization in character terrorist in the center of holding administrative], Assemblée  Nationale [National Assembly], Nov. 15, 2020; French Parliament Considers ‘Internment Camps’ For Muslims, TRTWorld (Dec. 9, 2020), https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/french-parliament-considers-internment-camps-for-muslims-42202.

[32] Proposition De Loi visant à interner les Français fichés au fichier des signalements pour la prévention de la radicalisation à caractère terroriste en centre de rétention administrative [Law Proposition to detain the French stuck to file the reports for the prevention of radicalization in character terrorist in the center of holding administrative], Assemblée  Nationale [National Assembly], Nov. 15, 2020; French Parliament Considers ‘Internment Camps’ For Muslims, TRTWorld (Dec. 9, 2020), https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/french-parliament-considers-internment-camps-for-muslims-42202.

[33]Tackle French ‘Abuse’ of Muslims, Civil Society Groups Tell UN, Al Jazeera (Jan. 18, 2021),  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/18/global-coalition-demands-un-action-over-frances-abuse-of-muslims.