Muslim Council Of Montreal Pleased Over Human Rights Commission Ruling On Hijab In Private Schools

Muslim Council Of Montreal Pleased Over Human Rights Commission Ruling On Hijab In Private Schools

"A clear victory for religious freedom and minority rights in this province"


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Montreal June 15, 2005 (MCM) - The Muslim Council of Montreal expressed its pleasure today regarding the Quebec Human Rights Commission's ruling which up-holds the right of female Muslim students to wear the hijab - the Islamic headscarf - in private schools.



In fact, the Commission had adopted a comprehensive internal discussion paper in September 2004, first mentioned on a January 27th Radio-Canada broadcast, and which stated it was clear that private secular schools do not have the legal right under the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms to ban the hijab.



The Commission's public ruling today upholds that position.



"This is a clear victory for religious freedom and minority rights in this province, and there should have never been any question as to the rights of Muslim students to wear the hijab in private schools in the first place," stated MCM President Salam Elmenyawi.



Elmenyawi was critical, however, over how long it took for the Commission to rule on this issue and how it handled the situation.



Even though the Commission had a clear internal position of up-holding the right of Muslim students to wear hijab in private schools, they did not state this publicly at the time a Muslim student was expelled from College Charlemagne in 2002 for wearing a hijab. The Commission, instead of upholding the student's rights in a clear public ruling, stated that it preferred dealing with specific cases as they come along and continuing with ‘reflections’ on this issue.



"The Commission withheld from the public its own internal position paper at a time when it was most needed to protect those being discriminated against," he said.



"The Quebec Charter gives the Commission not only the duty to investigate complaints, but also to conduct research and public education to promote human rights and freedoms. For the Commission to hide a position paper, which can, if published, prevent and dissuade discrimination in different sectors of society, is a failure to uphold its mandate of protecting human rights," he fruther stated.



"Muslims in this province had to unnecessarily wait for several months for this ruling when in fact there was no need to wait at all as the Commission already had an existing ruling," he further stated.

Elmenyawi further related how today's decision may also reflect on the issue of prayer space accomodation in publicly owned and publically funded universities.



He noted that current federal and provincial human rights codes require that religious needs be accommodated in these institutions and expressed the hope that today's ruling will further reinforce this.



"Today's ruling should set the tone for the resolution of other ongoing disputes, such as prayer-space accommodation at l' Ecole de Technologie Superieure and McGill University, so that the rights of those wishing to practice their faith without fear or harassment are respected," he said.



"The Quebec Charter of Rights guarantees religious freedom, and no school administrator or employer can take that right away."



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MCM is an umbrella organization representing a number of Muslim institutions in the Montreal region. There are over 125,000 Muslims in Montreal, about 700, 000 in Canada, and 1.5 billion worldwide.

For further information please contact: Salam Elmenyawi, President of the Muslim Council of Montreal - P.O.Box 5286 St-Laurent Stn, St-Laurent, H4L 4Z8 Phone: 514 748 8427 e-mail: salam@muslimcouncil.org