"This decision will not legally affect the fight which United Sikhs will be pursuing for other ID cases through the UN Human Rights Committee, as the Committee is not bound by the decision of the European Court of Human Rights. Additionally, the UN Human Rights Committee has traditionally been much more receptive to cases of religious discrimination than the Strasburg Court. We hope that tendency will continue.": Stephen Grosz, United Sikhs London based lawyer.
STRASBOURG, France: The European Court of Human Rights dismissed a legal challenge last week to the French law banning the wearing of the turban on ID document photos, filed by United Sikhs on behalf of Shingara Mann Singh. The decision, communicated to United Sikhs lawyers today, has shocked the Sikh community globally, that the Court, without requiring France to respond to Shingara Singh's legal arguments, has justified denying religious freedom on the basis of public security and protection of public order. United Sikhs is filing cases before the United Nations Human Rights Committee next month on behalf of Shingara Singh and Ranjit Singh for ID photographs on their passport and residence card, respectively.
French regulations require motorists to appear "bareheaded and facing forward" in their driver's license photographs. Shingara Singh is a 53 year old Sikh from the northern Paris suburbs, whose replacement driver's license was refused by the French authorities in 2005 and again in 2006. Sikhs are required to wear the dastaar (Sikh turban) at all times. Commenting on the decision, Mejindarpal Kaur, United Sikhs Director for International Civil and Human Rights Advocacy stated, "We submitted three compelling arguments before the European Court of Human Rights: Firstly, that European Commission regulations do not require a bare head as a minimum requirement for other ID docs e.g. a passport because of the advent of biometrics; secondly, that a Sikh wears a dastaar (Sikh turban) at all times and hence is only identifiable with his turban and thirdly, that there is no evidence that the Sikh turban poses a security threat as evidenced by the fact that France allows Sikhs of other nationalities to travel through France with ID photographs displaying the turban on their driver's licences and passports."
"This decision is a travesty of justice against the Sikh community which views the Court's decision as perverse because the Court did not require a response from France before issuing a decision that deeply interferes with a Sikh's basic religious rights," she added. You may read an excerpt of the translated judgment here.
Shingara Singh's London Lawyer, Stephen Grosz of Bindmans, LLP stated, "The Court's approach is very disappointing. Whilst it recognized that requiring a Sikh to remove his turban is an interference with his religious rights, the Court was quite wrong to justify that removal of the turban as necessary for identification. In particular, identifying a Sikh who wears a turban at all times, with an ID photograph of the Sikh without the turban just does not accord to common sense. The issue is serious enough to demand the French government to justify this restriction, which the Court did not."
Commenting on the upcoming filings on behalf of Shingara Singh and Ranjit Singh in regard to the denial of the renewal of their passport and residence card unless they remove their turban for their ID photographs, Mr. Grosz commented, "This decision will not legally affect the fight which United Sikhs will be pursuing through the UN Human Rights Committee, as the Committee is not bound by the decision of the European Court of Human Rights. Additionally, the UN Human Rights Committee has traditionally been much more receptive to cases of religious discrimination than the Strasburg Court. We hope this tendency will continue."
Seriously disappointed by the decision, Shingara Singh commented, "If we can't get justice from the European Court of Human Rights, who else can we expect justice from in Europe? We pin our hopes now on the UN Human Rights Committee before which my passport case will be filed next month. I am shocked that the European Human Rights Court didn't require France to respond to the submissions made by my lawyers who had argued why my turban is not a security threat." Commenting further on the issue, he stated, "My business, my personal life are all affected. I now have no passport, no driving license and my old-style ID card is not being accepted by my bank, which has refused to give me a loan because I lack valid identification. The Court's judgment is oppression against the Sikh community because a Sikh is mandated by his faith to wear a turban at all times. The Court clearly has not recognised what the turban means to a Sikh. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the Sikh mini-Parliament, has a duty to launch a global awareness campaign about Sikhs. Equally, the Punjab State Government should intervene in this matter."
Kuldip Singh, United Sikhs president said, "The Sikh community, small but significant, has found itself to be at the brunt of security laws since 9/11. We have and will continue to fight the injustice faced by Sikhs and other minorities who are being denied religious freedom while the world grapples with its insecurity."
Source: Jaspreet Singh, International Civil and Human Rights Advocacy, United Sikhs
