After a meeting of the Hauts-de-Seine Governorate last week, the imam was dismissed. Imams are appointed by governors in France.
Civil society groups from 13 countries call on UN to address France's anti-Islam actions
An international alliance of 36 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) representing 13 countries has petitioned the United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR) about the systematic anti-Muslim actions of France, Anadolu Agency has reported.
Prominent NGOs, lawyers and religious bodies called on the OHCHR to act on France's "breadth of state abuse against Muslims" that has been raging in the country for over two decades. The coalition accuses the French government of violating "a number of basic rights that are protected in legislation that is ratified by Paris."
According to the press statement, the NGOs have forensically identified and documented evidence of structural Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslims in France.
The statement said they have documents that chart the history of discrimination against Muslims since 1989 and find that France has violated several basic rights that are protected in legislations ratified by Paris.
"France exploited acts of political violence to entrench Islamophobia in policing and the judiciary. State policies designate religious practice as a sign of risk and is highly similar to failed Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) models," said the statement.
The statement also alleged that the French government weaponized "laicite," the French version of secularism, to justify the intrusion of the state in the religious and political practices of Muslims.
"France stands in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. France infringed on freedoms of children, specifically to target Muslim children in violation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child," the statement added.
The document calls upon the U.N. to ensure that France upholds and enforces the group's Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and its International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) along with every directive on the prohibition of discrimination and racism.
The statement further urges France to enact or rescind legislation where necessary to prohibit any such discrimination and to "take all appropriate measures to combat intolerance on the grounds of religion in this matter."
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