The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed a statement by experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council calling on France to reverse bans that prevent Muslim women and girls who wear the hijab, or Islamic head scarf, from participating in sports.
Those experts said: “Muslim women and girls who wear the hijab must have equal rights to participate in cultural and sporting life, and to take part in all aspects of French society of which they are a part.” The said any hijab ban is “discriminatory and must be reversed.”
“We welcome this clear statement by UN experts that France’s arbitrary and discriminatory ban on hijab in sports must be reversed,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “There can be no legitimate justification for banning religious attire in athletic competition.”
In July, CAIR welcomed Amnesty International’s condemnation of the French ban on athletes wearing hijab in sports.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com