Wikinews – The Government of Switzerland is considering a Constitutional amendment banning construction of minarets. A referendum held on November 29, 2009 will determine weather to ban the construction of minarets. Under the new law, the sentence “The construction of minarets is forbidden” will be added to Article 72 (Section 3) of the Swiss Federal Constitution.

The measure was created and promoted by Right Wing politicians, mostly from the populist Swiss People’s Party which claim that minarets have no religious significance, and are symbols of a religious and political claim to power which threatens the Constitutional rights of others, and that a ban on minarets is needed to guarantee the social and legal order as provided by the Constitution. The Swiss Parliament voted in favor of a referendum, and the date was decided to be November 29, 2009. The Swiss People’s Party has created posters and advertisements urging the Swiss people to vote in favor of the ban.

However, the proposed law has attracted stiff opposition from both within and outside Switzerland. The Swiss Federal Constitution currently allows freedom of religion. Switzerland has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Though not a member of the European Union, it has also ratified the European Convention on Human Rights. Both treaties provide for freedom of religion and the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion. Swiss Muslim, Christian, and Jewish religious leaders have also spoken out against the ban. Many in the Swiss government have expressed hope that the ban will fail. The London based Human rights organization Amnesty International has also spoken out against the minaret ban.

Public support for a minaret ban in Switzerland is gaining ground. In 2008, a survey by Le Matin newspaper found that 43% of French speaking Swiss support a ban on minarets. On October 23, 2009, polls showed that 34% of Swiss citizens supported a ban, 53% opposed it, and 13% were undecided. In November 2009, another poll showed that 53% of Swiss rejected the ban, 37% supported it, and 10% were undecided. Although slowly winning public support, the ban has not yet gained a majority.

Switzerland currently has a population of 310,807 Muslims, who make up the second largest religious group, and 4.26% of the total population. Mosques and prayer centers are found throughout the country, but only four minarets have been constructed.

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