Belgium moves to become first European country to ban the burka
By Ian Sparks
Last updated at 7:33 PM on 31st March 2010
Belgium is set to become the first European country to impose a full ban on wearing a burka.
比利時將成為第一個歐洲國家實施全面禁止穿著布爾卡。
A parliamentary committee in Belgium has unanimously voted to ban the wearing of full face-covering veils in public, paving the way for the first clampdown of its kind in Europe.
比利時一個議會委員會一致投票決定，禁止在公開場合穿著全蓋面的面紗，在歐洲開路作首次同類型的取締。
Officials say that the draft law will probably be put to a vote of the full house on April 22.
官員說有關法律草案將可能，在4月22日付諸全體表決 。
If passed, it means burkas, niqabs and other full face veils would be outlawed from the streets, parks, schools and all public buildings.
如果獲得通過，這意味 布爾卡、niqabs和其它全遮面紗將被取締，從街道、公園、學校和所有公共建築。
The proposed law has the support of all five parties in Begium's coalition government and observers say it is 'very likely' to be passed.
But it could meet a stumbling block if opponents challenge the law at the European Court of Human Rights, which has the power to overturn it.
There are an estimated 650,000 Muslims in Belgium, making them the country's largest immigrant population.
Brussels became a hotbed of Islamic extremism in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks, with a court convicting 18 men of involvement in terror cell with links to Al-Qaeda in September 2003.
Two months after the March 2004 Madrid train bombings, Belgian police arrested 15 members of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group said to have had links with Osman El Sayed Ahmed, a main suspect in the attack
Belgium is set to become the first European country to impose a full ban on wearing a burka比利時將成為第一個歐洲國家實施全面禁止穿著布爾卡
On November 9, 2005, Muriel Degauque, a Belgian convert to Islam, committed a suicide car bomb attack against a U.S. military convoy south of Baghdad.
A recent poll found six out of ten Belgians believed Muslims were failing to integrate into Belgian society and wanted tougher laws to combat Islamic extremism.
Belgium's hardline proposal comes a day after France's highest administrative body said a full burka ban in France could violate the French constitution and European human rights laws.
In France, immigration minister Eric Besson has branded the garment a 'walking coffin'.
President Sarkozy said last year described burkas as a 'sign of debasement, adding: 'They make women prisoners and deprive them of their identity.
'I say solemnly that they are not welcome on the territory of the French Republic.'
Families minister Nadine Morano has said immigrants should sign a 'no burka' contract before being allowed to live in France.
Interior minister Brice Hortefeux said that both women who wear veils and husbands who force them to do so should not be allowed to acquire French citizenship.
And senior UMP party member Jean-Francois Cope has proposed that women should be fined more than £700 for hiding their face in public.
France has already passed a law in 2004 forbidding students and teachers in schools from wearing any kind of religious symbols - including veils, crucifixes and Jewish skullcaps - as part of a drive to defend secularism.
But despite widespread support for a full burka ban, France's Council of State said yesterday: 'There appears to be no legally unchallengeable justification for carrying out such a ban.
'Making the full veil illegal could be viewed as discriminatory and tricky to put into practice, in particular as the majority of women who wear it do so of their own free will.'
The Council of State also said in a report on the veil that even a limited ban would be difficult to enforce.
The council said yesterday that a total ban risks violating the French Constitution as well as the European human rights convention.
But the Council of State said it could made compulsory to uncover the face in places where identity checks needed to be carried out, such as courts, polling stations and town hall weddings.
Police could also be given special powers to ban burkas in high-risk public disorder zones like train stations, sports venues, international conferences, museums, jewellers or banks.
The conclusions sparked anger among MPs in Sarkozy's ruling UMP party.
Jean Leonetti, vice president of the UMP group in parliament, said: 'The ban is either total or incomprehensible.'
Only around 5,000 women among France's five million strong population, the largest in Europe, wear full Muslim face veils in public.
Some left-wing politicians have warned that a law banning the burka could inflame tensions in the Muslim community.
Al-Qaeda terrorists have also vowed revenge on France if it banned the burka on its streets.
Leaders of Al-Qaeda's North African network wrote on an Islamic extremist website: 'French Muslims should react to this ban with the utmost hostility.
'We will seek dreadful revenge on France by all means at our disposal, for the honour of our daughters and sisters.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1262545/Belgium-set-European-country-ban-burka.html
法擬火車站列車裝鏡頭防襲
(明報)2010年4月1日 星期四 09:05
莫斯科 地鐵 遭襲擊後，法國 亦考慮在全國的主要火車站和列車上，大規模裝設攝錄鏡頭。
法國內政部長奧爾特弗31日說，將於下周向總統薩爾科齊 提出一系列旨在保障社會治安的建議，其中將有相當一部分涉及公共交通安全。
奧爾特弗說，他已與法國國營鐵路公司達成協助，計劃在全國重點車站的站台和車站周邊，以及列車車廂內，安裝攝錄鏡頭。
其中，列車車廂內安裝的鏡頭數量，將達到2.5萬個，平均每節車廂將安裝3個攝錄鏡頭。
奧爾特弗說，法國政府2010年為此將投資3000萬歐元，相當於2009年的兩倍、2008年的3倍。
（綜合報道）
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/100401/4/haxu.html
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