WUNRN
UKRAINE - MUSLIM WOMAN LOSES
COURT CASE FOR
RIGHT TO PASSPORT PHOTO WITH
HEADSCARF
09.06.2010
The
Kyiv District Administrative Court has rejected the suit brought on behalf of
25-year-old Susanna Ismailova from Bakhchysarai (the Crimea). She had asked the
court to order the Ministry of Internal Affairs [MIA] to allow her to have a
passport photo taken in her hijab or Muslim headscarf.
The court deemed that Ms Ismailova’s rights were not restricted by the
insistence that she be photographed without the scarf.
Ms Ismailova expressed her disappointment and explained that her present
passport (an internal passport / identification document – translator] was no
longer valid since there was no second photo as required on turning 25. This
prevents her from receiving benefit for her children, however she is not
prepared to get a photograph without her scarf, this being against her
religious beliefs.
Her lawyer, Enver Umerov, has announced that he is preparing to appeal the
ruling.
The court had been asked to find that the procedure for getting a passport, as
per MIA Order No. 600 from 15 June 2006 which made it impossible for her to be
photographed in her hijabi was in breach of Article 3 of the Law of Freedom of
Conscience and Religious Organizations, as well as Article 35 of the
Constitution, guaranteeing freedom of worship.
_______________________________________________________________
Via Human Rights Without Frontiers -
HRWF
Ukraine
Ruling - No Hijab for Passport Picture
HRWF (12.07.2010) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net
- The administrative court of Kyiv examined the application of Susanna
Ismailova, a lawyer from Bakhchisaray (Crimea) who wanted to be photographed
for her passport wearing a hijab - the traditional Moslem shawl - and ruled
that according to Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine No 600
she is not allowed to wear any sort of headgear.
"I have been wearing my hijab for ten years, as we are directed by
the Koran", declared Susanna. "Without a hijab I feel
uncomfortable in the street. A Moslem woman must cover all her body with
clothes. Only her hands and face may be uncovered. It is our way of life. In a
democratic country we must have this right".
Susanna Ismailova got about a thousand supporting letters from Crimea, Donetsk,
Kharkov and other cities. A Moslem from Kharkov Nargiz Khuseynova wrote that
"if a woman is without her shawl on a photo, it is morally difficult for
her to show this photo to men". On the other hand, a Moslem from Makiyevka
Adiliya Madyukova wrote that in her passport there is a photo, on which she
does not wear a shawl. "And I feel no discomfort about it. We have become
Russified Moslems already. Here in Donbass, where there are many Tatars, we
wear our headgear only on religious holidays and during religious ceremonies.
Source: Religious Panorama Nr 1/ 2010
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