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A group of lawyers, NGOs and religious bodies from 13 countries have submitted formal complaints to the United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR), calling for action against France’s “breadth of state abuse against Muslims” stretching back more than two decades.
The coalition submitted its findings to the UN body on Monday, accusing France of violating “a number of basic rights that are protected in legislation that is ratified by Paris”.
It said successive governments since 1989 had “entrenched structural Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslims”.
As examples, it cited recent “illegitimate and violent” raids of Muslim homes and organisations designed to “send a message”, French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan against what he calls “Islamist separatism”, an alleged backlash against Muslim communities in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US, the 2004 ban on the hijab in public schools, the 2010 ban on the niqab in public spaces