Reactions To Sunday's Swiss Vote Banning Minarets

To no one's surprise, Switzerland is facing broad-based protests from around the world after voters on Sunday approved an initiative that banned future construction of minarets in the country. An AFP report says the Vatican joined Muslim leaders in decrying the vote, as did the Lutheran World Federation (ENI) and Asma Jahangir, UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. (Dawn.) Meanwhile legal experts suggest that the ban may be in conflict with the European Convention on Human Rights. Switzerland currently presides over the European Court of Human Rights that passes on cases claiming violations of the Convention. (The Independent). According to Nepal News, however, anti-immigrant groups in Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands are calling on their own governments to consider similar bans. And the Christian Science Monitor reviews restriction placed on building of churches by major majority-Muslim countries-- Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.