VIII. Impact on Frances Muslim CommunitiesEstimates of the number of Muslims living in France range between three and five million. The vast majority are of Algerian, Moroccan, or Tunisian nationality or descent, while a smaller number are of Turkish, Iraqi and other Arab, Bosnian, or sub-Saharan African nationality or descent, among others. In the decades following World War II, hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the Maghreb region, especially Algerians, came seeking work, some of them with a view to returning eventually to their countries. Family reunification policies established in the mid-1960s allowed many to bring their families to France, however, and short-term immigration became permanent settlement. An uneasy conversation about the place of Muslims, and the Muslim faith, has dominated public debate in France in recent years. Long-term residency, acquisition of French nationality, and mixed marriages, among other factors, have contributed to greater integration of Maghreb communities in France.235 Still, the widespread rioting in October and November 2005 in poor, predominantly immigrant communitiesbanlieueson the periphery of Paris and other major cities vividly called into question the French assimilationist approach. While some commentators attempted to link the revolt to the influence of political Islam, most analysts now agree that the rioting was largely an expression of rage by mostly Muslim youths against what they perceive as economic and social marginalization.236 Samy Debah, an anti-discrimination activist, says his organization, the Collectif contre lIslamophobie (Collective against Islamophobia), constantly documents instances of employment and housing discrimination against Muslims. In his view, Nobody in France would say, I wont hire you because youre a woman or youre black or youre Jewish, but they would say, I wont hire you because you wear the headscarf. Its totally acceptable. And you can only talk like that in a particular political context of discrimination.237 The debate about integration has been securitized in the context of the fight against terrorism, and this conflation is perhaps demonstrated most forthrightly in the focus on controlling and shaping the Muslim faith in France. In the name of encouraging the emergence of an Islam of France, the French government created the French Council of the Muslim Creed (CFCM) in 2003. The goal was to provide an institutional interlocutor for the government on matters relating to the practice of Islam, and a body that could oversee mosques and prayer halls, train French-speaking imams, and develop religious services in prison.238 An important part of the reasoning behind the creation of the CFCM was the concern that foreign-born imams, many of whom cannot speak French and who preach strict adherence to fundamentalist Islamic principles, are over-represented in the nations Muslim places of worship. Their teachings, the logic goes, are both at odds with French values and may contribute to radicalization. Speaking generally about countering radicalization, then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy asserted, We must act against these radical preachers who are capable of influencing the youngest and weakest-minded.239 The 2004 law banning religious symbols in public schools can also be viewed in this light. Though the law prohibits all conspicuous religious symbols, including the Jewish Kippah, Sikh turban, and large Christian crosses, it was so widely interpreted as targeting the Muslim headscarf that it is now commonly referred to simply as the headscarf law. Proponents of the ban saw it as an imperative in defense not only of Frances tradition of laïcite but also the French value of gender equality. Counterproductive Counterterrorism MeasuresMany Muslims feel acutely what one analyst has called the common misrepresentation that Islam is inherently radical or resolutely incompatible with French republicanism.240 Kamel Kabtane, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Lyon, explained,
Lhaj Thami Breze, the president of the Union of Islamic Organizations of France, one of the countrys leading organizations of Muslims, said that expulsions of imams feed the fear in the Muslim community that it, once again, is being singled out It gives the impression that France is persecuting Muslims.242 Samy Debah of the nongovernmental Collective against Islamophobia articulated his perspective of two different regimes in France with respect to freedom of expression, contrasting the expulsion of imams for things they say and the defense of those who express insulting views on Islam: When it comes to the Danish cartoons or Redeker, people said, I dont agree but I defend your right to say it, and they tell us [Muslims] we dont have the right to be offended.243 The expulsion of imams identified as hate-preachers is clearly a counterterrorism measure geared specifically toward preventing violent radicalization and recruitment to terrorism. Here too, though, government arguments often refer to opinions or statements that are contrary to French values or that promote separatism and rejection of integration into mainstream society.244 Azzedine Gaci, the Lyon representative of the Regional Council of the Muslim Creed, acknowledged the legitimate concern with radicalization of young people who develop hatred and a rejection of the Republic, but he cautioned that,
He argued that in this context, highly politicized and media-conscious expulsions are counterproductive because,
Kamel Kabtane agreed that the overall impact of these kinds of measures is deleterious insofar as they send the message that individuals from the Muslim community are not welcome. The more [you adopt] exceptional measures, the more you put people in a situation of exclusion. And the more you radicalize, he said.247 Commenting on those most directly affected by expulsions, lawyer Mahmoud Hebia concurred: Expulsions generate families full of hatred [and] make them susceptible to pressure from terrorist groups.248 The United Nations special rapporteur on racism, Doudou Diene, noted what he called the alarming number of expulsions from some European countries in the context of efforts to fight fundamentalism in a 2004 report on defamation of religions and racism. He drew particular attention to expulsions from France, stating that the emergency expulsions procedure gives too much discretion to authorities in decisions regarding expulsions of imams.249 There is a perception among some in French Muslim communities that the broad powers enjoyed by counterterrorism investigating magistrates lead to mass arrests and accusations of associating with terrorism networks based on meager evidence, suggesting that all Muslims are somehow suspect. They tell us to separate plastic and paper for recycling, but they dont distinguish among us [Muslims], said Dilek D., the wife of a deportee.250 This perception is fed by experiences such as that of Tunisian opposition figure Mouldi Gharbi, who was in the apartment of a friend when it was raided by counterterrorism police in 1995. Gharbi recalled that one of the officers called the investigating magistrate who had ordered the raid to ask if he should also detain Gharbi. According to Gharbi, the officer said the magistrate had told him to arrest everyone there.251 Gharbi was eventually convicted of association de malfaiteurs and sentenced to one year in prison, time he had already served in pretrial detention. Gharbi was granted asylum in 1996, when he was still in pretrial detention. Official statistics would seem to support the claim that specialized counterterrorism investigating magistrates tend to err on the side of prevention. Not long ago, then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said that 1,161 people had been detained in the context of the fight against terrorism. Of these, only 462 were placed under official investigation.252 Some note that many in the Muslim community are hesitant to speak out on behalf of anyone tarnished with the label radical or Islamist for fear of being associated with terrorism themselves. Kamel Kabtane told Human Rights Watch that when he protested Abdelkader Bouzianes expulsion, I was immediately categorized, they said I was becoming radicalized.253 235 International Crisis Group (ICG), France and its Muslims: Riots, Jihadism and Depoliticisation, Europe Report No. 172, March 9, 2006, http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?1=1&id=4014 (accessed April 10, 2006) (full report only available in French). 236 Ibid., p. 4. 237 Human Rights Watch interview with Samy Debah, Collective Against Islamophobia, Paris, June 30, 2006. 238 Interview with then-Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin, Le Figaro, May 13, 2004. 239 The French lesson, The Economist, August 13, 2005. 240 Stephanie Giry, France and its Muslims, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2006, http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050901faessay85508/stephanie-giry/france-and-its-muslims.html (accessed October 17, 2006). 242 Elaine Ganley, France targets radical imams in bid to keep terrorism at bay, Associated Press, May 3, 2004. 243 Human Rights Watch interview with Samy Debah, Collective Against Islamophobia, February 1, 2007. Robert Redeker, a French writer and philosopher, published an opinion piece in French daily newspaper Le Figaro in September 2006 describing the Prophet Muhammad as a pitiless war leader, pillager, butcher of Jews and polygamous and calling the Koran a book of incredible violence. He was subsequently given police protection after receiving death threats. A group of French intellectuals published a defense of Redekers right to freedom of expression. Human Rights Watchs own position on the Danish cartoons and freedom of speeech is set out at http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/02/15/denmar12676.htm. 244 See for example the notes blanches concerning Abdelkader Bouziane and Abdullah Cam, discussed in Chapter V. 246 Ibid. 247 Human Rights Watch interview with Kamel Kabtane, June 23, 2006. 248 Human Rights Watch interview with Mahmoud Hebia, lawyer, Lyon, June 22, 2006. 249 UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, Doudou Diene, Addendum: Defamation of Religions and Global Efforts to Combat Racism: Anti-Semitism, Christianophobia and Islamophobia, E/CN.4/2005/18/Add.4, December 13, 2004, http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G05/102/18/PDF/G0510218.pdf?OpenElement, para. 27. 250 Human Rights Watch interview with Dilek D., Lyon, June 23, 2006. 251 Human Rights Watch interview with Mouldi Gharbi, Paris, October 3, 2006. 252 Speech by Nicolas Sarkozy, Minister of the Interior, at the press conference on June 8, 2006, http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/misill/sections/a_1_interieur/le_ministre/interventions/08-06-2006-evolutions-securite/view (accessed June 15, 2006). 253 Human Rights Watch interview with Kamel Kabtane, Lyon, June 23, 2006. |