A British Airways (BA) employee suffered discrimination at work over her Christian beliefs, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.
Judges ruled Nadia Eweida's rights had been violated under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
She took her case to the European Court of Human Rights after BA made her stop wearing a cross visibly.
British Airways said: "Our own uniform policy was changed in 2007 to allow Miss Eweida and others to wear symbols of faith and she and other employees have been working under these arrangements for the last six years.
Following the rulings, Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "delighted" that the "principle of wearing religious symbols at work has been upheld," adding that people "shouldn't suffer discrimination due to religious beliefs."
BBC reported.
This drew my attention to the plight of 44 million Muslims in Europe. Who, struggle with their religious identity in different European countries.
A few minutes of reading here, may give a new found self confidence, to the 44 million estimated Muslims in the European Union, a better outlook to life and more confident interaction with the fellow citizens.
If the forty four million begin to enjoy fully their God given rights, articulated by
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and get addicted to them, they may even ask for these in the so-called Muslim countries, for themselves and others and even begin to influence India and China, who have sizable Muslim populations.
The 18 articles of ECHR are described in a Wikipedia article and else where in the web and I have copied them in
the Muslim Times, for the benefit of the forty four million. My two cents of contribution here is that a legal advice by a lawyer is not necessary for a common sense understandings of these articles, unless you or your organization are planning a law suit, to seek these rights for all fellow Muslims.
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), in full Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, convention adopted by the Council of Europe in 1950 to guard fundamental freedoms and human rights in Europe. Together with its 11 additional protocols, the convention—which entered into force on Sept. 3, 1953—represents the most advanced and successful international experiment in the field to date.
On Nov. 4, 1950, the Council of Europe agreed to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the substantive provisions of which were based on a draft of what is now the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Over the years, the enforcement mechanisms created by the convention have developed a considerable body of case law on questions regulated by the convention, which the state parties typically have honoured and respected. In some European states, the provisions of the convention are deemed to be part of domestic constitutional or statutory law. Where that is not the case, the state parties have taken other measures to make their domestic laws conform with their obligations under the convention.
A significant streamlining of the European human rights regime took place on Nov. 1, 1998, when Protocol No. 11 to the convention entered into force. Pursuant to the protocol, two of the enforcement mechanisms created by the convention—the European Commission of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights—were merged into a reconstituted court, which is now empowered to hear individual (rather than only interstate) petitions or complaints without the prior approval of the local government. The decisions of the court are final and binding on the state parties to the convention.
The forty four million also need to know that the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights is also an equally powerful, fair and elaborate document and perhaps one could argue that the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is its first born child. However, in contrast to the European Convention, even though most countries are a signatory of the Universal Declaration, it lacks any tools for implementation and is dependent on the Security Council with its five vetoing members and individual countries for any pragmatic approach.
It is time for the Muslim masses, the forty four million, to stop being constantly confused by the theatrics of Mullahs and medievalist scholars of Islam, to learn about the history of human rights, in the East and the West. If the forty four million learn about the French revolution, about the development of USA constitution, the history of development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and last but not the least the history of European Convention on Human Rights, they will become a lighthouse to the East for human dignity and brotherhood.
If the forty four million learn that these rights are given to them by the West, America or Europe, then they will wake up to be intellectual slaves, who can only display the yokes of submission in their necks in the public square, while the Christians display their crosses in their necklaces.
But, if the forty four million dare to contrast the history of early Islam, of the Holy Quran, of
the Prophet Muhammad, of
Umar Farooq, with the medieval Islam, which can be bracketed with the present day Mullah they will wake up, from their slumber of a few centuries, free and fresh, without the hangover of their intellectual, academic and scientific inferiority of the last 3-5 centuries, since the European renaissance.
They will know the history of early Islam of the Islamic Empire, Europe and USA and let me say to the forty four million, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:32) Then the millions will display their human dignity and human values every where in Europe.
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