Court backs Swiss that Muslim girls must attend swim class
GENEVA — A European court has rejected an appeal by a Turkish-born couple who were fined in Switzerland for keeping their daughters out of mixed-gender, mandatory public school swimming lessons for reasons linked to their Muslim faith
The European Court of Human Rights announced a summary of the ruling on Tuesday. The decision upheld a Swiss federal court ruling that education officials hadn’t violated the family’s rights of freedom of conscience and religion in the case in Basel dating to 2008.
The Strasbourg, France-based court acknowledged “interference” in freedom of religion, but that public schools had a “special role” in integration, particularly of children of foreign origin.
Under Basel school system rules, attending swim class is mandatory for all grade-school pupils and exemptions are possible only once they reach puberty. The girls were 7 and 9 when their parents first became aware that no exemption was allowed, according to the ruling.