Following the outcry over the “Freedom in hijab” campaign posted on Twitter by the Council of Europe’s Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Division, MEP Nicole Trisse yesterday issued a statement in which the French delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which she chairs, “strongly condemns this campaign” which was posted “under the cover” of the Council of Europe.
Ms Trisse announced that she had sent a letter of protest to Marija Pejčinović Burić, the Secretary General of the organisation, asking her to “condemn this deplorable initiative” and to “commit herself to avoiding such amalgams in the future”.
Launched on 28 October, this campaign against anti-Muslim racism went unnoticed for four days before being violently denounced, particularly in France. It was withdrawn on 3 November under pressure from Marie Fontanel, the country’s ambassador to the Council of Europe.
In the meantime, the organisation had clarified that, “the tweets reflected statements made by individual participants in one of the project’s workshops, and do not represent the position of the Council of Europe or its Secretary General”.
Organised online at the end of September, these workshops brought together associations and graphic designers to finalise the messages. The campaign in question corresponds to the working group conducted in partnership with the Forum Of European Muslim Youth And Student Organisations (FEMYSO).
Assembly President Rik Daems said that the Council of Europe’s response to “this unfortunate event” was the right one, but “we must learn from it” with regard to the messages coming out of the workshops, which should not, however, impede freedom of expression during working sessions. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)