GENEVA – France must reverse discriminatory measures banning women and girls who choose to wear the hijab from doing so while playing sports and ensure compliance with its international human rights obligations, UN experts* said today. According to the experts, the decisions by the French football and basketball federations to exclude players wearing the hijab from competitions, including at amateur level, and the French Government’s decision to prevent French athletes wearing the hijab from representing the country at the Paris Olympic Games, are disproportionate and discriminatory, and infringe on their rights to freely manifest their identity, their religion or belief in private and in public, and to take part in cultural life. “Muslim women and girls who wear the hijab must have equal rights to participate in cultural and sporting life, and to take part in all aspects of French society of which they are a part,” the experts said. Contrary to its statement on 22 December 2023, in response to the Special Rapporteurs" communication, and to the stated objectives of inclusion, the experts noted that the French authorities have not taken any steps to ensure that bans adopted by sports federations are proportionate and based on the grounds recognized in international law to justify a limitation of human rights. “The neutrality and secular nature of the State are not legitimate grounds for imposing restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief. Any limitations of these freedoms must be proportionate, necessary to reach one of the objectives stated in international law (safety, health and public order, the rights and freedoms of others), and justified by facts that can be demonstrated, and not by presumptions, assumptions or prejudices.” “The Conseil d"État"s decision in the case of the French football federation, and the bill tabled before the Senate in March 2024, not only confirm the discriminatory measure in the practice of sport, but also seem to imply that wearing the hijab in the public space – a legitimate expression of identity and belief – is tantamount to a breach of public order,” the experts said. “In a context of intolerance and strong stigmatisation of women and girls who choose to wear the hijab, France must take all measures at its disposal to protect them, to safeguard their rights, and to promote equality and mutual respect for cultural diversity,” they said. The experts have communicated with the Government of France about this situation, which was also raised in the report presented at the UN General Assembly by the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights. *The experts: Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights ; Nicolas Levrat, Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Nazila Ghanea, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; Laura Nyirinkindi (Chair), Claudia Flores (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Ivana Krstić, and Haina Lu, Working group on discrimination against women and girls ; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression The experts are part of what are known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. The term “special procedures,” which refers to the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is generally applied to the independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms established by the Council. Special procedures mandate holders are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to address specific country situations or thematic issues in any region of the world. Special procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organization and are appointed in their individual capacity. UN Human Rights, country page - France For further information and media inquiries, please contact Mylène Bidault (mylene.bidaultabdulle@un.org) or Johanne Bouchard (johanne.bouchard@un.org). For media queries regarding other United Nations independent experts, please contact Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org). Follow the latest news from the United Nations independent human rights experts on X: @UN_SPExperts