RNW

The National Ombudsman has ruled that Muslim women who are arrested and required to remove their headscarves when they are detained in a cell should not be confronted by male police officers.

A Muslim woman, who was detained by the alien police and asked to hand over her headscarf to two female police officers, while male officers watched, complained that her integrity and faith had been seriously violated. The National Ombudsman has ruled that the police officers did not sufficiently respect her freedom of religion. He called their conduct improper.

Headscarves and various other items of clothing have to be removed from detainees for safety reasons. In 2004 a woman committed suicide using her headscarf.

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