VZCZCXRO0546
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHFT #5016 2061420
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251420Z JUL 06
FM AMCONSUL FRANKFURT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5904
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS FRANKFURT 005016 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/AGS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KISL GM
SUBJECT: Court Ruling on Headscarf Raises New Questions on Ban 
 
REF: A) 04 Frankfurt 5675; B) 05 Frankfurt 8529 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; not for internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: On July 7, the Stuttgart Regional Court ruled that 
public school teacher Doris Graber should be permitted to wear her 
headscarf in class.  While the court recognized that a headscarf 
violates religious neutrality, it acknowledged that it cannot 
prohibit a headscarf while allowing Catholic nuns to wear habits at 
school.  The ruling could ultimately lead to the overturn of bans in 
other locations or to stricter laws banning all religious symbols. 
Baden-Wuerttemberg (B-W) state officials announced that the state 
would appeal the verdict.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Ruling Calls for Equal Treatment 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) As reported in reftels, in April 2004, Baden-Wuerttemberg 
became the first German state to ban headscarves for teachers in 
public schools.  In February 2006, the B-W state parliament extended 
the ban to kindergarten teachers as well (ref B).  Following 
implementation of these bans, legal experts raised concerns 
regarding equal treatment of religions.  From their viewpoint, 
banning religious symbols from classrooms should apply equally to 
all religious confessions or could constitute discrimination.  The 
latest ruling from the Stuttgart Regional Court emphasizes equal 
treatment -- consistent with 2004 rulings of the Federal 
Administrative Court in Leipzig which upheld the ban, but stated 
that it should apply equally to all religious symbols, including a 
nun's clothing (ref A). 
 
¶3. (U) In their July 7 decision, the court noted that in a public 
school setting, Graber's headscarf is a clear violation of the 
German constitutional principle of religious neutrality.  However, 
the court ruled the state cannot prohibit a Muslim teacher's 
headscarf while at the same time permitting nuns to wear their 
traditional habits in a public school (the court cited a case 
involving 3 nuns in Baden-Baden who were permitted to wear habits). 
Presiding Judge Michael Schaber called the existing ban "a clear 
breach of the principles of equal treatment."  He also said that a 
nun's habit is "clearly a religious symbol." 
 
Setback to B-W or Victory for Tolerance? 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) Although the court called its ruling definitive, B-W 
Minister President Guenther Oettinger (CDU) announced B-W would 
appeal the verdict.  According to B-W Education Minister Rau, the 
State will file a complaint with the Higher Administrative Court in 
Mannheim to permit an appeal. (NOTE: Because the Administrative 
Court had ruled that an appeal is not permissible, such a complaint 
is the appropriate legal tool to counter this decision.  End Note.) 
CDU caucus chief Stefan Mappus publicly criticized the verdict, 
opining that unlike the headscarf, the Catholic habit does not 
represent the repression of women.  Chairman of the B-W teachers' 
union (GEW) Rainer Dahlem welcomed the verdict as a victory for 
tolerance.  Christian Storr, who heads the B-W state office that 
handles foreigner issues, told us he expects the Mannheim court to 
grant the government's request for an appeal.  According to Storr, 
there have been no protests from parents or complaints about 
Graber's headscarf. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) B-W's current headscarf ban grants exceptions for Christian 
and Jewish symbols, citing Baden-Wuerttemberg's Christian and Jewish 
heritage.  The question of equal treatment for religions, guaranteed 
by the German federal constitution, and whether headscarf bans 
violate that principle may ultimately be decided in the German 
Federal Constitutional Court.  The B-W state leadership is intent on 
maintaining the headscarf ban while permitting Christian and Jewish 
symbols.  One thing all sides agree on is that they expect years of 
legal wrangling over this contentious issue.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶6. (U) This Cable was coordinated with Embassy Berlin and Consulate 
General Leipzig. 
 
PASI