Around the World: Switzerland

Minaret vote criticized

The top UN rights official said yesterday that Switzerland's ban on building minarets was "deeply divisive" and at odds with its international legal obligations. Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement that prohibiting an architectural structure linked to Islam or any religion was "clearly discriminatory".

Swiss voters adopted the ban in a referendum on Sunday, defying the government and parliament which had rejected the right-wing initiative as violating the Swiss constitution, freedom of religion and a cherished tradition of tolerance.