A United Nations expert on racism on Friday branded the defamation of religions - in particular, critical portrayals of Islam in the West - a threat to world peace.

"Islamophobia today is the most serious form of religious defamation," Doudou Diene told the U.N. Human Rights Council, which is holding a three-week session in Geneva.

Diene cited a caricature of the Muslim prophet Mohammed in a Swedish newspaper, a protest by far-right groups in Belgium on Tuesday against the "Islamization of Europe" and campaigns against the construction of mosques in Germany and Switzerland as evidence of an "ever increasing trend" of anti-Islamic actions in Europe.

"We see the initiatives and activities of many groups and organizations which are working hard to bring about a war of civilizations," he said, adding that right-wing groups are trying to equate Islam with violence and terrorism. [Link]

Sikhs asked Europe's human rights court Monday to support their call for the right to wear turbans in ID photos in France.

France's highest administrative court has ruled that for public security reasons, Sikhs must remove their turbans when photographed for driver's licenses. France has also banned wearing conspicuous religious apparel in schools.

Shingara Mann Singh, a 52-year-old French national, was twice refused a replacement driver's license unless he removes his turban for the photo. On his original license, which he said was stolen from him, he was pictured with the turban.

"I will give up my head but not my turban, which covers my unshorn hair," Singh said.

The complaint was filed with the Strasbourg, France-based European Court of Human Rights on his behalf by the United Sikhs organization.

Sikhs are required by their religion to have their hair covered at all times by a turban.

"Sikhs wear their turbans throughout the day, when driving and when at work. Asking them to remove their turbans for a photo ID is absurd and shows an absolute lack of respect and sensitivity," said Neena Gill, a British member of the European Parliament. [Link]

French Sikhs have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights over a ruling that they must remove their turbans for driver’s licence photographs.

Last year, France’s highest administrative court upheld an earlier ruling against Shingara Mann Singh, a French citizen forced to remove his turban in 2004.

It said the order was justified on the grounds of public security and was not a restriction on freedom of faith.

But representatives of the French branch of United Sikhs today launched a legal challenge to the ruling, appealing to the Strasbourg-based European court to intervene in the case.

Speaking at a press conference in the European parliament on Monday, British Socialist MEP Nena Gill also appealed to the EU to help raise awareness of the “plight” of French Sikhs.

“Sikhs wear their turbans throughout their day, when driving and when at work. Asking them to remove their turbans for a photo ID is absurd and shows an absolute lack of respect and sensitivity,” said Gill, president of parliament’s India delegation.

She said that Sikhs in Belgium had also reportedly been told they could not be considered for jobs in public administration if they wore turbans.

“I would ask France and other EU member states, such as Belgium, to reflect upon the British model. In the UK those wearing articles of faith including turbans are treaty equally.

“Many turban wearing Sikhs are police officers, army officers and judges as well. Therefore, I would ask French authorities to reconsider their position and treat Sikhs as equal members of society," said Gill.

Her comments were echoed by Claude Moraes, another UK Socialist MEP and president of parliament’s all-party group on anti-racism and diversity.

“As a member of the committee for citizen’s rights, I support all attempts to build a European society based on the respect for their fundamental rights laid down in the EU’s treaties which include the right of religion and conscience and expression of culture.”

United Sikhs argue that the French ruling makes its small community of several thousand in France the victims of “indirect discrimination”.

Sikh males are required by religion to allow their hair to grow and most wear a turban, a symbol of Sikh identity, to keep their hair under control. [Link]

Hate crimes have increased sharply over the last decade throughout Europe, according to a lengthy report by a US-based human rights group.

The 2007 Hate Crime Survey by Human Rights First, out tomorrow, records a rising tide of attacks against Muslims, Jews, gays and lesbians.

It notes rises in recent years in the UK, France, Germany, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. "In France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, governments have made serious efforts to combat hate crimes in recent years, although more needs to be done," the report says....

Muslims... have suffered according to the data. "In 2006, discrimination and violence against Muslims persisted throughout much of Europe. Though the number of registered incidents decreased from a peak level in 2005, after the subway bombings in London, the number of violent incidents remains high." [Link]

European Union officials on Thursday launched the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights -- the 27-nation bloc's latest effort to stamp out intolerance as it struggles to absorb an unprecedented crush of immigrants.

Officials said the new agency would expand the work of the Vienna-based European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia to forge an EU-wide human rights culture that respects people of different genders, cultures and faiths.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the new agency reflected the EU's "deep belief in the central worth and dignity of each individual."

Underscoring how racism, anti-Semitism and crimes against foreigners remain entrenched in Europe, the monitoring center warned in December that Europe's Muslims routinely suffered acts ranging from physical attacks to discrimination in the job and housing markets.

"We must continue to attack these diseases," said Franco Frattini, the EU's justice and home affairs commissioner.

There are 785 [Members of the European Parliament]. Of which only nine are non-white. Why is no one up in arms about it?....

With 785 representatives from 27 member countries and chambers in Brussels and Strasbourg, it is the world's only directly elected international chamber. It represents a more diverse range of people than almost any other - 492 million European citizens. It is also almost completely white.... There are just nine non-white MEPs here, 1.1% of the total....

Neena Gill was elected as a Labour MEP alongside Moraes eight years ago. She is the only Asian woman in parliament. "Nobody would believe me when I said, 'Britannique'. Only two nights ago I was at a function and this Belgian found it really hard to accept that I was an MEP because I was wearing a sari," she says. "I hear phrases such as, 'Madame Gill is wearing oriental costume.' When they realise you're Indian, people say, 'Why aren't you wearing that spot on your head?' It is the sort of thing that would have been said in Britain 35 years ago."....

The few non-white MEPs try to avoid being stereotyped as token experts on race or immigration. But it is a telling sign of their rarity that many are inundated with appeals from people in other countries who share their ethnicity or religion. As well as being the only Asian woman in parliament, Gill is the only Sikh too. She says she receives "almost weekly" calls from Sikh groups in Italy and France who are attacked because of "the turban issue". [Link]