Belgian Court Upholds Ban on Ritual Slaughter, Muslim Groups Consider ECHR Appeal

"It is with great disappointment that the religious authorities and volunteer organizations of the Belgian Muslim community take note of the rulings handed down yesterday (Thursday) by the Constitutional Court on the compatibility of the Flemish and Walloon ban on ritual slaughter with freedom of religion," reacted the EMB and the CIB in a joint statement. "Contrary to all expectations, the Constitutional Court finds that the Flemish and Walloon decrees banning slaughter without stunning are admissible under the Belgian Constitution."

"The current techniques of religious slaughter constitute a fully-fledged alternative to the stunning of animals and are perfectly compatible with the requirements of public health, food safety and animal welfare," explain the two Muslim organizations. "The obligation to stun, on the other hand, is only an emotional symbolic measure, which simply serves - to the detriment of religious minorities - to appease the conscience of the average consumer and to obscure the reality that animals are raised as objects of consumption in industrial mega-stores," they added, hoping that in this charged case, rationality will ultimately triumph over emotion.

"The rule of law must not yield to the growing political and social pressure of populist movements that are waging a symbolic struggle against vulnerable minorities across Europe," said Mehmet Üstün, president of the EMB and Coskun Beyazgül, spokesperson for the CIB. "In a tolerant society, it is important to work together on animal welfare with all segments of society, without stigmatizing certain communities. Empathy and mutual understanding are at the heart of our common values. This has also recently been confirmed by the Belgian Council of State, in its important ruling on religious freedom in these times of coronavirus. The Muslim community is convinced that ultimately the rule of law will prevail," the statement concludes.