Navi Pillay, U.N. 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.
Pillay said the ban was “discriminatory, deeply divisive and a thoroughly unfortunate step for Switzerland to take, and risks putting the country on a collision course with its international human rights obligations”.
Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, speaking in Athens, said the ban brought new risks for Swiss security.
“We are concerned by this vote … Every blow to the coexistence of different cultures and religions also endangers our security, because provocation risks sparking other provocations,” she told a ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
