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German circumcision ruling

Summary

16 July 2012

A court in Cologne, Germany has ruled that removing the foreskin of young boys for religious reasons amounts to bodily harm. European Jewish and Muslim groups have joined forces to protest against the decision and defend their right to perform the act on religious grounds.

Reporter:

Stephen Evans

Report

Muslim and Jewish groups have come together and met members of the European Parliament in the Bundestag to express their strong opposition to the ruling. 

A joint statement said, 'we consider this to be an affront to our basic religious and human rights'; adding, 'circumcision is an ancient ritual that is fundamental to our individual faiths and we protest in the strongest possible terms against this court ruling.' 

Meanwhile, Germany's doctors have been told not to carry out circumcisions except where medically necessary, for fear of prosecution. 

The country's government is clearly uneasy about the ruling, particularly after accusations that it was inappropriate for the country of the Holocaust to outlaw a fundamental ritual of Judaism. The foreign minister said that circumcision was, 'an expression of religious pluralism.' Jewish and Muslim groups are now working together to get the court decision overturned.