Jewish and Muslim groups in Germany have expressed
outrage over a court ruling delivered on Wednesday that 
deemed circumcision
equivalent to grievous bodily harm.
The groups said the ruling infringed on religious
freedom and could lead to “circumcision tourism”.
A Colonge city court ruled that circumcision
violated a child’s “fundamental right to bodily integrity” and that this right
outweighed the rights of the parents.
The ruling is not binding but legal experts said
it appeared to clarify a grey area in the law and will guide doctors in the
future.
“The religious freedom of the parents and their
right to educate their child would not be unacceptably compromised, if they were
obliged to wait until the child could himself decide to be circumcised,” the
court said.
“The body of the child is irreparably and
permanently changed by a circumcision. This change contravenes the interests of
the child to decide later on his religious beliefs.”
The case involved a four-year-old Muslim boy who
was circumcised at the request of his parents but was later admitted to hospital
with bleeding.
The doctor was charged and tried for grievous
bodily harm but was acquitted on the grounds he had parental consent.
Prosecutors appealed against the decision but the
doctor was again acquitted, this time owing to the imprecise nature of the
law.
Jewish and Muslim groups were quick to go on the
offensive against the court’s decision.
“This ruling is an outrageous and insensitive
measure,” said Dieter Graumann, head of the Central Committee of Jews.
“Circumcision of newborn boys is a fixed part of the Jewish religion and has
been practised worldwide for centuries. This religious right is respected in
every country in the world.”
He added that it was “an unprecedented and
dramatic intervention in the right of religious communities to
self-determination.”
The committee also called on the German parliament
to protect the “freedom of religion”.
Jewish groups were supported by leaders of
Germany’s large Muslim population “I feel the decision is discriminatory and
counters efforts to promote integration,” said Ali Demir, chairman of the
Islamic Religious Community in Germany. “This is a harmless procedure that has
thousands of years of tradition and a high symbolic value.
“We will end up with circumcision tourism to
neighbouring countries,” he added.
Aiman Mayzek, chairman of the Central Council of
Muslims in Germany, said: “Religious freedom is very important in our
constitution and cannot become the pawn of a one-dimensional ruling that also
further strengthens existing prejudices and clichés about this issue.”
The World Health Organisation has estimated that
nearly one in three males under 15 is circumcised.
Thousands of young German boys, mainly from the
country’s Jewish and Muslim communities, are circumcised each year. The country
has around four million Muslims and 105,000 Jews, and a 2007 study found that
10.9 per cent of males aged between 0 and 17 had been circumcised.
While equating ritual circumcision with grievous
bodily harm the Cologne court said that practice is acceptable on medical
grounds.
Although rare in Europe, circumcision is common in
the United States. Around 55 per cent of males undergo the operation in America,
mainly for reasons of hygiene.