For three years, Karim Daoud ran a mosque in northwest France. In late October, the local authorities closed the mosque for six months, saying it was promoting “a radical practice of Islam” and “cultivating a feeling of hate towards France.”
But the mosque’s representatives say the government has provided scant public evidence about the grounds for that decision.
It is one of a growing number of mosques closed by authorities using an array of powers that rights activists, international organizations - including the UN - and members of the Muslim community say give authorities carte blanche to close down places of worship without proper scrutiny and with procedures so opaque the case cannot be overturned.
Fionnuala Ni Aolain, a UN special rapporteur, said: “The flirtation with secretive evidence is in itself worrying, but it also breaches provisions in international treaties” relating to the right to a fair trial and equality before the law.”
The Elysee Palace declined to comment. The Interior Ministry said the government has strengthened the ability of authorities to prevent and combat Islamist terrorism over the past five years and that all the legal measures adopted were “done in full respect of the rule of law.” The local interior ministry office declined to comment.
Seeking a re-election this week, French President Emmanuel Macron has toughened his stance on law and order after a series of deadly extremist attacks in recent years.
He has implemented a raft of laws and measures aimed at tackling violent extremism and Islamist radicals who challenge France’s secular values. But critics say Macron has given outsize powers to security forces and chipped away at democratic protections, leaving Muslims vulnerable to abuse.
Many Muslims now feel France amid an increase in anti-Muslim discriminatory and other acts in 2021.
Macron’s government has touted the mosque closure as a prime example of its crackdown on what it calls Islamism. French authorities have closed 22 mosques over the past 18 months. Authorities have investigated some 90 out of roughly 2,500 Muslim places of worship on suspicions of spreading “separatist” ideology.
On the Allonnes mosque, the ministry said authorities provided detailed evidence to the court to support the allegations and that the mosque’s lawyers had the opportunity to challenge it, but were ultimately unsuccessful.
Daoud says he has no links to violent extremism.
Nabila Asmane, a lawyer, said the ministry did not provide sufficient evidence to substantiate the serious accusations it made as part of its case to close the mosque, that the government’s case was based on false allegations and that the investigation hadn’t been thorough.