LONDON – A proposed ban in Iceland on male circumcision, in defence of therights of babies and young boys, has sparked anger among leaders of theworld’s three major religions.
Should the ban go through, it would be a first in Europe, where malecircumcision is rare outside the Jewish and Muslim communities.
The proposal was presented by Progressive Party MP Silja DoggGunnarsdottir, who likened circumcision of boys to the internationallycondemned practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).
And it calls for a six-year prison sentence for anyone causing “damage tothe body or health of a child by removing all or part of his or her sexualorgans.”
FGM, which affects more than 200 million girls and women alive todayworldwide, has been banned in Iceland since 2005.
But there is no equivalent legislation for the ritual removal of a boy’sforeskin, which is practiced by a majority of Jews and Muslims, and whichis widespread in North America for hygienic purposes.
“We should have the same law for all children,” said Gunnarsdottir, whopresented an early draft of the bill to Iceland’s parliament, the Althing,on January 30.
Unless justified for health reasons, the proposed law says circumcision is”a violation of the rights” of young boys, citing the UN Convention on theRights of the Child.
Article 24 of the treaty urges states to “take all effective andappropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practicesprejudicial to the health of children.”
Gunnarsdottir’s bill would seek to amend current legislation on FGM, byreplacing the word “girl” with “child”.
– ‘Attack on religious freedom’ –
The proposal is largely symbolic: the country of 348,580 people is home tovery few Jews and Muslims.
Iceland’s two Muslim associations count fewer than 1,000 members, accordingto the national statistics institute, while there are only around 250 Jewsin the country.
And there have only been around 20 circumcisions carried out on thesub-Arctic island since 2006, according to Icelandic health authorities.
As circumcision is not a common practice in Icelandic culture, and asparents wishing to have their sons circumcised are faced with reticentdoctors, many parents are believed to take their sons abroad to have theprocedure performed.
Still, religious leaders blasted the proposal as unacceptable.
“The proposed bill is a dangerous attack on freedom of religion” and risks”stigmatising certain religious communities,” Cardinal Reinhard Marx, thehead of the Catholic church in the European Union.
“The criminalisation of circumcision is a very grave measure that raisesdeep concern,” he said.
Meanwhile Avi Mayer, a spokesman for the Jewish Agency, aquasi-governmental organisation that works to bring Jewish immigrants toIsrael, railed against the threat to “a fundamental custom of the Jewishand Muslim faiths for millennia.”
Circumcision “has been encouraged and promoted by the United Nations as away of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS,” he said.
– Gives Iceland ‘bad name’ –
This is true for people considered to be “at risk” — such as communitiesexposed to sexually transmitted infections, especially in certain regionssuch as Africa.
But increasingly, the scientific community in the West is shifting awayfrom advising systematic male circumcision, as the procedure can entailhealth risks for the child.
The Canadian Paediatric Society, for instance, does not recommend thepractice as a routine procedure because the benefits do not outweigh therisks.
The American Academy of Paediatrics says the final decision should still beleft to parents to make in the context of their beliefs.
The bill is “not against religion,” insists Gunnarsdottir. “It is putforward to protect children and their rights.”
But Salmann Tamimi, the head of the Muslim Association of Iceland,maintains the bill was not properly thought through as the Muslim andJewish communities were not consulted.
He said the proposal was “bad for Iceland’s name.”
Parliament began discussing the bill on February 8, and the debate willcontinue for several more months. A vote could be held before summer recesson June 7.
It is not yet known how much political support there is for a ban.
Representatives of four political parties have backed the proposal: theProgressive and Left Green parties — two of the three coalition governmentparties — as well as the People’s Party and the anti-establishment PirateParty.
More than 500 Icelandic doctors have also signed a petition supporting theban, saying circumcision may “entail risks that outweigh the advantages”. -APP/AFP