Washington, March 12: The United States on Thursday aired growing fears over the treatment of Muslims in Europe, citing in particular a ban on the construction of minarets in Switzerland.
“Discrimination against Muslims in Europe has been an increasing concern,” the US State Department said in an annual report.
Such developments occurred in countries with “generally strong records” of respecting human rights, it said.
“A recent case that received international attention was the passage on November 29 in Switzerland of a constitutional amendment banning the construction of minarets,” the report said.
The US Thursday also denounced “new forms” of anti-Semitism, in a rise of anti-Jewish sentiment around the world in 2009.
“Traditional and new forms of anti-Semitism continued to arise, and a spike in such activity followed the Gaza conflict in the winter of 2008-2009,” the State Department said in its annual report.
“Often despite official efforts to combat the problem, societal anti-Semitism persisted across Europe, South America, and beyond and manifested itself in classic forms,” it said.
Such incidents, it said, involved attacks on Jews or places of worship as well as desecration of cemeteries.
—Agencies