‘Stopp Minarett’? The controversy over the building of minarets in Switzerland: religious freedom versus collective identity

In 2009 the cantons and the Swiss people welcomed the initiative aimed at banning the building of minarets, with 57% of votes in favour: it was only rejected in the cantons of Basel, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Geneva. The new article 72, paragraph 3 of the Federal Constitution thus came into force, which provides for an absolute and legally-binding ban on the building of minarets throughout Switzerland. The ban axiologically prevails over the right to freedom of religion, following the principle ‘lex specialis derogat legi generali’ with no exception.This contribution aims at demonstrating that the swiss controversy about the building of minarets is not only a matter of homeland/landscape protection, but - most of all - a problem of islamophobia.