German parliament defends circumcision after court ban

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German doctors seek urgent action on circumcision row

"A rabbi carries an eight-day-old baby during a 2004 circumcision ceremony in Jerusalem. German doctors are seeking an urgent clarification from the government over religious circumcision after a court ruling calling it a criminal act prompted an international outcry. (AFP Photo/Menahem Kahana)" title

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German court circumcision ban meets wave of criticism

Reuters – Thu, Jun 28, 2012 BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's foreign minister added his voice on Thursday to a chorus of criticism of a court decision to ban the circumcision of young boys for religious reasons, arguing that such traditions must be permitted in a tolerant society.

"Germany is an open-minded, tolerant country where religious freedom is firmly established and religious traditions like circumcision are considered an expression of religious pluralism," Guido Westerwelle told the daily Bild in an interview to be published in its Friday edition.

A court in Cologne ruled on Tuesday that involuntary religious circumcision should be illegal as it could inflict serious bodily harm on people who had not consented to it.

The ruling, which applies only to the area around the western city of Cologne but sparked fears among Muslims and Jews in particular that other German states could copy the ban, said boys can consciously decide to be circumcised later in life.

According to the court ruling, "the fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighs the fundamental rights of the parents".

Westerwelle said the ruling caused "irritation" around the world after being reported in the international media.

The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet's website said Turkish European Minister Egemen Bagis had criticized the German ruling, saying that circumcision was a matter of freedom of religion and conscience.

"If German judges have a problem understanding this issue, we can send our scientific circumcisers, we can give them lessons in how to circumcise," he was quoted as saying.

"We are ready to make any contribution for a country that is a friend and ally. But it is not possible for us to accept this ruling as a fait accompli ... God willing, this verdict will be changed," Bagis said.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany called the ruling an "unprecedented and dramatic intrusion" on religious freedom and the Central Council of Muslims in Germany called it "blatant and inadmissible interference" in the rights of parents.

Germany's two main Christian churches also criticized the Cologne court ruling, the Catholic Episcopal Conference calling it "extremely disconcerting".

"To ban circumcision is a serious attack on religious freedom," said Catholic Bishop Heinrich Mussinghoff.

The Evangelical Church's Hans Ulrich Anke said: "Religious freedom and parents' right to choose how to educate their children have not been weighed against the fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity".

The United Nations' special rapporteur on religious freedom, Heiner Bielefeldt, told German radio the court's reasoning was "nonsense".

(Edited by Stephen Brown, editing by Tim Pearce)

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German verdict to delay circumcision, not ban it, jurist says

Reuters – Fri, Jun 29, 2012 PARIS (Reuters) - A widely criticized German court verdict on religious circumcision this week aims only to delay the act, not ban it, and is not directed against any faith, a jurist with a leading role in the legal debate said on Friday.

The operation does serious bodily harm and only males old enough to consent to it freely should undergo it, said Holm Putzke, law professor at Passau University in southern Germany.

Using arguments Putzke has published in recent years, a court in the western city of Cologne ruled on Tuesday that the circumcision there of a Muslim boy who suffered post-operative bleeding had violated a German law against causing bodily harm.

Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and Protestant leaders in Germany denounced the ruling as a serious intrusion on religious freedom. Even Germany's foreign minister spoke out, saying such faith traditions must be allowed in a tolerant modern society.

"I can understand that this verdict has irritated people around the world, but this irritation can be resolved if people look at the reasons for it," Putzke told Reuters by telephone.

"Nobody wants to ban religious circumcision in Islam and Judaism, not at all," he said. "It should just be decided by those who undergo it."

Some German media initially reported the verdict applied only to Jews, which may have added to the emotion of some first reactions, he said. Suggesting opposition to circumcision was aimed against Jews was dishonest, he said.

Germany is home to about 4 million Muslims and 120,000 Jews.

Jews circumcise male infants eight days after birth to recall their covenant with God. The time for Muslim circumcision varies according to family, region and country.

The Cologne court ruling said the four-year-old boy in the case was not old enough to consent to have part of his body removed permanently and his parents should have let him decide when he got older. It gave no minimum age for this.

LIVELY DEBATE AMONG DOCTORS

Putzke said an article he published five years ago in a German medical journal led to lively debates among doctors, especially those called on to perform circumcisions.

"It quickly became clear that a large majority of doctors in clinics objected to medically unnecessary circumcisions," he said. "They said they went against the Hippocratic Oath."

The doctor who treated the boy for post-operative bleeding reported the case to the police, leading them to bring charges against the person who performed the faulty circumcision.

The Cologne judge consulted academic articles in legal and medical journals before making his decision, Putzke said.

"This is not simply a verdict from some misguided court," he added. "Somebody sat down and thought long and hard about the fundamental legal rights involved."

The verdict, which is valid only in the Cologne area, could "send a signal," he said, but it was not clear if other courts would follow this example. He did not know of any similar cases before other courts in Germany.

Putzke said he began studying the issue of circumcision and children's rights after his law professor pointed out to him and other students that violence against children was widely condemned in all cases but these.

"Even the Muslim students were surprised by this," he said.

He hoped religious communities would be open to debating the issue and not refuse to consider any change to their traditions.

Putzke expressed surprise that many people had written to him after the court verdict was announced to support his view.

"I've received thousands of emails in the past few days, from all over the world," he said. "The most remarkable thing is that the emails from Israel were the most balanced and moderate."

(Reporting By Tom Heneghan; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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German court bans circumcision of young boys

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German court bans circumcision of young boys

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German court rules religious circumcision on boys an assault

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German MPs seek to raise number of organ donors

"German Health Minister Daniel Bahr is pictured in 2011. German lawmakers adopted a bill Friday aimed at increasing the number of organ donors by allowing health insurance companies to regularly inquire if their patients are willing to become potential donors. (AFP Photo/John Macdougall)" title

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Dioxin found in eggs from two more German farms

HAMBURG (Reuters) - German authorities said on Friday the highly-poisonous chemical dioxin had been found above permitted levels in eggs from two more German farms following its discovery in eggs from three other farms in early April.

Dioxin has been discovered on two poultry farms in the northern German state of Lower Saxony, the state Agriculture ministry said in a statement.

The two farms have been sealed off and the eggs they produced recalled, the ministry said. The source of the contamination was unknown and being investigated.

It cannot be ruled out that eggs with high dioxin content have been sold for consumption but the eggs presented no immediate threat to health, the state ministry said.

Dioxin was also discovered in three farms in the central German state of North Rhine Westphalia in early April. The source of the North Rhine Westphalia contamination is still unknown.

In January 2011, an EU-wide health alert started when German officials said animal feed tainted with dioxin had been fed to hens and pigs, contaminating eggs, poultry meat and pork at the affected farms.

Germany then introduced a series of new measures including tough restrictions on animal feed ingredients.

Dioxin presents a danger to health if consumed over long periods but small doses are not harmful.

(Reporting by Michael Hogan, editing by William Hardy)

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German MPs call for under-18 ban on cosmetic surgery

"A general view of a session of the Bundestag lower house of parliament in Berlin in 2011. Plastic surgery could be outlawed for under 18-year-olds unless medically necessary under a proposal by lawmakers from Germany's ruling party, according to a document seen by AFP Thursday. (AFP Photo/John Macdougall)" title

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