European council yields on circumcision ban

The Council of Europe will not ban male ritual circumcision as it does female genital mutilation, the organization's Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland wrote in a letter to President Shimon Peres. The letter came in response to Peres' appeal Sunday over the council's resolution against circumcision last week.

The council's Parliamentary Assembly called male ritual circumcision a "violation of the physical integrity of children," and voted in favor of the nonbinding resolution 78-13.

Peres wrote to Jagland that "the ritual of male circumcision has been practiced by Jewish communities for thousands of years and is a fundamental element of our tradition and obligation as Jews. The Jewish communities across Europe would be greatly afflicted to see their cultural and religious freedom impeded upon by the Council of Europe, an institution devoted to the protection of these very rights. I therefore urge the members of this distinguished assembly to reconsider this resolution."

In response, Jagland emphasized that female circumcision is considered gender-based violence, and he clarified that the resolution clearly differentiates between female genital mutilation and "the practice of circumcision of young boys for religious reasons." There is no similar legal ban on religious male circumcision.

"While our organization is of course fully committed to children's rights to physical integrity, nothing in the body of our legally binding standards would lead us to put on equal footing the issue of female genital mutilation and the circumcision of young boys for religious reasons," he wrote, adding that he understands the reaction the council received from Jewish and Muslim communities.

The letter further emphasized that "the Parliamentary Assembly is a consultative body which does not represent the position of the Council of Europe as a whole."