(Montreal Gazette) Claiming a Montreal police officer removed a Muslim woman’s hijab and prayer robe without her permission, the Quebec Human Rights Commission is seeking to have the force ordered to update its search policies to better accommodate religious minorities.
According to documents filed by the commission in a case it’s bringing before the Human Rights Tribunal of Quebec, the police intervention — which it describes as “filled with prejudices associating Arab and Muslim people to terrorism” — took place in November 2014 and unfolded before several witnesses.
At the time of the incident, Aicha Essalama was visiting Montreal from Morocco to spend a month with her adult son. The two were on their way back from Friday prayers at a mosque in Laval when police patrollers circled their car.
