The European Court of Human Rights upholds France's ban on wearing full-face Islamic veils in public.<br/> <br />Tuesday's ruling dismisses a case brought by a French woman against the state for breach of religious freedom.<br/> <br />By a vote of 15 to 2, the judges ruled that the ban doesn't violate the European Convention of Human Rights.<br/> <br />France was the first European country to ban full-face Islamic veils in public, saying at the time that the garment degraded women and was counter to the country's tradition of secularism.<br/> <br />The government also called the full-face veil a security threat, saying it prevents accurate identification of individuals.<br/> <br />France has the largest Muslim community in Europe, estimated at five million, but it also has some of the continent's most restrictive laws about expressions of faith in public.
