[pharmacologist30]

A court in Cologne has ruled that circumcising young children for religious reasons causes grievous bodily harm and is illegal, even with parental consent. Jewish and Muslim organizations have blasted the decision.

The regional court in the western city of Cologne ruled on Tuesday that child circumcision constituted "illegal bodily harm," even with parental consent. In the verdict, the court said that the "fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents."

The case came about after a four-year-old Muslim boy's circumcision led to complications and he checked back into hospital days later with severe bleeding. Prosecutors then charged the physician - identified under German media law only as Dr. K. - who carried out the operation at the parents' request with grievous bodily harm.

The court also acquitted the doctor, however, saying that he did not know the procedure was illegal so it would have been a miscarriage of justice to sentence him. This verdict, unless it is overturned at appeal in a higher court, would likely serve as precedent in future cases, making future guilty verdicts possible.

"A child's body is irreparably and permanently changed by a circumcision," the court said. "This change contravenes the interests of the child to decide later about his own religious affiliation."

Jewish group says verdict attacks religious freedom

Dieter Graumann, the president of the German Central Council of Jews, said that the verdict was "an unprecedented and dramatic intervention in religious communities' right to self-determination." The book of Genesis instructs believers that men should be circumcised.

"Circumcision of newborn boys is a fixed part of the Jewish religion and has been practiced worldwide for centuries," Graumann said. "This religious right is respected in every part of the world."

He called on the government to clarify Tuesday's ruling and to protect religious freedom from attack.

The World Health Organization estimates that roughly one third of men in the world are circumcised. Many are Muslims or Jews circumcised for religious reasons, but some parents also choose to circumcise their boys on health and hygiene grounds. The court also said that circumcision on medical grounds was not illegal. http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=22705

Holm Putzke, a professor of penology – the study of the punishment of crime – from the University of Passau, told the German news agency DPA that the ruling would set a legal precedent and would act as a warning. "The ruling is not binding for other courts, but it will have the effect of a warning signal." He added while Dr K had been let off, from now on no doctor would be able to claim that he or she did not know it was forbidden.

He said unlike politicians who have long faced pressure to deal with the issue, "the court did not allow itself to be scared off by charges of antisemitism or religious intolerance".

Demir predicted a ban in Germany would lead to a rise in "circumcision tourism in neighbouring countries in Europe".