German Court: Circumcision of Young Boys Constitutes "Illegal Bodily Harm"
A regional court in Cologne, Germany, has determined that religious circumcision of young boys constitutes ‚Äúillegal bodily harm,‚ÄĚ even when performed with the consent of the parents, and that the ‚Äúfundamental rights of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents.‚ÄĚ
The case arose after the circumcision of a four-year-old Muslim boy led to severe bleeding and other complications. The German physician who performed the operation, identified in the proceeding only as ‚ÄúDr K,‚ÄĚ was charged by German prosecutors. The Cologne court declined to convict the physician, noting that ‚ÄúDr K‚ÄĚ had no way of knowing that the circumcision would be ruled illegal; however, the court held that the procedure itself was criminal.
The ruling provoked immediate outrage from Germany's Muslim community as well as its Jewish citizens. Dieter Graumann, president of the Jewish Central...