Headscarf Ban - Violation of Human Rights?

Everyone has heard of the infamous headscarf ban in France. The French have proposed a law to ban Islamic headscarves and other religious symbols in state schools. The thought behind this is to try and make the learning environment a safe and equal environment for everyone. There should be no pressure to feel forced to believe something just because a fellow classmate is expressing their religious choices.

On the other hand, this law brings up many human rights issues which I thought would be interesting to discuss. Banning something that is an expression of religion and peoples beliefs is a violation of human rights. Do you agree? Do you think that this law should be tolerated? Do you think that it is right that they are trying to ban them simply from schools? What do you think they are trying to accomplish through this law?

I have posted an article by the Human Rights Watch Organization that discusses some of the implications on human rights that this law presents.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2004/02/26/france-headscarf-ban-violates-religious-freedom