According to international observers, human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

are generally respected and the law and the judiciary provided effective means of addressing individual instances of abuse. However, some concerns have been reported over the treatment of asylum seekers, prison overcrowding and the banning of full face veils. Capital punishment in Belgium

Capital punishment in Belgium

Capital punishment in Belgium was formally abolished on August 1, 1996 for all crimes, in both peacetime and wartime. The last execution for crimes committed in peacetime took place in July 1863, when in Ypres a farmer was executed for murder...

 is fully abolished and a prohibition on the death penalty included in the Belgian Constitution. Belgium was a founding member of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 and the Council of Europe

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...

 and a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights

European Convention on Human Rights

The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...

. Belgium has minimal issues regarding corruption and was ranked 21 out of 180 countries surveyed in Transparency International’s 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Freedom of religion

Freedom of religion in Belgium is protected by law and the constitution. However, religious tension and discrimination has on occasion remained an issue within society. In its 2008 annual report, the Center for Equal Opportunity and the Combat against Racism (CEOCR) warned against growing societal violence, harassment, and discrimination against Muslims. Of the 105 religious discrimination incidents reported by the public to the center, 94 concerned discrimination against Muslims. Of the 430 Internet hate incidents that were reported 80 percent were against Muslims. During the year there were reports of a number of anti-Semitic acts, including attacks against persons, verbal harassment of Jews, and vandalism of Jewish property. The law prohibits public statements that incite national, racial, or religious hatred, including denial of the Holocaust.

In April 2010, the Chamber of Representatives (the lower house) voted to ban the wearing of full face veils such as the niqbab or burqa

Burqa

A burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic religion to cover their bodies in public places. The burqa is usually understood to be the woman's loose body-covering , plus the head-covering , plus the face-veil .-Etymology:A speculative and unattested etymology...

. Human Rights groups condemned this move as a potential violation of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion of those women who wear the burqa or the niqab as an expression of their identity or beliefs.

Treatment of prisoners and asylum seekers

While generally meeting international standards, numerous international organisations have noted that Belgian Prisons continue to suffer from overcrowding and in June 2008 the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe (CE) issued a report noting that 75 percent of all prisons in the country were overcrowded.

Belgium is a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. Its laws provide for the granting of asylum or refugee status, and the government has established a system for providing protection to refugees. While the government generally provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion; the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) severely criticized conditions in detention centres for migrants and asylum-seekers.