Amnesty International on Friday condemned the Portuguese Parliament’s recent announcement that it had passed a new law prohibiting the donning of face coverings in public areas, a decision that carries repercussions for fundamental civil liberties and individual autonomy in the country.

João Godinho Martins, the executive director of Amnesty International in Portugal, stated: “Far from promoting women’s rights as claimed, this blanket ban is likely to have the opposite effect. Women who choose to wear full-face veils may face greater exclusion from public life, social isolation or increased difficulties in accessing education, employment and public services.”

The announcement of the law is the latest development in a string of efforts in and around the European Union to curtail the usage of face coverings. The first draft of the bill, which the Parliament approved on October 17, 2025, was the brainchild of the far-right Chega party, with the support of the ruling center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Liberal Initiative (IL). The original draft explicitly targeted Islamic garments such as the burqa and niqab. This was later revised to avoid total failure, however, in light of existing constitutional safeguards, such as the protection of freedom of religion under Article 41 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic.

The final text imposed a universal ban on all forms of facial concealment in public spaces, and it is anchored in public security and public order, rather than having express provisions pinpointing that certain religious groups were banned from wearing them. However, Amnesty International pointed out that despite removing direct references to Muslim women, it will inevitably affect how they choose to express their religion and create a “neutrality trap” that disproportionately alienates a vulnerable minority. The danger of enforcing blanket bans is twofold.

Firstly, rights groups say that it co-opts the language of gender equality to justify state-sponsored Islamophobia under the pretext of “liberating” these women from what governments believe is a patriarchal religion. Secondly, it could create a slippery slope in the future where the law is weaponized by political powers to target protesters, infringing on the right to freedom of assembly, which is protected under Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Amnesty International further pointed out that existing laws regarding the removal of face coverings for security reasons are already in place, and the creation of a law of this nature only leads to further discrimination against a marginalized group. If this bill is successfully implemented, Portugal will follow in the footsteps of countries such as Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Bulgaria, France and Denmark.