GENEVA, (Reuters) – The top U.N. rights official said  yesterday Switzerland’s ban on building minarets was deeply  divisive and at odds with its international legal obligations.

Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said  in a statement that prohibiting an architectural structure  linked to Islam or any religion was “clearly discriminatory”.

Swiss voters adopted the ban in a referendum on Sunday,  defying the government and parliament which had rejected the  right-wing initiative as violating the Swiss constitution,  freedom of religion and a cherished tradition of tolerance.

Pillay said the ban was “discriminatory, deeply divisive and  a thoroughly unfortunate step for Switzerland to take, and risks  putting the country on a collision course with its international  human rights obligations”.

Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, speaking in  Athens, said the ban brought new risks for Swiss security.

“We are concerned by this vote … Every blow to the  coexistence of different cultures and religions also endangers  our security, because provocation risks sparking other  provocations,” she told a ministerial meeting of the  Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.