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Iraqi constitution draft includes curbs to
women's rights
20.7.2005
By EDWARD WONG
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BAGHDAD, Iraq, -
A working draft of Iraq's new constitution would
cede a strong role to Islamic law and could sharply
curb women's rights, particularly in personal
matters like divorce and family inheritance.
The document's writers are also debating whether to
drop or phase out a measure enshrined in the interim
constitution, co-written last year by the Americans,
requiring that women make up at least a quarter of
the parliament.
The draft of a chapter of the new constitution
obtained by The New York Times on Tuesday guarantees
equal rights for women as long as those rights do
not "violate Shariah," or Koranic law.
The Americans and secular Iraqis banished such
explicit references to religious law from the
interim constitution adopted early last year.
The draft chapter, circulated discreetly in recent
days, has ignited outrage among women's groups,
which held a protest on Tuesday morning in downtown
Baghdad at the square where a statue of Saddam
Hussein was pulled down by American marines in April
2003.
One of the critical passages is in Article 14 of the
chapter, a sweeping measure that would require court
cases dealing with matters like marriage, divorce
and inheritance to be judged according to the law
practiced by the family's sect or religion.
Under that measure, Shiite women in Iraq, no matter
what their age, generally could not marry without
their families' permission. Under some
interpretations of Shariah, men could attain a
divorce simply by stating their intention three
times in their wives' presence.
Article 14 would replace a body of Iraqi law that
has for decades been considered one of the most
progressive in the Middle East in protecting the
rights of women, giving them the freedom to choose a
husband and requiring divorce cases to be decided by
a judge.
If adopted, the shift away from the more secular and
egalitarian provisions of the interim constitution
would be a major victory for Shiite clerics and
religious politicians, who chafed at the Americans'
insistence that Islam be designated in the interim
constitution as just "a source" of legislation.
Several writers of the new constitution say they
intend, at the very least, to designate Islam as "a
main source" of legislation.
By rough count, nearly 200 women and men showed up
in the fiery heat to hand out fliers and wave white
banners in a throng of traffic. "We want to be equal
to everybody - we want human rights for everybody,"
read one slogan. The demonstration came hours before
two Sunni Arabs involved in writing the constitution
were fatally shot near a Baghdad restaurant,
threatening to throw the drafting process into
turmoil.
"We want a guarantee of women's rights in the new
constitution," said Hannah Edwar, an organizer of
the protest. "We're going to meet with the
constitutional committee and make our thoughts
known."
A dozen women, some sheathed in full-length black
robes, showed up to denounce Ms. Edwar's protest.
They said they were followers of Moktada al-Sadr,
the fundamentalist Shiite cleric who has led two
rebellions against the Americans.
American and Iraqi officials say that several draft
chapters of the constitution are floating around
Baghdad and that no final language has been agreed
on. Changes can still be made before Aug. 15, the
deadline for the National Assembly to approve a
draft. Protests by women and relatively secular
blocs on the constitutional committee, like the
Kurds, may force Shiite members to tone down the
religious language.
"Some of the points regarding women's rights in this
chapter are still to be reviewed," said Mariam
Arayess, a religious Shiite on the committee.
Ms. Arayess said she believed that the draft was the
most recent working version, and that it had fairly
generous provisions for equal rights. She is one of
fewer than 10 women on the 71-member drafting
committee.
The chapter has 27 articles, most of which have
relatively liberal provisions aimed at ensuring
various civil rights. The first says that "all
Iraqis are equal before the law" and that "equal
opportunities are guaranteed for all citizens
according to the law." The final article forbids
censorship of the press.
References to Islam and Shariah appear in a few
places. One clause says Iraqis will enjoy all rights
stated in "international treaties and conventions as
long as they do not contradict Islam." Such language
is accepted by many Iraqis, including moderates, who
say Islam is a vital foundation for the country.
But women's groups are incensed by Article 14, which
would repeal a relatively liberal personal status
law enacted in 1959 after the British-backed
monarchy was overthrown by secular military
officers. That law remained in effect through the
decades of Mr. Hussein's rule.
The law used Shariah to adjudicate personal and
family matters, but did it in as secular a manner as
possible, pulling together the most liberal
interpretations of Koranic law from the main Shiite
and Sunni sects and stitching them together into one
code.
Critics of the draft proposal say that in addition
to restricting women's rights, it could also deepen
the sectarian divide between Sunnis and Shiites. The
draft also does not make clear what would happen in
cases where the husband is from one sect and the
wife from another.
Religious Shiite politicians tried once before, in
December 2003, to abolish the 1959 law. As is
happening now, women's groups and secular female
politicians took to the streets.
Faced with the mini-rebellion, L. Paul Bremer III,
then the effective American proconsul of Iraq,
rebuffed the move, to the anger and dismay of many
religious Shiites.
"We don't want to use separate Sunni or Shiite
laws," said Dohar Rouhi, president of the
Association of Women Entrepreneurs. "We want a law
that can be applied to everyone. We want justice for
women."
A Westerner familiar with the writing of the
constitution said that when he saw a draft of the
civil rights section less than a week ago, it did
not contain the sweeping language on personal status
law. In that version, he said, most measures - even
those citing Shariah - were not as severe as they
could have been.
"Compared to what some of the conservative Shiites
were pushing, the glass is half full," said the
Westerner, who would speak only on condition of
anonymity, because he did not want to appear to be
interfering in a sovereign Iraqi process.
He said there was some cause for alarm, though,
pointing to a proposal to phase out a measure in the
interim constitution requiring that a quarter of
parliamentary seats go to women.
Ms. Arayess, the Shiite drafter, said some of the
writers were considering keeping the quota for the
next two terms of the parliament before allowing it
to lapse. After that, she said, women should be able
to stand on their own.
www.nytimes.com
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