Iraqi Constitution Draft Includes Curbs to Women's Rights
By EDWARD WONG
http://tinyurl.com/7kyez
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.
--
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do,
because I notice it always coincides with their own desires."
- Susan B. Anthony, 1896
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