New Delhi: Criticism has followed a new bill moved in the Iraqi Parliament which appears to hand the baton to religious authorities in matters relating to marriage, inheritance, divorce, and child custody, and could lead to the legalisation of child marriage by lowering the age at which girls will be considered marriageable to nine.
The draft bill lobbied for by the Shiite Coordination Framework — a coalition of Islamist Shia parties forming a large bloc in Iraqi parliament — aims to amend the 1959 Personal Status Law. The 1959 law is considered the most progressive in West Asia, particularly when it comes to the protection of women’s rights.
The new bill, first read in Parliament Sunday, allows citizens to choose between the Shia or Sunni sect which can represent them in all matters of jurisprudence rather than the civil judiciary.
Critics argue that it will enshrine sectarianism in relationships in a country where the Shias are in the majority and Sunnis in the minority, give power to religious clerics, and push Iraq toward regressive religious patriarchy.
With religious regulations, such as the Shia personal law which allows the marriage of girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15, the new amendments would be a major blow to women’s and children’s rights, argue rights groups. “No matter how it is dressed up, in passing these amendments, Iraq would be closing a ring of fire around women and children,” Raz Salayi, an Iraqi researcher for Amnesty wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Sarah Sanbar of the Human Rights Watch told AFP that the bill is a sign of “a country moving backwards”.
Women MPs, too, have criticised the amendments and formed a parliamentary bloc in opposition. MP Alia Nassif in a statement against the bill warned that legitimising marriages conducted by unlicensed clerics could create a slew of health and legal problems.
For instance, she said, these marriages, which are conducted without medical examinations, could increase the incidence of diseases and deformities in children born of these unions. Other MPs in the bloc include Srwa Abdul Wahed, Sozan Mansour, Wahda Al-Jumaili, and Asma Abdul Rahman Al-Ani, 964 Media, an Iraqi digital platform reported.
Various attempts have been made in Iraq to revert to traditional Islamic values since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, Arab News reported.
In fact, this particular draft bill was more far-reaching when attempts were first made to introduce it in parliament last month. However, opposition to it in the House and protests outside it delayed its introduction.
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What is 1959 Personal Status Law
The Abdul-Karim Qasim government brought in an array of reforms, especially towards advancing the rights of women. As prime minister of Iraq, Qasim, a Leftist army man who came to power through a coup, led the country between July 1958 and February 1963.
His tenure marked the “questioning the dictates of ‘ulemas and tribal leaders over private matters” and the inclusion of women in the decision-making of political and personal matters, sociologist Zahra Ali wrote in a piece for the media platform OpenDemocracy.
Naziha al-Dulaymi became the country’s first female minister during this time.
The 1959 Personal Status Law brought civil and personal law under the state and took away the power to govern personal decisions from religious authorities.
It treated all Iraqis the same – Shia or Sunni – and also raised the age of marriage, banned polygamy, and disallowed any forceful performance of marital duties by women. Under the law, women no longer could be divorced at whim or under suspicion of medical deficiencies.
It also allowed women to leave the house without permission from a man.
These rights are expected to be impacted if the new bill gets a nod from the Iraqi parliament.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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