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Iraq Draft Constitution Imperils Women's Rights

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Wed Aug 24, 2005 at 06:49:29 PM EST
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Equality Now reports that the rights of women in Iraq are in great danger in light of the current draft of the constitution of Iraq.

They are asking people to contact the following individuals immediately, as the next 24 to 48 hours are critical. All of them are playing or can play strong advisory roles in the drafting of the new constitution. Ask them to use all of their influence to support Iraqi women’s call for a constitution that protects their equality and human rights.

  • President Jalal Talabani
    Baghdad, Iraq
    E-mail: presidentialprotocol.iraq@gmail.com
    Address letters to: “Dear President Talabani,”

  • H.E. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad
    United States Ambassador to Iraq
    Embassy of the United States
    APO AE 09316
    Baghdad, Iraq
    E-mail: usconsulbaghdad@state.gov
    Address letters to: “Dear Ambassador Khalilzad,”
  • His Excellency Kofi Annan
    United Nations Secretary-General
    United Nations Headquarters, Room S-3800
    New York, NY 10017
    Fax: (212) 963-3511

The New York Times reported:

Women's rights. Shiite religious leaders want to reverse a 1959 law that settles domestic concerns-issues of marriage, divorce, and inheritance-in civil courts, and move such matters to religious courts. Under an earlier draft of the constitution, women would be stripped of their rights to inherit property on an equal basis as men, and their legal protections in case of divorce would be weakened. Some women also fear that a provision in the TAL requiring that women hold at least 25 percent of the National Assembly seats may be scrapped. Some women's groups want to boost the quota to 40 percent or greater.

Here's more from The Christian Science Monitor and a backgrounder from Human Rights Watch on the status of women in Iraq prior to the fall of Saddam.

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    Iraq Draft Constitution Imperils Women's Rights | 5 comments (5 topical)
    Re: Iraq Draft Constitution Imperils Women's Right (none / 0) (#1)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:42 PM EST
    Gee, I sure hope we never sink so low here as to try to write discrimation and oppression into the Constitution. Well, you know, to non-sodomites, of course...

    Re: Iraq Draft Constitution Imperils Women's Right (none / 0) (#2)
    by Aaron on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:42 PM EST
    One of the cardinal precepts of all Western fundamentalist religious belief and patriarchal societies in general is the necessity of maintaining tight controls over women. Just examine any modern society at the point in history when it begins expanding the rights and roles of women and you'll see a society that is moving towards liberalization as a whole and away from all religious ideological dogma. Islamic fundamentalism can not function effectively without repressing the female. You can repeat this statement inserting any Western religion in place of Islam. The resurgence of fundamentalist Christianity here in the United States is a perfect example. Attempts to regain control over women's bodies, specifically reproductive control in the form of abortion and birth control is an absolute necessity if the Christian fundamentalist movement is going to maintain and expand its resurgence. When politicians like Rick Santorum attack birth-control, child support and the right to have an abortion, consciously or not they are in fact working towards the creation of a society that places women in a position of subservience. Once women have been controlled, the minds of the young, male and female alike can be shaped in any manner that the society in question deems necessary. But without that control over women, the young in their most formative years are free to develop intellectually and socially nearly unfettered by the prevailing ideologies imposed by society at large. The United States again is a perfect example, during the 1960s and 70s old paradigms of child rearing were cast aside by many in favor of new approaches and methods of raising the young. Religious conservatives immediately began to see the danger of a generation which started creating their own ethical and social standards rooted not in any religious philosophy that clung to well-established boundaries, but in a much freer secular society which began pushing beyond those old boundaries. This type of liberalized society threatens literally everything from the past and therefore, from a conservative fundamentalist perspective, cannot be tolerated and must be stamped out.

    Re: Iraq Draft Constitution Imperils Women's Right (none / 0) (#3)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:43 PM EST
    Aaron... What would Pat Robertson think!

    Re: Iraq Draft Constitution Imperils Women's Right (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:43 PM EST
    Like I said a couple of days ago...we can take the word of one of the Shrub's formerly biggest supporters on just how thrilled she is with the new Iraq: Just ask former Bush supporter Dr. Raja Kuzai(the Iraqi ob/gyn. who met w/ Shrub in 2004) Dr. Kuzai then: PRESIDENT BUSH: I want to thank my friend, Dr. Raja Khuzai, who's with us today. This is the third time we have met. The first time we met, she walked into the Oval Office -- let's see, was it the first time? It was the first time. The door opened up. She said, "My liberator," and burst out in tears -- (laughter) -- and so did I. (Applause.) Compare and contrast with her statement yesterday: "This is the future of the new Iraqi government - it will be in the hands of the clerics," said Dr. Raja Kuzai, a secular Shiite member of the Assembly. "I wanted Iraqi women to be free, to be able to talk freely and to able to move around." "I am not going to stay here," said Dr. Kuzai

    Re: Iraq Draft Constitution Imperils Women's Right (none / 0) (#5)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:44 PM EST
    RIP US occupied Iraqi constitution. Sounds like they have learned about spin from Robertson and Novak and Bush, or they are puppets. From Billmon
    So now the boys in the back room say an official draft does exist, but won't be voted on, because it was "effectively passed" on Monday -- back when we thought the negotiators had been given three more days to iron out some minor details like the federal nature of the Iraqi state.
    And Helena Cobbain did not fall for it either. From her latest post Iraq Constitution talks, RIP?:
    ...I just thought the conduct of the talks (held inside the Green Zone, by the strange variety of Iraqis who inhabit it) seemed completely tangential to what is going inside huge areas of the rest of the country.... Well anyway, now it looks as though this round of the constitution talks is headed south, fast. Maybe the Bushies won't even be able to succeed in getting a completely phony piece of paper out there called "Iraqi Constitution", to help them cover their behinds as they, too, head south out of the country?
    I guess women's rights may not be on the top of the Iraqi peoples agenda. Sexist pigs.

    Iraq Draft Constitution Imperils Women's Rights | 5 comments (5 topical)