[WCUSP] Fw: Iraqi Women Resist Return to Sectarian Laws

[Odile Hugonot Haber]

Maybe WILPF should draft a letter to Pelosi too
can you do it Yvonne?
I am working on my report from I/P
and two action alert
odile

Tony Blair started the war in Iraq and the civil war that emerge and
had been predictable
is he going to do the same thing in I/P?



On 6/27/07, yvonne simmons <roweenayvonne at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I wondered how Iraqi's women's movement was doing. It
> seems that urging our WILPF members to contact
> Congresswoman Pelosi and asking if she is doing
> anything about the letter sent to her and the
> increasingly worsening of women's rigts in Iraq. IN
> Peace Yvonne
> --- Libby or Mort Frank <lmfrank1 at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <moderator at PORTSIDE.ORG>
> > To: <PORTSIDE at LISTS.PORTSIDE.ORG>
> > Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 10:04 PM
> > Subject: Iraqi Women Resist Return to Sectarian Laws
> >
> >
> > > IRAQ: Women Resist Return to Sectarian Laws
> > >
> > > By Ellen Massey
> > >
> > > June 25, 2007, Inter Press Service
> > >
> > > http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38304
> > >
> > > WASHINGTON - As Iraq struggles to define its
> > future, there is
> > > one important group that has been largely left out
> > of the
> > > process: women.
> > >
> > > But they are refusing to be left behind. With
> > little
> > > international support or media attention, a
> > network of more
> > > than 150 women's organisations across Iraq is
> > fighting to
> > > preserve their rights in the new constitutional
> > revision
> > > process.
> > >
> > > As part of a campaign to garner international
> > support, the
> > > Iraq Women's Movement sent a letter in May to U.S.
> > Speaker of
> > > the House Nancy Pelosi and another to U.N.
> > Secretary-General
> > > Ban Ki-moon expressing concern over the
> > constitutional review
> > > process taking place and calling for international
> > support for
> > > their effort to preserve women's rights in Iraqi
> > law.
> > >
> > > 'As women face escalating violence and exclusion
> > in Iraq, they
> > > have been marginalised in reconciliation
> > initiatives and
> > > negotiations for government positions,' the letter
> > noted.
> > >
> > > 'Even with the shy and insignificant pressure
> > exerted by the
> > > U.N. and other international donors/players on the
> > Iraqi
> > > government and politicians to fulfill minimum
> > obligations of
> > > Security Council Resolution 1325, the action taken
> > has been a
> > > sequence of disappointments'
> > >
> > > Passed in 2000, Resolution 1325 emphasises the
> > importance of
> > > women's participation in conflict resolution and
> > peace-
> > > building processes. A second resolution, 1483,
> > applies this
> > > conviction specifically to Iraq.
> > >
> > > More than three years ago, the United States was
> > instrumental
> > > in overturning an amendment to the interim
> > constitution that
> > > would have lifted protections for women and
> > children. U.S. and
> > > international pressure, and Iraqi women who took
> > to the
> > > streets, succeeded in defeating the provision,
> > which was
> > > contradictory to many other parts of the
> > constitution.
> > >
> > > Following that triumph, women turned out in record
> > numbers for
> > > the 2005 election. They secured 33 percent of the
> > seats in the
> > > National Assembly but remain woefully absent from
> > other
> > > influential branches of the government, according
> > to a 2006
> > > report from the Iraq Legal Development Project.
> > >
> > > The effectiveness of previous international
> > pressure has
> > > spurred the women's movement in Iraq to call the
> > world's
> > > attention to this issue once again, but there has
> > been little
> > > acknowledgement of their effort so far. The office
> > of the U.N.
> > > secretary-general has released only a very general
> > statement
> > > about the review process since the Iraqi Women's
> > Movement sent
> > > their letter on May 21. Pelosi's office has not
> > yet recognised
> > > the letter publicly.
> > >
> > > Hanaa Edwar is a leader of the Iraqi Women's
> > Movement and
> > > founder of the Iraqi Al-Amal Association, a
> > national civil
> > > society group based in Baghdad. She is campaigning
> > against
> > > Article 41, a provision buried in the text of the
> > draft
> > > constitution that places personal status laws
> > under the
> > > influence of religion, sect or belief. These are
> > the laws that
> > > administer marriage, divorce, inheritance, child
> > custody and
> > > how religious courts settle disputes among
> > Muslims, Christians
> > > and Jews.
> > >
> > > But 'there is no unity across sects or even within
> > sects' on
> > > the rules that govern family and women's status,
> > Edwar noted.
> > >
> > > Warning that the current language could 'deepen
> > the sectarian
> > > issues in this society', Edwar added: 'We feel
> > that this is
> > > not a women's demand, it is a national demand.
> > This is
> > > important for national security.'
> > >
> > > 'National security' is a term that the U.S.
> > Congress knows
> > > well, and the Iraqi women appealed to the issues
> > that are
> > > keystones of U.S. policy in the Middle East. Their
> > letter to
> > > Pelosi asks for 'help in preventing Iraq from
> > taking the
> > > identity of a Religious State,' and includes a
> > reminder that,
> > > 'any destabilisation in the state of law, economy
> > and security
> > > in Iraq can reflect on the security and stability
> > of the whole
> > > region.'
> > >
> > > Mary Trotochaud, an activist who has worked both
> > on the ground
> > > in Iraq and with lawmakers in Washington, told IPS
> > that, 'This
> > > movement originates from three generations of
> > women who had
> > > really strong rights.'
> > >
> > > Iraq's progressive women's rights laws began when
> > the
> > > 'personal status laws' were included in the 1959
> > Constitution.
> > > In 1970, women were formally guaranteed equal
> > rights and
> > > additional laws ensured their right to vote,
> > attend school,
> > > run for office and own property.
> > >
> > > Iraq has also ratified a series of international
> > treaties that
> > > guarantee equal rights for all, including the
> > International
> > > Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and
> > Economic, Social
> > > and Cultural Rights that protect the pluralistic
> > nature of
> > > Iraqi society and offer unprecedented protections
> > to women in
> > > an Arab country.
> > >
> > > Yet Iraqi women still faced considerable
> > historical obstacles
> > > to their political participation, including Ba'ath
> > policies
> > > that disenfranchised them and Saddam Hussein's
> > strengthening
> > > of Islamic and tribal traditions in an effort to
> > consolidate
> > > power in the 1990s.
> > >
> > > 'These are human rights issues that we're talking
> > about that
> > > we should be advocating all the time in all
> > countries,'
> > > Trotochaud said. 'We shouldn't be shy about saying
> > that.'
> >
> === message truncated ===
>
>
>
>
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