What are we doing in this Country? Sadam is in custody, the WMD are not there, so why are we getting bogged down in this micr-management of a people so alien to our culture and beliefs. They are not going to change peacefully or overnight, so let it go and bring our troops home already. Feel free to comment or e-mail: wahkonta@graffiti.net. Blog On.
EXCERPT BEGINS
IGC Turns the Clock Back on
Women's Rights

by Dahr Jamail

Baghdad, Iraq , Jan 21 - On January 16, the Iraqi
Women’s Organization and women’s rights activists
held a conference at the Al-Sayd Club in Baghdad
in response to the December 29, 2003 decision by
the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) to pass a bill
canceling what is known as the “Personal Status
Law,” a set of rules that has long provided
opportunities for and protected the rights of women
here.

The cancellation of this law would mean that Iraqi
women will have to rely on religious institutions for
personal issues such as marriage and divorce,
rather than being allowed to use civilian courts for
these matters. It is seen by many as a step toward
the implementation of fundamentalist Islamic law.

Aljazeera reported on Wednesday, January 21,
that around 5,000 Kurdish women marching in
the Northeastern Iraq town of Suleimaniyah in
protest of the recent IGC decision, while in the
Shi’ite town of Najaf, some 500 women
demonstrated in support of the decision.

The US occupation command (Coalition Provisional
Authority, or CPA) in Iraq has stated that it will not
endorse the decision by the IGC because it would
deprive women of their rights. CPA head L. Paul
Bremer must sign off on decisions in order for them
to take effect. The CPA also has the power to overrule
decisions of the IGC, but has yet to overrule the
recent decision, nor stated as to whether they will do
so.

The bill, known as Decision 137 of the IGC, has
triggered a large wave of objections and outcry
from the Iraqi people.

When asked if he would annul the decision,
Adnan al-Pachachi, the current chairman of
the IGC, told Kurdsat TV, “I think the decision
will not be implemented. It is a decision that is
full of legislative loopholes. It was not even
approved by the IGC in a normal way.”

Neither Al-Pachachi, nor any of the people
interviewed for this story, provided justifications
for the passing of the bill by the IGC. It is believed
by many that certain clerics in the IGC were behind
this decision. Only three of the IGC's 25 members
are female.

Demonstrations by Iraqi women’s organizations
and activist groups have ensued, for they say
the decision not only threatens the status of women
in Iraq, but it endangers the future of Iraqi families.

The conference called by the Iraqi Women’s
Organization, a Kirkuk-based grassroots group,
was attended by Al-Pachachi along with other
IGC members, a representative of the CPA,
representatives from women’s organizations
and various other associations. Several Iraqi
ministers also attended to express their
rejection of Decision 137.

Head of the Gathering of Iraqi Humanitarian
Societies and Organizations, Adnan Abdul Aziz,
stated to the conference that this move by the
IGC is a concentration of sectarianism, and called
on them to cancel it immediately.

Hundreds of Iraqi women held a sit-in in Baghdad
to express their rejection of the IGC’s decision.
Women activists also stated the need for the women
of Iraq to participate strongly in the rebuilding of their
country, saying Decision 137 would greatly impede
that.

The formulation of the Personal Status Law was
originally triggered on July 14, 1958, the day Iraqis
toppled the British-installed monarchy. The Law
provided Iraqi women a role in their country and
granted them many rights. These rights were
enjoyed even throughout the reign of Saddam
Hussein and his Ba’ath Party.

Rana Al-Aiouby, an Iraqi woman who works as an
interpreter, stated, “I can’t believe these men. What
are they trying to do? I thought they were supposed
to be trying to help the people of their country? This
does nothing but infuriate us!”

Al-Aiouby also stated, “It is clear to all of us that
the more fundamentalist members of the IGC
are using their power to try to make Iraqi women
live like the women in Saudi [Arabia]. Now we are
all wondering why the CPA doesn't overrule this
decision, when they have the power to do so at
anytime?”

Ghazwan Al-Mukhtar, an Iraqi ex-engineer, stated,
“Of course I know what those idiots at the IGC
decide. As if Iraq doesn’t have enough problems
right now, they need to make a problem with
women’s rights!”

Nisreen Brwari, Iraq’s Minister of Public Works,
joined a women’s demonstration which condemned
the decision.

Dr. Genan al-Jabari, an Iraqi woman who teaches
physics at Baghdad University, said, “This order by
the IGC has set us back 40 years, and erased all
the gains that Iraqi women have made over this time.”

In addition, the Iraqi Society for Human Rights
stated at the conference that the decision is
“…an assassination of women’s rights, and a
proof for false allegations of some political
parties that kept pretending to demand elections,
freedom, and respect of human rights.”

As for those speaking out in favor of Decision
137, Aljazeera quoted Sokayna al-Sumaydie,
head of the Islamic Union for the Women of
Iraq, as saying, “Sharia [fundamentalist Islamic
law] guarantees the goodwill of people and sets
standards for divorce, polygamy, and marriage.
We can not fight the orders of God. We refuse
any law that calls for scrapping the Sharia law.”
EXCERPT ENDS click link for copy verify.