"Tareeq
Al-Shaab" (Central organ of the Iraqi Communist Party)
No.2
-
Year
71
4
August 2005
Iraqi
Women Call for Guaranteeing
Women Rights in the Constitution
A
meeting of women was held on Tuesday
)2
August 2005) at the Convention Centre in Baghdad,
and
the following statement was issued at its conclusion:
"After
discussing the issue of women in the Iraqi draft constitution which
has been recently put forward for national dialogue,
a
group of Iraqi women that represents Iraqi societal spectrum,
agreed on the need for guaranteeing women rights in the constitution
as a n essential part of guaranteeing human rights of all members of
Iraqi society,
and
to achieve the principle of equality for all,
irrespective of gender,
race,
religion,
sect,
or
any other consideration outside the principle of citizenship.
Our
aspirations for a democratic future for Iraq,
where
citizens enjoy equal rights regardless of gender,
compel us to put forward the following recommendations:
1-
Islamic law is to be considered one of the sources of legislation.
2-
Abiding by all international covenants and agreements that regulate
human rights and women and children rights,
as
well as those with special needs,
and
that they should be regarded as a source for legislation.
3-
To
continue to abide by the percentage of women representation,
such
that it is no less than 25%
in
the three branches of power and decision making centres.
This
quota should be confined to a limited period.
4-
Not
to include any clause in the constitution that promotes ideological,
religious,
nationalist and sectarian bigotry.
5-
Prohibiting the practice of any form of violence against women.
"
******************
"Tareeq
Al-Shaab" (Central organ of the Iraqi Communist Party)
No.
110
-
Year
70
24
July 2005
Women’s Picket in Baghdad
Demanding Rights in Constitution
Activists in the
field of women rights,
representing a
number of NGOs,
organized a
picket in Furdaws Square in central Baghdad on 22 July 2005.
They called for a
constitution that upholds citizenship right,
the law,
equality,
ensuring woman’s
human rights,
banning all forms
of discrimination and violence against women,
and guaranteeing
women participation at no less than 40%
in all positions
of decision making,
and to endorse
international covenants and agreements of human rights.
They rejected
specifying a limited time for the women participation quota in
decision-making
positions.
They also
expressed concern regarding the possibility of bringing back to life
Decree 137 in the Constitution.
*****************
Amendment Proposed to National Assembly
Concerning Women Legislations
A seminar was held by the Women
Empowerment Organisation
(WEO) to discuss
constitutional concepts and the right of women to reach decision-making
positions.
National Assembly member,
Mrs Faiza Babakhan,
stressed the need for abolishing all forms of discrimination against
women, enabling her to take part
in political decision making,
especially with regard to women rights,
and ! 3 enhancing women’s role in laying constitution
foundations.
As a lawyer and also a member of
the women’s committee in the Assembly,
she had presented a number of recommendations to the Ministry
of Justice, including a proposal
to amend laws that deal with women legis! lations.
She said that this issue was referred to the state presidency,
which in turn referred it to the National Assembly and its
Legal Committee.
She pointed to Article 41(a)
in Iraqi Penal Code which gives the man the right to hit his
wife, as an example of oppression
against women. Article 409 in the
Penal Code exposes inequality in! 7 providing legal protection for
women.
Another participant,
Azhar Alshaarbaf said that all previous interim constitutions
in Iraq did not give the woman her full rights.
The new constitution should therefore provide guarantees for
citizen rights and a mechanism that prevents ! 33 oppression by the
state.
Luma Ali Faraj,
a lawyer specialised in constitutional law,
said that any citizen should have the right to appeal to the
constitutional court, the highest
legal authority in the country, if
the articles in the!
constitutions are not adequate.
Suzan Aref discussed the factors
that contributed to marginalizing the woman and making her devote her
attention to housework, stressing
the need for activating her role.
She said: “What we want to achieve
is to ! 1033 change the stereotype image of the woman in society”.
As for the weak participation of women in the political field,
she considered this to be due to the lack of skills,
and it can be gradually overco! me.
Discussions then followed,
and most contributions called for separating religion from the
state and giving women the right to reach positions of decision-making
through a share of at least 40%.
A number of women organisations
and NGOs participated in the seminar,
including Amal Society,
Baghdad Women Society, Iraqi
Women’s League, Voice of
Independent Woman, Women Revival
Organisation, Rural Women Society,
Democratic
! Youth Federation,
General Union of Students,
as well as the UN mission. At the
end of discussions, the
recommendations were sent to the constitution drafting committee.
*********************
Workshop in Britain
On
Women and
the
Constitution
Iraqi Women’s League branch in
Britain organized a study workshop as part of its program entitled
“Women and the Forthcoming Constitution”.
It had earlier held a public meeting,
with two speakers: Mrs
Bushra Purto and
lang1033 Dr Reyadh al-Zuhairy,
that dealt with issue concerning the constitution and state
administration.
The Workshop,
held on 3 July 2005, hosted
a group of experts in the field of international and Iraqi law,
in addition to figures who are active in culture and media,
and activists in women movement lang2049.
Three main topics were discussed:
state administration,
Personal Status Law, and Labour
Law and social security.
Discussions dealt with views about
hopes for the new constitution,
and the laws that will be governing Iraqi society in general and women
in particular. Special attention
was paid to women issues in this respect.
The Workshop produced a number of
opinions and proposals, that were
legally formulated by participating experts,
with the aim of presenting then as recommendations to the
constitution drafting committee in Iraq.
Proposals regarding Personal ! 1033 Status Law and Labour Law
will presented to the National Assembly.
Iraqi Women’s League branch in Britain will continue its afore-mentioned
program with the aim of supporting efforts to draft a secular and
modern constitution
! g1033 that is in
ng1033 line with the present
era.
