The organisation for the freedom
of Women in Iraq launches a campaign to demand the more than ever
needed separation of religion from the state.
The
Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), those who advocate
separation of the state from church, all the enlightened men and women
were sorry to hear yesterday that the shariah is scheduled to be
installed.
Actually,
in an underhand way, on January 13th, the Iraqi council of
Government adopted, law 137 that abolishes the code that had been
instituted back in 1958; the code had several time been altered by the
Ba’athist party at the expense of women.
The
abolition of that code that had during 50 years secured a number of
important rights for women, sparked a burst of anger among the
partisans of separation of state from church. They staged a march in
the streets of Bagdad.
Iraqi
factory women by David Bacon
On
December 29th 2003, the provisional government adopted
resolution 137 that abolishes the family Code that had been in force
since 1959; in its place, it instituted the “shariah” Islamic law.
This
is a backward, macho, resolution, that purposes to do away with
freedom; it will drive Iraq society back to the stone age.
Women
will be robbed of the most basic rights, secured through years of
bitter, unfailing struggle. The legal status will set them centuries
back.
If
the resolution is enforced as law, from now on, Iraqi women will be
daily exploited; if they sidestep from the Islamic law and traditions,
they will be brutally punished.
Law
will make it legal to enforce polygamy, early marriages on underage
girls, forced marriages, to force women to wear the hijab; stoning
adulterous women to death, whipping, throwing acid in their faces for
failing to abide by Islamic laws, domestic violence, segregation, will
all be recognised as lawful procedures.
Women
will no longer be permitted to go out of their homes unless their
husbands give permission or they are accompanied; they will be denied
the right to ask for divorce, or to choose their husband, unless their
family previously agrees. They will be denied access to numerous
professions and will be banned from practising sports, dancing,
singing or playing music.
The
present law that was already modified by the Ba’athist regime
comprises reactionary measures taken from the Shariah law.
This
law must be replaced by an advancement law that guarantees rights for
women and not by a reactionary chauvinist law that denies those
rights.
Support the demand for the
repeal of resolution 137 launched by the Organisation of Women’s
Freedom in Iraq (OWFI)
Open World Conference of Workers