The Iraqi Governing Council voted on 28 February to cancel the controversial Decision 137, which sought to alter the personal status law in Iraq, London’s "Al-Sharq al-Awsat" reported. The decision, which was ratified in December, sought to replace civil law with Islamic Shari’a law with regard to family issues, potentially setting back women’s rights in Iraq
Governing Council members Mahmud Uthman and Nasir Kamil Chadirchi supported fellow council member Raja Habib al-Khaza’i in her request to revisit the decision, while Adnan Pachachi, who chaired the council meeting, put the vote on the agenda. Fifteen members of the council voted to repeal the decision, while five members -- all reportedly Shi’ites -- voted against the repeal.
Hamid al-Bayati, spokesman for Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), told Al-Jazeera television on 28 February that al-Hakim and fellow Shi’ites walked out of the Governing Council session in protest of the "arbitrary way" in which Decision 137 was presented for cancellation. "Discussing Law No. 137 was not on the agenda," he said. Al-Bayati added that Decision No. 137 was designed to protect all sects in Iraq. "This law came to serve all denominations, ethnic groups, and sects because it gives the right for each denomination, ethnic group, sect, and religion to be legally tried according to its ethnicity, religion, sect, and principles in civil-status issues." "
However, some parties tried to take advantage of the law to tarnish the reputation of SCIRI, saying it was a law aimed against women and liberties and that it encourages sectarianism," he added. He further contended that had Coalition Provisional Authority head L. Paul Bremer signed the December decision, which was introduced and passed when al-Hakim served as council president, it would have "restored matters to their normal condition" by "giving everyone their rights." |