US embassy cable - 03AMMAN5115

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005115 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KWMN, SOCI, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN WOMEN PROTEST AGAINST PARLIAMENTARY 
MOVES TO CURTAIL WOMEN'S RIGHTS 
 
REF: AMMAN 5012 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale for Reasons 1.5 (B,D) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (U) A group of Jordanian women conducted a peaceful 
demonstration at the gates of the Parliament August 10 to 
protest a recent Lower House decision to reject three 
temporary laws concerning women's rights.  The protesters 
approached several MPs entering the building, some of whom 
argued that the temporary laws were anti-family and 
anti-Islamic, while others expressed solidarity with the 
women's position.  The battle will now enter the Senate, with 
women's rights activists promising to lobby Senators to their 
cause. 
 
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UP IN ARMS 
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2. (SBU) PolOff attended a demonstration on August 10 in 
front of the Parliament organized by human rights activists 
and women's groups to protest the recent Lower House decision 
rejecting three temporary laws (promulgated in the absence of 
a Parliament) concerning women's rights.  These laws allowed 
women to unilaterally initiate divorce proceedings, raised 
the legal marriage age for both sexes to 18, and strengthened 
criminal penalties against men who killed their wives or 
female relatives caught in the act of committing adultery. 
(See reftel for more information on the Lower House decision 
and its ramifications.)  Since December 2001, more than 800 
Jordanian women have filed for divorce under the applicable 
temporary law, while seven honor killings have been recorded 
so far in 2003. 
 
3. (C) Upon reaching the demonstration site around 9:00 a.m., 
there was a small group of about 20 women holding placards 
with slogans such as, "What is the real reason for the 
quickness in repealing this law?", "We are partners not 
hostages", and "Justice and equality for women".  Although 
the press reported the final number of protest participants 
at 100-150, PolOff eventually observed 50-60 participants, 
including women dressed in modern Western clothes and women 
wearing more traditional clothing and head scarves.  PolOff 
noted that the women were in an upbeat, almost festive, mood. 
 
4. (C) PolOff asked Reem Abu Hassan, a lawyer, human rights 
activist, and one of the protest organizers, how she had 
advised others of the demonstration.  She responded that 
since government approval for the protest had only been 
received the previous day, she and other organizers had to 
rely on word of mouth, emails and phone text messages to 
quickly spread the message. 
 
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MPs FEEL THE HEAT 
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5. (U) While many women were content to simply hold banners 
and mill around, others were more confrontational and 
surrounded parliamentarians' vehicles as they drove in for 
their morning session.  These women argued with conservative 
MPs that rejection of the temporary laws was an unjustified 
step backward, and urged more sympathetic MPs to support 
their cause.  MP Mahmoud Kharabsheh, a well known 
conservative, told the group that, "We care about women's 
rights, as much as you and even more," but at the same time 
said that allowing women the right to initiate divorce went 
against Shari'a law and would contribute to the destruction 
of the Jordanian family. 
 
6. (U) Conversely, MP Ghaleb Zu'bi, head of the Lower House 
Legal Committee and from the same district as Kharabsheh, 
promised the protesters that the Lower House would reconsider 
the laws.  MP Abdul Rahim Malhas, a firebrand from Amman and 
frequent government critic, approached the women to assure 
them that he would work hard to convince other MPs who 
opposed the legislation to reexamine their position. 
 
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WHAT SAYETH THE KORAN? 
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7. (C) PolOff asked two veiled demonstrators, who preferred 
to remain anonymous, how they countered religious based 
arguments against the temporary laws.  One of them explained 
that in the Koran the prophet Mohammed was approached by a 
married woman wishing to divorce her husband.  The prophet 
asked if she would willingly return the dowry given by her 
husband and when she agreed, he authorized the divorce. 
Thus, these women claimed, the religious argument had no real 
basis and was used by men to "control" women and hold power 
over them.  Another woman countered by asking why only women 
were accused of threatening the family by initiating divorce 
and not men. 
 
8. (U) Many demonstrators speculated that the Lower House 
rejection of the women's rights laws was a way for 
conservative MPs to flex their muscles, since repealing laws 
of an economic nature would prove more contentious and 
confrontational vis-a-vis the GOJ.  Some of the protesters 
also directed particular criticism at the two female MPs who 
supported repeal of the temporary laws (out of the six women 
members of parliament). 
 
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COMMENT 
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9. (C) The battle over these particular temporary laws will 
now shift to the Senate, where women's rights activists 
should find a more sympathetic audience, or at least an 
audience more beholden to the King and containing reliable 
supporters of the government.  Women's groups have vowed to 
actively lobby Senators to preserve their rights.  Hassan, 
for example, said that her organization (the National Council 
for Family Affairs) would coordinate with other NGOs to 
present their views and would closely follow debate in the 
Senate Legal Committee.  "Today's event was just one of many 
we have planned to voice our objections," she said in a press 
statement. 
HALE