US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD3105

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003105 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2025 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KWMN, IZ, National Assembly, Women's Rights 
SUBJECT: TNA AND CONSTITUTION COMMITTEE WOMEN GIVE CODEL 
SHAYS ONE VIEW ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND THE CONSTITUTION 
 
REF: BAGHDAD 3014 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Robert Ford. 
Reasons 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY.  Women from the Transitional National 
Assembly, including from the Constitution Committee, 
told CODEL Shays and Ambassador on June 25 that 
women's rights would be protected in the draft 
constitution.  They contended that it is a lack of 
understanding of the precepts of Islam that drives the 
fear Shari'a's potential role in the constitution, not 
shari'a itself.  The women insisted that, under 
Shari'a, men and women are equal before the law.  It 
is only with respect to personal status that equality 
could be compromised.  Participants conceded that, 
overall, women are not unified on the issue of whether 
religion should be addressed in the constitution. 
However, they claimed, there is consensus that 
personal status should be regulated by sect.  They 
also indicated they want laws that do not contradict 
with Shari'a but do not want to impose Shari'a on 
anyone.  The Embassy is fully engaged on this issue 
and urging women across the spectrum in Iraq to 
develop a consensus viewpoint about how best to defend 
their rights so that we can weigh in with them.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C) Female Transitional National Assembly (TNA) 
and Constitution Committee members told CODEL Shays 
and Ambassador on July 25 that women's rights would be 
protected in the draft constitution.  In addition to 
Shia Coalition members Asma'a al-Shaboot and Amal 
Hussein al-Jabiri, Constitution Committee members 
Munira Abdul Muhammad (Kurdish Alliance), Nerkaz Majid 
Ammeen (Kurdish Alliance), and Ala'a al-Sa'adoun 
(Sunni negotiating team) agreed that the draft 
constitution should include a provision mandating that 
no legislation should contradict Shari'a.  They 
expressed confidence that, regardless of how large a 
role Islamic law will ultimately play in the 
constitution, there would be no resultant degradation 
of women's rights. 
 
3.  (C) Both al-Shaboot and al-Jabiri contended that 
fear of a greater role for Shari'a in the constitution 
comes from a lack of understanding of the precepts of 
Islam.  Further, said al-Jabiri, men have 
traditionally interpreted Shari'a to meet their own 
ends, which has negatively impacted the rights of 
women.  Under Shari'a, she insisted, men and women are 
equal before the law.  It is only with respect to 
personal status that equality could be compromised. 
The real concern, said al-Jabiri, is that Shari'a will 
not "allow a secular woman to rise and better 
herself." 
 
4.  (C) "We want laws that do not contradict with 
Shari'a," said al-Shaboot, "but we do not want to 
impose Shari'a on anyone."  Added al-Sa'adoun, "We 
want progressive laws that promote women's rights." 
Using the hotly debated issue of polygamy as an 
example, al-Shaboot explained that, while Shari'a 
allows for polygamy, it does not say a man "must" have 
more than one wife.  Thus, she argued, it is possible 
to draft legislation that would protect women who do 
not believe in this concept -- i.e., the first wife's 
permission would be required before her husband could 
take another wife -- yet not contradict Shari'a. 
 
5.  (C) The Ambassador expressed concern that the 
constitution texts not harm women's equal rights on 
issues like inheritance, marriage and divorce.  Al- 
Shaboot acknowledged that some women have interpreted 
language proposed for inclusion in the draft 
constitution as limiting the rights they currently 
enjoy under the Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959. 
A specific point of contention, noted al-Shaboot, was 
the article regulating an individual's personal status 
(No. 14), which mandated the regulation of an 
individual's personal status in accordance with 
his/her religion.  Although she interpreted this 
language as giving an individual the opportunity to 
choose the code by which he/she would be regulated, 
she said many secular, non-Muslim women fear that it 
would bind them to Islamic law.  (NOTE: This article 
has been included in only one of the draft versions -- 
the July 17 draft -- that we have seen thus far.  That 
article read "The Law shall regulate civil affairs of 
Muslims and others in accordance with their religion 
and personal sect."  The July 21 draft did not have 
it.  END NOTE.) 
6.  (C) However, said al-Shaboot, in a meeting with 
Constitution Committee members following a July 19 
protest (ref A) organized by these women, Committee 
members allayed many of those fears, including 
concerns that Law No. 188 would be obviated by 
language such as in once-proposed Article 14. 
(COMMENT:  International interlocutors who attended 
the same meeting told PolOff on July 23 that some 
women felt the Committee turned a deaf ear towards 
their concerns and used the meeting as a forum to 
defend the Committee's draft.  This divergence of 
opinions underscores the lack of a unified 
understanding on the impact of Shari'a law in the 
constitution.  END COMMENT.)  Al-Sa'adoun added it is 
imperative that the right for a person to choose the 
personal status law applicable to him or her be 
written into the law. 
 
7.  (C) The women conceded that, overall, women are 
not unified on the issue of whether religion should be 
addressed in the constitution.  However, they claimed, 
there is consensus that personal status should be 
regulated by sect and individuals should have the 
right to choose a progressive civil code as an 
alternative -- even though this has yet to be formally 
decided in the context of the constitution.  Al- 
Sa'adoun said the current personal status code, which 
many consider to be the most progressive in the 
region, is a composite of the best aspects of the 
personal codes of all sects.  She insisted, and her 
colleagues agreed, that Law No. 188 should not be 
replaced unless it can be improved. 
 
8.  (C) When asked whether they saw Shari'a as 
limiting their rights, each woman answered that it 
does not -- despite the fact there is a widely held 
perception that this is the case.  Al-Jibiri pointed 
out that Iraqi women engage without restriction in 
normal, everyday activities like everyone else -- 
driving, working, and participating in the Government 
-- none of which contradicts with the precepts of 
Islam. 
 
9.  (C) Muhammed made the final comments, predicting 
that the draft constitution would include a quota 
requirement of not less than 25 percent (women 
currently comprise 32 percent of the TNA). 
Additionally, she noted that there would be a two-term 
(eight year) limit to the quota.  (NOTE:  Acting 
Minister of Human Rights Narmin Othman told PolOff on 
July 26 that information she had received from the 
Committee earlier in the day indicated that the term 
limit had been removed from the latest version of the 
draft, and that Shari'a would be 'a' source, not 'the' 
source or even a 'main' source.  A well-connected 
Western journalist told us July 27 that her women 
sources also are telling her that the amendments 
coming forward to the July 21 draft are improving the 
protections for women.  We are far from the end of 
negotiations, however.  END NOTE.) 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
10.  (C) It must be noted that these women present a 
somewhat one-sided view regarding the debate on 
women's rights in the context of the constitution 
drafting process.  There are Iraqi women who are more 
vocal in their worries about Islamic Shari'a and 
women's rights.  Interestingly, the two Kurdish women 
generally agreed in principle with their more 
conservative counterparts; some of our other Kurdish 
women contacts are quite vocal about keeping 
references to Shari'a out of the text.  This meeting 
serves to remind that there is a large bloc of Iraqi 
women who are more comfortable about references to 
Shari'a.  This divergence of viewpoints, even among 
Iraqi women, makes determining what would be the 
optimal text to protect women's rights a deeper, more 
complex discussion.   Were Iraqi women themselves to 
develop a consensus viewpoint on how women's rights 
and Shari'a should be handled in the final draft text, 
they would be better able to lobby for it.  The 
Embassy is fully engaged on this issue and urging 
women across the spectrum in Iraq to develop a 
consensus viewpoint about how best to defend their 
rights so that we can weigh in with them.  We see 
hints that a consensus may develop for general 
language in the draft constitution that leaves open 
choice for using either sectarian courts or a Law 188- 
like code.  END COMMENT. 
 
11.  (C) BIODATA: 
 
Nerkaz Majid Ameen, a Sunni Kurd from Irbil, was 
elected to the TNA on the Kurdish List and is a member 
of the PUK.  She is a member of the Constitution 
Committee.  Nerkaz holds a law degree and is a judge 
in Sulamaniyah. 
 
Munira Abdul Muhammad, a Sunni Kurd from Sulamaniyah, 
was elected to the TNA on the Kurdish List and is a 
member of the PUK.  She is a member of the 
Constitution Committee and on the Shape of the Ruling 
System Sub-Committee.  Muhammad, who earned a degree 
in Chemical Science at Baghdad University, is a member 
of the Kurdistan Women's Union and was a member of the 
Interim National Assembly. 
 
Amal Musa Hussein al-Jabiri, a Shi'a Islamist from 
Karkh, Baghdad, was elected to the TNA on the 169 List 
and is a member of the Da'wa Party.  Al-Jabiri, who is 
fluent in English and French, was trained as a medical 
doctor, serving Al Amarah, Sulamaniyah, and Baghdad. 
She was also a member of the Interim National Council. 
 
Asma'a al-Shaboot, a Shi'a Islamist from Kut, Wasit, 
was elected to the TNA as the number three candidate 
on the 169 List and is a member of the Iraqi Future 
Gathering Party.  She is a professor at the Marine 
College in Baghdad and a member of the Shi'a Political 
Council. 
 
Ala'a Abd Allah Hamoud al-Sa'adoun, a Sunni Arab from 
Basrah, was selected by the Sunni Conference to 
participate on the Constitution Committee.  She is 
also a member of the Rights, Duties, and General 
Freedoms Sub-Committee.  She is the Vice-President of 
the Islamic League for Iraqi Women and a student of 
Islamic science.  END BIODATA. 
 
12.  (U) REOs Hillah, Basrah, Kirkuk, Mosul minimize 
considered. 
 
 
Khalilzad