US embassy cable - 02AMMAN6528

UNCLAS AMMAN 006528 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/IWI - April Parmerlee 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, JO 
SUBJECT:  Amendments to Jordan's Passport,  Citizenship  and 
Pension Laws Give Women More Rights 
 
REF: AMMAN 6522 
 
1.   (U) Summary: Queen Rania November 3 inaugurated the 2nd 
   annual Arab Women's Summit by announcing that the GOJ has 
   endorsed three new temporary laws expanding the rights of 
   women in Jordan.  New amendments to the Kingdom's Passport, 
   Citizenship, and Pension laws come as the government rolls 
   out its "Jordan First" campaign, and may be intended to 
   signal that all Jordanians -- regardless of gender -- are to 
   join in this national initiative.  Since the Cabinet enacted 
   these amendments in the absence of a sitting Parliament, 
   they will have to be reendorsed when Parliament reconvenes 
   following Spring 2003 elections.  End summary. 
 
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THE NEW AMENDMENTS 
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2.  (U)  The amendment to the passport law allows  Jordanian 
women  to  obtain a passport for themselves  and  for  their 
children without the approval of their husbands. Previously, 
freedom of travel was conditioned on a man's consent. 
 
3.  (U)  The  amendment to the citizenship law allows  women 
married  to non-Jordanians to pass Jordanian citizenship  to 
their  children - a privilege previously given to men  only. 
The  manner  in which this amendment actually is implemented 
remains to be seen as the law stipulates that the Council of 
Ministers  must approve each case, and that the  passing  of 
citizenship  is not an automatic right.  In the past,  women 
married  to  foreigners could not enroll their  children  in 
government  schools  (a significant financial  burden),  and 
also  had to obtain residence permits, medical reports,  and 
security  clearances for their children every year. Although 
the  law still does not allow women to pass citizenship onto 
their   foreign  husbands,  the  amendment  should   provide 
Jordanian  women  married to foreigners  more  security  for 
their  children should the husband leave or in the  case  of 
divorce. 
 
4.  (U)  The  amendment to the pension law allows  women  to 
benefit from their deceased husband's pension - whether they 
work  or not. Previously widows could not get their diseased 
husband's pension if they were working. This new law  should 
encourage women to pursue work and free them of the  dilemma 
of having to choose between getting the pension and working. 
Details  of  this  new amendment will be  announced  in  the 
coming few days. 
 
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2002: IMPROVEMENTS IN WOMEN'S RIGHTS 
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5. (U) All of the newly announced amendments described above 
come  as part of a series of advancements in women's  rights 
made  since the beginning of 2002. Earlier in the  year  the 
GOJ  issued  temporary laws improving the  legal  rights  of 
women  with regard to personal status and divorce  (January) 
and  public  health (July). The amendments to  the  personal 
status law raised women's legal marriage age from 15  to  18 
and men's from 16 to 18, and also required a man desiring to 
take on a new wife to be financially secure.  The amendments 
also allow a woman to divorce her husband without having  to 
provide  any  justification  to  the  judge  or  secure  the 
agreement  of  her husband.  In keeping with the  above  new 
standards for a healthy marriage and family affairs, changes 
to the public health law requires both men and women to have 
a premarital blood test. 
 
6.  (U) Comment: These new "temporary laws" have been issued 
by  the GOJ in the absence of a sitting Parliament, and will 
thus   require  reendorsement  when  Parliament   reconvenes 
following  the  Spring 2003 elections.  However,  they  will 
remain  in  effect  until  and unless  a  future  Parliament 
rejects or amends them.  That they come as the GOJ goes into 
high  gear promoting its new "Jordan First" campaign  (ref), 
may  indicate  an  effort  by the GOJ  to  signal  that  all 
Jordanians -- regardless of gender -- are to be part of  the 
this national effort. 
 
Gnehm