US embassy cable - 05MANAMA1566

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAMA 001566 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KWMN, PREL, KISL, BA 
SUBJECT: DEVELOPMENT OF FAMILY LAW ROILS RELIGIOUS CLERICS 
 
REF: 2004 MANAMA 1558 
 
Classified By: Classified by DCM Susan L. Ziadeh for reasons 1.4(b) and 
 (d). 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C) Sunni and Shi'a religious leaders have reacted 
strongly against the Supreme Council for Women's (SCW) media 
campaign to heighten awareness of the need for a family law. 
Clerics are condemning the concept of a law dealing with 
family status issues that is separate from strict adherence 
to Islamic Shari'a law, and which would put non-clerics in 
the position of making decisions about family matters such as 
marriage, divorce, and inheritance.  The palace, however, has 
shown consistent support for the SCW and its initiative, and 
some parliamentarians have shown recent public support for 
the law.  Our contacts tell us the law will pass parliament 
during the current legislative session, which runs through 
June 2006.  End Summary. 
 
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Religious Leaders React 
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2.  (C) Prominent religious leaders condemned a proposed 
family law October 21 during Friday sermons.  Shaikh Isa 
Qassem, the senior-most Shi'a cleric in Bahrain, said that 
Islamic Shari'a provides all that is needed for Shari'a 
judges to rule on cases involving family issues.  He 
questioned why a law vulnerable to amendment by parliament 
was needed, saying that MPs are not Shari'a experts. 
Regarding Qassem's opposition, MP Mohammed Al Shaikh, himself 
a Shi'a, explained to Poloff that Qassem feels compelled to 
oppose the law publicly to be consistent with previous 
opposition to government initiatives. 
 
3.  (U) Shaikh Ali Salman, president of leading Shi'a 
opposition society Al Wifaq, called for a constitutional 
amendment requiring that any family law be developed in 
strict accordance with Shari'a law.  On October 25, Al Wifaq 
publicly criticized the SCW family law promotion campaign, 
saying that Al Wifaq rejected any forthcoming draft law 
because the government would not ensure that only clerics 
would draft and review the law. 
 
4.  (C) On the Sunni side, Shaikh Salah Al Jowder presented 
similar concerns, stating during his sermon that the new law 
needs to be drafted in accordance with Shari'a law and 
reviewed by religious scholars before going to parliament. 
University of Bahrain Professor and Vice President of the 
secular Al Wa'ad Society Munira Fakhro commented to the DCM 
that in the end, Sunni clerics will not be an obstacle 
because the King has sway over the Sunni clergy. 
 
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Proactive Outreach 
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5.  (U) SCW Secretary General Dr. Lulwa Al Awadhi publicly 
called on Shaikh Isa Qassem October 24 to begin a dialogue 
with the Council to discuss his concerns.  She said, "The 
Council is ready to send a committee to Shaikh Qassem if he 
agrees in principle to a dialogue."  She said that the 
Council was willing to discuss amending the draft law in 
accordance with Shari'a law. 
 
6.  (U) In response, the Religious Scholars Council, headed 
by Shaikh Isa, announced October 25 that Qassem welcomes a 
dialogue on three conditions:  (1) that the law use Islam as 
the only source, and has different provisions for the Sunni 
and Shi'a sects; (2) that the legislation not be changed or 
amended in the future; and (3) that the dialogue be conducted 
with the "decision-making authority;" that is, the government 
or royal court rather than the SCW, which has no executive 
authority.  Al Awadhi replied that the Council had no 
objection to seeking guidance from religious scholars before 
making any future amendments to the law. 
 
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SCW Public Awareness Campaign 
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7.  (U) Dr. Al Awadhi launched the highly visible media 
campaign in early October to boost awareness of the need for 
legislation governing family issues, including child custody, 
marriage and divorce, citizenship transmission, and family 
disputes.  The most publicly visible aspect of the campaign 
is pastel-colored billboards seen all around the island 
featuring animation-style pictures of children, parents, and 
grandparents.  All display the message, "A Secure Family = A 
Secure Nation," with little explanation other than the SCW 
name and logo.  Already the proposed three-month campaign has 
featured public lectures, radio programs, shopping mall 
booths, formal debates and discussions at high-profile majlis 
meetings.  One of these majlis meetings was hosted October 20 
by MP Abdul Nabi Salman who, along with the other two members 
of the Democratic bloc in the parliament, has come out in 
favor of the law. 
 
8.  (C) In a break from an oft-assumed adversarial role, even 
to other women's groups, women's rights activist Ghada 
Jamsheer supports the campaign.  She and the SCW have not 
been natural allies in the past, but they have found common 
ground on this issue.  Jamsheer told Poloff that the initial 
weeks of the campaign have been effective, prompting the 
public to question the meaning of the billboards; the boards 
have provided a catalyst for public discussion.  Jamsheer 
explained that she supports the SCW on this campaign because 
legislation is critical to protect the rights of women and 
children.  Jamsheer's personal struggles in Shari'a court are 
well known to post. 
 
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Sharing the Pain 
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9.  (C) At SCW's prompting, Ghada Jamsheer hosted a majlis 
meeting October 21 at which SCW members, prominent women from 
the community, women from poorer communities, and victims of 
abuse were present.  Victims from both Shi'a and Sunni 
communities shared personal stories of misfortune resulting 
from the absence of an objective, uniform family law. 
Jamsheer said that her goal in hosting the gathering was to 
unify women from different social backgrounds and touch the 
lives of women who had previously been afraid to reach out to 
victims. 
 
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Consistency from the Palace 
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10.  (U) During the October 9 press conference, Dr. Al Awadhi 
recalled a previous effort by the palace to develop a family 
law.  Three years ago the King formed a committee of Shi'a 
and Sunni religious leaders and other stakeholders to propose 
legislation.  She said that at that time there was strong 
opposition from religious leaders and the committee 
dissolved.  However, she said, a recent study sponsored 
jointly by the SCW and the Bahrain Center for Studies and 
Research found that women have not received fair treatment by 
the Shari'a system and that there is currently more openness 
to legislation on family issues. 
 
11.  (C) Further palace support came in October 2004 when the 
King opened parliament with an encouragement to explore 
personal status legislation to protect the rights of women 
and children.  Al Minbar political society also expressed 
support for such a law at that time (reftel).  Speaking to 
Emboffs October 23, Shaikha Azza Al Khalifa, Head of 
International Relations of the SCW, explained that the 
Council is now seeking further support from the palace.  SCW 
submitted to the King a list of Bahraini women whose children 
have been denied Bahraini citizenship over the last 20 years, 
but who SCW hopes will be included retroactively as 
beneficiaries of a new law. 
 
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The Rollout 
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12.  (C) There is debate over whether there should be two 
separate family laws, one for Shi'a and one for Sunni; a 
single unified law; or even a law at all.  SCW Deputy 
Secretary General Hala Al Ansari told the DCM that different 
 
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streams of interpretation within Shi'ism may prove 
particularly difficult to unify.  She explained that nearly 
all Sunnis in Bahrain follow the Malaki School of Islamic law 
so they will be easier to unify.  Munira Fakhro opined that 
the opposition from clerics has nothing to do with 
interpretations of Shari'a; the real issue is the clerics' 
fear of losing power over the Shari'a courts and decisions. 
Al Ansari went on to attribute success of the media campaign 
to the strategic decision to call the law a "family law" 
rather than a personal status law, which many associate only 
with women's rights.  She said that the involvement of male 
leaders has been a key component of the campaign's success. 
 
13.  (C) Shura Council member and Bahrain Human Rights Watch 
Society (BHRWS) Regional and International Relations Director 
Faisal Fulad told Emboff that the Royal Court and the SCW are 
crafting Sunni language for the law, and Shi'a clerics are 
drafting language for Shi'as.  When complete, the draft will 
be reviewed by the government before going to the Council of 
Representatives (COR) and the Shura Council, in that order. 
Fulad said that BHRWS is concerned about protecting the 
rights of women and children, not pleasing the clerics and 
ayatollahs.  "Every time someone tries to discuss the family 
law in a rational way, the clerics oppose and shout them 
down, saying 'This is the realm of Shari'a law only.'  This 
is not productive.  When will the situation change?"  Fulad 
stated that the government will push to get the law passed in 
this legislative session, before the 2006 elections and 
formation of a new parliament. 
 
14.  (C) COR member Mohammed Al Shaikh told Poloff that he 
expects the legislation to be completed very soon.  He 
explained that the basis of the current draft is an earlier 
document written by a council of Sunni and Shi'a religious 
leaders.  Al Shaikh expressed his personal support for the 
law, but admitted that others in his own bloc, the 
seven-member (Shi'a) Islamic bloc, will likely join ranks 
with the five-member (Salafi) Al Asala bloc in opposition to 
the law.  In spite of this minority opposition, he 
anticipates that the high-profile SCW media campaign will 
have an impact on the public and elected MPs and that the law 
will be approved during the current legislative session. 
 
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Comment 
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15.  (C) The establishment of legislation covering family 
issues is a promising step in Bahrain's democratic process, 
providing much-needed protection to women and children. 
There is a high level of optimism for the passage of a law in 
the SCW camp and beyond.  Passage during the current 
legislative session, the final before the elections in 
October 2006, would be a significant accomplishment for both 
the parliament and the palace.  Currently, family decisions 
are based on Shari'a law, but pronounced by Shari'a judges 
who have room to apply the law subjectively, incorporating 
personal views and interpretations.  Shari'a judges have been 
dismissed for corruption, and critics complain the Shari'a 
courts are anything but objective.  A new law would go far to 
tighten the range of discretion in decisions emerging from 
the Shari'a courts. 
 
MONROE