Critics say a new bill passed by Iraqi lawmakers opens the door to child marriage

Iraq’s parliament passed three divisive laws on Tuesday, including amendments to the country’s personal status law, which opponents say would legalize child marriage.

The amendments give Islamic courts increased powers in family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance. Activists argue that this violates Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law, which unifies family laws and sets out guarantees for women.

Iraqi law currently sets the minimum age for marriage at 18 in most cases.

The changes passed on Tuesday will allow clerics to administer Islamic law according to their interpretation, with some allowing girls to be married off in early adolescence or as young as nine, according to the Jafari school of Islamic law followed by many Shiite religious authorities in Iraq.

Proponents of the changes, championed by mostly conservative Shiite lawmakers, defend the law as a means of aligning it with Islamic principles and reducing Western influence on Iraqi culture.

The parliament also passed a general amnesty law that was seen to benefit Sunni prisoners and was also seen as giving permission to people involved in corruption and embezzlement. The House also passed a land restitution law aimed at resolving Kurdish territorial claims.

“Disastrous effects” on women’s, girls’ rights: activist

Intisar al-Mayali, a human rights activist and member of the Iraqi Women’s League, said that the adoption of amendments to the civil status law “will have disastrous effects on the rights of women and girls by marrying off girls at an early age. violates their rights to live as children and undermines the protection mechanisms for divorce, custody and inheritance for women”.

The meeting ended in chaos and accusations of procedural irregularities.

“Half of the deputies present at the meeting did not vote, which violated the legal quorum,” a parliamentary official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. According to him, some deputies protested loudly, and some went to the parliament chair.

After the session, a number of lawmakers complained about the process of voting all three controversial bills — each backed by different blocs — together.

“As for the citizenship law, we strongly support it and there was no problem with it,” said independent lawmaker Raid al-Maliki.

Changes may lead to a legal complaint

“But it was combined with other laws for a vote together … and that could lead to a legal challenge in Federal Court.”

In his statement, Speaker of Parliament Mahmoud al-Mashhadani assessed the adoption of the laws as “an important step in the process of strengthening justice and organizing the daily life of citizens.”

Also on Tuesday, at least three officers, including the national security chief of al-Tarmiya district, north of Baghdad, were killed and four others wounded in an explosion at an ammunition depot, a security official said.

The official, who did not want to be named because he was not authorized to provide information to the media, said that the explosion occurred after the activities of the Islamic State group and intelligence information during a joint operation by the Iraqi army and the national security service. ammunition depot in the area.