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Viewing cable 08BAGHDAD1984, WOMEN ACTIVISTS PRESS FOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT ON

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08BAGHDAD1984 2008-06-28 14:00 2011-08-24 16:30 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Baghdad
VZCZCXRO5709
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1984/01 1801400
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281400Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8030
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001984 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL IZ
SUBJECT: WOMEN ACTIVISTS PRESS FOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT ON 
GENDER ISSUES 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
1.  (SBU) Prominent members of the Iraqi Women's Movement 
discussed the political and economic concerns of Iraqi women 
at a seminar aimed at encouraging international support for 
the participation of Iraqi women in the democratic 
transitional process. The roundtable discussion included 
female members of Parliament and Iraqi NGO directors, 
representatives from the international diplomatic community 
and UNAMI.  The conference focused on a general assessment of 
the Iraqi political scene and revision of the Constitution, 
the women's quota in the upcoming elections, violence against 
women, obtaining support for Iraqi civil society movements, 
and the role women play in building peace and security. Some 
of the women noted that women parliamentarians and activists 
need to unite their efforts in order to serve the interests 
of all Iraqi women. END SUMMARY. 
 
WOMEN KEY TO BUILDING PEACE AND STABILITY 
------------------------------------------ 
 
2.  (SBU)  At a June 23 roundtable discussion held in 
partnership with UNDP, prominent Iraqi women presented their 
views on what they consider the most urgent issues facing 
women in Iraq.  The Iraqi participants included Minister of 
Environment and Acting Minister of State for Women's Affairs 
Narmin Othman; MP and Chair of the Iraqi Independent Women's 
Group (IIWG) Maysoon Al-Damluji; MP and Head of the Civil 
Society Commission in the Council of Representatives (CoR) 
Alaa Talabani; the President's Advisor on Women's Affairs, 
Ms. Salma Jaboo; General Secretary of the Al-Amal (Hope) 
Association NGO; Hanaa Edwar; Al-Amal Association Projects 
Manager Basma Al-Khateeb; and Chair of Women for Peace NGO 
Shatha Naji. Foreign participants included the Ambassadors of 
Japan and the Netherlands; UNAMI Human Rights Officers, and 
Emboffs. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Minister Othman led off the discussion by 
highlighting the need for practical solutions to Iraq's 
political and economic problems, because stability depends on 
solving these problems.  Noting the conflict between 
differing ideological beliefs, Othman stated that even though 
violence had decreased, most of the current solutions were 
military, rather than political, and this marginalized women 
in establishing peace and security.   Othman referred to a 
conflict of beliefs in the GOI and the lack of a united GOI 
strategy.  Various strategies, which reflected the personal 
beliefs of those in charge of the various ministries, stalled 
progress in building a united, stable Iraq.  Othman deplored 
the lack of agreement even on what democracy is (should be) 
in Iraq, rhetorically asking:  "Is it Islamic democracy, or 
secular, liberal democracy?" Nevertheless,  Othman expressed 
confidence that in spite of conflicting views, she believes 
the situation will to some extent stabilize following 
elections. 
 
STRUGGLING FOR A WOMEN'S QUOTA 
------------------------------ 
 
4.  (SBU)  MP Maysoon Al-Damluji spoke out in support of 
designating 25 percent of seats for women in the Iraqi 
Parliament, as stipulated by the Iraqi Constitution.  The 
Iraqi Federal Supreme Court further stipulates in a 2007 
letter that a 25 percent women's quota must exist in all 
legislative councils, including provincial councils, and this 
is also stated in Article 50 of the draft provincial 
elections bill.  However, the mechanism to implement this 
presents challenges.  How to fill at least a quarter of 
provincial council seats in the upcoming provincial elections 
using an open list system remains one of several unresolved 
issues in the ongoing CoR debate over the provincial election 
law.  Al-Damluji called upon the international community to 
support the women's quota by openly expressing views in 
support of the quota and by supporting female candidates in 
all provinces. 
 
ARTICLE 41:  WOMEN'S RIGHTS STUMBLING BLOCK 
--------------------------- 
 
5.    (SBU)  Hanaa Edwar, Narmin Othman and nearly all of 
Iraqi women present, called for the removal of the 
controversial Article 41 from the Iraq Constitution.  (Note: 
Article 41 states Iraqis are free in their commitment to 
their personal status according to their religions, sects, 
beliefs, or choices, and this shall be regulated by law.  End 
note) Edwar stressed the necessity of eliminating all 
references to religion and sects in matters regardng personal 
status.  In her view, the judicial system was weakened by the 
possibility of religious authorities intefering in matters of 
personal status, such as divorce, polygamy, and the minimum 
 
BAGHDAD 00001984  002 OF 002 
 
 
age for marriage; issues over which there were disputes 
within some religions.  Furthermore, Article 41 disregarded 
international conventions on human rights. 
 
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN HARMS ALL IRAQIS 
----------------------------- 
 
6.  (SBU)  Salma Jaboo deplored the increasing violence 
against Iraqi women and society's silence surrounding the 
issue, which was exacerbated by all the other problems facing 
Iraqis.  She noted women are still vulnerable to political 
violence and generally excluded from decisionmaking and high 
positions.  Social violence in the form of domestic violence 
hit Iraqi women particularly hard since they could not trust 
the security forces to aid them when violated.  Iraqi laws 
blatantly violated women's rights by not offering protection 
against domestic violence and honor killings.  (Note: 
Recently, after KRG PM Nechirvan intervened, an order was 
issued to consider honor killings as first degree murder in 
Kurdistan.  End note.)  According to Jaboo, urban militias 
and the general lack of law and order allowed human 
trafficking and prostitution to flourish, while educated, 
middle class women were forced to emigrate.  Jaboo also 
characterized the plight of the estimated one million widows 
in Iraq as a form of violence against women. 
 
CIVIL SOCIETY ADVANCING 
----------------------- 
 
7.  (SBU)  Alaa Talabani, chair of the Civil Society 
Committee in the CoR was elated, having recently received 
word from PM Maliki's office that it will issue a 
recommendation for the draft civil society law to be 
considered by the Shura Council.  Talabani said she is 
confident that the law will eventually be passed by the CoR 
and asked attendees to express support for the law when 
engaging GOI contacts.  Talabani is keen to dissolve the 
Ministry for Civil Society and establish a civil society 
commission in its place.  She believes such a commission, if 
staffed by qualified, competent people, will be more capable 
of promoting and regulating NGOs and civil society in Iraq. 
 
GENDER ISSUES REQUIRE SPECIAL ATTENTION 
----------------------------- 
 
8.  (SBU)  Basma Al-Khateeb proposed that diplomatic missions 
to Iraq appoint gender advisors to their staff to follow up 
on International Compact on Iraq (ICI) objectives and 
commitments.  Al-Khateeb noted that GOI institutions lacked 
expert staff (partially due to the emigration of qualified 
people)  and operated without credible development 
strategies.  Development and capacity building programs 
needed to be gender sensitized in order to optimize the role 
women could play in building peace and security. 
 
UNITED EFFORTS CAN ACHIEVE MORE FOR IRAQI WOMEN 
-------------------------- 
 
9.  (SBU) In the open discussion that followed, UNAMI and EU 
participants highlighted their work in support of Iraqi 
women. The EU representative noted that in the agreement the 
EU is currently negotiating with the GOI, special mention is 
made of the need to strengthen the role of Iraqi women in 
both public and private life. UNAMI noted that it is 
preparing reports on gender-based violence in Iraq.  Narmine 
Othman observed that only five percent of women in the CoR 
speak up and make their presence felt.  She stated that even 
if Iraqi women achieve a 25 percent quota in all legislative 
councils, women legislators will not make a difference for 
all Iraqi women unless they actively exploit their presence 
in government. Furthermore, some female politicians were 
loyal to their party leadership, regardless of its stance on 
women's rights.  Alaa Talabani noted that until now efforts 
to form a CoR women's caucus had been unsuccessful; she 
attributed this to the widely varying backgrounds of female 
CoR members and disagreement over how to deal with 
gender-related issues. 
CROCKER