Iraq’s parliament passed three controversial laws on Tuesday, including changes to the country’s personal status law that opponents say would effectively legalize child marriage.
The changes give Islamic courts more power in family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance. Activists argue that this undermines Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law, which unified family law and established protections for women.
Iraqi law currently sets 18 as the minimum age for marriage in most cases.
The changes passed Tuesday would allow clerics to rule according to their interpretation of Islamic law, which some interpret to mean allowing girls to marry in their early teens – or as young as nine under the Jaafari school of Islamic law , which many Shiite religious authorities in Iraq follow.
Proponents of the changes, which were championed primarily by conservative Shiite lawmakers, defend them as a way to bring the law into line with Islamic principles and reduce Western influence on Iraqi culture.
Parliament also passed a general amnesty law that ostensibly benefits Sunni prisoners and gives a free pass to those involved in corruption and embezzlement. The chamber also passed a land restitution law targeting Kurdish territorial claims.
‘Catastrophic impact’ on women and girls’ rights: activist
Intisar al-Mayali, a human rights activist and member of the Iraqi Women’s League, said that the adoption of the changes to the personal status law “will have a catastrophic impact on the rights of women and girls, as girls are married at a young age, which…” violates their right on life as children and disrupts divorce, custody and inheritance protections for women.”
The meeting ended in chaos and accusations of procedural violations.
“Half of the MPs present in the session did not vote, breaking the legal quorum,” a parliament official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. He said some members protested loudly and others climbed onto the parliamentary dais.
After the meeting, several MPs complained about the voting process, in which all three controversial laws – each supported by different blocs – were voted on together.
“As for the personal status law, we strongly support it and there have been no problems with it,” said Raid al Maliki, an independent lawmaker.
Changes could lead to legal remedies
“But it has been combined with other legislation that should be voted on together … and this could lead to a legal challenge in federal court.”
In a statement, Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani praised the passage of the laws as “an important step in the process of improving justice and organizing citizens’ daily lives.”
Also on Tuesday, an explosion at an ammunition depot killed at least three officials, including the national security chief of al-Tarmiyah district north of Baghdad, and wounded four others, a security official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said the explosion occurred when a joint Iraqi army and national security force conducted an operation following intelligence reports about the group’s activities. Islamic State conducted ammunition dumps in the area.
