Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq - update

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Sunday September 21, 2003 20:31 by Ewa Jasiewicz - Occupation Watch

The struggle for women's autonomy in Iraq continues

Update from Baghdad on the radical secular womens freedom struggle

The Organisation of Womens' Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), launched after the fall of the regime in June and the most vocal critic of the escalation of Political Islam's oppression of women has coming under the fire in 'Iraqi Life' a publication written by Islamic group '15 Shaban', named after the holy muslim month. The paper criticises both OWFI and the Worker Communist Party (OWFI's most steadfast political supporter) as attacking muslims, politically, a charge denied by both OWFI and the WCP which stress that they take no issue with personal religious devotion or faith but only with society designing Political Islamic groups and parties which seek to impose mysoginistic regulations and limitations on women's freedom and possibilities.

Yanar Mohammad, feisty karate black belt and head of OWFI has been summoned to court for causing 'religious offence' in her regular collumn against compulsary veilling in the group's paper 'Al Mossawa' - The Equality. The charge and subsequent summons are based on old Ba'ath party legislation which states that noone can hurt the religious feelings of another Iraqi. The offence caused to the claimant, Ziad Yusef, pertained to a statement by Yanar in her article saying 'proponents of Political Islam want to over every part of flesh so that in the end, the woman will look like like she's wearing a spacesuit'. It is thought but unconfirmed that Yusef may be in the pay of one of the influential Shia parties, either The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution or Muqtader al Sadr, which are both against the politics and demands of OWFI.

He is asking for 5 million Dinar compensation (the equivalent of $20,000) and for Yanar to be sacked from her post as Al Mossawa's editor. Yanar has expressed suprise that the paper has casued such a stir, having a minimal circulation, due to funding difficulties, of just 3000. Yanar says that half of every issue usually contains articles against compulsary hejab.

Her case, which begins tomorrow, September 22, has been taken up by a group of 8 lawyers pro-bono. They are expected to argue that the charges against Yanar be dropped and that the the old Ba'ath law amounts to censorship and denies freedom of expression. Yanar herself will not be attending

Seperately, The Badr Brigades, the armed militia of the SCIRI, have been threatenting women with 'not finishing their exams' if they didnt wear the veil. In Nassiriyah, two male supporters distributing al Mossawa were detained and beaten by Islamic militia members until 3am. It is estimated they were seized in the afternoon.

OWFI representatives have been spoke to 200 female general railway company workers about joining OWFI. Women make up 80% of the office and technical support workforce. They debated womens rights, with a mass majority agreeing that a secular law on equality between men and women needs to be established.

Currently, Islamic parties are calling for the new Iraqi constitution to retain Saddam's enshrined law allowing honour killings (enshrined in 1990) and introduce a law enforcing compulsary veilling.

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