Statement of Condemnation and Denunciation Regarding the Amendment to the Personal Status Law in Iraq
The influential political parties in Iraq have arbitrarily adopted amendments to the personal status law that blatantly contradict fundamental human values.
The Iraqi parliament bypassed its own internal regulations by passing a series of laws without conducting proper votes and without counting those in favor, against, or abstaining. The President of the Iraqi Council of Representatives announced the adoption of these laws without allowing members to familiarize themselves with either the original text of the Personal Status Law of 1959 or the draft amendment. Moreover, the necessary implementing texts for the amended articles were not established.
For decades, we have opposed amendments to Personal Status Law No. 188. Despite raising our concerns, the ruling parties, enabled by sectarian quotas, have now succeeded in passing this law in an unethical and undemocratic manner, disregarding parliamentary traditions and voting procedures.
For years, we have warned that women and children would be the first victims of such amendments. These changes, including the legalization of child marriage, provide a legal framework for crimes such as child rape and marriages conducted outside official courts. These amendments harm mothers and children, legitimizing the exploitation of women’s bodies, polygamy, and discriminatory inheritance laws. They also threaten children’s welfare by enabling their removal from mothers in divorce cases. This retrogressive perspective, which views children as the property of their fathers, directly contradicts Iraq’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which it ratified in 1994. Under this convention, Iraq is committed to protecting children’s civil, political, economic, and social rights.
We are collectively working to contest the approval of this law and demand the removal of the Speaker of the House of Representatives for violating voting procedures. Our advocacy for a personal status law that upholds the rights and dignity of women and children in Iraq remains steadfast.
As the gradual erosion of Law No. 188 continues, we reaffirm our commitment to fight for a personal status law that ensures complete and unconditional equality between men and women, safeguards the rights of children, and prioritizes their best interests above all else.
We will tirelessly advocate for a law that guarantees equality in marriage, divorce, and inheritance, prohibits polygamy, criminalizes child marriage, bans unofficial marriages outside state courts, and penalizes anyone involved in such practices. These measures are essential to protecting the rights of women and children and upholding justice in Iraq.
National Coordination of Iraq
January 24, 2025