La reina Rania de Jordania
Cable sobre las controversias que levanta Rania
La embajada analiza las críticas de los sectores más conservadores a las ideas reformistas de la reina
| ID: | 205310 |
| Date: | 2009-05-04 10:15:00 |
| Origin: | 09AMMAN1022 |
| Source: | Embassy Amman |
| Classification: | CONFIDENTIAL |
| Dunno: | 02AMMAN6528 04AMMAN6160 08AMMAN1834 |
| Destination: | VZCZCXRO5483 RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHKUK RUEHROV DE RUEHAM #1022/01 1241015 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 041015Z MAY 09 FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5019 INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE |
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001022 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2019 TAGS: PGOV, KWMN, KISL, KDEM, JO SUBJECT: CHANGES AFOOT IN JORDAN'S PERSONAL STATUS LAW REF: A. 08 AMMAN 1834 B. 04 AMMAN 6160 C. 02 AMMAN 6528 Classified By: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 1. (C) Summary: The head of Jordan's Islamic courts is working on a package of amendments to the personal status law, which governs marriage, divorce, the status of women, and inheritance issues. The initial read on the amendments is that they would represent a step forward in the promotion of women's rights. Yet if the handling of past amendments to this law is any benchmark, passage of the new amendments may prove difficult. End Summary. The Personal Status Law ----------------------- 2. (U) Jordan's personal status law governs the legal side of family life. It lays out the rules on marriage, divorce, the status of women, child custody, and inheritance issues. Many provisions of the law grant effective control over these issues to men, leaving women with limited recourse. While the law's restrictions are often less severe than those in many other Middle Eastern countries, they still prevent inheritance flows to women in certain circumstances, allow men to place effective travel holds on women and children without justification, and make divorces initiated by women difficult. The personal status law is implemented by Jordan's religious court system. For most Jordanians, this means that shari'a (Islamic law) courts are the ultimate authority over legal issues that impact the family. Note: Christian denominations have separate religious courts, but they are also bound to implement the same personal status law. End Note. The shari'a courts, which are completely separate from the civil and criminal court system, are headed by a Chief Justice (Qadi Al-Qudah in Arabic), who is appointed directly by the King. The personal status law impacts the family life of every Jordanian, and as such it is highly sensitive. The law is connected to Islamic legal codes and tribal traditions, and its substance and implementation are closely monitored by Islamist and tribal conservative politicians. New Amendments in the Works --------------------------- 3. (C) A new set of amendments to Jordan's personal status law were recently commissioned by Shari'a Court Chief Justice Ahmad Al-Hilayel. A first draft has been produced, and is now being quietly circulated through the government and quasi-governmental bodies which deal with family affairs for comments and suggestions. Contacts suggest that the amendments could appear as early as parliament's ordinary session in October, although Hilayel told poloff that his office was "taking its time" with the proposed changes so as to build consensus around them within the government before moving forward. Hilayel told poloff that the ultimate goal of the personal status law is to strengthen families. The proposed amendments, in his view, aim to modernize the law to keep pace with changes in societal attitudes while creating further equality between the sexes. Whether he has any further political motivations in their introduction is unclear. 4. (C) The exact content of the amendments is still under negotiation, and we have been told that further amendments will likely be added to the package before it is finalized. Contacts who have seen the circulated draft say that they deal primarily with the rights of women. The new amendments would eliminate the requirement that women pay back their dowries before divorcing their husbands -- a significant barrier to divorce for many women. They would also add something akin to "irreconcilable differences" to the list of official reasons that a woman can divorce her husband. Other amendments would expand the rights of granddaughters to receive inheritances and require that alimony be paid for children who opt to stay with their mothers after a divorce. 2001 Amendments Hang in the Balance ----------------------------------- 5. (C) A previous set of changes to the personal status law were highly controversial and never passed by parliament. These amendments, put forward in 2001, raised the legal marriage age and allowed a woman to initiate divorce proceedings against her husband without his consent. They were a very public pet project of Queen Rania, who angered Islamist and conservative figures by taking an overtly political stance on such a controversial issue. 6. (C) Since there was no parliament from 2001 to 2003, the AMMAN 00001022 002 OF 002 amendments were put forward as a provisional law. (Note: Provisional laws are placed into force by the government directly when parliament is dissolved or out of session. They remain in legal force until parliament considers them (Ref A). End Note.) Following elections in 2003, the personal status law amendments were placed on the agenda of the lower house with a personal appeal by the Queen for their passage. A coalition of tribal, conservative, and Islamist legislators in the lower house twice rejected the amendments (Ref C). Since 2004, the senate (which is composed entirely of royal appointees) has refused to place the amendments back on the agenda for discussion, effectively keeping them in force and freezing the debate over their passage. 7. (C) Hilayel recognizes the risk that both sets of amendments could be defeated if bringing forward a new set of amendments re-opens debate on the legal status of the previous package. Still, it is unclear if he has a concrete strategy to deal with that risk. Asma Khader, head of the Jordanian National Council for Women, sees the proposed amendments as a positive step forward and hopes that the political weight of a Chief Justice in Islamist circles will resolve the legal status of the 2001 amendments through an affirmative vote in parliament and help the new package overcome expected conservative opposition. Comment ------- 8. (C) As the current drive to amend the personal status law goes forward, the unresolved fate of the 2001 amendments will inevitably be part of the debate. Civil society contacts acknowledge that any attempt to build on the 2001 amendments risks the re-ignition of a societal debate on women's rights that could ultimately result in the defeat of both packages. Activists realize that they are working against the opinions of many Jordanians on this issue, and will face a difficult task in persuading conservative legislators to accept new changes to the law when even the last round of debate was not formally brought to a close. They have a solid ally in Hilayel who is well placed to bring a new set of amendments forward, even if his motivations for doing so are unclear. Visit Embassy Amman's Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ Beecroft |
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