MANAMA, 8 November 2005 — Hundreds of Bahrainis marched Sunday in two separate protests as a campaign to block a proposed family law from being passed by Parliament continues.
The protesters came from villages in the Northern Governorate, home to the highest density of Bahrain’s population, an estimated 40 percent. They marched carrying placards and signs demanding that the proposed law be rejected, and called for passage of the draft put forward by the Shiite Ulema Islamic Council (UIC), which is spearheading the protest efforts.
Protests that began on Wednesday are set to continue through tomorrow, when large numbers are expected to answer the call to join a protest led by UIC Chairman Isa Qasem.
Qasem had warned in his Friday sermon that passing the law in its present format could lead to unrest, accusing the government of wanting to pass it to please the United States.
He emphasized that the UIC, which claims that the law does not conform to Islamic principles, would not waiver from the basic demands of having only religious leaders draft the law, and that guarantees are made by the government that it would not amend after being passed without their consultation and approval.
The UIC also wants to have Iraq’s Shiite leader Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani review the draft, which reportedly has been completed, to ensure that it does not violate the precepts of Islam.
The measure, which is also known as the personal status law, is supported by women’s rights activists, who see it as a guarantor of fair treatment in court for domestic cases such as child custody, inheritance and divorce.
They also see it as an empowering tool to bring about further protection and equality, sighting that the present law discriminates against women and gives wide powers to judges, whom they accuse of bias toward men.
The Supreme Council for Women (SCW), chaired by the king’s wife, Sabika bint Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, is spearheading a three-month campaign that began in October to promote the new law in hopes that public support would result in its adoption.
SCW Secretary-General Dr. Lulwa Al-Awadhi had earlier welcomed discussion with those opposing the law, denying accusations that it went against Islamic principles and claimed that Shariah was the main source for the purposed legislation.
Civic bodies, human rights groups and some religious figures from different sects had come out and expressed support for the law to various degrees.
Reforms ‘in Own Interest’
Arab non-governmental organizations (NGOs) attending a conference in Manama, meanwhile, called reforms as a “necessity” to modernize the Arab world and rejected claims that they only served Western interests.
Reforms in the Arab world are not aimed at “appeasing the West and serving its goals,” Abdulnabi Al-Akri, coordinator of the NGO conference, said at the opening of the two-day “Parallel Conference of Forum for Future” yesterday.
“Our civil society organizations are undertaking the issue of reforms and democratization because they are a necessity for us (Arabs) to catch with modernization,” he said. There is a “necessity for comprehensive political, economic and social reforms,” he added.
The conference comes ahead of the Nov. 11-12 “Forum for Future” during which foreign ministers of 38 countries from the Middle East and G8 will discuss the US-sponsored Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) initiative.
Only non-political organizations were invited to the meeting which aims at allowing civil society organizations to play a bigger role in Arab reforms.
Many speakers criticized US policies in the Middle East, but insisted that they should not be made a pretext to delay much-needed reforms. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, said the United States was losing the “ability and credibility to advocate democratic change,” because of its policies toward Iraq and the Palestinians.
“But ... what America says should not be discredited,” he said.
Arabs must insist on reforms “not because America wants it, but because we need it,” said the head of the think-tank.
During the meeting, participants from Arab countries, Europe and the United States, will discuss issues on women, human rights and good governance, in addition to Islamic culture, human rights and democratic transformation.
Recommendations of the conference will be submitted to the foreign ministers of Bahrain and Britain to be discussed by the foreign ministers of G8 and BMENA, Akri said.
— With input from agencies
