WUNRN
IRAQ: Sectarian Violence Forces Mixed Couples to Divorce
© IRIN
Because of escalating sectarian violence, marriages between
Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims in Iraq are under
threat. |
BAGHDAD, 8 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - When Hiba Sami, 38, freely married her husband
18 years ago, she never thought she would one day be forced to divorce him
against her own will.
“I love my husband, but my family has forced me to
divorce him because we are Shi’ite and he is Sunni. My family say they [the
husband’s family] are insurgents… and that living with him is an offence to
God,” Sami said.
“We have four children and every day they cry because
they miss their father. When they ask for an explanation, my family tells them
that their father is a betrayer and should be kept away from them,” she
added.
Hundreds of such mixed couples have been forced to divorce due to
pressure from insurgents, militias or families who fear that they could be
singled out, according to Peace for Iraqis Association (PIA), a local NGO
devoted to the issue.
“Families living in happiness are now victims of
sectarian violence,” said Ahmed Farid, a psychologist and spokesperson for PIA.
“Children are being forced to see their parents divorced, not because of
personal problems but because someone believes that mixed marriages are
unacceptable in the circumstances of Iraq.”
Farid said forced divorces
could cause serious psychological problems for the children involved and further
brainwash them to accept sectarian violence.
“There is a case of a child
who tried to kill himself because his parents divorced. He tried to stop them
from separating,” Farid told IRIN.
Farid said the association had
received many threats from insurgents and militias for trying to prevent
divorces between mixed couples by trying to persuade relatives against the
idea.
Prior to 2003, doctrinal differences were never a problem in Iraq.
Mixed marriages between Sunnis and Shi’ites and between Sunni Kurds and Arabs of
both sects were common in the days of former president Saddam
Hussein.
Following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, sectarian divides
began to emerge as the majority Shi’ite population, which had been heavily
discriminated against under Hussein’s government, began to re-assert itself as
the dominant political power.
Sectarian violence escalated considerably
after Sunnis bombed a revered Shi’ite shrine in the northern city of Samarra in
February this year.
The Iraqi court responsible for carrying out
divorces said that over the past four months there had been a significant
increase in the number of divorces occurring. Most of them were between mixed
couples but the court could not confirm whether they were forced or not.
Religious leaders are divided on this issue. Some are calling on mixed
couples to divorce for their own safety. “[Shi’ite] women are in danger [if]
they live with Sunni males who could be involved in insurgent activities. For
their protection, divorce is best,” Sheikh Ali Mubarak, a religious leader from
Sadr City district, said.
Sheikh Muhammad Rabia’a, a religious leader
from Adhamiyah district, says mixed couples should not divorce if they are
living in harmony.
The government estimates that two million of Iraq’s
6.5 million marriages are unions between Arab Sunnis and Arab
Shi’ites.
In April 2006, IRIN reported on mixed couples forming an
association called Union for Peace in Iraq (UPI) that aimed to protect such
marriages from sectarian violence. Members were forced to dissolve the
association after three mixed couples, including founding members of UPI, were
killed.
“We were the only association in Iraq dealing with this. [Now]
there are two choices left, stay in Iraq and divorce your partner or flee to a
neighbouring country,” Abu Salah, a former member of the association,
said.
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