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Bahrain - Campaign to Lift
Reservations to CEDAW - CEDAW Committee Review
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BAHRAIN: Women Call to Review
Women's Rights
- CEDAW Reservations |
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By REBECCA TORR BAHRAIN
could be forced to pass a family law and other new regulations if the country
lifts reservations it has to a UN convention on discrimination against women,
say campaigners. Bahrain
joined the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW) in 2002, but submitted several reservations due to
conflict with Sharia law, traditions and Islamic principles. Since then
women's activists and human rights groups have been campaigning for Bahrain
to lift these reservations, saying women were still getting a raw
deal. "The
implementation of CEDAW in Bahrain is not at the level it should be,"
Awal Women's Society and Bahrain Human Rights Society member and former
president Dr Sabika Al Najjar told the GDN. "If
CEDAW is implemented in the correct way it means the state should review all
the laws and regulations regarding women's rights to see which points are
discriminatory and then they should implement new regulations for women. "It
should reform justice in education, health, at work and in issuing the family
law. "It
should also make sure people and society are aware and convinced of the
treaties and any social discrimination should be removed. "I
believe any development of women and any change in their status will develop
the whole of the society because women are vital - they are the centre of the
family." Bahrain
has five reservations on the optional protocol of the CEDAW, which refer to
articles two, nine, 15, 16 and 29. l Article
two, paragraph two, states that a country should condemn all types of
discrimination against women l Article
nine, paragraph two, states that women should enjoy the same rights as men in
terms of giving citizenship to their children l Article
15, paragraph four, states that women should be given the same rights as men
in choosing their homes l Article
16 states the need to provide equal marital rights for females and males,
particularly in marriage contracts, raising children and custody l Article
29, paragraph one, relates to disputes between two state parties. Lifting
these reservations could mean Bahrain would have to finally introduce a
family law, which would stipulate in writing how family issues such as
divorces and child custody cases should be resolved. Such cases
are currently handled by the Sharia Court, in which Sharia judges reach
decisions based on their own interpretation of Islam - with critics saying
they often favour men over women. Objections A draft
family law was supposed to be drawn up by parliament in 2006, but it never
saw light after Islamic clergymen voiced their objections. Dr Al
Najjar said Bahrain Human Rights Society was part of an Arab coalition of
Equality Without Reservation, which aimed to push governments to accept the
CEDAW protocol and lift all reservations. The
coalition is based in Morocco and the Bahrain Human Rights Society is
involved in co-ordinating with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the
Gulf and Yemen to eliminate discrimination against women. "All
of CEDAW's optional protocol should be implemented," said Dr Al Najjar,
who is also Awal Women's Society information technology committee head. "I
hope Arab states will accept it and that NGOs will understand and use it to
pressure the government." The GDN
reported earlier this month that Bahrain failed to make it onto an
international UN body that monitors women's rights around the globe. Eleven
countries including Afghanistan beat Bahrain to a seat on the Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. A country
report on Bahrain's implementation of CEDAW will be presented to the
committee in October. Women's
groups and human rights societies will also submit shadow reports. |
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