Iraq\u2019s parliament passed three divisive laws Tuesday, including amendments to the country\u2019s personal status law that opponents say would in effect legalize child marriage. <\/p>\n
The amendments give Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance. Activists argue that this undermines Iraq\u2019s 1959 Personal Status Law, which unified family law and established safeguards for women. <\/p>\n
Proponents of the changes, which were advocated by primarily conservative Shiite lawmakers, defend them as a means to align the law with Islamic principles and reduce Western influence on Iraqi culture. <\/p>\n
Iraqi law currently sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage in most cases. The changes passed Tuesday would let clerics rule according to their interpretation of Islamic law, which some interpret to allow marriage of girls in their early teens \u2013 or as young as 9 under the Jaafari school of Islamic law followed by many Shiite religious authorities in Iraq. <\/p>\n
The parliament also passed a general amnesty law seen as benefiting Sunni detainees and that\u2019s also seen as giving a pass to people involved in corruption and embezzlement. The chamber also passed a land restitution law aimed at addressing Kurdish territorial claims. <\/p>\n
Intisar al-Mayali, a human rights activist and a member of the Iraqi Women\u2019s League, said passage of the civil status law amendments \u201cwill leave disastrous effects on the rights of women and girls, through the marriage of girls at an early age, which violates their right to life as children, and will disrupt the protection mechanisms for divorce, custody and inheritance for women.\u201d <\/p>\n
The session ended in chaos and accusations of procedural violations. <\/p>\n
\u201cHalf of the lawmakers present in the session did not vote, which broke the legal quorum,\u201d a parliamentary official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. He said that some members protested loudly and others climbed onto the parliamentary podium. <\/p>\n
After the session, a number of legislators complained about the voting process, under which all three controversial laws \u2014 each of which was supported by different blocs \u2014 were voted on together. <\/p>\n
\u201cRegarding the civil status law, we are strongly supporting it and there were no issues with that,\u201d said Raid al Maliki, an independent MP. \u201cBut it was combined with other laws to be voted on together\u2026and this might lead to a legal appeal at the Federal Court.\u201d <\/p>\n
Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani in a statement praised the laws\u2019 passage as \u201can important step in the process of enhancing justice and organizing the daily lives of citizens.\u201d <\/p>\n
Also Tuesday, at least three officers, including the national security chief of the al-Tarmiyah district north of Baghdad, were killed and four others wounded in an explosion at an ammunition depot, a security official said. <\/p>\n
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said the explosion occurred as a joint force of the Iraqi army and the national security service conducted an operation following intelligence reports of the Islamic State group\u2019s activity and an ammunition cache in the area. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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