8 - 14 March 2001
Issue No.524
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 8 - 14 March 2001 Issue No.524 |
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Reluctance ratified
CEDAW -- the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women -- requires signatories to eliminate discrimination against women in civil, political, economic, and cultural fields. It also establishes measures for states to pursue in achieving equality between men and women. Signatories must work to ensure equality in public and private life and, in particular, within the framework of the family. In pursuing CEDAW's goals, states are entitled to introduce affirmative action measures until equality between men and women is achieved.
photo: Randa Shaath
photo: Mohamed WassimTHE MAIN BENEFICIARIES: Affirmative action policies and increased awareness of women's rights will do much to advance the cause of gender equality. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women seeks to ensure that signatories take measures to improve women's status -- but some states, citing cultural or religious constraints, have expressed reservations on certain points
Every ratifying or acceding nation is obliged to fulfil CEDAW's stipulations within one year of signing the Convention, and follow up with a progress report every four years.
The Convention permits ratification subject to reservations, provided that the reservations are not incompatible with its object and purpose. Countries have filed many formal reservations -- perhaps more than to any other major human rights treaty. Some of these limit the obligations undertaken by the signatory in vague and sweeping terms, while others focus on areas of fundamental importance to the achievement of women's equality, such as family law. Some reservations, indeed, appear to be inconsistent with CEDAW's "object and purpose."
The Egyptian government has filed substantive reservations to the following four articles. Article 2 asserts that all state parties must condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, and agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women. The Egyptian government has expressed its willingness to implement this article under the condition that it does not violate Islamic legislation. Article 9, item 2 declares that state parties shall grant women rights equal to those of men with respect to the nationality of their children. Article 16 stipulates that state parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations, and in particular shall ensure:
the same rights and responsibilities during marriage and its dissolution; the same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of marital status, in matters relating to their children, whose interests shall be paramount in all cases;
the same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights;
the same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, trusteeship, and adoption of children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation;
personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choose a family name, a profession and an occupation.
Finally, the government opposes Article 29, which states that any dispute between two or more state parties concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention and not settled by negotiations shall, at the request of one them, be submitted to arbitration. If, within six months of the arbitration request, the parties are unable to agree on the organisation of the arbitration, either may refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice.
The legislative committee of the National Council for Women (NCW), after careful study of the Egyptian government's reservations, has recommended that these be lifted in certain cases.
According to Mona Zulficar, a prominent lawyer and member of the legislative committee of the NCW, the Nationality Law (26/1975) stipulates that anyone born in Egypt to an Egyptian mother and a father who is stateless or whose nationality is unknown is entitled to Egyptian nationality. Nationality is also granted to anyone whose mother is Egyptian and whose paternity cannot be legally established, anyone born in Egypt to parents of unknown nationality, and anyone born outside Egypt to an Egyptian mother and a father of unknown or no nationality. "The NCW's legislative committee has recommended that considerations should be given to alleviating the reservations on Article 9, item 2. It is totally unfair -- and ridiculous -- to grant Egyptian nationality to minors of Egyptian mothers and fathers of unknown nationality, and not to children of Egyptian mothers and foreign fathers, whose nationality and country are known. This reservation is also in conflict with the principle of equality between men and women enshrined in the Egyptian Constitution. The legislative committee of the NCW beseeches the relevant authorities to seek a legal solution to this problem," says Zulficar. As for Article 2, "the committee has also recommended that Egypt should lift its reservations, which conflict with the principle of equality on which CEDAW is based. The main items on which Egypt has expressed reservations are mentioned in Article 16. Therefore the Egyptian government should be content with its reservations on that article, which is not in accordance with Islamic legislation," added Zulficar.
Zeinab Radwan, dean of the faculty of Cairo University's Dar Al-Ulum (Fayoum branch), deputy chairperson of the legislative committee of the NCW, and member of the People's Assembly, agrees that the Egyptian government has the right to its reservations with regard to Article 16, with the exception of two items that are in accordance with Islamic law. These items are: equality of men's and women's rights in choosing a spouse and entering marriage with their free and full consent; and equal rights for both spouses with respect to the ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property.
Islamic legislation established a system organising marital life, explains Radwan. With respect to items granting parents equal rights in custody and guardianship, Radwan argues that children, whether male or female, are placed in the custody of women from the time of their birth until the end of their childhood. "Women are the only ones who are capable of taking care of their children during this early stage of their life," she explains. Thereafter, Islamic legislation transfers custody to men (the father, another male relative, or a legal guardian), "since they are the ones capable of caring for children during these critical stages of life." Moreover, certain rules must be followed in adoption. According to Radwan, Islam prohibits Muslims from giving their own names to adopted children, since this could lead to confusion in kinship and cause problems in the division of inheritance.
As for the item stating that men and women have the same rights and responsibilities during marriage and its dissolution, Radwan explains that Islam grants spouses mutual rights, which may be equivalent but are not the same. "For example, the husband has the right to unilateral repudiation (Talaq), while the wife may retain the 'Isma (the right to divorce herself from him) and enjoy the right to Khul'."
Nor does Islam prevent women from obtaining information related to reproductive health, asserts Radwan. As for the item concerning equal rights in deciding freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of children, "both spouses should be able to afford the expenses of marriage and having children. At least 30 months should pass between one child and the next. Islam prohibits women from breast-feeding while pregnant, since this harms both children: neither the infant nor the fetus will obtain the nutrition necessary for their growth," stresses Radwan. Finally, Islam does not place restrictions on an individual's freedom to choose his or her job or profession; as for the right to choose one's family name, "Islam states that children are to be named after their father and not their mother, except in cases of adultery. A woman keeps her father's name even after she marries. This is due to Islam's philosophy in heritage and kinship," concludes Radwan.
While it remains to be seen whether or not the government will take the legislators' recommendations into account, it would seem that Egypt's adherence to CEDAW could soon be less diffident than has hitherto been the case.
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