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Iraq: Sudani Steps in to Address Personal Status Law Crisis

Iraq: Sudani Steps in to Address Personal Status Law Crisis
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Iraq: Sudani Steps in to Address Personal Status Law Crisis

Iraq: Sudani Steps in to Address Personal Status Law Crisis

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has promised to review all concerns expressed by the Higher Council for Women’s Affairs about changes to the Personal Status Law.

The amendments have angered civil society groups because they allow child marriages and remove a wife’s right to alimony and custody.

They also propose using religious texts from different sects in Iraq as the basis for legal decisions instead of current laws, according to Iraqi human rights advocates.

At a conference against violence against women on Saturday, al-Sudani praised the role of women in his government, noting that there are three female ministers, two deputy ministers, 111 women as general directors, and 47 assistant general directors.

He also announced the creation of the Higher Council for Women’s Affairs, which will handle decisions related to women’s development and review concerns about the Personal Status Law.

Al-Sudani mentioned that Iraq is working to reduce female illiteracy, which was at 17% two years ago.

Ala Talabani, a former Iraqi MP and vocal opponent of the changes made to the Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the head of the National Wisdom Movement Ammar al-Hakim’s call for more detailed review and alignment with modern standards is a “positive and important” move.

Talabani warned that the current draft of the amendment could lead to serious violations of women’s rights.

Meanwhile, Claudio Cordone, Deputy Representative of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), praised the Iraqi government’s efforts to fight violence against women and support their rights, and applauded al-Sudani for pushing government agencies to act quickly on women’s issues.

Nevertheless, Iraqi intellectuals have criticized the amendments made, expressing concern about clauses lowering the marriage age for girls to about nine, allowing marriage contracts outside the courts, and affecting divorced women’s rights and child custody.

In Najaf, activists protested the law but faced opposition from religious figures and tribal leaders. The police intervened to separate the protesters and the opposing groups.

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Israel’s Retaliatory Responses to Houthis Must Begin by Drawing Intelligence Plan

A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)
A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)
TT
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Israel’s Retaliatory Responses to Houthis Must Begin by Drawing Intelligence Plan

A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)
A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)

Israel is considering options to respond to repeated attacks fired from Yemen in the past few days, the latest of which was a Houthi missile strike that injured more than a dozen people in Tel Aviv.
But military experts say Israel should first consider an intelligence plan for confronting the new front after it faced significant difficulties in both defending against and responding to the Houthi attacks.
On Saturday morning, Houthis launched a missile that triggered sirens throughout central Israel at 3:44 am. It was the second attack since Thursday.
Israel's military said the projectile landed in Tel Aviv's southern Jaffa area, adding that attempts to intercept a missile from Yemen failed.
“The incident is still being thoroughly investigated,” the army said, adding that following initial investigations by the Israeli Air Force and Home Front Command, “some of the conclusions have already been implemented, both regarding interception and early warning.”
Israeli military experts say the recent Houthi attacks have revealed serious security gaps in Israel's air defense systems.
“The pressing question now is why none of the other of Israel’s air defense layers managed to intercept the warhead,” wrote Yedioth Ahronoth's Ron Ben-Yishai. “The likely explanation is the late detection and the flat trajectory, which prevented the operation of all available defense apparatus.”
He said these incidents might expose a critical vulnerability in the army’s air defense system protecting Israel’s civilian and military home front.
According to Ben-Yishai, two main reasons might explain Saturday’s interception failure.
The first is that the missile was launched in a “flattened” ballistic trajectory, possibly from an unexpected direction.
As a result, Israeli defenses may not have identified it in time, leading to its late discovery and insufficient time for interceptors to operate.
He said the second, and more likely scenario is that Iran has developed a maneuverable warhead.
Such a warhead separates from the missile during the final third of its trajectory and maneuvers mid-flight—executing pre-programmed course changes—to hit its designated target, he wrote.
And while Israel has launched initial investigations into the failure of Israeli defense systems to intercept the missiles, it is now examining the nature, date and location of its response.
When Houthis launched their first missile attack on Israel last Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned them, saying, “The Houthis will learn the hard way.”
But Israeli political analyst Avi Ashkenazi wrote in the Maariv newspaper that Israel should look at reality with open eyes and say out loud that it cannot deal with the Houthi threat from Yemen, and has failed to face them.
Last Thursday, 14 Israeli Air Force fighter jets, alongside refuelers and spy planes, flew some 2,000 kilometers and dropped over 60 munitions on Houthi “military targets” along Yemen’s western coast and near the capital Sanaa.
The targets included fuel and oil depots, two power stations, and eight tugboats used at the Houthi-controlled ports.
But the Maariv newspaper warned about the increasing involvement of Iran in supporting the Houthi forces.
“Iran has invested more in the Houthis in recent weeks following the collapse of the Shiite axis, making the Houthi movement a leader of this axis,” the newspaper noted.
Underscoring the failures of Israel’s air defense systems, Maariv said the “Arrow” missile defense system, Israel's main line of defense against ballistic missiles, had failed four times in a row to intercept missiles, including three launched from Yemen and one from Lebanon.
Yedioth Ahronoth's Ben-Yishai also warned that the threat posed by maneuvering warheads on Iran's heavy, long-range missiles would become existential for Israel should Iran succeed in developing nuclear warheads for these missiles.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 12 said that in recent months, the Middle East has changed beyond recognition.
The channel said that for the first time in more than half a century, a direct and threat-free air corridor has been opened to Iran through the Middle East. Israel will benefit from this corridor to launch almost daily attacks on the border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, it said.
Channel 12 also reported that according to the Israeli military, the new threat-free corridor will help Israel launch a future attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
“From Israel's perspective, the fall of the Assad regime and the collapse of the Iranian ring of fire are changing the balance of power in the Middle East,” the report added.