English

By Bassam Al Kadi
Translated by Elizabeth Broadwin & Sheila Weaver, edited by Basel Jbaily
2010-01-27

It goes without saying that civil society organizations that have not received “the go ahead” to operate under the notorious law of associations implemented by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor didn't have a place at the recent conference, which should have looked past protocols and allowed for the presence and participation of all kinds of groups working on community issues, as the conference’s focus was social development.

However, the conference, and especially first lady Asma al Assad’s remarks had a number of positive and promising points. We believe the time is ripe for the Syrian government to change its backward unilateral vision toward civil society, and to embrace a modern democratic vision that says that civil society can be a partner to the government, while remaining an independent critic, neither submissive nor dependent.

Of the positive outcomes from the conference was the recognition for the first time, on an official level, of “civil society,” that described it accurately as all forms of non-governmental community organizations that renounce violence. The term “civil society” has been victim during the last decade of huge efforts to distort its meaning, especially the smear campaign undertaken by the government to label “civil society” as an “opposition” to the regime.

The Syrian Women Observatory (SWO), along with other forces in Syrian society, has played a large role in changing the meaning of “civil society” over the past few years, through its continuous work to clarify the meaning of this term, showing that civil society is not necessarily opposed to the regime (in Syria or elsewhere). SWO has also made clear that the term “al Ahli society” 1 has no place in a modern state, even for characterizing charitable organizations and associations. It also clarified that charitable work is a basic part of civil society and in no way diminishes from its importance and necessity despite the gaps and pitfalls it suffers from, mostly due to the current notorious law of associations, which the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor implemented in a ridiculously dogmatic way.

Mrs. Al Assad said in her opening remarks, “civil society plays an increasingly important role in supporting the development process throughout the world…” It is important to note that even though she also used the term “al ahli” in her remarks and that the term “al ahli” was in the secondary title of the conference “The Role of Al Ahli Society in Development” none of this diminishes from the importance what she said.

Recognizing that the correct term is “civil society” rather than “al ahli society” is an indirect positive step of utmost importance. While a lot has been written on the difference between the two terms, this can be summarized by saying that “al ahli” is what predates “civil,” whereas “civil” is connected to the modern state and the idea of citizenship and social unity. “Al ahli” can also associated with sectarian, tribal and familial divisions.

On another front, Mrs. Al Assad said that the Syrian government has undertaken “a new law for non governmental societies and associations in cooperation with representatives of the civil sector, which is now being reviewed by the concerned authorities and is in its final stages.” Mrs. Al Assad also pointed out that this law “will be able to achieve a quantum leap in this sector.”

She added that the project will “set the stage for the next step of work consistent with our ambitions, and it is necessary that the associated implementation procedures correspond with its substance in order to achieve the goals it sets out to accomplish.” She also pointed out that the number of authorized associations in Syria has increased by 300 percent in the past five years.

For the past four years, Syrian civil society has raised its voice calling for a new modern and democratic law for associations that keeps pace with the needs of Syrian society and its continual development. However, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, and those who are behind it, did their best to keep the law and its implementation procedures untouched. What Mrs. Al Assad said is truly a cause for optimism, especially since she made a point of referring to the implementation procedures in this new law; and any good law needs clear and good implementation procedures. However, that alone does not suffice. Any law under the umbrella of a ministry like this, will not be able to achieve anything important.

This also brings us back to the same old questions: Why this law has not been proposed to the public so that everyone can know what the discussion is about? Why is the Ministry being careful to make this law a secret? This is a real cause for worry. The basic problems with the current law (even has got problems on all levels) are that it raises fear, especially concerning the absolute power of the Ministry over the work of civil society associations, from its absolute ability to dissolve any organization’s board of directors to its ability to shutdown the whole organization. In addition, there is no end to the requirements necessary to get consent for every single move the association would like to make. And of course, the Ministry serves as both judge and jury when problems arise between associations and the Ministry itself.

The number of associations has, without a doubt, increased by 300 percent. However, that does not give a precise indication of the reality of the licensing of organizations in Syria, since the Ministry still controls any authorized association. That is why few, if any, real “civil society” associations has been licensed. We have spoken many times previously about the Ministry’s refusal to license a number of professional associations, as well as ones related to women’s rights and human rights on the grounds that they are not needed.

For all the above mentioned reasons, This new law must be truly democratic and give the law to its rightful owners. That is to say, it must restore the exclusive right to civil court judges to license associations, resolve any potential disputes, and restore the right of disclosure and licensing to associations that meet the requirements and do not espouse violence, sectarian strife, or other similar prohibitions. This new law must not allow for the Ministry to have any power over preventing or dissolving organizations except though action taken in civil court.

Therefore, Mrs. Al Assad’s opening remarks carry grave importance. We can only hope that they get the attention they deserve in order to help civil society truly strengthen its role, not just in economic growth, but also in societal development as a whole, as well as in strengthening the notion of citizenship, especially in opposing violence, and discrimination against women. Combating this violence and discrimination forms one of the most important aspects in development. As Mrs. Al Assad said a year and some months ago, in her opening remarks at the Second Conference for the Arab Women Organization held in the United Arab Emirates, “the nation will not be safe as long as half of it is not safe.”

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By the Syrian Women Observatory (SWO)

The draft of the Syrian personal status law remains on the table at the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the government center responsible for overseeing and issuing fatwas, in the absence of the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, which played it safe after its wings were clipped and it “learned the lesson.”

Most of Syrian civil society is drowning in delusions over the draft, claiming that it no longer exists (while it does exist), and staying silent, far from carrying out the least of its responsibilities on an issue of this importance.

However, the initiative of the Ismaili Council of Damascus held a special symposium to discuss two copies of the draft personal status law on the evening of December 19, 2009. Young men and women filled the hall to participate and deal with this issue, which is undoubtedly one of the most important issues facing contemporary Syrian society as this law affects the lives of everyone in Syria, from cradle to grave.

Mr. Bassam Al Kadi, the director of the Syrian Women Observatory, which formed the backbone of the campaign that got the first copy of the draft law dropped, presented a paper on how this campaign highlighted the complete contradictions between the law and Syrian society. This Taliban like first draft, which aimed at dragging society back centuries, was rife with some of the ugliest forms of hatred toward women, sectarian and religious discrimination, and the marginalization of children.

Mr. Al Kadi said that the second copy [of the draft law] is fundamentally different from the first. However, that does not make it acceptable, especially since it almost identically duplicates the current law. Accepting this draft means blind acceptance of the problems that the current law caused over the past few decades, even though we found the current law outdated. The law was passed in 1953 for a society completely different from today’s society and was built on the premise of the narrow vision presented in Kadri Basha’s works, which formed the Personal Status Law for the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. How can we apply what was created for 19th century society as a legal guide for individuals and families in the 21st century?

Mr. Al Kadi said that working to adopt a national family law based on the notion of citizenship is the guiding principle for the work of the Syrian Women Observatory in this arena.

Participants in the symposium posed a number of questions focused on the two drafts and the devastating effects of a law that does not rely on citizenship, as well as the crisis in the relationship among organizations working on women’s issues and its implications for the collective work.

Translated by Sheila Weaver & Elizabeth Broadwin

Arabic
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Amina Birimko
1/18/2010

Syrian children of all different ages work collecting empty plastic containers in order to earn a living. They work among piles of garbage, using discarded trash in order to support their families leaving behind their studies. However, we can’t be sure that these children’s performance in their school-work comes at the expense of their so-called daily income from gathering trash.

To start, we met with a five year-old named, Aida, who loves her family, her neighborhood, and her two friends, Roudin and Ruba. She said spontaneously: “I work gathering plastic, just like my father, and aslo helps my mother making tomato paste.” Her dream is to go to school.

Meanwhile, another child, Zahr al Din said: “I have worked gathering plastic since I was little in order to financially support my family.” When we asked him about his father’s job, he said: “He used to work making false teeth, but now he is sick.” Zahr emphasized that he is not planning to desert his studies.

Roujin, a ten year-old student in the fifth grade sells each kilo of plastic for ten Syrian pounds, and makes 35 pounds daily. As for the best times to gather plastic, she says: “I prefer three in the morning when event halls would have thrown out their trash.” Roujin and a lot of her friends from the neighborhood work together gathering plastic. Roujin talked about her happiest moments, saying: “I feel happy when my dad comes home from Damascus.” Her hope is that she will complete her studies and become a lawyer.

Roujin’s nine year-old sister, Roudin, who is a student in the fourth grade agrees with her sister that the happiest moment for her is when her father comes to visit. When we asked her if she was happy with what she works, she shook her head meaning "no". Her dream is to finish her studies and that her dad would return and live with them.

According to Roudin and her friends, the outskirts of the city are the best location to collect plastic because there is an abundance of garbage and they are able to collect at any time. Roudin smiled, saying: “In addition to collecting plastic here, this is our favorite place to play.” Then she informed us that another place to gather plastic is “Shakif” neighborhood because there are a lot of event halls. Roudin continued: “At this time, the parties have ended and the workers at the event halls throw out bags of garbage in the street.”

As for Hussain, who is almost six and a student in the first grade, he loves his neighborhood, his friends, and his work. “I love my work because I can buy all the tasty food I want, from what I earn daily.” When we asked him about time for study, he said: “At night, I do homework and my sister teaches me.” Then we talked with 12 year-old Asim who said: “my daily wage is 100 Syrian pounds, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the amount of trash, and the number of children who are also looking for plastic.” Asim helps his mom with household expenses despite his commitment to his studies as his father is sick. Asim hopes to finish his studies and says: “I love school but I don’t have time to study.”

Then we met with Ahlam Kingo, a social worker, who explained to us the reasons that children work, saying: “Pervasive poverty in our community is the main reason, and motivating factor behind child labor, regardless of the social and cultural status of the family and it plays a huge role in aggravating this phenomenon.” In her opinion, family plays the main role in defining the tendencies of the child, defining the features of his character and his relationship with the outside community. As for child labor, Ahlam Kingo sees it as having “positive and negative effects,” saying: “The positive consists of the creation of new feelings about the child’s sense of self, his capability for self-reliance, to have responsibility and not to rely on others, as well as his feelings of trust in his ability to secure his needs or the needs of his family.”

However, despite these positives, Ms. Kingo believes that “the negative psychological effects [of child labor] are more severe and produce a greater burden on the child. Firstly, they prevent children from enjoying their childhood, and it cuts short their education. Work sometimes causes children to develop psychological and physical disorders, as it delays mental and physical growth, and to develop aggressive behavior and a lack of socialization, and lack of self-respect and an understanding of its value. Sometimes children face subjugation through sexual violence or sexual exploitation because they are the weakest in their places of work.” Ms. Kingo followed by saying that there are children who appear to worry about tomorrow and the future seeing it from a pessimistic point of view and are overcome by depression. She concluded by saying: “The worst negative effects resulting from the phenomenon of child workers is the spread of some dangerous habits like smoking and drug use.”

Translation: Sheila Weaver & Elizabeth Broadwin

Arabic
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Human rights organization in Syria continue to unleash their surprises every now and then. These organizations which proved through the last period that they are no more than organizations specialized only in issuing statements about political prisoners (which is an important matter indeed, but is only one of dozens of issues that should be tackled under the banner of human rights).
One of those surprises was manifested in the fact that most of the Syrian "human rights" organizations didn't take a clear and decisive position concerning "honor crimes" by which about 200 Syrian women are killed every year. The same applies to the issue of equality in rights and duties between both women and men on the basis of citizenship. And among other surprises, is the notorious silence concerning the first "Talibanic" draft of draft law of Syria’s Personal Status Code and the second backward draft.
The last of this series of surprises was a statement issued by these organizations "announcing the establishment of the Syrian forum for Non-Governmental Organizations signed by 8 organizations, one of which no body has heard of until few days ago when these eight organizations issued a statement condemning "the notorious attack of some suspicious newspapers in Tunisia and Morocco… against some legal and civil institutions in both countries". This unknown organization is "The Syrian Commission for Woman and Child Affairs".

If human rights organization use the pretext of hiding the names of their members for security reasons, it is odd enough for an organization that is supposed to work on women's and children issues to keep a secret profile. It is completely an unknown organization. We tried to reach any piece of information about its address, its members, or even its activities, but in vain. We can't but express our astonishment of how the civil work lacks transparency. We can't but ask how these organizations claim that by this, they are protecting themselves from the security authorities, while at the same time always reiterating in their statements that Syrian security police is able to get access to any piece of information. We have the right to suspect the actual presence of the Syrian Commission for Woman and Child Affairs. It is likely that it is only a name used for purposes that are served by its mere presence, even if it is a fake name.
The statement, in which the establishment of this forum was announced, reads "the first preparatory meeting for the forum took place in which representative of the Syrian NGOs participated. The discussion focused on the assessment of Barcelona declaration and the support of its implications unless they become merely governmental." This is equally strange.
We have seen in the past the notion of human rights being dwarfed to only statements about people who get imprisoned. And now it seems its time for these organization to expand their area of work. No Syrian organization working in the field of women's right was invited to this surprising meeting, including Syrian Women Observatory, nor the date and the place of it were mentioned.
It is really strange that this forum claims that it is a platform for Syrian NGOs, while it represents only 8 organizations which constitute no more than 1 percent of the Syrian NGOs. This is not because others refused to attend this "preparatory meeting", rather because they have not been informed of it nor invited to it.

It seems that the core of the statement is the following sentence "assessment of Barcelona declaration and the support of its implications". It seems that the main concern is not the Syrian civil society with its problems and obstacles, not its silence concerning the most important issues of civil society, and not its recent tendency towards issuing funny statements; from Goldeston report to the Lebanese elections, while keep turning a blind eye to reports that tackles the real problems of the Syrians, both men and women. The main concern is supporting the implications of Barcelona declaration!
Would anyone tell us how supporting the implications of Barcelona declaration could be achieved by organizations which say that their potentials don't allow them to issue a statement condemning all forms of violence against the Syrian women!
Their statement said that the debate in the meeting focused, among other things, on "the necessity of working toward the independence of the civil society organizations away from governments. It is really a kind of weird how "human rights organizations" would achieve that aim while keep silent towards the server violations of the human rights of more than two thirds of the Syrian population (women and children) by the government. How would they achieve such aim while refusing to implement any kind of transparency? How comes that they continue to rightly and harshly criticize the government concerning transparency and the failure to do what ought to be done, while themselves refuse to be criticized in such regards?
How would such organization promote the independency of other NGOs? Have they forged any kind of a relationship with an organization that works on the issues of people with special needs, children's issues, or the sons and daughters of prisoners? Have they established any kind of actual presence on the ground? Have they networked, away from personal relations, with other NGOs?
Everything comes crystal clear when the statement says "it has been agreed that this forum will be a non-governmental civil platform in the framework of the EuroMed partnership". So, it is not about the Syrian civil society with its problems and aspirations, it is all about the EuroMed partnership!!!!
We, in Syrian Women observatory, stress again that the Syrian Civil Society is a society that includes all forms of collective work that is independent of the government (this independency doesn't necessarily mean being hostile to the government, nor severing the relationship with it), including the 1750 associations and organizations that are officially registered in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and all the other unlicensed organizations.
We stress as well that the announcement of establishing such platform is not accepted once and for all. It is not accepted because it was not prepared by a considerable number of NGOs. The aim of such a platform should be the problems and aspirations of the Syrian society and not any other foreign perspective. The deliberations of such a platform should be made in public in away that every citizen is able to make his voice heard. Otherwise, such a platform would only serve other agendas.
Any announcement in the name of Syria "civil society" without clear articles, commitments, and positions towards violence against women and children, is but a kind of exploitation of the society.
We would like to say that the annoyance of some civil society organizations, including some of those working on women's issues, in not justified at all. We say it again and again, that the situation of the Syrian civil society is not that healthy at all as it suffers from its own corruption, interior problems and lack of activity. It is really a kind of shame to speak about transparency, publicity, democracy and human rights, and criticize the government for abusing these notions, while at the same time we are suffering ourselves from the lack of these principles.
Since all these organizations have their own media outlets "mainly web-sites", they can be part of this open debate about Syrian civil society in the way that suits them. Anything that is/was said under the table and behind closed doors, is not of any interest to us whatsoever.
Concerning the comments we got "under the table" about the editorial in which we criticized the Syrian civil society, these comments which reached an unprecedented level by accusing us of paying lip-service to the "security police" by stating our views publicly, we call for any person/organization that has something to say about what we stated to be part of this open debate instead of playing under the table in such a way that we refuse altogether. We call for an open meeting to be attended by anyone who wants to from the concerned organizations to speak openly about the status quo and tackle the problems we face without fear of anything.

By: Bassam AlKadi, Syrian Women Observatory (9/12/2009)
Translated by Basel Jbaily

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By Bassam Al-khadi
Translated by Basel Jbaily

The Syrian society proved stronger than obscurant ideologies that tried and still to drag it to tiny patriarchal sectarian states.

Young Syrians who mobilized themselves voluntarily recently against the first draft and succeeded in forcing the authorities to drop it, proofing that they are not only the sons and daughters of their own country, but that they are the past, the present and the future of Syria.

It seems that the holders of those obscurant ideologies, specially in the ministries of Justice and Islamic Affairs, who defended the draft under the table using the Presidency of the Council of Ministers as their stronghold, didn't give up their dream of destroying the Syrian state and dwarfing Syrians into semi creatures cloaked in the dress of sectarianism. Those people introduced their black dream once again with fake amendments in an attempt, doomed to failure, to hide the real face of the new draft.

The new draft changed only few of the notorious concepts found in the previous one and used words like husband and wife instead of defaming expressions.

The new draft law is, in fact, "new" only in its appearance, while it is indeed as backward and reactionary as the first one, abolishing the notion of citizenship and sustaining sectarianism.

The secret committee that drafted both version, along with the official authorities that backed the committee in violation of the Syrian constitution, should be hold responsible in the Syrian courts charged with forging conspiracy against the destiny of Syria and trying to pass backward and discriminatory law that is quite similar to the existing Personal Status Code which, in turn, proved as incapable of matching the huge social changes that took their root in Syria. It should be taken into consideration that the current law has been drafted for a totally different society, the society of the first half of the 20th century, based on legislations from the 19th century.

The drafters claim protecting the "Islamic Sharia". They, indeed, see nothing in religious laws, but their own interests manifested in controlling lives and pushing citizens towards more backwardness and more crises, exactly like warlords. In their world, there is no homeland, citizenship, nor family. There is only a male dominating all levels of life and beside him, there is a submissive and subservient female that has no right whatsoever but to deliver what the male wants.

This draft has been coined completely on the notion of the notorious previous draft: sectarianism and violence against women and children. This comes in harmony with the ideologies of those who formulated the draft whether they work for the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and potentially other ministries. The concepts of these obscurant ideologies aim at restoring the age of slaves by turning people into a herd that follows some religious figures who live in villas, enjoy expensive lifestyles and live like pharaohs, while ordinary people struggling to earn their living. Those figures are well-known for spending hugely in building castles named "mosques and churches" and receiving huge amounts of money from abroad that aim only at dividing Syria, while prayers are in a dire need for dispensaries that provide them with the basic medical and healthcare.

It should be mentioned that from a legal point of view, the Syrian government has no more the right to draft new laws that violate the agreements and international legislations that it has previously ratified, unless it officially inform the United Nations that it has withdrawn from these accords, which is exactly what those obscurant ideologues want. They want that in order to be free from any legal commitments and act the way they like for the sake of controlling people's lives and tightening their grips on both the Syrian society and state.

Moreover, through this draft, the secret committee exposed one of its black obsessions which is canceling the Personal Status Codes of the Christian sects and leaving these sects without a legal background to refer to. It is clear that the committee did that for the sake of imposing their obscurant vision upon other religions as well.

Worth mentioning that we have already opposed issuing separate Personal Status Codes for the different sects and we have expressed that publicly when we discussed the newly issued Personal Status Codes for the Roman Catholics, although this new code brought up some important developments in regards to the international rights for women and children. We reiterate once again that sectarian laws lead only to sectarian division.

Our refusal for a sectarian law doesn't mean, however, the acceptance of another obscurant one under the name of "unifying Personal Status Codes". Unifying these laws doesn't imply by any means resorting to an obscurant group of people who wants to impose its vision upon people. This unification is nothing but a severe blow to the establishment of a modern and healthy society and serves their conspiracies of doing this under the pretext of saving Islam, the pretext that terrorists use worldwide to justify their dreadful deeds.

Although the new draft dropped few of the obscurant concepts of the previous draft under the pressure of the intensive campaign led by Syrian Women Observatory and conducted by thousands of young people who dream of a country that recognizes its people away from any racial affiliation, whether it is religious or not, it retains many of the obscurant notions and some people try to pass it again.

The new draft is refused altogether because it is soaked with sectarianism and legitimizes violence against women and children and therefore violates the existence of the Syrian state, constitution, and the healthy development of the society. It violates the international agreements ratified by the Syrian government specially Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child and all the attached protocols. This draft infringes the essence of religions, including Islam.

What has to be done right away is acting towards eliminating the role those fundamentalists play in the arena of Syrian legislation and starting to draft a new and modern family law based only on the concept of citizenship.

It is to be stressed once again that the concept of citizenship doesn't conflict with any religion. The concept of citizenship is an actual manifestation of the real spirit of religions and sects leaving aside the obscurant concepts and establishing a society based on equality among all its members in rights and duties.

We call for a modern family law based on the concept of citizenship that grasp all the noble and sublime ideas that help in the advancement of our society, and based as well on the concepts of human rights that guarantee equality between men and women, and the rights of children. This is the only accepted form of the family law. Otherwise, all the attempts to draft a backward law will find its way, like the previous one, to heap garbage of history.
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Syrian Women Observatoy

Arabic
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By: Thana Al-Sabaa

When Mrs. Nabeela gave birth to her only daughter, she didn't know she would need so ‎many documents and formal papers to get her into school, she also didn't know that , even ‎though her daughter was very good at school, and very skilled in today's life requirements , ‎getting her a job would be next to impossible.‎
‎"My daughter didn't set foot in any other country than Syria, and she'll get her degree from ‎here, but she won't be able to be employed here, because she isn't Syrian", Says Mrs. ‎Nabeela.‎
Even with formal statistics' absence, we could tell a lot of women have the same problem ‎Mrs. Nabeela and her daughter have, which is that the daughter (and\or son) doesn't have ‎the Syrian nationality because her father is foreign, and the Syrian nationality law (clause 3, ‎segment a) says:‎
‎"The right to obtain Syrian nationality is legally given to those who were born in, or outside ‎the Syrian country for an Arabic Syrian father". Without an equal right to Syrian mothers!!‎
The suffering of those mothers and their children didn't stop the chairman of the Syrian ‎parliament from re-affirming the government's reservations on CEDAW, according to the ‎Syrian news agency SANA. This was unexpected by Mrs. Sawsan Zakzak from Syrian Women ‎League:"we were surprised by the parliament's vote to keep the government's reservations ‎on CEDAW in the time we were expecting to lift most of them".‎
The Syrian Women League in a non-governmental association, which released a petition in ‎‎2003 demanding the change of Syrian nationality law to include those of a Syrian father OR ‎MOTHER.‎
The League conducted studies for many cases, and heard live testimonies of Syrian women ‎talking about their sufferings from denying their children's right of a Syrian nationality.‎
‎"We discovered that most of the problems begin when the children's studies end, and when ‎they have to have a green card to find a job, and they have to have jobs to ensure the ‎renewal of the green card, and their begins the vicious cycle", says Mrs. Sawsan.‎
This campaign launched by the League is considered a part of a regional campaign, which ‎includes many Arab countries, some of which have made the necessary law adjustments, ‎such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt. And some are still campaigning including ‎Bahrain, Lebanon, and Syria.‎
The League have already gathered thousands of signatures on a patent clarifying the ‎demanded adjustments, and sent it to the President in 2006. The campaign was recently ‎revived by Syrian congressman, Dr. Mohammad Habash.‎

CEDAO reservations, Religious or political?‎
A lot of women-rights-activists in Syria see that the Syrian constitution assures the equality ‎between men and women in clause 25, segment 2 which says: "All citizens are equal in girths ‎and duties before the law". They see that the nationality law differs with that constitutional ‎principal! and denies women their rights as a fully qualified citizen in her own country.‎
The government confirms its adoption of this sex-based-distinction by reserving segment 2 ‎of clause 9 in CEDAW which says that all nations which are part of this agreement should ‎grant women equal rights to men's in the subject of children's nationality.‎
The Syrian reservation was, according to the validation decree, due to Islamic Sharia (Law), ‎however, Islamic voices clarified that the segment doesn't contradict with Sharia, including ‎the Syrian Mufti (Sheikh Ahmad Badr Hassoun) who, in an interview with "Economy and ‎Transport" Syrian magazine, confirmed his approval to giving women this right because it is a ‎political, national right, and is very different than ancestry, which is a Sharii (religious) right ‎to the man only.‎
Dr. Mohammad Habash (who is also an Islamic thinker) also made a public seminar, ‎organized by Syrian Women League in the National Dialogue Forum, and he gave his views ‎on how Sharia deals with Syria's CEDAW reservations, and confirming that (9-2) is irrelevant ‎to Sharia, for nationality is a civic right only between citizens and state.‎
Syrian government also makes excuses such as the Palestinian refugees' right-of-return, and ‎the case of Kurdish individuals denied of the Syrian nationality. And in this context, Mr. ‎Bassam Al-Qadi, supervisor of Syrian Women Observatory SWO, says:‎
‎"The Syrian woman's right to give her nationality to her children, her being a Syrian citizen, ‎has priority over any other concern, and when it contradicts with some case, it becomes ‎intolerable to solve such contradictions at the expense of the Syrian woman, the right thing ‎to do is to solve other cases by the best interest of Syrian citizens, because citizens are the ‎foundation of modern countries, and all what contradicts with their interest must be refused ‎once and for all".‎
It is noticeable that governmental bodies, such as the Syrian Organization for Family Affairs, ‎and the Women's General Union, have participated in making a study that recommends ‎lifting reservation on clause 9 of CEDAW.‎
Yet the Syrian reservations on CEDAW remains, and Mrs. Nabeela, along other Syrian ‎women, continues to suffer with their children, all caused by the deficient recognition of ‎Syrian women's citizenship despite all the voices demanding equity to women.‎

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Translated by: Nawar El-Sabaa
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Arabic
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By: Syrian Women Observatory
Translated by Basel Jbaily

While the whole world, with rare notorious exceptions like Somalia and Afghanistan, is moving towards actual elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination against women, the Syrian government has chosen the totally opposite path.

The Syrian government, (specially the Council of Ministers and the Ministries of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Social Affairs) has proven that it considers the Syrian woman, not as a human being and a citizen, rather it considers her as an odalisque and a birth machine. This behavior is crystal clear not only through its consistent refusal to eliminate the worst manifestations of violence against women (like the legal articles that protect criminals in what is so called "honour crime", and denying Syrian women the right to pass their nationality to their children, and many other discriminations), the Syrian government has worked for the last year to pass a new law that infringes the basic rights of the Syrian woman. A law that has no aim, but to demean women and divide Syria into sectarian mini-states by abolishing the notion of citizenship which is the basic principle to build a state.

Some governmental officials have expressed previously their disapproval of marking International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in Syria claiming that there is no such violence in the country! While at the same time, an official study issued by General Federation of Syrian Women and was blacked out by some, discovered that 1 out of every 4 women in Syria suffers from violence on a daily basis. Moreover, a closer look at the study reveals that the actual number of abused women is larger by far.

It is true that Syria paved the way for the Syrian woman to participate nearly fully in building the society, whether through the constitution, the laws of work and pensions and opening the door for her to be a policy maker. It seems, however, that the Syrian government wants to achieve a totally different aim. It wants to cancel what has been achieved and go back in time to the black era of "Bab- El-Hara" by refusing to issue licenses to dozens of organizations which want to work against such violence and by hindering the work of those organizations which actually work on the ground. It wants to achieve that through restraining the Syrian media and its refusal to work on a modern family law based on the notion of citizenship.

The Syrian government knows quite well that such acts could only deteriorate the situation of the Syrian women further. For that exact reason, it works from behind closed doors denying that it plays such a destroying role.

Unfortunately, some Syrian political parties that claim having a secular, national and social agenda whether they are part of the dominant coalition or not, act as bystanders to what is going on in a direct or indirect collusion, probably to save their fake interests.

The same thing unfortunately applies to most of organizations that have in their name, the two broadly used words "human rights". These organizations have chosen to keep silent about the draft law of Syria’s Personal Status Code that infringes the basic rights of every Syrian citizen. Such organizations have chosen to keep silent about anything that is said to be derived from the "Shariaa law" by those who have the authority, the authority to religiously condemn others and consider them as infidels.

Moreover, the same applies to most of the organizations that work on women's issues. They have chosen the easiest and safest path through which they guarantee only the interests of their members. They think of women's issues only when there is a paid study or a workshop abroad. They even deny to pass the knowledge for those who want it in Syria and accumulated their books and expertise for those who pay more.

The situation of the Syrian organizations working in the field of feminism is not that bright niether. These organizations suffer from grave crises within and among themselves. These organizations bear most of responsibility concerning the current situation, taking into consideration that obstacles are not the main reasons for them not to be active and working fully.

We stress today on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, that eliminating this violence is considered one of the basic human rights as well as citizenship rights. "The country can't be safe while half of its population is unsafe", this motto which has been blacked out by the Syrian media seems dangerous to the male-dominated perspective of the government.

We call for all the political parties and organizations to get out of this gloomy tunnel by working away from the interests and the temporary bargains and towards delivering the real truth to people who live the discrimination and violence always and everywhere. Taking into consideration that paying some kind of "fine" is inevitable because bringing about change is not an easy task free of obstacles and repercussions.

Our gratitude is dedicated to all the individuals who and organizations which have considered the issue of woman's rights a priority during the past few years, and tried to proof that these rights are part of the citizenship rights, and showed their determination to go on in their struggle towards a fair society that guarantees equality and is free of discrimination and violence. Those people and organizations proved once and for all that the Syrian society is active and ready to move when it deems necessary.

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is a sad ceremony to say together: No for violence against women, No for violence against any human, No for violence against Syria, because all kinds of violence come from the same melting pot and lead to one result: dividing and degrading the society.

Once again, Syrian Women Observatory reiterate its call to mark October 29th an International Day of Solidarity with Victims of Honor Crimes and to urge the United Nations to adopt it.

The national campaign against honour crime will continue until it achieves its ultimate aim of eliminating this shameful crime from the Syrian society: legally, institutionally, religiously, and socially.

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Phil Sands, Foreign Correspondent

Critics say an initial draft of a personal status law attempted to make women the property of men. Phil Sands for The National
DAMASCUS // Women in Syria are facing a deliberate campaign by religious conservatives, supported by the government, to cut down their social freedoms, according to a new report published by a leading Syrian rights group.

The Syrian Women Observatory (SWO) said there had been a “backwards” movement in women’s rights in the country during the past two years and that proposed new legislation, if passed, would further erode already limited legal protection.

“It is not simply that progress in advancing women’s rights has been frozen, there is actually a sense that the anti-women’s rights lobby is growing more powerful,” said Bassam al Kadi, the director of SWO and author of the report – released yesterday to coincide with International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. “The Syrian government is working against those who want to improve the situation for women.”

Syria is perhaps the most secular state in the Middle East and among the most progressive in terms of women’s rights. Women hold parliamentary seats and senior government positions; there are women judges and ambassadors. Girls and boys have the same rights to education and the United Nations has praised Syrian efforts towards equal rights for men and women.

But Mr al Kadi said the country was still too heavily governed by religious doctrine, which was growing in influence. “When people say Syria is a secular country, they are simply wrong,” he said. “And we should not be satisfied because the situation here for women is better than Sudan. That is not enough.”

A key source of recent controversy has been a personal status law, currently under revision, which deals with a raft of basic civil rights, including marriage and inheritance. A secret first draft was dropped by the authorities after details leaked into the public domain, causing outrage among liberals and moderates alike.

Critics said the plans would effectively have made women the property of men. Another version of the law is now being drawn up but it remains highly restrictive and campaigners, including the SWO, hope to block it before it goes before parliament.

“Women have never had complete equality in the eyes of the law but the proposed personal status code is clear evidence that what few rights they do have are under threat,” said Mr al Kadi. “A number of proposed laws that would have given women certain essential, basic rights have also been rejected by the government.”

Such legal setbacks were not isolated incidents, according to the report. It said that in 2007 the Social Initiative Society, a Syrian non-governmental organisation set up to campaign on women’s issues, was forcibly dissolved by the state. At the same time a national education plan designed to prevent domestic violence was quietly shelved.

Syria is a complex mosaic of ethnic and sectarian groups, within which there are competing opinions on social issues. These divisions are far from simple, defying stereotypes.

Among Syria’s Muslim majority there are wildly divergent views on the subject of women’s rights, ranging from those who advocate western-style social reforms to ultra conservative groups that go as far as to say that women should not be allowed to work outside their family home.

Some of Syria’s leading advocates of pro-western free market economic reforms are socially conservative, while at least one government official has said she opposes tough action against honour killings.

The security services officially recorded 50 such murders last year, but the real figure was closer to 200, according to the SWO report. Honour crimes typically involve a women being abused or murdered by her male relatives if they believe she has brought shame on her family. Honour killings carry a much lighter prison sentence than a normal murder.

In the absence of opinion polling it is impossible to know whether social liberals or conservatives have greater popular support in Syria.

Mr al Kadi was adamant that the authorities were out of step with the general public on women’s issues. “I am certain that the Syrian street is more liberal and open on women’s rights than the government is,” he said. “If that were not the case you wouldn’t see such high levels of education among women in the cities. And in the rural areas there would be no agriculture without women who do most of the work.”

The underlying cause of attempts to reduce freedoms for women is, according to Mr al Kadi, a “masculine mentality” in government and a specific strategy of trading off social changes against economic reforms.

“Women’s rights are a bargaining chip,” he said. “Religious conservatives support changes to the economic system in exchange for moving women’s rights backwards.”

While the SWO is highly critical of the government’s attitude and actions on women’s rights, it was equally as scathing in its critique of Syria’s fragile civil society movement.

“I’m very concerned about the deteriorating role of civil society and NGOs in Syria, they are perhaps the major weak point,” Mr al Kadi said.

“It is civil society which must force the government to do the right thing for women, this is something that should come from the ground up.”

Syria places severe restrictions on NGOs and only those with avowedly apolitical goals are given licences to operate. The SWO, as with other human rights organisations in Syria, does so without formal legal permission. There has been a long-running crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners, many of whom have been critics of the government’s human rights record.

However, Mr al Kadi, who spent seven years in detention under the previous president, Hafez al Assad, said civil society groups were too quick to blame the government when in fact they were themselves too self-interested, divided and disorganised to be effective.

“If you are professional and take practical, useful action rather than just shouting criticisms it is possible to make a difference and you are allowed to work,” he said. “It is not a matter of courage to campaign for women’s rights; it is a case of our collective responsibility to the future.”

November 26. 2009 12:42AM UAE / November 25. 2009 8:42PM GMT

The National Magazine

"Swedish"
Den 29 oktober 2009 var en sorglig och dyster dag. En syrisk domstol beslutade att en man som dödat sin syster är en hjälte bara för att han begått sitt brott under förevändning av "heder"!
Hundratals kvinnor dödas varje år i hederns namn, medan den syriska regeringen står vid sidan av och ser på och till och med stöder dessa syndiga handlingar.
Tusentals kvinnor dödas i Syrien, Jordanien, Irak, Palestina, Egypten, Saudiarabien, Algeriet, Marocko och Libyen. De är länder där regeringarna misslyckats med sin existensberättigande uppgift: att "stoppa medborgare från att döda varandra”.
Tiotusentals kvinnor dödas runt om i världen varje år i så kallade "hedersmord". Samtidigt ser hela världen på och utfärdar bara fördömanden som sällan gör någon skillnad. Det är på tiden att se till att det här fruktansvärda brottet upphör. Vi lever på 2000-talet och det är dags att säga nej till de låga straffen för hedersmördare. Avskräckande straff bör införas för alla dem som begår, uppmuntrar och accepterar dessa brott.
Mot bakgrund av det här har vi bestämt att göra den 29 oktober till en internationell solidaritetsdag för dem som lidit offer för hedersrelaterat våld och mord. Det är en dag då vi ska påminnas om att det här avsevärda brottet aldrig kommer bli en del av historien om inte var och en av oss säger nej och bekämpar det på alla sätt.
Vi kräver att Förenta Nationerna, alla organisationer som arbetar med frågor som rör mänskliga rättigheter, alla politiska partier som påstår sig arbeta för ett bättre samhälle och alla medier att göra den här dagen till en internationell solidaritetsdag för att illegalisera de här fruktansvärda brotten.

Syrian Women Observatory
www.nesasy.org

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By Nadia Muhanna
Photo Fadi al-Hamwi

As a young man you were involved in politics. What made you swap the political arena for the social one and establish the Syrian Women Observatory (SWO)?

I joined Syria’s Communist Labour Party in 1982 to achieve change. I was imprisoned for seven years because of my political work and have been banned from travelling for the past 19 years. Following my release from prison, I started working as an electrician at a Syrian university in 1996. While working there I met a lot of young people and began to realise the huge potential they have to achieve change. I began to see the importance of separating society from politics, so I left the latter and went into the area of social work.

Political decisions are necessary for improving society, but they are not enough. Change should be initiated from below before pressure is applied on the government to enforce it. I decided to open the observatory in 2005 with the aim of raising awareness about violence and discrimination against women, children and the disabled. Today, the observatory is the only organisation which provides information in Arabic about violence against women in Syria. On our website you can find all of the relevant Syrian laws, reports and international agreements relating to women’s and children’s rights issues.

The SWO will celebrate its fifth anniversary at the beginning of next year. What have been the organisation’s main achievements?

Since it was established, the observatory has taken part in a number of major campaigns. Prime among these was our involvement in the ‘Say No to Violence against Women’ campaign organised by the United Nations Development Fund for Women in 2008. We are also involved in an ongoing campaign which is demanding that Syrian women be granted the right to pass on their nationality to their children.

In addition, we have launched three major initiatives of our own. The first campaign lobbied for change of Syria’s Law of Associations, a law which gives the government the authority to control the activities of social organisations and to shut them down at any time. This control is so far-reaching that an organisation cannot even publish a flyer without applying for permission.

Our second major campaign was launched in 2005 and lobbied for change to those laws in Syria that permit honour killings.

Our latest campaign, launched last June, was against a proposed fundamentalist draft law to replace the existing Personal Status Code. The draft law violated women’s rights and was kept secret until it was leaked to the press earlier this year. Under pressure from our fierce campaign, the government dropped the draft law.

The observatory’s most important achievements, however, are not the campaigns themselves. Rather, it is the change we have achieved in the way the country’s media covers women’s and children’s issues. Before the observatory was founded, you couldn’t find more than three articles about honour killings in the Syrian media. Since we launched our campaign, more than 1,000 articles and programmes about honour killings have been aired on local TV channels, radio stations and published in print and online publications.

What is most important, however, is the quality, not the quantity, of such articles and programmes. The Syrian media used to condemn violence against women out of pity or because they viewed it as haram or as hindering social development. The observatory has encouraged a new approach to media coverage by coming at the issue from the angle of human rights and citizenship. Women should not be violated, not because it is haram or hinders development, but because it is simply their right as human beings and Syrian citizens. Today, 80 percent of the media coverage about women’s and children’s rights is in line with our approach, or very close to it.

The observatory has also pushed for young Syrians to play a greater role in developing their society. Working teams at Syrian organisations are usually closed and they do not include young people. The observatory works with any young Syrian volunteer willing to help raise awareness about women’s and children’s issues. We do not set specific work plans or recruit employees. Instead, each of our members sees what they can do from their position in their workplace, village or family. Even though the observatory doesn’t receive any funding and is based solely on voluntary work, in the past five years we have managed to launch several campaigns and expand our network to cover all parts of Syria.

The SWO-led campaign to cancel the proposed draft law to replace Syria’s Personal Status Code was hailed as a victory for civil society. A number of local observers described the campaign as a daring initiative that crossed a number of the country’s infamous ‘red lines’. How important was the campaign to the development of Syria’s civil society movement?

Our campaign did not cross any red lines. While it is fair to say we face a number of red lines, they are not as tight as Syria’s civil society organisations pretend. Instead, Syria’s civil society movement uses red lines and a lack of funding as an excuse for its own incompetence. When I launched my campaign against the draft law, many civil organisations refused to cooperate, choosing to remain passive for the first 37 days of the campaign, the goal of which they described as impossible to achieve. We did not cross red lines. Instead, we broke our fear to act and realised our potential in the process. From the first day I opened the observatory, I decided that what should be said must be said, regardless of the consequences.

You have said the reason why such a controversial draft law was able to reach such an advanced stage is because the local civil society movement has failed to effectively monitor the rise of extremism in society. What are you now doing to tackle this issue?

Syria’s civil society movement has turned a blind eye to the rise of extremism happening all around it. The observatory is trying to correct this mistake by establishing the Private Syrian Observatory for Monitoring Extremism. At the moment, we are working on defining extremism because it is such a wide term. When we have done this, the private observatory will monitor all forms of extremism affecting Syria, be it in the form of audio, visual or printed media, or in other ways such as general attitudes. The observatory will document and publish these forms of extremism on its website and comment on them from a human rights and equal citizenship point of view to raise awareness.

Although religious extremism will be our main theme, we will also focus on other types of extremism. A secular man’s degrading attitude towards a woman who wears the hijab is a form of extremism, as is a radical man’s harassment of a woman because she is not fully covered. Through our activities, we hope to change public opinion by prompting media outlets, NGOs and religious organisations to tackle the issue of extremism, the same way they have tackled women’s rights.

Are you working on any other campaigns?

The observatory is presently lobbying the government to make any future draft law available to the public before it becomes a law. It is unacceptable to have secret draft laws. When I, as a Syrian citizen, elected the members of the country’s parliament I didn’t elect them to replace me. I elected them to represent my opinions. However, I cannot have an opinion on a draft law unless it is made public. This campaign will be long and it is only in the initial stages, but I’m very optimistic that it will produce results.

We are also planning a campaign to raise awareness about child rape, an issue the Syrian media has done a great job of tackling recently. We plan to launch a campaign focusing on how to raise a child’s awareness of the issue, what symptoms and behaviour a sexually harassed child displays, how to deal with a child who has been sexually harassed and the role children’s organisations and the courts can play in combating this issue.

Why would a man dedicate his life to defending women’s rights?

Trying to stop violence and discrimination against women is generally defined as defending women’s rights. But I believe that by doing so I am also defending men’s rights. Women are the prima facie victims of violence and discrimination, but men are also victims. When you violate women’s rights, restrict their development and treat them as second-class citizens, you create an unstable marital relationship and an unbalanced family. This takes its toll not only on women, but on husbands, children and the whole of society.

For more information about the SWO, log on to www.nesasy.org.
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Syria Today Magazein
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