BAGHDAD: Iraq’s parliament passed into law on Tuesday a revised bill that had sparked outrage over fears it rolled back women’s rights and permitted underage marriage.
The parliament said on its website that it had adopted “the proposal to amend the Personal Status Law,” as well as “the second amendment of the general amnesty law.”
The amendment to the 1959 Personal Status Law allows people to choose between religious or civil regulations for family matters such as marriage, inheritance, divorce and child custody.
An earlier version of the amendments faced a backlash from feminists and civil society groups over fears it would lower the minimum age for Muslim girls to marry to as young as nine years old.
But a revised version reinstated clauses of the old law that set the age of marriage at 18 — or 15 with the consent of legal guardians and a judge, MP Mohamed Anouz told AFP.
Under the new amendment, couples can opt for Shiite Muslim or Sunni Muslim rules, and clerics and lawyers will have four months to establish community-specific regulations.
In October, Amnesty International warned the amendments could strip women and girls of protections regarding divorce and inheritance.
The parliament also passed a general amnesty law that had sparked disagreements between political blocs. The law grants retrials to those convicted of a number of crimes.
The Taqadom party, the most influential Sunni bloc, welcomed the adoption of the amnesty law.
Iraq’s Sunni community has been the main proponent of revisiting the law, pushing for it to include a full review of all convictions on terror charges.
The law excludes convictions for “terrorist crimes” that resulted in the death of a person or “permanent disability,” or that involved fighting the Iraqi security forces or “sabotage of institutions,” according to Anouz.
But it does allow the judiciary to reopen investigations and start new trials for those who say they confessed “under torture” or were convicted based on “information provided by a secret informer,” Anouz explained.
In recent years, Iraqi courts have ordered hundreds of executions in terror cases, proceedings that rights groups say often lack due process or in which confessions suspected to have been extracted through torture are admissible.
In a country plagued by endemic corruption, those accused of embezzling public funds can also benefit from the amnesty law if they repay the stolen money, Anouz said.
A previous 2016 amnesty reportedly covered 150,000 people.
The new amnesty law excludes rape, incest and human trafficking.
The laws passed Tuesday, each endorsed by the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities, were adopted in one package, with political parties agreeing to avoid any blockage.
But several lawmakers denounced irregularities in the voting process, with some threatening to go to court to have Tuesday’s session invalidated.
MP Nour Nafe claimed the parliament passed the personal status law and the general amnesty “without a vote.”
The MPs “did not raise their hands,” she said on X, adding that some lawmakers had left the room in response to the “farce.”
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Iraq parliament adopts revised bill after outcry over underage marriage
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Iraq parliament adopts revised bill after outcry over underage marriage
- The amendment to the 1959 Personal Status Law allows people to choose between religious or civil regulations for family matters
- An earlier version of the amendments faced a backlash from feminists and civil society groups
Koshary, a spicy Egyptian staple, wins UNESCO recognition
CAIRO: Koshary – a spicy dish of lentils, rice and pasta available at countless Egyptian food stalls – won recognition as a cultural treasure from the UN’s cultural agency on Wednesday, as Cairo makes a broad push to promote its cultural and historical identity abroad.
Egypt’s nomination of koshary for UNESCO’s “Intangible Cultural Heritage” list comes a little over a month after its opening of a sprawling new antiquities museum – another move officials hope will highlight the country’s rich history and lure more tourists.
One popular legend claims koshary originated in northern India and was brought to Egypt by soldiers during the British occupation. But the dish’s origins can in fact be traced through a farther-flung, millennia-old lineage of migration, trade and conquest, food researcher and archaeobotanist Hala Barakat said.
EGYPTIAN DISH, WITH GLOBAL INFLUENCES
Lentils arrived from the Fertile Crescent more than 5,800 years ago, and rice was introduced from East Asia. Tomatoes and chilli peppers were brought from the Americas centuries later, while pasta noodles were a more modern addition.
“These components came together over thousands of years,” Barakat said. “Its name may be Indian, but the Egyptian dish has its own form – and even that varies from Alexandria to Aswan.”
“Koshary in its current form is the koshary Egyptians made their own,” she added.
Egypt’s nomination makes note of this diversity, highlighting the fact that yellow lentils are used on the coast, compared with black lentils in Cairo and Upper Egypt. Some households add boiled eggs, while in Sinai a similar dish called ma’dous is common.
Each of these variations is united by “the special flavour provided by condiments such as vinegar, garlic, and hot sauce, which are added according to preference,” the nomination says.
COUSCOUS, CEVICHE ALSO ON LIST
Making the intangible heritage list is mostly symbolic, and does not bring any direct financial benefit. Other dishes such as couscous – common across the Maghreb region – and the South American dish ceviche are on the list. Italian cuisine was also set to be inscribed this year.
Koshary’s popularity surged in the 20th century as restaurants and brightly decorated street carts proliferated near schools and stations. The absence of animal products has also made it a staple among fasting Coptic Christians and younger Egyptians who are going vegetarian.
Today, the dish is one of Egypt’s most recognizable features, according to Ahmed Shaker, the public relations officer at Abou Tarek Koshary, a popular Cairo restaurant that dates back to 1963.
“Any foreigner or visitor who comes to Egypt visits the Pyramids, visits the museum, and comes to Abou Tarek to eat koshary,” Shaker said.
The dish joins Egypt’s 10 previous “inscriptions,” which include tahteeb, an ancient martial art using sticks, and the Sirat Bani Hilal, an epic oral poem.
UNESCO’s new director-general, Khaled El-Enany, previously served as Egypt’s minister of tourism and antiquities, and has vowed to use his tenure to safeguard cultural traditions.
Egypt’s nomination of koshary for UNESCO’s “Intangible Cultural Heritage” list comes a little over a month after its opening of a sprawling new antiquities museum – another move officials hope will highlight the country’s rich history and lure more tourists.
One popular legend claims koshary originated in northern India and was brought to Egypt by soldiers during the British occupation. But the dish’s origins can in fact be traced through a farther-flung, millennia-old lineage of migration, trade and conquest, food researcher and archaeobotanist Hala Barakat said.
EGYPTIAN DISH, WITH GLOBAL INFLUENCES
Lentils arrived from the Fertile Crescent more than 5,800 years ago, and rice was introduced from East Asia. Tomatoes and chilli peppers were brought from the Americas centuries later, while pasta noodles were a more modern addition.
“These components came together over thousands of years,” Barakat said. “Its name may be Indian, but the Egyptian dish has its own form – and even that varies from Alexandria to Aswan.”
“Koshary in its current form is the koshary Egyptians made their own,” she added.
Egypt’s nomination makes note of this diversity, highlighting the fact that yellow lentils are used on the coast, compared with black lentils in Cairo and Upper Egypt. Some households add boiled eggs, while in Sinai a similar dish called ma’dous is common.
Each of these variations is united by “the special flavour provided by condiments such as vinegar, garlic, and hot sauce, which are added according to preference,” the nomination says.
COUSCOUS, CEVICHE ALSO ON LIST
Making the intangible heritage list is mostly symbolic, and does not bring any direct financial benefit. Other dishes such as couscous – common across the Maghreb region – and the South American dish ceviche are on the list. Italian cuisine was also set to be inscribed this year.
Koshary’s popularity surged in the 20th century as restaurants and brightly decorated street carts proliferated near schools and stations. The absence of animal products has also made it a staple among fasting Coptic Christians and younger Egyptians who are going vegetarian.
Today, the dish is one of Egypt’s most recognizable features, according to Ahmed Shaker, the public relations officer at Abou Tarek Koshary, a popular Cairo restaurant that dates back to 1963.
“Any foreigner or visitor who comes to Egypt visits the Pyramids, visits the museum, and comes to Abou Tarek to eat koshary,” Shaker said.
The dish joins Egypt’s 10 previous “inscriptions,” which include tahteeb, an ancient martial art using sticks, and the Sirat Bani Hilal, an epic oral poem.
UNESCO’s new director-general, Khaled El-Enany, previously served as Egypt’s minister of tourism and antiquities, and has vowed to use his tenure to safeguard cultural traditions.
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