On Tuesday 5 April Bahrain’s elected Parliament will vote on a bill bringing Bahrain more closely into line with the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
This legislation is of great importance because it brings Bahrain into compliance with international standards on the universal rights of women, including the freedom to travel and conduct the business; the freedom to take up residence wherever they chose; and full rights regarding marriage and custody of children.
Bahrain is one of the most progressive states in the domain of women’s rights and Bahrain’s commitment to upholding the equal rights of women is a central tenet of its vision for encouraging global tourism; making Bahrain an attractive location to live and visit for people of all faiths; and for empowering Bahraini women in all fields of life.
In short, Bahrain has a major stake in passing this law, both for the sake of its international reputation, and for enshrining the rights and freedoms of its citizens.
The equal rights of women are at the heart of Bahrain’s Constitution. Furthermore Bahrain’s Cabinet in early 2014 stated that the articles of the Convention relevant to family life were in harmony with Islamic Shari’ah. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also been a strong supporter of this bill, along with the Supreme Council for Women and other civil society institutions.
These bodies have stressed that the draft bill being put before MPs explicitly states that there must be no contradiction between Islamic law and the provisions of CEDAW. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that “equality between men and women as a general principle is clearly enshrined in Islamic Shari’ah, which looks upon men and women as together being the basis for life in society”.
The chief obstacle to the passing of this legislation has been the parliamentary Women and Children’s Committee, chaired by Rua al-Haiki, who in November succeeded in displacing former chairwoman Jamila al-Sammak with the support of a coalition of Islamist MPs.
Al-Haiki has made her position on CEDAW very clear, saying: “We should not submit to foreign entities demanding that we implement freedoms which are not suitable to our heritage and the traditions of our religion… it is of gravest importance that we confront those who are trying to get rid of the reservations altogether. This obligates us to do what we can to strike down this agreement in its entirety if we are able”. She has also raised a plethora of technical obstacles to the draft.
Following the resignation of Al-Sammak and Fatimah al-Asfour from the Committee, the only other members of the Committee have been Islamist and Conservative figures; for example, the Sunni cleric Anas Buhindi who is affiliated with the Salafist Al-Asalah society which rejects the participation of women in political life.
Following six requests for extensions to the Committee’s work, Chairman of Parliament Ahmed al-Mulla finally forced the return of the draft bill back to Parliament and there is to be a vote on 5 April. Al-Mulla in his statement broke precedent by clearly telling MPs that they should vote in favour of the CEDAW bill.
During a 15 December parliamentary debate on the issue it became clear that a majority of MPs were minded to vote against the CEDAW bill, based on the recommendation of the Women’s Committee. In particular, they were swayed by the Committee’s claim that the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs had said that the bill contradicted Shari’ah. It was subsequently clarified that the Supreme Council has simply stressed the importance of the bill’s compliance with Shari’ah – which, according to the Cabinet and other expert opinions, is the case. It should be borne in mind that other states like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE passed this legislation many years ago.
All those who love Bahrain, who care about its international reputation and want our nation to remain at the forefront of the region for empowering its citizens and attracting international visitors to its shores have a major stake in wanting to see this law passed.
We call on everybody to make their views on this issue clear to their local MPs.
We hope our MPs will do what is expected of them.
Timeline of CEDAW discussions
2002: Bahrain joined CEDAW, but submitted several reservations, claiming that aspects of the convention conflicted with Islamic law and local traditions. Since then women’s activists have been campaigning for Bahrain to lift these reservations.
19 January 2014: The Bahrain Government declared that it was lifting any previous reservations it had over the CEDAW Convention. The Cabinet asserted that the articles of the Convention relevant to family life were in harmony with the Islamic Sharia.
10 February 2014: Supreme Council for Women’s (SCW) Deputy Chairwoman stressed Bahrain’s commitment to the framework of CEDAW as she addressed the Geneva session scrutinizing Bahrain’s 3rd Report on CEDAW implementation. SCW’s Secretary-General ahead of the meeting noted Bahrain’s readiness to review its existing reservations to CEDAW.
30 November: Following discussions, the parliamentary Women’s Committee announced that it would be recommending rejection of the CEDAW draft.
1 December: Citizens for Bahrain issued a statement criticizing the parliamentary Women and Children’s Committee’s recommendation for rejecting full implementation of CEDAW.
2 December: Bahrain’s Women’s Union strongly criticized the Women’s Committee’s position on CEDAW.
11 December: Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs raises reservations about the CEDAW draft.
12 December: The Supreme Council for Women stressed the importance of ratifying this Convention, noting the central role of women in society and the importance of empowering Bahraini women in all aspects of their lives. The Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also stressed the importance of CEDAW. The Ministry said that it was a mistake to believe that the Convention conflicted with Islamic Law. It said that “equality between men and women as a general principle is clearly enshrined in Islamic Shari’ah, which looks upon men and women as together being the basis for life in society”.
14 December: A statement from the Bahrain Women’s Union stressed that CEDAW is in accordance with Islamic law.
15 December: The parliamentary vote was postponed after the draft was withdrawn for further consultations by the Women’s Committee.
21 December: The Women’s Union issued a statement saying that the position of MPs on CEDAW “represents a major setback for implementation of international conventions” and “damages Bahrain’s reputation”.
29 December: The Women’s Committee is reportedly holding meetings with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Women’s Union concerning CEDAW. A statement said that the Committee had discussed the “absence of any legal basis for redrafting the convention”.
3 February: Following a further meeting with the Women’s Committee, the Women’s Union stressed its continued commitment to seeing CEDAW ratified.
15 February: Al-Haiki said that her committee had made a final decision to recommend rejection of the CEDAW draft, following a reported failure of Supreme Council for Women representatives to attend a meeting on the issue.
19 March: Al-Haiki asks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a draft of its notification to the UN on intention to waive CEDAW reservations – she stresses need for careful study to ensure constitutionality of measures.
29 March: CEDAW goes to a parliamentary vote after Parliament Chairman overrules the Women’s Committee. Majority of MPs agree to delay vote until 5 April.
3 April: Parliamentary Women’s Committee expected to restate its rejection of CEDAW.
5 April: Final CEDAW vote expected in Parliament.