(Cairo, April 11, 2012) Since the Egyptian Parliament was elected, male and female members of the Freedom and Justice Party, have continuously attacked all the laws of social reform in Egypt that deal with Egyptian women based on the principle of citizenship and are in agreement with the purpose of Islamic law. However, the statements of the male and female members are often issued on the Islamic Sharia’a that the party claims is the most important of its references. Their statements also contradict what is contained in the political program of the party.
The statements, especially from some of the female members of parliament, raised a storm of concern about the social life in Egypt, as they raise questions about the desire to destroy the Egyptian identity and freedom on behalf of importing different social models. Some of these statements include the following:
- Request for the cancelation of the Penal Law against the sexual harassment of women,therefore the victim should bear the responsibility, breaking the main principle of the law.
- Canceling Article 20 of the litigation procedures of the Personal Status Law (El-Khola Law).
- Preventing proof and documentation of birth certificates for children of unknown parentage thereby depriving the children of their basic rights and punishing them for a crime they didn’t commit.
- Allowing a law that would permit husbands to rape their wives.
- Preventing women from traveling alone because it promotes khulwa (illegal seclusion).
- Preventing the children of Egyptian women and their foreign husbands form obtaining Egyptian nationality.
- Canceling the condition of informing a wife about her husband’s second marriage, claiming that maintaining the family is more important even if it is based on lies and fraud.
- Canceling the law keeping the women who have custody of their children in the marital apartment because the men feel threatened that they might be expelled without guarantees.
These statements not only contradict the principles of law and Sharia’a, but they also contradict the FJP’s own political platform with regards to women. They were successful in the parliamentary elections based on that platform, but now they are going back on their campaign promises. Some of their disregarded promises are as follows:
- Criminalize all forms of discrimination against women and toughening the punishment for sexual harassment of women, any assault to their reputation, or assaulting them directly.
- Combat Orfi and secret marriages and show that they are forbidden and dangerous.
- Narrow the laws and parameters for seeking a divorce, to be aware of its reasons in order to prevent it, disseminate the feeling that Allah hates it, encourage maintaining the marriage bond for the sake of the children through a religious and social awareness, reconciliation committees, NGOs, and follow the rules of Islam (El-Shara).
Therefore, the ECWR demands the Freedom and Justice Party announce a clear and frank statement toward the repeated statements that were announced by its male and female members who are supposed to represent and reflect their attitudes in the parliament.
If the current elected officials are straying from the official attitude of the party, then the party should take the necessary procedures toward its members obligating the political program of the party that the Egyptian people elected them on.
