12) CODIR WARNS AGAINST "LEGAL PAEDOPHILIA" IN IRAN

 

By Jane Green

 

            On October 11th, the United Nations celebrated the Day of the Girl in an attempt to highlight the position of girls across the world and to improve their rights.

 

            In the Islamic Republic of Iran, however, the day was marked by the Guardian Council of the regime approving a bill passed by Iran's Majlis or parliament for the "protection" of children and young people. The bill controversially contains a clause which allows men to marry their adopted daughters with the permission of a court. While the law applies to both male and female adoptive parents or children, given the patriarchal nature of the Islamic Republic, it is most likely that it will be used in the case of girls rather than boys.

 

            Ironically, the bill had previously been denied and sent back for review because it had originally banned the marriage of step-fathers and their adopted daughters. The Guardian Council found this to be in contradiction with Islamic Sharia law. Opposition groups have condemned the bill as legalised paedophilia, calling for the law to be revoked and for international pressure to be brought to bear upon the government of Iran.

 

            The abuse of the rights of women and girls is a constant concern under the regime of the Islamic Republic. The catalogue of discriminatory laws and practices against women and girls is a long one. The age of marriage for girls is 13 years old, although it is possible before that age, provided the court and the father decide so. The age of criminal responsibility for girls is only nine years old. Girls have to wear the hejab at an ever‑earlier age, supposedly to protect them from lustful eyes.

 

            A statement by Salaar Moradi, an MP who sits on the Social Committee of the parliament, betrays the sentiments behind the bill. Moradi stated that, "An adopted child is not the same as [one's own] child. The religious teaching allows a guardian to marry his adopted daughter". Further, said Moradi, "When a girl enters a family, she becomes Na Mahram (non‑familial) when she reaches puberty, unless the oath of making Mahram, or marriage is taken".

 

            Inside Iran, Shiva Dolatabadi, head of Iran's society for protecting children's rights, has warned that the bill implies that the parliament is legalising incest. "You cannot open a way in which the role of a father or a mother can be mixed with that of a spouse," she said. "Children can't be safe in such a family."

 

            In the UK the Committee for the Defence of the Iranian People's Rights (CODIR) have spoken out against the new law. Assistant Secretary, Jamshid Ahmadi, made clear the need for action, stating: "This outrageous bill must be condemned as vociferously as possible. Girls must be protected from potentially being exposed to such damaging abuse. The Iranian government's efforts to portray a moderate image, internationally, should not divert attention from the severe violation of human and democratic rights of the most vulnerable individuals, in domestic policy. Such measures demand an outcry to stop the introduction of new laws that may lead to the destruction of young lives."

 

            At a time when the president of the Islamic Republic is trying to promote himself as a symbol of moderation and decency, the new law exposes the reality of life in Iran for a huge section of the population.

 

            If Rouhani is willing to be accepted as a moderate and a different type of leader in the "reformed" Islamic Republic then legislation of this character must be reversed. Iran cannot operate an internal policy so incompatible with the norms of behaviour at the beginning of the 21st Century.

 

            Jane Green is Campaigns Officer of CODIR (UK Committee for Defence of Iranian People's Rights), www.codir.net.

 

(The above article is from the November 1-15, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)