WUNRN
http://www.trust.org/item/20150615155710-r8kxz/?source=shtw
UK – Divisive Views on Islamic Sharia Courts for Human Rights
& Social Justice of Women
By Emma Batha
LONDON, June 15, 2015 -
(Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Britain's new government must
abolish Islamic sharia courts, campaigners said on Monday,
describing them as "kangaroo courts" that deliver second-rate justice
and trample over the rights of women and children.
They called for the government to
stick to pre-election promises to hold an inquiry into sharia courts which
first appeared in Britain in the mid-1980s.
"Over the years, we have
witnessed with increasing alarm the influence of 'Sharia courts' over the lives
of citizens of Muslim heritage," nearly 200 women's rights and secular campaigners
said in a statement.
"Though the 'Sharia courts'
have been touted as people's right to religion, they are in fact, effective
tools of the far-right Islamist movement whose main aim is to restrict and deny
rights, particularly those of women and children."
It has been reported that there
are 85 such courts in Britain, but the number is unknown. The courts -- called
sharia councils -- deal mostly with family matters, in particular divorce.
Campaigners say women in abusive
relationships are being forced to return to their husbands while others end up
in destitution following divorce under sharia law. Women can also lose custody
of their children after divorce.
The courts give a woman's
testimony only half the weight of that of a man, campaigners say, and sons
inherit twice the share of daughters.
Sharia councils contacted by the
Thomson Reuters Foundation were not immediately available for comment. But the
Islamic Sharia Council in east London says on its website that it takes a
"harsh stance" on domestic violence, never forces a woman to stay
with a husband she wants to divorce and always insists that couples refer
custody issues to civil courts.
The campaigners' statement called
on the government to stop the development of parallel legal systems and to
defend the principle of one law for all.
The 197 signatories include
women's rights groups and secular organisations along with prominent writers,
academics, journalists and lawyers. Many of the signatories are from a Muslim
background.
Britain's Home Office said on
Monday that a review into sharia courts would be included in a counter
extremism strategy to be announced soon.
Some supporters of sharia
councils have suggested problems with the system should be addressed through
regulation, but opponents say the courts simply should not exist.
"Opposing 'Sharia courts' is
not racism or 'Islamophobic'; it is a defence of the rights of all citizens,
irrespective of their beliefs and background to be governed by democratic means
under the principle of one law for all," the statement added.
The statement also called for the
government review to examine the impact of "draconian" legal aid cuts
which they said were increasingly forcing abused women from minority
backgrounds to go to sharia courts to sort out family legal proceedings.
Sharia law derives from the Koran
and the Hadiths, the sayings and customs attributed to the Prophet Mohammad, as
well as rulings by Islamic scholars.
But the statement pointed out
that sharia laws are contested in many Muslim-majority countries including
Iran, Algeria, Tunisia and Pakistan.
UK – Government Urged to Tackle Sharia Courts & Religious
Tribunals – By Women’s & Secular Groups
16 June 2015 - Almost 200
signatories, including the National Secular Society and women's rights groups,
have called on the Government to tackle the spread of "parallel legal
systems" like sharia 'courts'.
In an open letter,
the campaigners have called on the Government to take "concerted measures
to stop the development of parallel legal systems and to facilitate full and
proper access to justice for all citizens" and to protect "one
secular law for all".
Before the election the
Conservative Party pledged to review the role of sharia 'courts' operating in
the UK, in a move welcomed by
the National Secular Society.
The campaigners write: "Over
the years, we have witnessed with increasing alarm the influence of 'Sharia
courts' over the lives of citizens of Muslim heritage.
"Many abused women from
minority backgrounds, for instance, are increasingly forced to either represent
themselves in court in what are often complex family legal proceedings or go to
'Sharia courts' that operate entirely outside the rule of law."
The campaigners say that sharia
'courts' are used to "restrict and deny rights" and have a
particularly negative effect on "women and children." They add that
sharia 'courts' represent an "assault" on civil liberties.
The campaigners are asking the
Government to "re-affirm the principle of the separation of religion and
the law."
"Opposing 'Sharia courts' is
not racism or 'Islamophobic'; it is a defence of the rights of all citizens,
irrespective of their beliefs and background to be governed by democratic means
under the principle of one law for all. What amounts to racism is the idea that
minorities can be denied rights enjoyed by others through the endorsement of religious
based 'justice' systems which operate according to divine law that is by its
very nature immune from state scrutiny."
The signatories also call for the
end of Beth Din arbitration tribunals in "family matters".
Signatories include British Muslims
for Secular Democracy, the Quilliam Foundation, Maryam Namazie of the Council
of Ex-Muslims of Britain, Muslims for Progressive Values, Peter Tatchell, Sarah
Haider of Ex-Muslims of North America, Pragna Patel of Southall Black Sisters,
the historian Tom Holland, columnist and writer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, and
dozens of others.