Fatmeh Hamzeh victim of Lebanon’s confessional constitution and laws

Fatmeh Hamzeh, a proud Lebanese woman victim of the chauvinistic religious laws, was thrown in a Beirut Southern Suburb jail since Thursday. Refusing to relinquish the custody of her child, Fatmeh, was sentenced to jail by the Shiite Jaafari religious court who granted her estranged husband, married to another woman, custody over their 3-1/2 year old toddler. It should be noted, that according to Jaafari spiritual courts, the husband has the right to the custody of his boy once he turns two and his girl when she is seven. Fatmeh’s case has won public and social media sympathy with a trending hashtag, ‘with Fatmeh against the Jaafari Court’ https://www.facebook.com/events/1108787035895167 . Organizers of the ‘National Campaign to Increase the Age of Custody for the Shiite Sect’ staged a sit-in last Saturday in front of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council and Gobeiri Police Station in support of Fatmeh and other mothers sharing the same predicament. Demonstrators demanded the ratification of a unified personal status law and gave the authorities an ultimatum (ending today) to release Fatmeh, otherwise they will resume their protests. In a show of solidarity with Fatmeh, the Progressive Youth Organization, Al Shaab Movement, ‘Say No to Violence’ Association and the National Coalition on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women called for a solidarity meeting today at 4:00 pm at the Beirut premises of the League for Lebanese Women’s Rights. Fatmeh’s detention has been the focus of spiritual jurists. In this context, and while Sheikh Jaafar Kawtharani, judge at the Mount Lebanon Jaafari Court, who pronounced the decision on Fatmeh’s case, said the sentence is an implementation of the laws in effect (for more on his position: http://m.assafir.com/Article/176/516513 ) . The Jaafari Mufti, Sheikh Ahmad Taleb, on the other hand, described the verdict as unjust, maintaining that Sharia courts should handle each case separately and not according to the religious texts only. For his part, the Premier Jaafari Mufti, Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan, revealed in a statement that he has begun a campaign to free the detained mother, making clear that the “Jaafari court is the competent authority in charge of resolving personal status conflicts within the Shiite sect and not the Shiite Council,” as he said.  Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker, Nabih Berri, has started negotiations with the concerned parties calling for Fathmeh’s immediate release. It is a shame, Berri told As Safir newspaper, that “a mother is arrested for the charge of being attached to her son,” and described the incident as offensive by all standards.. (Al Akhbar, As Safir, The Daily Star, November 5 and 7, 2016)