Nobel peace prize for killing people

If Obama is entitled to a Nobel peace prize so why Osama is not?

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts for self interest, unsuccessfulness for gaining international diplomacy and cooperation for killing people. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a killing people without nuclear weapons.

If Nobel peace prize is awarded for killing people, so definitely there would be many people in the world who should get this Prize. Today we know what the situation of Iraq and Afghanistan is. If we see the report of deaths after US intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, in an every single second people die and series of death continues. Only one country is responsible of these all murder and they are proud for bringing peace and human rights to such countries. US has been killing people in the name of peace, democracy and promoting human rights. “A lot was promised by the United States and allied countries”, Faryal said. “A lot was promised by the government of Afghanistan, which of course, is based on the support of the United States. Yet, nothing was done.”* Today, according to peaceful country index reports Iraq and Afghanistan are the worst countries in this world because of such internal havoc.

To bring democracy and promoting human rights, US is responsible for the present situation in Afghanistan and Iraq. After many years, the U.S. military intervention has largely failed to gain its major goals: The United States has been unable to bring peace, security to much of Afghanistan; it has been unable to find Osama bin Laden or Muhammad (Mullah) Omar, head of the Taliban; it has been unable to eliminate the Taliban, which is regrouping; and it has alienated a growing number of Afghans, who are becoming impatient with the U.S. military presence. U.S. reconstruction efforts also have come under criticism. Despite not any progress, poverty remains, many children are still not able to go to school, and women still find their lives constrained and must veil when they are in public. And it is estimated that as more than 20,000 innocent Afghani have died as the direct or indirect results of U.S. bombing. The United Nations reported that approximately 2,021 civilians were killed by coalition, government, and insurgent forces in the first 10 months of 2009, an increase on 1,838 killed during the same period in 2008. Of these, 69 percent were attributed to “anti government elements,” and 23 percent to international-led military forces. In 2008 the international-led military forces were responsible for more than one-third of civilian deaths. Reforms in United States and NATO operational guidelines appear to have resulted in a reduction in casualties of around 30 percent in the first 10 months of 2009, compared to the same period in 2008.

Today, US is the highest emitter of harmful gases in the world which is a major issue of concern. If US spends more money in pollution control than military intervention it would prove to be better. Because of climate change through pollution U.S. is responsible to a great extent but no active response has been seen on its part regarding this issue.

The Oslo speech marked the first time that Mr Obama has gone overseas and spoken “his promise to withdraw US forces from Iraq” but we know the situation is quite different and he plans to deploy 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan. All these more troops instead of making will worsen the situation of Afghanistan.
Thus no longer any difference between Barack Obama and Osama Bin Laden both are doing same work killing people for own self interest. If useless peoples like Obama will again get nominated for the Nobel peace prize then the utility of this Prize will end. If people like Mahatma Gandhi and Pope John Paul II did not receive the prize, so why did Obama ?

Reference

Human Rights Watch: World Report on Afghanistan 2003, 2009, New York.

Amnesty International Report on Afghanistan 2009 available on http://thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/asia-pacific/afghanistan

Fenton Debra Liang, (2004), Implementing U.S. human rights policy: agendas, policies, and practices, United States Institute of Peace.

*http://www.rawa.org/greenl.htm

Introduction:
Iraq today is in turmoil due to the destructive invasion led by the United States of America. The ugly war of United States against Iraq as part of the global war on terror brought collateral damages to Iraq. No doubt America is looking for an exit strategy from Iraq and is in a hurry to declare its victory, but changing domestic and regional situations are so bad that entire super power aura become rubble. It has been hard to overestimate what is at stake in Iraq. Basically Iraq war is a failure of United States promotion of democracy in the region and its notion of state building. Now entire regional peace, stability and security are at stake. Iraq as a state is also under serious threat due to separatist movements on the name of separate Kurdistan; bloody rift between Shiites and Sunni and other groups is of key concern in present Iraq. An anti American fervor is at its peak not only in Iraq but also in the entire West Asia. This American adventurism is the result of neoconservative agenda of President George W Bush and Dick Cheney.
After Saddam’s defeat US army started its onslaught and witch-hunting of Iraqi dissents and also started looting and destroying public and private properties of Iraqis. This irresponsible behavior is the main cause of virtual defeat of the United States and became its biggest mistake in the entire mission in Iraq. A fervor of lawlessness erupted, made more extreme because it came after years of suppression. The American army looked weak and unable to control the situation. Baghdad’s National Museum of Iraq was ransacked of much of its priceless artifacts, buildings were burned or their structure became so unsafe they had to be torn down; hospitals schools, factories and homes were pillaged. Seventeen out of twenty-three ministries in Bagdad were razed to the ground. Electricity, water, transport and communication are all at halt since the starting of the war, even no help was provided to the people who were asking help from American soldiers.
Police and other civil service advisers from the United States finally began arriving in Iraq during last week of May 2003, it was too late. They came with neither addresses nor contacts for the Iraqis. One of the classical manifestations of this lack of plan was seen when one of the American advisers went out into the street to ask whether anyone could identify the faces pictured on their files and whether they could be located. The situation was not organized and was chaotic, a combination of ideological vigor, insufficient planning and misperceptions about Iraqi society has meant for the Bush administration, far more troublesome than regime change itself. The lawlessness and looting that greeted the seizure of Bagdad on 9 April 2003 has evolved into an organized, self sustaining and politically motivated insurgency.
For the US government, regime change in Bagdad was seen as the key that would unlock the whole of the West Asia. US want pro US governments in the region to serve its economic, political and geopolitical interests in the region. After September 11 the Bush administration’s attention focused not only specifically on Iraq but also on the wider West Asian region. The majority of the states in the area had proved immune to the spread of democracy and free market economics that greeted the end of Cold War. The Washington Consensus, the economic liberalism imposed by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in the 1990s had little impact on the West Asia, and certainly did not cause any significant political liberalization. Bush directly linked the growth of terrorism facing the United States to the lack of democracy and economic development in the West Asia. In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, he made it clear that the United States is no longer ready to see the status of the power in the region as it is. US did not want any type of threat to its hegemony in West Asian region.
In Iraq there was Saddam Hussein, the custodian of the second largest oil reserves in the world then. So the Bush administration decided to go there with the intention of imposing American management on the Iraqi oil industry. The American policy makers dreamt of raising Iraq’s oil output to six million barrels a day by 2009, more than double the amount being pumped in 2003. In order to control the oil wealth in Iraq it turned the entire Iraq in to mess. There are some data below with graph and factual proofs to give introductory information of US achievement in Iraq.
The motive behind the invasion and occupation of Iraq
One investigation report has made it clear that the US invasion was deliberate execution of the neoconservative agenda that dominated the thinking of US foreign policy. By applying a pervasive shock therapy and in effect erasing the past, the neoconservative firmly believed that a new state could be set to establish a utopia of a free market economy.
Paul Bermer, who arrived in Iraq on 2 May 2004, set out to accomplish two goals. The first was to apply free market shock therapy to Iraq’s economy, in an apparent effort to jump-start the process he reduced the number of police and military force in Iraq. He ousted 500 000 officers and thus contributed heavily to skyrocketing unemployment rate of 60-70 %. Bremer’s policies created half a million jobless people over night and made resistance to US occupations the only viable alternative to unemployment. His second task entailed banning the Ba’ath party and purging its members from their posts within the government. These two moves resulted in the complete collapse of Iraqi State infrastructure. Bermer’s policies created a political and social vacuum, and pre Ba’ath party social institutions (the tribal, religious and communal formations already emergent under sanctions) were the only agencies left to fill the security vacuum precipitated by the loss of administrative control.
Bermer continued with his agenda and arranged for the largest state liquidation sale of economic enterprise since the collapse of the USSR. While he opened the borders to unrestricted imports with one hand, he closed the door to domestic and Iraqi production with the other by introducing a set of laws in September 2003 aimed at encouraging transitional corporation to move into Iraq and take over the economy. Within these newly introduced laws order 37 dramatically lowered corporate tax from 40% to 15%.
The neoconservative agenda that the US occupation was attempting to implement was a major factor in the escalation of armed resistance. In the first four Months after Bremer’s arrival 109 US soldiers were killed and 570 wounded. Bermer’s shock therapy took effect in the following four months. The number of American casualties almost doubled. In additions the wholesale plundering of Iraq by US corporation envisioned in the foreign investment in financing the armed resistance for self-protection. With 67% unemployment the influx of foreign products and workers into Iraq further fuelled the resistance. Bermer drew up an interim constitution with the commitment that a permanent constitution assembly appointed by democratically elected government would implement the laws, regulation, orders and directives issued by the coalition provisional Authority and would remain in force which were scheduled for 30 January 2005. According to the US rationale under the interim constitution investors could buy Iraqi assets and sign contracts that would secure their investment for40 years. Should any future Iraqi government decide to change the laws, investors could sue for compensation. These all prove beyond any pale of doubt that the only motive for the invasion was to capture the control of the oil and other resources in the country.
Reconstruction Policy:
Restructuring of the political system
The first attempt of the Bush administration after the capture of Bagdad was to bring a government and it wanted to make the people believe that the system they are bringing is far better than what they have before. After the capture of Saddam and a drop in the number of insurgent attacks, some concluded that the multinational forces were prevailing in the fight against the insurgency. But the reality was far from this conclusion as the things turned out to be. The provisional government began training the New Iraqi Security forces intended to defend the country, and the United States promised over $20 billion in reconstruction money in the form of credit against Iraq’s future oil revenues. Following the invasion, the United States established the Coalition Provisional Authority to govern Iraq. Government authority was transferred to an Iraqi Interim Government in June 2004, and a permanent government was elected in October 2005. To establish the interim governing council as legitimate authority, Allawi the least popular politician who suffers a serious lack of legitimacy and is wholly dependent on US support, initiated the Iraqi National Conference, which concluded on18 August 2004. The efforts to bestow legitimately on the interim regime by allowing broader representation in state institutions, has a reverse effect as it widened and deepened political fractures in Iraqi society. In order to enhance the legitimacy of the interim government the conference would have had an election to the council which would be representative of at least some significant players of Iraq’s national political force. Instead of incorporating the two main, Kurdish political forces of northern Iraq and tribal and urban union of marginalized Arab political forces, it incorporated in their place the expatriate Iraqis who returned on the heels of the US occupations. National political forces in Iraq’s central and southern zone are largely composed of Sunni and Shiite Arab rejectionist who opposed the occupation. Within the Arab rejectionist camp, up to August 2004, the Hawza (the Shiite religious elite led by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani) had represented the main Shiite body and the Sunni Muslim Scholar’s Associations the main Sunni body. In addition to the rejectionist camp, indigenous political forces included a number of smaller civil society groups organized over the interest o f ethnic and religious minorities, and tribal leaders who all sought a great role in the transition. Thus rather than opting for a policy of inclusion of national forces the parties that have controlled the transition created the Advisory Council in their image to work with the US occupation and Allawi’s regime. This exclusion of significant national political forces from the nation-building process alienated the significant national political forces from the nation building process and alienated many of the social groupings that would have liked to be a part if the discussion on the future of Iraq and increased the legitimacy of the rejectionist camp among all Iraqis.
In protest of the Fallujahh siege the Islamic Party, Iraq’s most influential Sunni Political group has withdrawn from the government, and the Sunni Muslim Clerics Association urged Iraqis to boycott the planned January elections. Leaders of the Iraqis Islamic Party also cited security as a reason for withdrawing the Sunni Party’s slate of 275 candidates. Insurgents looked bound to attack election officials, candidates and voters. In addition, in the mid November 2004, 47 political parties and groups had already declared their boycott of the elections, citing that the election plan do not express the Iraqi people’s will and their demand for sovereignty and independence. Even in the Kurdish region, support for an early elections was modified to assume a middle course between the Sunni demand for delaying the election and the urging of Shiite (under Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani guidance) for no delays. Masoud Barzani leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party informed the UN envoy that ‘while we are ready for the election on January 30, we will not oppose its delay…. if that will ensure a more comprehensive and inclusive election. In response, 40 political parties connected to al-Hawza and Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani rejected delay, in effect reflecting an emerging split along sectarian lines. According to a Knight Rider on 27 December 2004, even the Shiite bloc was divided as to the form of government. A secular democracy was championed by Al- Sadr and Chalabi, but a more focused religious- oriented government was advocated by the Al-Dawa Party and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution.
As violence continue to escalate in the Sunni triangle and the north, in November and December 2004 17 major political parties called for the elections to be delayed, including the prime ministers al-Wfaq al- Watani party and the Iraqi Islamic Party. Mohsen Abdul Hamid, head of the party said ‘presently there was no security situation in the country and Iraqis don’t understand the elections yet. We need enough time, at least six months, to prepare ourselves because the Security issue is very complicated’. Further the Sunni Muslim clerics’ Association urged Iraqis to boycott the planned January elections.
Outside Iraq the US military tactics were vociferously opposed. The cumulative impact of the Najaf and Fallujahh campaigns indicated that the USA was losing the war in Iraq politically. Reflecting the increasing international opposition to the US occupation of the Iraq, on 16 September 2004, UN secretary General Kofi Annan told the BBC that the US led invasion of Iraq was illegal, and warned that there could not to be credible elections ‘ if security conditions continue as they are now’. And on 17 November the UN High Commissioner for the Human Right, Louise Arbour, called for an investigation into alleged abuses in Fallujahh, including the disproportionate use of force and the targeting of civilians. Additionally, in the Arab world, US policy in Iraq was increasingly compared with Israeli policy in the West Bank and Gaza. An opinion poll commissioned by the Arab American Institute, the University of Maryland and Zogby Institute in August 2004, reported on the Increasing hostility of educated and business elites in the Arab World towards the US occupation of Iraq.
Elections under occupations:
The Iraqi election took place on 30 January 2005 under extraordinary circumstances of military occupation, rampant insurgency and insecurity. The process was marked by major irregularities, including the appointment of an incognito election commission by the occupying power, secrecy surrounding candidates name and a lack of onsite observers. The final vote count was official announced on 13 February 2005. Sixty million ballot sheets were flown to Iraq days before the election for an estimated 15 million eligible voters. Some 7500 candidates were scattered among 257 lists. Twenty-five Iraqi towns and Cities boycotted the elections. According to Reuter news agency, while there were 63000 polling booths throughout Iraq, there were only 33 763 Iraqi elections monitors. Should this have been the case in another country such as Ukraine, it would have elicited an unmitigated international protest. On 13 February 2005 the Iraqi Election Commissions declared the vote count, and after three days of working out the necessary adjustment in accordance with complex electoral procedures, the final voting was as follows. Out of the 58% voter turnout, the United Iraqi Alliance, which is the list put together by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, won 51 % vote captured 140 seats out of 275. The Kurdish list of Iyad Allawi was something of a surprise because Allawi had all the advantages of incumbency. According to Juan Cole, professor of history at the University of Michigan, Allawi dominated the airwaves in ‘December and January. He went to Bagdad University and made all sorts of promises to the students there and this was dutifully broadcast, and there were lots of similar such photo opportunities. Allawi’s list also spent an enormous amount on campaign advertising. The source of these millions is unknown since Paul Bremer passed a law making disclosure of campaign contributes unnecessary. Despite these enormous advantages clear American backing, money etc. Allawi’s list won only about 14 % of the votes (40 seats) and he certainly lost all chances of becoming the future Prime Minister, which was a clear mandate of the people against the American administration. Other Shiite lists won 11 seats and minor or unknown parties took the very few seats left. The 7500 candidates were arranged on lists of about 117 political entities that were swiftly constructed, professing about 117 political programs, which must have been confusing for the Iraqi voters given the living conditions and the political legacy of dictatorship. According to the Administrative Law drawn up by Bermer, the selection of the president, the two vice presidents and the prime minister requires a two- third majority. The president would choose the prime minister, but this is otherwise is a ceremonial position along with the two positions of the Vice presidents. However to the extent possible in law making, the Administrative Law stipulates ‘a majority which the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) already enjoys. Thus the UIA, which compromise the Supreme council Of Islamic Revolution, led by Abdel Aziz al Hakim, and the Da’wa party led by Ibrahim al-Jafri can make laws without any need for coalition. Yet recent reports communicated by Juan Cole suggested the UIA will enter into coalition with the other small Shiite parties like the Sadrist, thus ensuring a safe majority on issues of legislation.
Destruction:
Contrast between Reform under Saddam and After Invasion
To really assess the magnitude of the destruction that came upon the whole nation following the invasion it would be helpful to have a cursory look at the past experience under Saddam and what kind of a developmental model he was proposing for a heterogeneous nation like Iraq. The socialist element of the Ba’athist philosophy encourages substantial investment in social infrastructure, which means efforts to develop education and health provisions at all levels. But the war and economic sanctions wrecked all the social gains achieved over a period of time. Saddam, as a secularist was prepared to show pragmatic support for Islam but not for fundamentalism, as a result religious groups such as Sunni, Shiite, Christian, Jews, etc. acknowledge a basic loyalty to the state. Saddam’s hostility to the various fundamentalist aspirations made it possible to encourage departures from elements of traditional Arab culture which meant that women were librated as nowhere else in the Arab world. Saddam’s revolution ended Iraqi backwardness to an extent. Iraqi spent her money from oil revenues for construction and modernizing the country, although the huge armed forces consumed a substantial share of it. Education was totally free up to any level, including education abroad for the deserving. Within a decade or so, the Iraqi government had ensured, through compulsion where needed, that the entire population was literate. Roads are still of high quality, and bridges and many Government buildings have been built in the most modern and sophisticated manner.
Despite the toll taken by eight years of the Iran- Iraq war, basic necessities were freely available at reasonable prices, through a public distribution system. Prices of other essential commodities in the private sector were also kept within limits. The evidence points to the impact of sanctions on the population’s well-being and on the national economy. By all accounts, even during the 8 years of war with Iran, the country’s overall development was not affected much, and the Government continued to invest heavily in social services. By 1990, primary health care reached about 97% of the urban population and 78% of the rural population; primary school attendance reached about 83%
More important, centuries of vicious discrimination against girls and women was ended by one stroke of the modernizing dictator’s pen. Saddam Hussein also encourage a fierce nationalism, a conscious pride in the glories of ancient Iraqi history- and proceeded to resurrect historical Babylon as a monument to his own egocentric rule. The table given below would give us a bird’s eye view of the achievement the Iraqi people have under Saddam.

Corruption
Corruption and mismanagement of Iraqis affairs in this interim period between April 2003 and June 2004 was rife. Billions of dollars that had been allocated for the purpose of putting, Iraq on the road recovery disappeared. There was an international outcry at the way lucrative reconstruction contracts seemed to favor those whose businesses helped bankroll George Bush’s 2000 Election campaign, one of those businesses was Halliburton Energy Services. Although the Army Corps of Engineers was authorizes to spend up to seven billion for the oil restoration work the, actual money spent was only one-third of that. American control, Iraq would opt of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, raise its output as much as it wanted, and thus weaken OPEC substantially. Oil prices would fall to $20 a barrel, American would be happy, and the re-election of a Republican Presidency would be assured. Although the Army corps of engineers was authorized to spend up to seven billion U.S dollar for the oil restoration work, the actual money spent was only one-third of that.
The FBI investigation concluded that corruption was on a wide scale and that there were suggestion being paid to foreign and offshore bank accounts. Such corruption became a way of life in the fledgling stage of the new Iraq. Eight billion dollar was spent without proper accounting documentation, with contracts to rebuild infrastructure being agreed to at a hundred times more than actual cost.
Eights thousand names were registered to look after security in different ministries in Bagdad, but only 602 of them were bona fide salaried staff. The other names on the list were “ghost” employees.
Another pointed example of financial mismanagement was the apparent cost of training police in neighboring countries. It was estimated that the each policeman in Jordan was forty thousand US dollar. This is significantly higher than it would have cost to send a student for full year of advanced studies at prestigious Ivy League College. And another example of Cluster Battles’ alleged fraud : Charging $95, 000 for a helicopter pad that they were supposed to build in Mosul, they billed $157 for it. And Mike Battles himself actually absent mindedly left a piece of paper detailing how $3.74 million spent had been billed $9.8 Million.
Conclusion
In May 2003, a memo by a senior British official described the office of General Garner, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) as’ an unbelievable mess’. This judgment would soon be applicable to mere than state of the bureaucracy. The chaos started because there was no real planning. The US Defense Department took Over responsibility for it from the State Department in early 2003 and ignored all the work done until then.
There were some gains. There years after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein the Dictator himself was on trial for crimes against humanity. A parliament had been elected. New Iraqi police and security forces existed. British forces were starting to leave. Both Kurds and Shi’a could believe in a future in which their rights might be acknowledged.
But there were also major setbacks and danger. Voting in the December 2005 election was divided along ethnic and religious lines, revealing the potential for a profound fracturing of the country. The risks were illustrated by insurgent attacks on Shi’a religious sites in early 2006, compared to pre-2003, there was less clean water, sewage control and energy supply. Oil output was down 30 per cent. Crime was rampant and unemployment was about 50 per cent. There was little rebuilding in destroyed urban areas, and CPA had lost $9 billion of oil revenue before it dissolve in June 2004.
The chaos was partly the result of deliberate and shrewd disruption by insurgent groups. As well as general terror to promote instability and disorder, they target water, oil and power, as well as police recruits, the occupying forces and Iraqis who worked with them, religious sites, and qualified professional such as doctor and lawyers. When they needed to hide, they imposed themselves on towns and villages and got cooperation through fear.
The insurgents included al-Qaida and associated groups as well as Ba’athists. Their shared aim was to make the occupation impossible. Longer term the Ba’thists wanted power back while al-Qaida ultimately sought a new political order in the West Asia. In the first half of 2006, insurgents were thought to number 15000-20000.
In addition, there were well organized shi’s militias such as the Badr militia linked to one of the main Shi’s political groups in the south, the Mahdi Army led by cleric Moqtaba al-Sadr, and smaller group run by Shi’a politicians including government ministers. By mid-2006 they were blamed for hundreds of killings and kidnappings each month. Sunni militias were organized in response.
Facing this, the Army routinely employed massive force, in line with its Soldier’s Credo, which is not merely to defeat buy to destroy the enemy. It works intimidatingly well in war but its less effective when the idea is to win the peace. The abuse of Iraqi Prisoners in Abu Gharib and elsewhere was on a scale that indicates it was deliberate policy, done out of perceived military necessity.
Estimates put the Cost to the US as high $3 trillion. In Iraq, the price was paid daily by ordinary people. As the insurgency and occupation continued the death toll rose, fear deepened and for most people basic conditions of life got worse. By 2006, Iraq had become a country in which to go shopping meant to risk one’s life.
After all America all do this for oil but presently Now we see what has happening. The Iraqi oil law has not yet been passed because different directions the Iraqis in one way the foreign companies in another way. Also, when it comes to open bidding the Chinese companies the Indian companies, the Brasillians- they are going to outbid Western companies any day. Why ? Because Western companies have to bear much higher overhead costs. It is therefore not surprising at all that the Chinese got the contract first. and the the dispersion of native Iraqis to other countries is known as the Iraqi Diaspora. There have been many large-scale waves of emigration from Iraq, beginning early in the regime of Saddam Hussein and continuing through to 2007. The UN High Commission for Refugees has estimated that nearly two million Iraqis have fled the country in recent years, mostly to Jordan and Syria. Although some expatriates returned to Iraq after the 2003 invasion, the flow had virtually stopped by 2006.
In addition to the 2 million Iraqis who fled to neighboring countries, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimates the number of people currently displaced within the country at 1.9 million.
Roughly 40% of Iraq’s middle class is believed to have fled, the U.N. said. Most are fleeing systematic persecution and have no desire to return. Refugees are mired in poverty as they are generally barred from working in their host countries

References:

Anthony H. Cordesman and Khalid R. Al-Rodhan (2008), “Gulf Military forces in an era of asymmetric Wars, Pentagon Press”
Dan Smith, (2006),”The State of West Asia”, Earthscan Pulishers
Tareq Y Ismael & Jacqueline S Ismael, “ whither Iraq ? Beyond Saddam, Sanctions and Occupation”, Third World Quarterly (2005) Vol- 26, page
Geoff Simons (2006), “Future of Iraq: US policy in Reshaping the West Asia”
Toby dodge (2005),m “Iraq’s Future The Aftermath of Regime Change”
Jacqueline Ismael, tareq Y. Ismael and Raymond William Baker, “Iraq and Human development :culture Education and The Globalization of Hope”, Volume 26, Number 2, Spring 2004
“Iraq ablaze” ,Chapter three- The America are wrong footed 1990-2005.
World Focus, “US,UN and Iraq”, Volume 25, Number 1, January 2004, page 10 to 13

http://www.heritage.org/research/middleeast/bg1594.cfm

http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2003/0430iraq_baram.aspx

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040701faessay83409-p20/george-a-lopez-david-cortright/containing-iraq-sanctions-worked.html

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2003/Reconstruction_Planning.pdf

Background of the Study
Human right violation in the developing countries is one of the most debated topics in the contemporary academic and policy fields. Thanks to globalization and the interdependence of the whole world any domestic issue could come up for the debate and discussion in wider perspective. For a comprehensive study of the topic we have to look into various aspects of the human rights. There is a debate in the academic circle regarding the universality of the human rights and the proponents of the patriarchal society are still putting a stiff resistance to the universality of the human rights and justify their practices saying that the human rights that the west has promoted is an extension of the western culture and is a weapon to make inroad into the cultural sphere of the traditional societies.
Apart from this issues there are people who are still arguing that the so called ‘human right violations’ are part and parcel of their society and the changes in this regard would lead to the erosion of their cultural roots. The overall status of the women in general and in third world in particular would be taken into account for the purpose. However, studies on the human rights have got scant attention in countries where the authoritarian governments are ruling. This is why there is very less research works on the human rights in the West Asian region in general and Yemen in particular. Here I would make an attempt to explore the human rights of women in Yemen and would account to what extent they are deprived of their human rights. The study becomes all the more difficult as there are not much research and the government is very much aware of its image in the outside world as it would invite harsh criticism as well as demand for delivering human rights to women.
As the most important area of activity of any human being is society the human rights violations in the social area acquire much more importance. In this part, given the patriarchal nature of the society companied with Islamic sharia as the basis of the day to day life overarching all areas of life including marriage, family, birth and death and role of woman in society a number of major questions would be discussed in this part. The paper would also assess the political economic rights too. The study is supposed to bring out the inherent problem in the society that perpetuates the dependent role of women and their vulnerability to the deprivation of the rights. The paper would also bring out the development in the field including the different conventions and treaties that the state of Yemen has signed in order to bring a global standard. The achievement that the state has made in ensuring the women rights in different fields would be discussed.
Let us come to the political scene of Yemen and the overall picture of the treatment of women in society. The Yemeni woman before the September 1962 and October 1963 revolutions had suffered greatly from being marginalized and isolated from all life activities; socially, economically, culturally and politically. She had been deprived of many if not all rights. For instance the woman was deprived of education, except for daughters of the well-to-do families whether in Sana’a or Aden (Yemen). Teaching girls at that time was confined to learning principles of reading and writing and the Koran while the girl in Aden managed to get a better amount of primary school stage education. This situation continued till the eruption of the revolution after which the woman began the road of struggle for getting her right to education, work and indiscriminating equality in order to remove the injustice imposed on her, although the two former constitutions of the two parts of Yemen had approved the principle of equality between man and woman. The permanent constitution in the former North Yemen of 1970 stipulated in its articles 22 and 34 that the women have equal rights and duties and those women rights are guaranteed according to the Islamic law. The constitution issued in 1978 in the former southern Yemen stipulated in its article 26 that the state guarantees equal rights for men and women in fields of political, economic, social and cultural life and provides the conditions and circumstances that enable the woman to practice her right. Despite of those constitutional texts the woman role remained limited as a result of what the imamate and the colonization had left behind them of a heavy legacy of ignorance, backwardness and poverty that affected the life of the Yemeni people for a long time and their impact is still seen till today. The period of Yemen’s division had squandered the country’s wealth and exhausted them in areas far from and beyond the interests of the homeland and the citizen. But the May 22 of 1990 has represented a historic turning-point in the life of the Yemenis and the Arab nation as a whole when the Yemen got reunited again. Then began the new age of democracy, political pluralism and the freedom of expression. The united Yemen began to implement its development plan for improving conditions of the citizens, among which was the focusing on the woman as considered half of the society. In Yemen the woman does not practically represent half of the society but more than that in figure. The number of females in Yemen is 8.255.000 million, i.e., 50.1% while males are 8.229.000 million, i.e., 49.9%, according to Arab Human Development Report 2003. The amended Yemeni Constitution of 1994 adopted multiple Human Rights principles.
Article 6 stipulates that the state confirms that it will act according to the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are the generally recognized rules of international law.
Yemen is a party to the following human rights agreements:
• The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
• The Convention Relating the Status of Refugees
• The Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
• The international Convention on the Ban of Genocide
• The international Convention on War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity.
• The international Convention on women Political Rights.
• The Convention on marriage Consent and Minimum Marriage Age and Marriage Contracts Registration.
• The Convention on the Ban of human trading and exploitation.
• The International Convention on the prohibition racial Discrimination.
• The International Convention on the Rights of the Child
• The international Convention on Anti- Torture, Cruel Treatment and Inhumanity
• The 1994 Geneva Agreement and their 1997 Annexed Protocol.
In spite of the Yemeni Constitution of 1994, which stipulates equal rights for Yemeni citizens, women are still struggling with various constraints and secondary status. Yemen’s Personal Status Law in particular, which covers matters of marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance, gives women fewer rights than men, excludes women from decision making, and deprives them of access to, and control over, resources and assets. The right to divorce is not given to women equally. It is far more difficult for a woman to divorce a man. A man may divorce a woman at will. While man may divorce without justifying their action in court, a woman must present adequate justification. Women face many practical, social, and financial negative considerations in divorce procedure. The minimum marriage age has been abolished, and in practice, marriages are consummated when the bride is as young as nine years old. This is deeply associated with cultural tradition and the virginity and moral virtue of girls in the society. Also, an unmarried girl is considered to be a nuisance and an economic burden for her family. However, pregnancy at early age, when a girl’s body has not fully developed, increases the likelihood of miscarriage or other maternal complications. Early marriage also stops girls’ education, which leads to low female enrollment rates and one of the largest education gaps between boys and girls in the world. Women’s access to maternal health care is severely restricted. In most cases, husbands decide women’s fertility. It is hard for women to obtain contraception, or to take operation for treatment without a husband’s permission. Yemen’s high child mortality rate and the fourth fastest growing population in the world are attributed to a lack of women’s decision-making in their pregnancy and access to healthcare services. Women are vulnerable to sexual assault by prison guards, and there is a lower, if any, punishment for violence against women than men. The law stipulates protection women from domestic violence, but in fact there are few protections for women who suffer from domestic violence and no systematic investigation of such occurrences has been conducted. Spousal abuse or domestic violence is not generally reported to the police because of social norms and customs, meaning that women remain silent under these abuses.
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
(Anthony Chase, Amr Hamzawy) Discussed why have human rights been marginalized in the Arab world? How do we gauge the relevance of human rights in the region, given the political, social, and economic context? What are the practical and theoretical obstacles to the implementation of these rights? Human Rights in the Arab World: Independent Voices offers perspectives from those at the forefront of research on human rights and Islam, globalization, transnational advocacy, and the politics of key states such as Egypt, Morocco, and Yemen. Some chapters provide essential historical background to current political realities, while others consider ways to confront this region’s practical and theoretical challenges to human rights. (Sheila Carapico) Sheila Carapico’s book on civic participation in modern Yemen makes a path breaking contribution to the study of political culture in Arabia. The author traces the complexities of Yemen’s history over the last fifty years, considering its response to the colonial encounter and to years of civil unrest. Challenging the stereotypical view of conservative Arab Muslim society, she demonstrates how the country is actively seeking to develop the political, economic and social structures of the modern democratic state. This is an important book which promises to become the definitive statement on twentieth-century Yemen.

(David P. Forsythe, Patrice C. McMahon)tSaid in his book the development and study of human rights have increased significantly over time and have seen an intensified interest at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Much can be learned about the status of universal human rights by approaching the subject from regional perspectives. These diverse vantage points shed new light on the importance and complexity of the issues. David P. Forsythe and Patrice C. McMahon have brought together a collection of essays from top scholars in their fields. Each essay examines how a region, as defined by geography or culture, affects the standards and practice of human rights in a particular area. The issues discussed human rights Muslim states, the prospects and challenges of human rights in the Middle East, the role of women and tradition in Africa, and accommodating diversity in Europe. The collection also includes essays commenting on the parameters and intersections of international human rights in relation to area studies.

Edward H. Lawson, Mary Lou Bertucci, Laurie S. Wiseberg define the concept of human rights in all its diversity: the rights of individuals, peoples and nations; the rights to employment, education, culture and personal development; rights to a peaceful existence and to a clean, healthy environment; rights in the workplace; rights of special groups, such as the handicapped and the homeless; rights in war; and rights on land, sea and air. It also defines basic human needs, the right to assembly, and the right to cultural enjoyment, and analyzes legal decisions and international accords that have made these terms concrete realities. The encyclopaedia analyzes and reproduces the national and international documents and instruments which have affirmed or violated rights. It also includes landmark legal and legislative decisions in the field of human rights. There is also information on more than 130 non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, such as the UN, the OAS and the Council of Europe.; All entries in this second edition have been updated to reflect current events, including new treaties, covenants and UN reports. (Suad Joseph, Afsaneh Najmabadi)1000 scholars from around the world, the Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures crosses history, geographic borders and disciplines to create a ground-breaking reference work reflecting the very latest research on gender studies and the Islamic world. No other reference work offers this scale of contributions or depth and breadth of coverage. Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures is set to become an essential reference work for students and researchers in the fields of gender studies, Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, as well as scholars of religion, history, politics, anthropology, geography and related disciplines.(Anthony Chase, Amr Hamzawy)Why have human rights been marginalized in the Arab world? How do we gauge the relevance of human rights in the region, given the political, social, and economic context? What are the practical and theoretical obstacles to the implementation of these rights?. Human Rights in the Arab World: Independent Voices offers perspectives from those at the forefront of research on human rights and Islam, globalization, transnational advocacy, and the politics of key states such as Egypt, Morocco, and Yemen. Some chapters provide essential historical background to current political realities, while others consider ways to confront this region’s practical and theoretical challenges to human rights. By placing the question of human rights in the often tragic context of Arab politics, the very real stakes are made clear. ( Eugene Cotran, University of London. Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law, Martin Lau) The Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law is the flagship publication of the Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (CIMEL) of the school of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. It is increasingly regarded as the leading international forum for commentary on, and analysis of, emerging issues in a field of study of ever increasing global significance. There is no more useful and thorough precis of what has happened in Islamic and Middle Eastern law over the last year. With Volume 8 -and the advent of Martin Lau as co-editor with Eugene Cotran- the Yearbook begins an expansion of its purview into non-Arab Islamic countries, beginning in this volume with essays covering issues in Afghanistan and Kenya. The Yearbook will continue to be an authoritative source of insightful commentary and scholarship on relevant developments wherever the influence of Islamic law is felt.(Fons Coomans, Menno T. Kamminga)Be as it is the result of the war on terrorism, foreign military intervention, economic globalisation or otherwise, state conduct increasingly affects the human rights of individuals beyond its own borders. This book provides a comprehensive answer to the question whether existing human rights treaties are applicable in such circumstances. The principal treaties on civil and political rights require states to guarantee certain human rights to persons within their jurisdiction. What is the meaning of these terms? Are states able to evade the application of these treaties by detaining their opponents on foreign soil rather than within their own borders? Does it make a difference to the applicability of these treaties, whether a victim of an extraterritorial assassination by state agents, was a detainee, who had not been arrested? By contrast, treaties on economic, social and cultural rights tend to specifically to provide that states must strive for the full realisation of these rights(Sheila Carapico).Sheila Carapico’s book on civic participation in modern Yemen makes a pathbreaking contribution to the study of political culture in Arabia. The author traces the complexities of Yemen’s history over the last fifty years, considering its response to the colonial encounter and to years of civil unrest. Challenging the stereotypical view of conservative Arab Muslim society, she demonstrates how the country is actively seeking to develop the political, economic and social structures of the modern democratic state. This is an important book which promises to become the definitive statement on twentieth-century Yemen.

Yemen is a very poor country; the Government’s human rights record continues to be poor. The Constitution limits freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government frequently harassed, intimidated, and detained journalists. Journalists practice self-censorship. The Government at times limits freedom of assembly. The Government imposes some restrictions on freedom of religion. There were some limits on freedom of movement. Violence and discrimination against women are problems. Female genital mutilation is practiced on a limited scale, primarily along the coastal areas of the Red Sea. Although the practice is discouraged publicly, the authorities do not prohibit it. Discrimination against the disabled and racial and ethnic minorities, and to a lesser extent, religious minorities, is a problem. The Government influences labor unions. Child labor is a problem.
However, the Government continued to take some steps to address human rights problems. These steps included holding of the country’s first direct presidential election, implementing limited political and legal reforms, displaying official receptiveness to and support for donor-funded democracy and human rights programs, and convicting three security officials for human rights abuses. In June the Government hosted the first Emerging Democracies Forum, a major international conference of 16 democratizing countries.
At the invitation of the authorities, delegations from the U.N. Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) and Amnesty International (AI) visited Yemen in 1998 to observe the human rights situation and make recommendations. One NGO, Penal Reform International (PRI), conducted a series of prison reform-related events from September 1998 to February. The Government continued to implement a comprehensive, long-term program for judicial reform.

If the woman in previous eras was deprived of simplest rights guaranteed for her by religion and then the constitution and laws, her participation in politics would be then a kind of imagination, perhaps the woman herself did not imagine that time would come when she would go to the polling box that would take her to the parliament or there would be political pluralism and the woman would be part of that pluralism or becomes a member of the government. Despite of the coercive circumstances the woman, especially those who were under the circumstances of the British colonization, had taken part in resisting colonialism by taking part in demonstrations condemning the occupation and the demand for independence to taking arms and fighting.
The permanent constitution in the former North Yemen of 1970 stipulated in its articles 22 and 34 that the women have equal rights and duties and those women rights are guaranteed according to the Islamic law. The constitution issued in 1978 in the former southern Yemen stipulated in its article 26 that the state guarantees equal rights for men and women in fields of political, economic, social and cultural life and provides the conditions and circumstances that enable the woman to practice her right. At the people’s council and the central committee of the Yemeni Socialist Party her participation in the north was late until the foundation of the General People’s Congress in 1982 that included one woman and then rose to 6 members in 1993. Till 1982 there was a dispute in the north about nomination of the woman to the Shoura Council and then the situation settled in that she would be allowed for voting but not candidacy. Among the changes effected after the unity is he political pluralism which led to the declaration of tens of political parties that used to work underground and began to have headquarters and press expressing the visions and orientations of each party. Woman participation in began strongly in the political and partisan affiliation and requests offered for parties declaration included names of many women. The woman has ascended the scale of party positions or political organization till they managed to attain central committees and general secretariat. As for her participation in the parliament and local councils as voter and candidate he following statistics explain that 41 party member and independent women have nominated themselves in elections of 1993, but only two of them had won for the YSP against 229 in order to be 301, the number of seats of the parliament. In the elections of 1997 woman voters were 501591 and 35 women nominated themselves but one candidate woman from the GPC win a seat in the parliament. In the 2003 parliamentary elections the number of woman voters exceeded three millions and only 11 women have nominated themselves for the parliamentary seats and only one candidate from the ruling party has won a seat in an apparent retreat of the woman position in the parliament and political parties abandoning of supporting her in the political process. The low proportion of the woman nominees compared to the previous proportion in the two former parliaments ushers a retreat resulting from the civil society’s incapacity in scoring progress in favour of women. Although the government has announced it would offer great concessions for woman nominees but it did not do that and presented a number of candidates much less than expected from the ruling party, was the support for one woman candidate in Aden. This low proportion in woman nomination for parliament reflects the state of irresolution by a group of political and intellectual and social elements that are still hindering the qualitative change in the political life and also could be attributed to failure of civil society organisations, despite the numerous workshops and symposiums for upgrading the woman’s social status and facilitation of her attaining the parliamentary membership. Woman circles blame the government in the first place and the political parties and civil society organizations in the second place that they have not reacted and interacted with the issue of the woman and her right to obtaining parliament membership. Despite of that some circles at the GPC ruling party say the government has compensated the woman in the membership at the Shoura Council and the cabinet as it previously did. But woman circles say he proportion of her appointment at the two councils has been symbolic and for political propaganda. The government had, during the past period, appointed a state minister for human rights, three women as assistant undersecretary, six women as advisors at various ministries, one woman advisor at the premiership, promotion of 95 women to a director general degree and appointment of one woman as ambassador and then appointing her as minister of human rights. Nonetheless women circles believe that the increased number of women registered at elections records is a beginning of forming a new political awareness and that the woman is gaining some liberation and dependence on herself instead of relying on the political parties. Dr Raufa Hassan, in charge of Planning and Cultural Development Establishment thinks that during the past 12 years all of the political parties have not established internal democratic behaviour and have overlooked women rights although their numbers in membership of those parties are large. Political analysts and circles affirm that the Yemeni woman is the victim of prevalent social and cultural traditions that still deal with the woman as mainly a housewife even if she were member of political parties and organisations. They think it is too early for the woman to get support and assistance to reach a parliamentary seat. The issue of the woman and the minimal proportion of her participation in latest parliamentary elections as candidate has taken a large space of discussion that has drawn attention to the obstacles that are still blocking her nomination to the parliament and failure of civil society organisations in overcoming them despite that the constitutional and legal legislation fully grant the Yemeni woman her political rights.
Since the united Yemen has considered development a major goal after realization of unity and democracy, woman has been given a special attention and interest because she is an essential partner in the development process and without her the country could not develop and advance. In order to be an active partner the woman should imperatively be qualified and trained and capable. And as education is the essence of qualification the education law was made compulsory and free of charge at the primary stage. Statistics demonstrate the rise in number of females joining primary education since the establishment of the unity. The figure jumped from 520640 in 1990 to 806286 in 1995 and the figure for both females and males joining primary education jumped in 2003 to around 4 million students. Regarding secondary stage education the number of female students rose from 17760 in 1990 to 56952 in 1995 and the number of students of both sexes joining both primary and secondary stages rose in 2002 to about 4.5 million. Concerning university education female student’s number was 7112 in 1990 to be 15714 in 1995 and to rise to 41164 in 2003. Yemeni woman education was not confined to mere academic education but also technical and vocational education including industrial, agricultural, trade, health and administrative education. The number of girl students of higher studies also rose. Nevertheless and although the figures explain woman’s progress in her pursuit for and keeping pace with sciences, the proportion of illiteracy among females is still higher than rates of her counterparts in the Arab world. Those concerned with this matter see that the causes can be attributed to certain factors like social habits and traditions and concepts hindering the movement of progress, including the prevention of woman from education, economic, social and living circumstances that make families to dispense with females education to benefit from them in household work and agriculture, early marriages, the wrong concept harbored by some families especially in the countryside that would benefit more from educating males while the female would get married and serve benefit to others, scarcity in number female teachers in the countryside, very little or nonexistence of schools for girls in the country side. The high percentage of illiteracy among females could not be considered the only problem but the other one is that many females quit education for economic circumstances of families, early marriages and the cultural level of families.
Importance of female education can be measured through statistical data that show women participation in teaching profession. See table below Female teachers percentage rose from 15% in 94/95 to18% in 97/98.It can be noticed that female teachers percentage in secondary schools (22%) is higher than it is in basic schools (17%).

The problem of the woman with regard to work goes back to old times but her work was usually restricted to traditional work like agriculture, raising livestock and handicraft such as spinning and weaving. The Yemeni woman did not take part in the present concept of work but during the fifties in Aden during the period of British colonization and in the north after the September 26 revolution. After the unity females’ contributions to work increased and according to the 1988 census woman workers were 65156 in 1988, 680936 in 1994 and in 2003 the figure jumped to 790678 with the increase of job opportunities for women. Despite that we can see that the proportion is still unbalanced in number. The reasons are ascribed to the low number of educated women and consequently a drop in number of job opportunities open for them in addition to traditions that still believe that woman work indicates poverty of the family and that it cannot afford spending on her besides the responsibilities of woman at home and raising children that impede her work outside the house. A high proportion of women work in the countryside and the city at home and their work is deemed among unpaid jobs. And though women in the countryside work in agriculture and handicraft but their financial return goes to the man. Among the negative remarks about woman work is that she is not allowed to assume employment statuses of the first and the second place that are considered as decision-making positions at any governmental institutions. A study by the National Committee for Woman held for discovering the woman status in eight ministries it has been ascertained that it was in rare cases to find women occupying the position of director general owing to the years spent in the job, though in practice she exercises duties of that employment degree. The worst is that it could found that some women work under responsibility of a man whose official degree is lower than hers and having less proficiency.

According to article number 6 of the Yemeni Constitution, Yemen commits to the universal human rights declaration, the two international conventions on rights and all ratified treaties and agreements. The respect of human rights and defending them is a basic rule in the Yemeni society. Both men and women have rights exercised through the constitution and applied laws discussed in details in the fourth report on the level of implementation of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. That report discussed the articulated articles in the constitution and laws with regard to article 6. For example, just as the man has an independent financial liability the woman does too and so can exercise civil rights like signing, selling, buying and renting contracts, grants and wills and all partnership contracts with others. She also has the right to run her own property and supervise it.

There are some women in Yemen now working in commerce and are considered businesswomen. The number of businesswomen registered with the chamber of commerce is 60 women in Sana’a, 200 in Aden and 20 in Taiz. An office for businesswomen was established in 2005 in coordination with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce at the Chamber of Commerce and run by women. This office in coordination with the Ministry executed a number of seminars, courses and workshops on accounting systems, management and operating businesses, and how to develop the capital, modern management and visions for businesswomen. It also targeted the obstacles facing businesswomen in Yemen and the role of commerce chambers in endorsing gender equality, in addition to holding discussions on Yemen’s joining the World Trade Organization.

In the Judiciary System, the Constitution treats women equally to men. Females have the right to seeking justice through courts and demanding their constitutional rights in case violated. She has the right to defend herself in all investigation stages and in front of all courts directly or through a representative or a lawyer. Women can stand before the law as an accuser or a defendant. The state ensures legal aid to those who cannot afford it being men or women, and so women have the right to benefit from legal rights. She has the right to testimony before the persecution and justice system. In fact, in some cases women’s testimony is prioritized to men’s when it is about personal female issues. Women get compensation for the damages inflicted on her or her money by others as the laws conditions compensation to anyone who has been harmed whether he is a man or a woman. The applied laws relating to women’s admission in the legal system do not prevent women from joining this field. There are many women who have joined the justice system and as lawyers since the early seventies of last century without suffering from any obstacles culturally or legally. And now after the unity four females have been admitted. According to the latest judiciary statistics, there are 32 women working in the general attorney and as judges compared to 1500 male judges. And for the first time in Yemen a female judge has been appointed in the Supreme Court of the Republic.

In the legal defense field, there are many female lawyers with offices run by them or in mixed offices practicing law. There are female lawyers under training. Female lawyers defend their clients before the law equally to male lawyers.

The Yemeni Constitution gave the right to accommodation to all citizens and the right to movement for men or women. The applied laws detailed the regulation of this aspect and with regards to women living with their families in the Yemeni society, a woman lives with her father being the first guardian and when married she moves to live with her husband. There are cases of women living alone or in a shared accommodation when there are away from their homes either for education or work. Also many women travel outside the country either for education, work, medical treatment or attending conferences and international events and they represent Yemen in international occasions. 15.6 It is known that the judiciary system in Yemen is the individualistic system and so the judiciary power with its three levels: primary, appeal and supreme is responsible for monitoring the implementation of this article.
Strong family ties create a congruous society. The Yemeni society, like other Islamic and Arab Societies maintain the harmony of the community. A family in the society is made up of a Husband and a wife as pillars of the family in addition to the children. The legislation’s and laws of the Republic of Yemen pay great attention to this aspect. This is clearly evident through Yemen’s ratification of international treaties and conventions. Article (16) of the Human Rights Declaration, and article (10) of the international convention on economic, social and cultural rights and articles (23 & 24) of the international convention on civil and political rights, as well as articles (1, 2 &3) of the marriage agreement and minimum age for marriage all conquer with this article of the CEDAW. The Yemeni Constitution and relevant active laws contain constitutional and legal texts that regulate family and marital relations and obligated spouses to rights and duties. The legislation steam from the Islamic jurisprudence which entitles the freedom to choose a husband and his duties towards his wife. It also states property possession, alimony, custody of children, adulthood and marriage ages, marriage registration, dowry among other issues related to marriage. These issues were detailed along with the related constitutional and legal laws in the fourth national report on implementation of the CEDAW in 1999. The form and style of the family in Yemen is based on marriage. Article (6) of the Personal Status Law No.(20) for year 1992, defines marriage as “a commitment between spouses via a legal contract through which a man enjoys his woman lawfully. It is also a mechanism for ensuring fidelity and creating a family based on compassionate treatment”. The Personal Status Law is one of the important laws on which the texts of article (16) of this convention apply to. The Personal Status Law was issued through a Republican Decree No. (20) For year 1992. It was amended through Laws Nos. (24, 27 & 34) for years (98, 99 and 2003) respectively. Despite these amendments, the Personal Status Law still contains many articles which require changing. In year 2001, WNC formed a legal team to study this law. The team concluded the need to amend some articles. This issue was forwarded to the Parliament in 2003, where the law was discussed and an agreement to amend article (47) of the family and marriage law was reached. The amended article has become as follows: “Each of the spouses has the right to annul the marriage if the other has a repelling flaw whether this flaw was present prior to the marriage or happens after the couple gets married. A flaw common to the spouses is madness, leprosy, and…, while flaws restricted to the husband are …, and tuberculosis. The right to annul the marriage is forgone if an outspoken or implied acceptance is made, except in infectious or chronic diseases which could not be treated where the choice to continue in the marriage or forsake it could be made repeatedly provided the case of flaw is proved through medical records.”
In year 2004 WNC formed another legal team to review laws concerned with women, of which was the Personal Status Law. The team recommended the need to change articles (7, 8, 11, 12,13,14,15 & 139). In addition to including three more texts. All the recommendations are detailed in the following table:

Women face significant restrictions on their role in society. The law, social custom, and Shar’ia discriminates against women. Men are permitted to take as many as four wives, although very few do so. By law the minimum age of marriage is 15. However, the law largely is not enforced, and some girls marry as early as age 12. In 1998 some conservative Members of Parliament attempted to eliminate the “minimum age” requirement on the grounds that parents should decide when their daughters are old enough to marry. Their draft law failed by a large majority. A 1998 draft law to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 also failed by a large majority. The law stipulates that the wife’s “consent” is required; “consent” is defined as “silence” for previously unwed women and “pronouncement of consent” for divorced women. The husband and the wife’s “guardian” (usually her father) sign the marriage contract; in Aden and some outlying govern orates, the wife also signs. The practice of bride price payments is widespread, despite efforts to limit the size of such payments.
The law stipulates that the wife must obey the husband. She must live with him at the place stipulated in the contract, consummate the marriage, and not leave the home without his consent. Husbands may divorce wives without justifying their action in court. Women have the legal right to divorce; however, they must provide a justification such as nonsupport, impotence, or taking a second wife without her consent. Following a divorce, the family home and older children often are awarded to the husband. The divorced woman usually returns to her father’s home, or to the home of another male relative. Her former husband must continue to support her for another 3 months, since she cannot remarry until she proves that she is not pregnant.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of this study are:-
*To explore the various views of human rights and comparing them to get an objective view of the human rights
*Explain the reason why the human rights are not guaranteed in actual life despite the signing of a number of international treaties
*Try to account for the incompatibility of universal human right and the patriarchal system prevailing in Yemen
*To locate the areas where the women are deprived of their rights in Yemen
*To suggest some ways to ensure human right in socio, economic and political system of Yemen

HYPOTHESES
1. There is a basic contradiction in the perception of the universal human rights promoters and the Yemeni society over the actual human rights and its applicability
2. The Yemeni social system based on patriarchy and Islamic Sharia is not compatible with the human rights embodied in various conventions in the UN
3. Despite signing a number of human rights conventions there is no much change in the treatment of women in Yemen and they are socially politically and economically disadvantaged

RESEARCH METHODS
This study will try to establish the argument that there could not be any improvement in human rights status until and unless there is a consensus over the human rights between the one expounded by the international community as embodied in the UN charters and the one held by the Yemeni society. For this purpose a thorough study of the conventions and agreement of the international bodies and the achievement made on the ground in Yemen would be made. The study would compare the traditional practices and the demands made by the UN and other bodies. The study would explore the various complicated structure of the patriarchal society of Yemen and the impact of Islamic ideology on the implementation of the universal human rights. This research will be based on the historical analytical approach. There will be an analysis of the developments that took place in the country over a period of roughly four decades. The proposed research will be based on available primary sources in English and largely on secondary sources. Primary sources will be the reports published by various organisations regarding the human rights by the UN and other international bodies and studies on Yemen. Secondary data will include books, articles published in edited volumes, research journals and news papers. Internet sources will also be used wherever necessary. The use of Email correspondence with scholars will also be a part of this research. For the search of these materials, libraries in New Delhi like JNU, IDSA and others will be used.
TENTATIVE CHAPTERS
The proposed study will have six chapters including the introduction and the conclusion.
Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter will deal with the basic conceptual background of the study. The approaches regarding the situation of women will be discussed in brief.
Chapter 2: Human Rights Regime: the Question of Universality
This chapter will focus on the debate taking into account both the views of universality of the human rights embodied in the international bodies and the views expounded by the third world traditionalist in general and the Muslim intellectuals in particular.
Chapter 3: Human Rights Violation against Women in Yemeni Economic Social and Cultural System
This chapter will look into the various cases were women are deprived of their social rights. This included their role in family restrictions in marriage and the role of women in society.
Chapter 4: Human Rights Violation against Women in Yemeni Civil and Political System
This chapter will identify the forces which have been historically stalling the participation of Yemeni women in civil and political life.
Chapter 5: Reforms and the Issue of Implementation
This chapter will examine various laws that the government has implemented and universal conventions that the government has signed. This chapter would also look into the major reasons that have prevented the government implementing the same.
Chapter 6: Conclusion
This chapter will test the hypotheses and highlight the main findings of the study.
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Introduction

The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) occupies a key position both at the regional as well as international levels. The country has attracted much attention for its opposition to the Western design in the area. The Western world, especially the US, has opposed and tried to change the regime in Iran ever since the Islamic Revolution. One of the major areas of attack by the Western powers has been the Human Rights issue. There are fundamental differences between the Human Rights that are universally accepted, as reflected in Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); (Human Rights, according to the UDHR, are those basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled including civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law; and economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to participate in culture, the right to be treated with respect and dignity, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education.) and those which the IRI endorses as Human Rights. This makes the issue more complicated and requires a discussion on a whole range of issues including culture, the nature of the state, and the type of regime, etc. There is a debate in the academic circle regarding the universality of Human Rights. The proponents of the Islamic society are still putting a stiff resistance to the universal applicability of Human Rights and justify their practices on the ground that the Human Rights that the West advocates is an extension of the Western culture and is a weapon to make inroads into the cultural sphere of the traditional/non-Western societies.

The constitution of the IRI guarantees a wide range of Human Rights and fundamental freedom. It contains a comprehensive chapter on the rights of the people encompassing civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights: right to non-discrimination (art. 19), equality before the law (art. 20), women’s rights (art. 21), the right to human dignity (art. 22), freedom of belief (art. 23), freedom of the press (art. 24).Iran is also a signatory to many international treaties and conventions dealing with Human Rights these include, the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (ratified on 13 July 1994), and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (No. 182) 1999 (ratified in May 2002); the IRI has, in fact, ratified 13 international labour conventions. These are in addition to a number of other treaties and conventions which Iran has signed during the Shah regime dealing with the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 1948 (ratified on 14 August 1956), the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 1965 (ratified on 29 August 1968), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966 (both ratified on 24 June 1975).However, in practice there are a number of impediments to the full protection of Human Rights.

Human Rights violations pertain to those rights which are enshrined in the Iranian Constitution and those which are not. A close look at the Human Rights violations in the country reveals that there are violations which are common in other countries and those which arise due to the lack of enforcement of the laws which are constitutionally sanctioned as well as those which are internationally recognised.

The IRI presently is much better than the pre-Revolutionary Iran in many respects. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Report 2007, Millennium Development Goals 2005 and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report 2009, Iran has made progress in many fields like education, health, women’s rights, etc. Primary school net enrolment has steadily increased, from 50 per cent in 1979 to 94 per cent in 2007. In the field of health, the expansion of health facilities, particularly primary health care, has led to a significant improvement in life expectancy from 55 years average for male and female in 1970 to 71 years average for male and female in 2008. Child mortality under 5 also decreased from 281 per 1,000 births in 1960 to 36 per 1,000 births in 2007. Similarly, maternal death fell from 54 per 100,000 in 1960 to 37 per 100,000 in 2007. The proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel now accounts for about 97.3 per cent. Women’s literacy rate has also gone up from 36 percent in 1976 to 80 per cent in 2005, with university female enrolment accounting for a remarkable 63 percent. Almost, more than half of the university students in Iran are women. Further, more than a third of the doctors, 60 percent of civil servants and 80 percent of all teachers in Iran are women. At the time of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, 90 percent of rural women were illiterate whereas in 2007 percentage of illiterate rural women has decreased to 45 percent. The fertility rate between 1976 and 2009 declined from 8.1 births per woman to 1.71 births per woman. Iran has also adopted a bill on women’s rights in divorce in December 2002.

On the negative side, one witnesses an increase in Human Rights violations targeting women, university students, teachers, workers and other activist groups. The independent media has also experienced stringent restrictions with numerous publications suspended. According to the Amnesty International Report (2008) and Human Rights Watch Report (2008), the IRI had poor Human Rights record in many areas. The authorities continued to suppress dissent. Journalists, writers, scholars and women’s rights and political activists were subject to arbitrary arrest, travel bans and closure of their NGOs and harassment. Discrimination against women remained entrenched in law and practice. Torture and other forms of ill-treatment were widespread in prisons and detention centres. Security clampdown, sharp rise in executions along with juvenile executions, sentences of stoning to death, amputation and flogging continued to be passed and carried out.

There are five categories of crimes to which diverse punishments can be applied: hudud, qisas, diyah, ta’zir and uqubath viqaiyya. All these punishments are retained in the Iranian Penal Code. Persecutions of ethnic and linguistic minorities; Kurds issue, Arabs in Kurdistan, Armenian Christian, Military Intelligence in Border area, Zoroastrians, Turkmen, Bahia’s issue, deaths in custody, extrajudicial killing, torture and mistreatment of prisoners are other areas of concern for Human Rights advocate and activists.

International Organisations have made many suggestions regarding improvement in the Human Rights situation which have not been accepted by Iran. The IRI has also rejected many talks and postponed many meetings that have been organised by the UN for the promotion of Human Rights. The Iranian government, for instance, has not allowed the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteurs to enter Iran and investigate violations of human rights alleged by activists, the media, and independent sources since 2005.

Despite the ratification and acceptance of some treaties and conventions by the IRI in theory, there is some overarching apparatus of control. All international treaties and conventions are subject to the Islamic law and they should be compatible with the nature of the IRI and its revolutionary spirit. All types of punishments are based on Sharia’h Law which are not only quite different but also against the laws enshrined in the UDHR.  This has led to the poor performance of the country in ensuring the Human Rights and also complying with relevant international treaties and conventions.

Review of the Literature

There are a number of issues that arise in the discussion of Human Rights in Iran and the challenges that the Human Rights regime faces. Those include the question of freedom of expression, treatment of women, incompatibility of Islam with Human Rights, the official religion of Iran, the Islamic code of punishment, etc. There are many works pertaining to all these issues which include those sympathise with the Iranian system and those reject outright the cleric regime.

The overall Human Rights situation in the IRI is considered by many to be bleak. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2008 Democracy Index ranks the IRI 145 out of 167 countries, listing it among 49 countries considered to be “authoritarian”. The country is frequently accused of holding flawed and rigged elections, of which the most notable example is the disputed presidential election of June 2009. Those critical of the government are often subjected to a whole range of harassment/punishment. Western governments and international Human Rights organisations consider the violation of Human Rights in the IRI to be both systematic and systemic in nature.

It is clear that there is no unanimity on the current Human Rights situation in Iran. There are different views on the issues at hand and all have their own perspectives and explanations. However, before discussing major Human Rights issues it would be relevant to locate those in the political system of Iran. Schirazi (1997) has mentioned the mechanism through which the current Human Rights regime is framed in Iran. He argues that it is through the ideologues of Velayat-e Faqih, the ongoing suppression of fundamental rights in the Islamic Republic is legitimised. He brings to light the paradox inherent in the Islamic legitimation of repressive measures against fundamental rights as it emphasises such principles as individuality, self reliance, equality, the freedom of individual in their mutual relations and the rejections of the dominance of one human being over another. The author draws our attention to the logic and the rationale that rules the Human Rights regime in the country. From an entirely different point of view, Monshipouri (1998) provides an account of the constitutional basis of the Human Rights in Iran. Citing Iranian reformists like Ibrahim Yazdi, Monshipouri shows how the Iranian constitution is abundantly clear about establishing a popular democratic government.

For a realistic understanding of the issue, It is necessary to look into the issue of the compatibility of the universal Human Rights and Islam. Mehrpour (1996-97) compares the Human Rights as they have appeared in major international documents and those guaranteed and upheld by Iran. Mehrpour’s discussion revolves around matters of contention between the Islamic viewpoint and that of international authorities.

The question of democracy is one of the important areas as it covers much of the debate on Human Rights. Benjamin and Evans (2005) deal with Islam and democracy. They argue that the common needs of humanity to democracy and Human Rights are universal and, therefore, say Muslims should not be misled by the claim that Islam is incompatible with democracy and must choose between accepting democracy or the tradition of our ancestors. They also argue that large and powerful countries should not attack the weaker ones on the pretext of bringing democracy and Human Rights. Benjamin and Evans assert: “You cannot export democracy with weapons. You cannot pour Human Rights on people’s heads with cluster bombs, military attacks, even with good intentions, do not create democracy. They only harm democracy as society degenerates into violence.”

Freedom of expression is a major concern for Human Rights advocates and activists. Farhi (2001) discusses the role of the reforming press in Iran. She argues that the nature of the reformist press was improvisational but that it has had a lasting impact on the political culture in Iran. The view she expresses belies many of the charges that the Western propaganda has levelled against the Islamic Republic. Another contentious issue is the treatment of women. Ebadi (2006) deals with the question of women and brings out the contradictions between the universally accepted Human Rights and those prevalent in Iran based on Islam. She highlights the subordinate position accorded to woman in the country based on the Islamic Sharia’h and calls for the new interpretation of the Islamic law which is in harmony with vital Human Rights values such as democracy, equality before the law, religious freedom, and freedom of speech. Razavi (2006) argues that “Islam is incompatible with Human Rights and gender equality”. While underlining the various interpretations of Islam, the author draws our attention to the modernist and reformist currents which often seek to embrace both Human Rights and gender equality.

Another area that has been under continuous Western criticism is the Islamic code of punishment in Iran. Marshall (2005) calls for modification in the Islamic code of punishment. He claims that the laws introduced by Prophet Muhammad were intended to limit and restrict harsh, violent pre-Islamic penalties. Marshall argues that Muslims can continue Mohammad’s undertaking by introducing necessary reforms. The conditions of modern society, he further asserts, requires a major paradigm shift in the Islamic laws.

For the current study, knowledge of the arguments and counter arguments, made by both those who are striving for the implementation of the universal Human Rights worldwide and those who are resisting the same by warning that it will end up in the cultural erosion, is important. Reza Afshari (1996) discusses how the political elite in Iran have evaded the question of Human Rights using the cultural relativism argument as a pretext. This is a very useful documentation of the major arguments advanced by the pro-regime intellectuals in the IRI.  Reza Afshari gives a clear picture of the discourse that has taken place between those who are advocating universal Human Rights values and those strongly defend the religious tenets and resist any kind of penetration of the Western values. The argument is that the current values regarded as the universal Human Rights are part of the Western culture and hence not universal. The attempt to impose them is part of a hidden agenda of cultural imperialism.

Hunter and Malik (2005) raise some fundamental questions pertaining to the current discourse on the Islamic law and Human Rights. They call for a reassessment of the basis of the law and to “creatively engage and generate” new positive laws that affirm the moral principles. Hollow arguments like “there is no incompatibility between the Islamic law and the Human Rights because we have Maslahah (public interest)” are called into question. The intellectual vacuum that the Muslim society on the whole is suffering from is highlighted and a call is given to think of things like “the rights of God versus the rights of people”.

Risse and Sikkink (1999) discuss the UDHR adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December, 1948. At the time, the delegates have aired their apprehensions regarding its implementation as the Declaration was not a binding treaty, but rather a statement of principles. However, as Eleanor Roosevelt hoped, the Declaration helped to “set up a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations” and “might well become an international Magna Carta of all mankind”.

Plantilla and Raj SJ (1997) argue that rights and duties have to be seen together. Isolating one from the other would create problem. It is also important to consider the common good when the individual claims are made. Because when there is a clash between the common good and the individual’s interest the former would be given preference over the later.  In the Islamic view, Human Rights are universally true, and the difference is only in the implementation of these rights. The Western challenge has compelled the Islamic societies to rediscover their own tradition in new ways. While justifying the validity of the Human Rights in their own faith, Muslims nonetheless affirm the universality of Human Rights. In addition “a number of Muslims have been stirred to action by the lack of protection for fundamental Human Rights, in their own societies as well as in the rest of world”.

Why this Study?

The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran was a watershed in the history of the country and the region. The Revolution led to the reconsideration of all issues and reordering of priorities for the Iranian people at every level-society, polity, economy, culture and foreign policy. Indeed, it had an entirely different philosophy of human life. Guided by Islam, the leaders of post-revolutionary Iran propagated and prescribed a new concept of human life, values, duties and rights. The Islamic perspective largely, if not entirely, went against the Western-oriented lifestyle that the Iranian people have been used to during the pro-US Shah regime. The new orientation of the Islamic republic resulted in a conflictual relation with rest of the world on many issues. Human rights, which are closely linked to the idea of democracy, are one such critical issue. Over the years, the Human Rights situation in Iran has become quite a debatable/controversial one. The Saudi and Egyptian led Arab world as well as the West, and the international Human Rights bodies continually accuse the Islamic Republic of committing gross human rights violations.   Iran, on the contrary, defends its Human Rights records and argues that the issue is being raised from time to time by the West out of sheer political motivations. The Islamic Republic further asserts that the restoration and protection of Human Rights could be possible only through the establishment of a nation on the basis of religious teachings. Thus there are two diametrically opposite viewpoints regarding the Human Rights conditions in post-Revolutionary Iran. The present study attempts to investigate and find out what is the real Human Rights situation in Iran since the Islamic Revolution.

Scope of Study

This is a macro level study and would be focusing on the Human Rights issues and challenges in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in general. This study would be covering 30 years starting from 1979, the year of Revolution and ending with 2009. This period is fair enough to make an assessment of the Human Rights situation in Iran. This study would not cover individual Human Rights violations cases but would be trying to trace those aspects which are running through all the major cases. An attempt will also be made to identify the various Human Rights provisions in the Iranian constitution and compare those with the UDHR. Efforts will be made to critically examine the thrust of criticism leveled against Iran and its response to the same. The study will also make an assessment of the overall Human Rights situation in Iran that would include the achievements and failures of the Islamic Republic. The period covered is from 1979 to 2009. The shift that took place in the country following the change in the regime in the country in this regard would also be dealt with as it sheds light on the possibilities and limitations of reforms in the sphere of Human Rights.

Objectives of Study

*To make a comparison between the Human Rights provisions in the Iranian constitution and the UDHR.

* To investigate the various types of Human Rights violations as well as observance.

* To explore the role of International Organisations in promoting the Human Rights in Iran.

*To examine the charges leveled against the Islamic Republic for the alleged violations of Human Rights and Iran’s response to those.

* To explore the various sources of challenge within Iran with regard to the Human Rights issue.

Hypotheses

1. There is a basic contradiction in the perception of the universal Human Rights and the Islamic Republic of Iran over the concept of Human Rights and its applicability.
2. The criticism against the Islamic Republic of Iran is mostly guided by political consideration.
3. The Human Rights situation in Iran is neither as bad as the Arab and Western countries allege nor as good as the Islamic Republic claims.

Research Methods

The study will be analytical and descriptive. There will be an analysis of the developments that took place in the country over a period of roughly three decades with regard to Human Rights.  The proposed research will be based on available primary sources in English and largely on secondary sources. Primary sources like the reports published by the UN and other international bodies, on the one hand, and those by the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the other, will be used. Secondary sources will include books, articles published in edited volumes, research journals and news papers. Internet sources will also be used wherever necessary. For collection of materials, libraries in New Delhi like the JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central Library, West Asia Department Library, and Third World Studies Library), the IDSA and others will be used.

Tentative Chapters

The proposed study will have five chapters including the introduction and the conclusion.

Chapter I: Introduction

This chapter will deal with the concept of Human Rights and its evolution. An attempt will be made to explore the debate over universality versus cultural relativism with regard to Human Rights.

Chapter II: The Islamic Republic Iran and Human Rights

This chapter will critically examine the constitutional provisions and the governing structure in the Islamic Republic of Iran with regard to Human Rights. It will also discuss the various international Human Rights instruments and /treaties which Iran has signed.

Chapter III: The Criticism against Iran and its Response

The basic thrust of this chapter will be to analyse the main bases and motivations of the criticism with regard to Human Rights violations and the response of the Iranian Government. This chapter, in particular, will emphasise the criticism by US, European Countries and Arab States.

Chapter IV: An assessment of the Human Rights Situation

This chapter will scrutinise the prevailing realities in Iran with regard to Human Rights and the challenges, both internal and external to the Islamic Republic in this regard.

Chapter V:  Conclusion

This chapter will test the hypotheses and highlight the main findings of the study.

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Iranian political system has attracted a number of analysts due to its important role in the regional politics of the West Asia and as well as the major challenger of the US policies in the Gulf. The role of the office of the president is important as the president occupies the highest elected position in the country. When we are making a critical assessment of the presidency we have to take into consideration a number of factors to get a clear picture. In order to assess the scope and limitations of the president we have to look into the whole political structure and how the entire system is bound by the principles of the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Ever since the epoch making event and the subsequent emergence of the radicals into the power the president of Iran is seen as the representative of the radical Iran.

We have to see the limitations as well as the powers vested on the president in Iran. For this purpose a glance to the process of the election of the president would be in place. All citizens of Iran are not potential presidential candidates as the constitution has led down a number of conditions for the post of the president including;

• Iranian origin;
• Iranian nationality;
• administrative capacity and resourcefulness;
• a good past record;
• trustworthiness and piety
• Convinced belief in the fundamental principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the official madhhab of the country, and
• Be a Muslim of the Twelver Shia sect.

we can realize that these conditions are more complicated and difficult to met when we come to know that despite the nomination of nearly 100 people only 7 were qualified to run for the election. This is in addition to other conditions like the approval of the candidature by the Supreme Leader of Iran as well as the endorsement of the Council of the Guardians.

It is very clear from the presidents who came into power in the country after revolution that they were all maintaining a more or less similar view point and no dissent was allowed against their view except from the Supreme leader of Council of the Guardians. Another important factor is that though there is no constitutional barring of woman from contesting to the office of the president, the Islamic nature of the nation would not approve woman presidency that amounts to the rejection of the half of the population to the office of the president. This in addition to the disqualification of other religious communities like Christian, Zoroastrians, Sunnies and all Shiite sects other than Twelver Shia. The above discussion was regarding the restriction imposed on the office of the presidency in order to retain the religious nature of the country.

Let us now go to the roles and the limitations imposed on the office of the president.   As the head of the state, the president of Iran is vested with a host of constitutionally established functions. Ever since the removal of the position of Prime Minister and conferring the prime ministerial duties to the President in 1989, the office of the president has assumed greater importance than ever before. From the instance of execution of their constitutional obligations we can see that all presidents since revolution enjoyed a reasonable amount of independence. But all the while they have to oblige the dictates of the Supreme leader and Guardian Council.  This however would not amount to the abrogation of their responsibility and accountability to the people. The amount of independence enjoyed by the office of the presidency could be understood from the changing policies of the country both domestic and foreign.  The changing foreign policy and dovish domestic policy allowing more religious and press freedom is an indicator to the independence of the president in adopting major policies.  During the time of Muhammed Khatami there were a number of reformist moves that loosened the tight religious control and allowed more freedom of press and a rapprochement policy towards the US and European countries. Khatami has also changed many of the policies of the regime without the assistance of the Supreme leader, who often announced his indifference to the changes, in sharp contrast to the current policy of confrontation of Ahmadinejad.  However the National Security Council and Supreme Leader always have an overall check on the foreign policy formulation of the president.  The president however, enjoys the right to nominate and appoint the members to the parliament, called Majlis. He has also the absolute power to fire any of the government members in case of any major differences and the sacking of some of the members by the current president is a proof to it. The president also nominates many other important officials like the secretary of National Security Council, the ambassadors and the governors of the provinces in the country.

The President formulates the foreign policy through the National Security Council and after seeking Supreme Leader’s approval. These policies are usually executed by Minister of Foreign Affairs in terms of general relationships with other nations and by Secretary General of the Security Council. The latter executes more important and critical issues such as the Nuclear Energy policies and huge economy decisions. According to the constitution, the president can be dismissed and removed from office in two ways. First, when a judge reports a criminal record for the president and in this case, the Supreme Leader has the power to remove him from office. The other is when the Majlis decides his political ineligibility and again asks the Supreme Leader to remove him from office. This law was activated when the parliament voted against Iran’s first president, Abolhassan Banisadr, and Ayatollah Khomeini removed him from office.

In conclusion we can say that the power of the office of the president almost absolute but he is accountable to the Supreme Leader as well as the people of the country and there is the possibility of both hawkish and dovish role for the president. However the office of the president could not change the nature of the country as an Islamic Republic of the Shiite version.

Unlike many other countries, in Iran the president does not have full control over foreign policy, the armed forces, or the nuclear policy of the Iranian state, which are under the control of the Supreme Leader. So we easy to understand the President work is bounded under the Supreme Leader. Supreme leader have rights to Dismissal of the President of the Republic, with due regard for the interests of the country, after the Supreme Court holds him guilty of the violation of his constitutional duties, or after a vote of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament) testifying to his incompetence on the basis of Article 89 of the Constitution. Pardoning or reducing the sentences of convicts, within the framework of Islamic criteria, on a recommendation (to that effect) from the head of the Judiciary. The Leader may delegate part of his duties and powers to another person.

The President appoints and supervises the Council of Minister , coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the legislature. Currently 10  Vice President  serve under the President, as well as a cabinet of 21 ministers, who must all be approved by the legislature. According to the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran the president is responsible for the “functions of the executive”, such as signing treaties, agreements etc. with other countries and international organizations; the national planning and budget and state employment affairs; appointing ministers, governors, and ambassadors subject to the approval of the parliament. The President nominates the members of government to the Majlis (parliament). He has the power to dismiss any of the government members. The president appoints the secretary of national security council as well as the governors of the provinces and ambassadors of the Islamic Republic to other countries. Until recently, he had the power of appointing mayors of cities.