Hiwar 23rd April 2007 on "Removal of Confessional Specification from the Personal Record Registration"
Na-aM lil Hiwar on 23rd April bored into a sensible topic related to the sectarian society of Lebanon; Confessional specification in the personal record registration. Our guest speaker Mr. Talal El Husseini, former Adviser to the Speaker of the House, was one of the participants in formulating the Taif Accords back in 1989. Today Mr. Husseini – founding member of a CSO called Muwatinun – runs a project that aims to protect the right of the citizens to choose whether they want the confessional specification to be included in their personal record registration.
According to Mr. Husseini’s presentation, the injustice that his project is fighting against is that the religious orientation of citizens is automatically marked in the registry record without asking individuals’ approval on it. In other words, the relationship between the government and citizens is based on confessional divisions among the population. Thus the removal of the religious aspect from the personal registry would turn relationship between the citizens and the government more direct.
The proposed removal of confession would not require any law amendment because of there is a law that already considers it a legal action. The removal also would not mean abandoning one’s religion but rather drawing a line between the religion and the state affairs at the level of citizenship. According to Mr. Husseini, Priest Gregoire Haddad has already shown example by requesting the registry authorities to remove his confessional status from the personal registry.
Hiwar participants were worried about the institutions and legal procedures such as marriage, divorce and inheritance, and how the removal of confession from the personal registry would affect citizens’ rights in these cases. Another concern raised by the participants was that it would lead to a conflict between the civil and religious courts. One of the participants stated that such a removal was not needed because of the social contract, in which the Lebanese people have agreed to respect the religious plurality.
Mr. Husseini responded to the concern about the marriage, custody and divorce by emphasizing the freedom of citizen – both Muhamadeyeen and non-Muhamadeyeen – to choose whether they wanted to perform a religious or a civil marriage. By removing the confession from the personal registry, the individual would no longer be subject to the religious laws and courts, which would further strengthen civil courts and institutions. Given that inheritance is determined by family, marriage, sex, religion and sect, the proposed removal would not have an affect on it: none of the above listed determinants would not change. The already existing law guaranties a citizen a freedom to express faith or to deny personal identification with a certain religion or sect. Discrimination in the labour market based on sectarianism has been legally abolished, however, due to the strong traditional ties among religious groups, it still exists today. This issue, raised by the participants, still remains problematic and unsolved.
According to Mr. Husseini’s presentation, the injustice that his project is fighting against is that the religious orientation of citizens is automatically marked in the registry record without asking individuals’ approval on it. In other words, the relationship between the government and citizens is based on confessional divisions among the population. Thus the removal of the religious aspect from the personal registry would turn relationship between the citizens and the government more direct.
The proposed removal of confession would not require any law amendment because of there is a law that already considers it a legal action. The removal also would not mean abandoning one’s religion but rather drawing a line between the religion and the state affairs at the level of citizenship. According to Mr. Husseini, Priest Gregoire Haddad has already shown example by requesting the registry authorities to remove his confessional status from the personal registry.
Hiwar participants were worried about the institutions and legal procedures such as marriage, divorce and inheritance, and how the removal of confession from the personal registry would affect citizens’ rights in these cases. Another concern raised by the participants was that it would lead to a conflict between the civil and religious courts. One of the participants stated that such a removal was not needed because of the social contract, in which the Lebanese people have agreed to respect the religious plurality.
Mr. Husseini responded to the concern about the marriage, custody and divorce by emphasizing the freedom of citizen – both Muhamadeyeen and non-Muhamadeyeen – to choose whether they wanted to perform a religious or a civil marriage. By removing the confession from the personal registry, the individual would no longer be subject to the religious laws and courts, which would further strengthen civil courts and institutions. Given that inheritance is determined by family, marriage, sex, religion and sect, the proposed removal would not have an affect on it: none of the above listed determinants would not change. The already existing law guaranties a citizen a freedom to express faith or to deny personal identification with a certain religion or sect. Discrimination in the labour market based on sectarianism has been legally abolished, however, due to the strong traditional ties among religious groups, it still exists today. This issue, raised by the participants, still remains problematic and unsolved.
posted by Nahwa al-Muwatiniya at
3:39 PM
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