CAIRO: Participants at the discussion "An Objective Look at the Child Law, organized by the Muslim Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc, condemned the recent amendments made to the Child Law currently being debated in the People's Assembly. "The new child law is part of a global trend of westernizing laws, particularly in the Middle East, said Manal Abou El-Hassan, member of the International Islamic Committee for Women and Children. "The amendments jeopardize the unity and protection of the Egyptian family, they blindly follow international agreements and protocols but contradict our traditions and beliefs and the reality of the situation in Egypt, she added. MPs from the Muslim Brotherhood as well as Islamic scholars and researchers attended the discussion, which was held at the Brotherhood headquarters in Manial. The majority of the attendees opposed the proposed amendments to the Child Law 12/1996 which were drafted by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM). "The new amendments will only result in the increase in crime rate among children and the disarray of the Egyptian family as it will encourage children to challenge their parents and go against their will, said MP El Sayed Askar, who is a member of the religious committee at the PA. The discussion revolved around controversial amendments pertaining to illegitimate children, the minimum age of marriage, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and raising the age of legal accountability from 15 to 18. "These are irrelevant articles that will only harm our society, said Abou El-Hassan. "How can they condemn and even criminalize a man for marrying off his daughter before she turns 18 but they don't condemn him for not finding a loaf of bread to feed her, she added. The PA has overruled the proposal by the opposition to reduce the age of legal accountability to 15. Abou El-Hassan said that giving legal accountability to a person after they turn 18 is nonsense and even the "children will object to that. "I was once conducting a research study on middle and high school boys, they didn't answer a number of my questions on the survey because it referred to them as 'boys' and not 'men,' she said. Participants also expressed their disapproval of the possibility that a parent could be sent to jail for beating their child, saying that this is the basis of a proper upbringing according to Islamic texts and the sayings of the Prophet. As for FGM, the MB agrees to limiting and regulating FGM procedures in Egypt but not criminalizing it and sentencing anyone found guilty of conducting an FGM procedure to a prison term, because it's a matter of choice that goes back to the family. Participants were also furious with the article stipulating the registration of an illegitimate child under the mother's name if the father is not present. "It will only open the doors to fornication, said Askar. Furthermore, Askar alleged that the NCCM receives foreign funding which obliges it to follow foreign laws and policies. "I have personally seen documents while we were reviewing the budgets for national councils which prove that the [NCCM] receives funding from abroad, he explained. On March 4, President Hosni Mubarak signed off the final draft of the amendments before it was sent to the PA for discussion.
