The Greek National Human Rights Commission disapproves of Muslim child marriages in Greece
von Sophia Koukoulis-Spiliotopoulos
On 5 October 2005, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution on „Forced Marriages and Child Marriages”1 declaring that they violate human rights and that, therefore, they can in no way be justified. It stressed that it is „outraged by the fact that under the cloak of respect for cultures and traditions” such marriages are tolerated, and required, inter alia, that CoE Member States fix to 18 years the minimum marriageable age; facilitate the annulment of and possibly automatically annul such marriages; regard coercive sexual relations in such marriages as rape; and consider the possibility of dealing with such marriages as an independent criminal offence.
Six months earlier, on 31 March 2005, the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR)2 had adopted a resolution on the marriages of girl-children belonging to the Muslim minority and celebrated by the Mufti.3 Representatives of the Greek League for Women’s Rights – a NGO affiliated with the Association of Women of Southern Europe (AFEM) – had brought the problem to the attention of the GNCHR in response to a report by Agence France Presse (AFP) published under the headline „In Greece girl-children are still lawfully married”. The report dealt with the marriage of an 11-year-girl to a 22-year-old man, celebrated by the Mufti of Komotini (Thrace region, Northeastern Greece). The marriage had been discovered in Germany to which the couple had migrated. A Düsseldorf court had ordered the separation of the „spouses” and placed the „bride” in a child protection institution while charges were brought against the „groom” for child seduction.
The competence of the Mufti and the application of the Sharia in family matters of the Greek Muslim minority is governed by the treaties of Athens (1913) and Lausanne (1923). It seems that marriages of girls from the age of 12 and of boys from the age of 14, as allowed by the Sharia, are common in Thrace. A Muslim member of the Greek Parliament said to the AFP that the Mufti of Komotini usually do avoid celebrating marriages of children under 15, but this had been an exceptional case, as the man had raped the girl and the (Rom) families of both were eager to save family honour (sic).
The divorce rate of Muslims is five times higher than the average divorce rate of the Greek population. The Sharia also applies to divorce granted by the Mufti with unfavourable consequences for women in particular regarding child custody. Greek courts may overturn a Mufti’s divorce decisions if they consider them contrary to public order, which includes respect for women’s and children’s rights, but in practice they seldom do overturn these decisions. Anna Karamanou, former chair of the European Parliament Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM Committee), deplored that „Greek authorities prefer to close their eyes, as the status of the Muslim minority, in majority of Turkish descent, is an explosive issue for Greek-Turkish relations”.
In its disapproval of girl-child marriages, the GNCHR underlined the following: The provisions of the Athens and Lausanne treaties relating to family matters of the Muslim minority have been amended or replaced by specific provisions of more recent human rights treaties ratified by Greece, such as the U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discriminaion against Women (CEDAW), which require the full and free personal consent of future spouses and the establishment of a minimum marriageable age that ensures the expression of such consent. Moreover, the Vienna declaration adopted unanimously at the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993, while drawing attention to the importance of historical, cultural and religious traditions, recalled the duty of UN member states to promote and protect all human rights and to eradicate any conflict between women’s rights and traditional or customary practices, cultural prejudices and religious extremism. Therefore, the GNCHR stressed, Greece must comply with these obligations toward all of its citizens and residents.
Under the Greek Civil Code (Article 1350(1)), the marriageable age in Greece is 18 for women and men (age of majority). Marriages involving minors are null and void. They may however be exceptionally permitted, on serious grounds, by judicial decision (Article 1350(2) Civ. Code). Pregnancy has traditionally been deemed to be a „serious ground” for permitting this exception but such marriages have become rare among the non-Muslim population. Although Muslim child marriages are entered into not on the basis of this exception, but rather in application of the Sharia which does allow them as a rule, these marriages provided the GNCHR the opportunity to deal with Article 1350(2) Civ. Code as well. It recommended that this provision be replaced by a transitory rule fixing the minimum age at which marriage may be exceptionally permitted to 16 years, subject to the conditions required by the current provision. The transitory provision should remain in effect for a five year period, at the expiry of which no exception for marriages of minors should be permitted, whatever their religion.
Anmerkungen
- Resolution 1468 (2005), 29th Sitting.
- The GNCHR is an independent agency established in accordance with the Paris Principles (85th Plenary Assembly of the UN General Assembly, 20 December 1993, A/RES/48/134).
- See GNCHR 2005 Report, www.nchr.gr. See also „Gazette de l’AFEM” no 36, sept-oct. 2005, www.afem-europa.org.