Jump to content

Zakia Hakki

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zakia Ismael Hakki
Born(1939-11-18)18 November 1939
Baghdad,Kingdom of Iraq
Died22 August 2021(2021-08-22)(aged 81)
Harrisonburg, Virginia,U.S.
NationalityKurdish,Iraqi
Occupation(s)Judge, politician
Known forFirst female judge in Iraq, advising the drafting of Iraq's constitution

Zakia Ismael Hakki(Arabic:زكية إسماعيل حقي;18 November 1939 – 22 August 2021) was an IraqiFeyli Kurdishlawyer. She andSabiha al-Shaykh Da'udbecame the first female judges in Iraq respectively in 1956–1959.[1][2]Hakki fled Iraq in 1996 after her husband was killed and was grantedasylumin the United States. She returned to Iraq in 2003 and was elected to theNational Assembly of Iraqand was an advisor in the drafting of theconstitution.

Early life and education

[edit]

Zakia Hakki was born on 18 November 1939 inBaghdad,to an establishedFeyli Kurdishfamily. She graduated from law school in 1957, one of five women in a class of 350.[3]She has a Bachelor of Science in business administration from theInternational Labor UnioninSwitzerlandand aDoctor of Lawdegree from theUniversity of Baghdad.[4]

Career

[edit]

Hakki worked in Baghdad as both a lawyer and judge. In the 1950s, she smuggled documents into the US embassy about the treatment of Kurds in Iraq.[3]She founded theKurdish Women's Federationand served as its president from 1958 to 1975.[4][5]

Haqqi advocated for the rights of Kurdish people and women. She was a founding member of theKurdish Women's Associationand became its president in 1958, a post she held till 1975.

In 1959, Hakki was appointed as a judge byAbd al-Karim Qasim,[6]becoming the first woman appointed as a judge in Iraq, and making her the first female judge in theMiddle East.[7][8][9][10]

In 1970, she became the only woman in the leadership of theKurdistan Democratic Party.[9]In 1959,Abd al-Karim Qasimappointed Haqqi to the bench.[6]She became the first woman in the Arab world to be appointed a judge.[10]

During 1970–75, she was the head ofKurdistan Democratic Party.Constant persecution fromSaddam Hussein's regime, forced her to move to theUnited Statesin 1996, where she worked as a lawyer.[6]

In 1975, she received herJuris Doctordegree fromUniversity of Baghdad's law school.[6]

Hakki was a senior official in the ministries of industry and agriculture in thepre-Saddam Husseinperiod.[11]As Hussein gained power, she joined the Kurdish cause, fighting as a guerrilla until she was arrested and tortured in 1975.[11]The regime placed her under house arrest and she fled with other KDP leaders toIran,supported by theShah.[3]She returned to Baghdad but kept a lower political profile, working in family and civil law.[3]She survived numerous assassination attempts[8]and her husband and brother were killed by Hussein's people for speaking out against the regime's policies.[12]

Hakki fled Iraq in 1996, bribing her way out of the country with a valuable carpet.[3]She receivedpolitical asylumin the United States.[13]She was a member of the Independents Liberal Politician Iraqi Women Group, speaking out about conditions for women in Hussein's Iraq.[14]

Hakki worked as an attorney in Northern Virginia and was the vice president of theIraqi-American Council.[4]She supported her son in his fight for asylum in the US after he was accused of being a double agent.[15]

Hakki returned to Iraq in 2003, seeking to put her legal expertise to work in rebuilding the country.[3]She was elected a member of the interim parliament.[16][17]She was hired by theCoalition Provisional Authority's interim Ministry of Justice to make recommendations about legal reforms to the Constitution Review Committee.[18]However, neither she nor any other woman was able to participate in the drafting process for the newconstitution,debate the constitution publicly or review it before the final draft became public.[8]

In 2004, Hakki was an outspoken opponent against the US-backedIraqi Governing Council's decision to cancel family laws and place jurisdiction undersharia,saying, "This new law will send Iraqi families back to the Middle Ages."[19][20]When Shiite Islamic parties pushed for sharia to be enshrined in the interim constitution, Hakki used her Department of Defense clearance to bring activists into theGreen Zoneand staged sit-ins in US proconsulPaul Bremer's office until he agreed to veto sharia.[21]She was an adviser to Iraq's Ministry of Justice in 2004 and 2005.[22]In 2005 she said, "I am thankful America liberated us from Saddam Hussein, but I resent how it has been dealing with Iraqis since then."[12]

Hakki won theJanuary 2005 Iraqi parliamentary electionand served on the drafting committee. The same December she was elected to theIraqi Council of Representativesand was a member of the Constitutional Review Committee.[6]

Personal life and death

[edit]

Hakki was aShia Muslim.[7]During theBa'athist rule in Iraq,Haqqi was placed underhouse arrest.The then PresidentSaddam Husseinhad her husband, brother and cousins killed.[6]Two of her sons were evacuated to Guam and held inINSdetention: Ali, a doctor with his wife and two children, and his brother who had deserted Hussein's army after witnessing the destruction of a Kurdish village.[13]

Zakia Hakki died in aVirginiahospital on 22 August 2021, at the age of 81.[23][24]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Rubin, Barry (2015-03-17).The Middle East: A Guide to Politics, Economics, Society and Culture.Routledge.ISBN9781317455776.
  2. ^"نساء من بلدي.. صبيحة الشيخ داوود أول قاضية في العراق والوطن العربي".شبكة انباء العراق(in Arabic).Retrieved2023-09-01.
  3. ^abcdefPrusher, Ilene R. (16 July 2003)."Five women confront a new Iraq".Christian Science Monitor.Retrieved14 July2018.
  4. ^abc"A Quest for Political, Economic and Social Participation in a Democratic Iraq".Independent Women's Forum. 16 August 2004.Retrieved14 July2018.
  5. ^Zangana, Haifa (2011).City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman's Account of War and Resistance.Seven Stories Press.ISBN9781609800710.
  6. ^abcdefDougherty, Beth K.; Ghareeb, Edmund A. (2013).Historical Dictionary of Iraq.Scarecrow Press. p. 251.ISBN978-0-8108-7942-3.
  7. ^abPenketh, Anna (24 August 2005)."Judge hails 'guarantee' of women MPs".Independent.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-05-07.Retrieved14 July2018.
  8. ^abcFontan, Victoria (2008).Voices from Post-Saddam Iraq: Living with Terrorism, Insurgency, and New Forms of Tyranny: Living with Terrorism, Insurgency, and New Forms of Tyranny.ABC-CLIO. pp. 144–145.ISBN9780313365331.
  9. ^abRubin, Barry (2015).The Middle East: A Guide to Politics, Economics, Society and Culture.Routledge. p. 621.ISBN9781317455776.
  10. ^abKirdar, Nemir (2009).Saving Iraq: Rebuilding a Broken Nation.Orion. p. 107.ISBN978-0-297-85925-3.
  11. ^abCanzian, Fernando (6 April 2003).""Mundo ignora crueldades de Saddam", diz exilada ".Folha De S Paulo(in Portuguese).Retrieved14 July2018.
  12. ^abDagher, Sam."Black-turbaned sheikhs, women activists, former dissidents, royalty and even a partisan of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr rubbed shoulders in what has been billed as Iraq's first step toward democracy".Daily Star.
  13. ^abDow, Mark (2005).American Gulag: Inside U.S. Immigration Prisons.University of California Press. pp. 36–38.ISBN9780520246690.
  14. ^Hakki, Zakia (22 October 2002)."Press Conference".Faylee Kurds Democratic Union.Retrieved14 July2018.
  15. ^"Iraqi Doctor, Once on C.I.A.'s Payroll, Fights to Stay in U.S."the New York Times.11 April 2000.Retrieved14 July2018.
  16. ^Azimi and Cartier (21 October 2005)."Constitutions Give Slow Birth to Female Blocs".Women's E News.Retrieved14 July2018.
  17. ^Mackenzie, Meredith (24 January 2006)."Iraqi women seek leadership positions".UPI.Retrieved14 July2018.
  18. ^Sandler, Lauren (11 December 2003)."Women Under Siege".The Nation.Archived fromthe originalon 2015-08-20.Retrieved14 July2018.
  19. ^Constable, Pamela(16 January 2004)."Iraqi Women Decry Move To Cut Rights".The Washington Post.Retrieved14 July2018.
  20. ^Peratis, Kathleen (27 February 2004)."Back to the Middle Ages?".Forward.Retrieved14 July2018.
  21. ^Enders, David (1 June 2006)."Squelching freedom in Iraqui Kurdistan".The Progressive.Retrieved14 July2018.
  22. ^Moghadam, Valentine M. (2007).From Patriarchy to Empowerment: Women's Participation, Movements, and Rights in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.Syracuse University Press. pp. 335–336.ISBN9780815631118.
  23. ^Shilani, Mustafa (August 23, 2021)."Prominent Kurdish figure and Iraq's first female judge dies at 82".Kurdistan 24.Retrieved30 September2021.
  24. ^"Zakia Hakki Obituary – Harrisonburg, VA".Dignity Memorial.Retrieved30 September2021.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zakia_Hakki&oldid=1254510211"