WASHINGTON (ABP) — The new Iraq Constitution, which apparently has gained approval, sets forth two competing visions of democracy and human rights, according to some religious-freedom experts.
The current document “sets forth two competing and diametrically opposed visions of society — one based on religious freedom … and another vision of society based on a hierarchy of group rights on Islamic law,” said Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at Freedom House. Shea is also vice chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
“This is a discriminatory hierarchy, and the rights of all individuals are subordinated to the group,” she continued.
Vote-counters were still tabulating ballots six days after the Oct. 15 referendum, but all indications were that disgruntled Sunni Muslims have not been able to scuttle the measure. They would need two-thirds majorities in three of the nation's 18 provinces to defeat the document.
The proposal came to voters after months of contentious debates between members of a constitutional drafting committee over the roles of Islam and federalism in the new government. Many Arab Shia and Kurds want strong guarantees of autonomy for the regions in which they hold majorities. Many Sunnis — who are a minority but enjoyed much of the nation's power under deposed dictator Saddam Hussein — fear that those guarantees will further marginalize them.
While human-rights violations were common in many areas under Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraq also was essentially a secular government. Among the dictator's inner circle were Christian Iraqis.
But the new document declares, according to an English translation, “Islam is the official religion of the state and it is a fundamental source of legislation.” It also stipulates, “No law that contradicts the established provisions of Islam may be established,” and it bans any law “that contradicts the principles of democracy.”
The devil may be in the details of interpreting those measures, observers have said.
In July, members of the religious freedom commission objected to similar provisions in earlier drafts of the document. At the time, the bipartisan panel's chairman, Michael Cromartie, said, “If these drafts become law, Iraq's new democracy risks being crippled from the outset.”
Although the document as finally presented to voters alleviated some of their concerns, Shea and the commission noted that there is still one major potential problem with the current document. It invests the power to interpret itself in a Federal Supreme Court — part of which is to be made up of “experts in Islamic law” without any requirement that they also be experts in civil law.
“In other words,” Shea said, that means “Islamic clerics — Shiite clerics, especially.”
Shea and the commission noted that only three other nations have similar arrangements allowing Islamic scholars on their highest courts — Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Iran.
“Those defining questions are going to go to those judges, and so it just seems… that the freedoms that are stated elsewhere in the constitution are going to be negated,” she said.
She did note that the last-minute compromise allowing amendments to the document within one year after its approval provides “one little glimmer of hope…. One of the amendments that has got to be made is to amend that Supreme Court to make sure that everyone [on it] has a civil law background.”
Other parts of the charter also remain problematic — including a provision that allows disputes between people of the same faith to be settled according to religious law. In Islamic law, men and women are often on unequal footing in personal status and property disputes.
Nonetheless, U.S. officials have said the document can prove to be a model for spreading democracy and human rights in majority-Muslim nations. During a late August appearance on NBC's “Meet the Press,” U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad defended the proposed charter.
“Not everyone loves every article of this document. Not everyone is totally satisfied,” he said. “But there is enough in this constitution that meets the basic needs of all communities and for Iraq to move forward.”
He also said the document reflects “a new consensus between the universal principles of democracy and human rights, and Iraqi traditions in Islam.”