Iraq Constitution will Reverse Human, Religious Rights, Advocates Say
Religious freedom advocates are painting a grim picture of Iraq where the rights of women, Christians and moderate Muslims could be trampled upon by Islamic law, should the current draft constitution be adopted as planned on Monday.
Religious freedom advocates are painting a grim picture of Iraq where the rights of women, Christians and moderate Muslims could be trampled upon by Islamic law, should the current draft constitution be adopted as planned on Monday.
“I’m very concerned that the constitution will contain contradictions where rights are guaranteed but negated by the provision that says no law can be contrary to Islam,” Nina Shea, vice chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, told the Christian Post on Friday.
In Iraq, members of the constitution drafting committee, which includes leaders from Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish factions, are working to complete the draft by next week’s deadline. Parliament voted unanimously last Monday to extend the deadline by one week after negotiations deadlocked on several issues, including women’s rights and the role of Islam.
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This role of Islam, and more specifically the imposition of sharia law by the proposed constitution, is what religious freedom advocates fear most.
“If this happens, we’re not going to have women’s rights, or even the rights of Muslims to express unorthodox political opinions,” said Shea, who also directs the Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom.
The Islamic law provision marks a step back for religious rights for Iraq, which has been governed by the Iraqi Transitional Administration Law since Mar. 4, 2004. This interim constitution states that the legislature must dissolve if the negotiators cannot finish their work by the new deadline.
While most hope the deadline can be reached, many are warning that adopting the current draft would undermine all efforts to build a free Iraq.
“An Iraqi Constitution that does not protect religious liberty will seriously undermine U.S. efforts in Iraq and the larger Middle East,” Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, wrote in a statement. “The sons and daughters of Americans are not risking their lives to establish a theocratic government that denies its citizens the fundamental right of religious freedom”
Perkins said he “sent a letter to President Bush encouraging the Administration to redouble its efforts to ensure that the Iraq Constitution provides genuine religious freedom for all Iraqi citizens.”
Shea, who serves as an advisor to the Bush administration on Iraq, agrees that the United States should make sure religious freedom and human rights are secured.
“We will not continue sending our troops if women will be stoned and their testimony will be worth only half that of a man and Christians will be killed for their beliefs,” said Shea. “We sacrificed our blood and treasure to give them a country, and we will not abide by that.”
