USCIRF warns about Iraqi constitution
- Jul 29, 2005
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom says drafts of Iraq’s permanent constitution are a retreat from the religious and human rights protections in its transitional charter.
The draft constitution, which Iraqi legislators are scheduled to complete Aug. 15, fails to mention freedom of religion and does not guarantee freedom of conscience, the nonpartisan panel said. In its current form, the charter also restricts women’s rights and Iraq’s human rights responsibilities to those issues that do not conflict with Islamic law, according to the USCIRF.
“If these drafts become law, Iraq’s new democracy risks being crippled from the outset,” USCIRF Chairman Michael Cromartie said July 26 in a letter to Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to Iraq. “Fundamental rights of the individual to debate and dissent from state-imposed religious orthodoxies would be curtailed, and the threat of discrimination would hang over all Iraqis, including members of religious minorities, non-religious individuals and women.”
The United States should quickly discuss these issues with the Iraqis, Cromartie wrote. The U.S. government, he said, should urge Iraq to abide by the human rights obligations it has agreed to in international treaties, encourage the constitutional drafting committee to talk to experts on human rights and call on the Iraqi government to seek insight from ethnic and religious minorities, such as the Christian Chaldo-Assyrians.
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