Press Release

The constitution voted on yesterday in Iraq may well constitute an obstacle to securing human rights and individual liberties should it be approved, Freedom House said today. Immediate and comprehensive efforts should be undertaken to ensure that post-referendum amendments and enabling legislation for the constitution address the most problematic provisions.

On October 15, Iraqis voted in a national referendum on whether to adopt a constitution that emerged in mid-September after months of negotiation and was expected to be approved. A political agreement reached last week commits Iraq's leaders to consider new amendments to the constitution in the very near future.

While the Constitution contains numerous positive attributes that may contribute to the emergence of a democratic state, including strong language asserting religious freedom and democratic principles, Freedom House analysts have assessed that the provisions relating to the creation of the Supreme Federal Court could empower sharia experts on that court. They could suborn universal standards of individual liberties and principles of equality to a particular and restrictive religious interpretation of rights based on the religious affiliation of individuals.

"The implications for dissidents, including religious dissenters, as well as for legitimate political opposition, women, religious minorities and non-believers, are quite troubling and ominous," said Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor." There is a real risk that all these groups will face serious dangers in the new Iraq, " she said.

Iraq now joins three other states with constitutions that provide for sharia experts who are not required to have civil law education on their Supreme Courts: Iran, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. "These are not the models that new democracies should be emulating," said Ms. Windsor.

A constitutional provision related to the composition of the Supreme Court poses a threat of rule by Islamic jurists in Iraq, which could directly contribute to sectarian divisions within the country. Protections of the rights of women, and freedom of expression and belief are also in danger, as suggested by the case of Afghanistan, where the first act of the chief judge of the Supreme Court was to bring blasphemy charges against the only woman cabinet member on the basis that she criticized sharia.

Freedom House also expressed concern about the lack of protection for freedom of expression in the constitution, which declares that free speech is guaranteed within the bounds of public morality and public order. Such a provision is woefully inadequate, given that most infringements on free expression in autocracies across the globe are rationalized on the grounds of order and morality.

"We know that many people -- in the US government, in the international community and especially among Iraqis -- tried and failed to correct these defects as they emerged," said Ms. Windsor. "That work must continue. Given the likelihood of the passage of this constitution, friends of Iraqi democracy should focus renewed energy and commitment on trying to shape the enabling legislation yet to come, following on the December elections," she said. "The newly negotiated provision that allows constitutional amendments to be considered next year, where previously there was to be an eight-year moratorium, also offers hope for improvement. Along with many others, we at Freedom House will be there with Iraqis to work for a better result in the future."

In Freedom House's latest global survey of political rights and civil liberties, Freedom in the World 2005, Iraq is rated Not Free.

Background material is available online:

Freedom in the World 2005: Iraq

Special report on press freedom in Iraq

Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Citizenship and Justice: Iraq