The Transition to Democracy in Iraq
Democratie Principles Work Group
Compt d'auteur
The July 1958 revolution abrogated the 1925 Constitution, the most legitimate constitution ofIraq because it was adopted after a process of social debate. Since 1958 five "interim" constitutions have been promulgated. AU were issued in the wake of the military coups that brought army officers or narrow political parties to power. Shortterm considerations ofpersonal or party political self-interest were by and large the shaping force behind each "interim" constitutional initiative. In 1990, a draft of a permanent constitution was for the first time put forward by the Ba'ath Party, but it never underwent ratification because of the August 1990 invasion of Kuwait and its consequences. The last interim constitution, and therefore the one that is in principle still in effect today, was promulgated by the Ba'ath Party in July 1970. It was amended in 1974 to reflect the provisions of the March Il, 1970 accords. And it was "interpreted" in 1977 as follows:
If the people are "the source ofauthority and ...
Contents
Preamble
1.0 The Legal Basis of a Transitional Authority
2.0 Phases of Transitional Government
3.0 Transitional Law and Justice
4.0 Democratization and Civil Society
5.0 Reform of the Army
6.0 Reform of the Law and Order Structure
7.0 Reform of the Judicial System
8.0 Vision of an Iraqi Constitutional State
Appendices
A. Summaries and Comments
B. Dissenting Opinions
PREAMBLE
Between September 3 and 5, in Cobham, Surrey, UK, a group ofthirty-two Iraqis convened for the first meeting of the Democratie Princip les Working Group. The working group is part of an initiative of the Department of State of the Government of the United States called the "Future of Iraq" project. At that meeting the membership of the working group broke up into four task forces:
1. Transitional Issues
2. Human Rights and the Rule of Law
3. Civil Society and Democratization
4. Federalism as the basis of a new Iraqi polity
Each task force voted in two of its members to join a Coordinating Committee whose brief was to continue the work pending the next full meeting of the workshop. These eight Coordinators were joined by two Coordinators-at-large to form a ten person Coordinating Committee.1
This report was prepared by the Coordinating Committee as a draft, and discussed and amended by the whole working group. It is a work in progress that represents the collective effort of all those individuals in the working group who committed time and effort to contacting their fellow task force members and producing it. The report embodies input from members of the working group, Iraqis outside the working group, and non-Iraqi experts. In putting it together, the Coordinating Committee has avoided naming the authors of the various ideas contained in it. However attached to the report are individual papers received by the Coordinating Committee from members of the working group. These are identified by author and do not necessarily reflect the views of other members of the working group.
This report takes as its point of departure the resolutions ofthe 27-31 October 1992 conference of the Iraqi National Congress (the "INC") held in Salahuddin, northern Iraq (Arbil province). In brief, these called for a democratie and federally structured Iraq based on the principle of the separation of powers, and the princip le of the protection of individual human rights and group rights. These 1992 Salahuddin principles were reaffirmed by the group of six Iraqi opposition parties that met with senior representatives of the government of the Unites States on August 9, 2002. At that August 2002 meeting, the representatives of the Iraqi opposition agreed to hold a large conference of the Iraqi opposition, preceding any American or UN action in Iraq. That conference will need to adopt a detailed program for the transition from dictatorship to democracy in Iraq.
This report is an attempt to fulfill that need. It sets out a roadmap for the transition in Iraq beginning with its legality, the necessary phases it would have to traverse, culminating in a phase in which national elections are held that would vote in both a permanent constitution and a fully legitimate authority. The report concludes with variations on a democratie vision for a future state in Iraq that the members of the Democratie Princip les Working Group have collectively decided upon.
The report, therefore, describes alternative policy options within the common framework of a democratie system of government. It is up to the collectivity of the Iraqi opposition to choose between them, or to decide to set up a mechanism for making such choices.
The ideas presented in this report are feasible on the basis of certain assumptions made by us:
• That the government of the United States actually proceeds with its stated policy of democratie change in Iraq;
• That the unseating of Saddam's regime does not take place at the cost of large scale civilian casualties which could introduce considerable volatility and unpredictability into the political situation;
• That this report, or sorne variation on it, is actually adopted at a genuinely representative conference of the Iraqi opposition;
• That the Government of the United States, as the partner of the Iraqi people in liberating Iraq, itself agrees to support the guiding framework of this report following its adoption by the Iraqi opposition;
• That the international community, including the Government of the United States, by a treaty with a duly constituted Iraqi government, undertakes to guarantee the territorial integrity of Iraq.
Nothing in this report, however, requires of the United Nations or United States to police or manage into existence the new and budding democratie institutions. That is a challenge that the people of Iraq must and will face up to on their own.
A historie opportunity that is as important as anything that has happened in the Middle East since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the entry of British troops into Iraq in 1917 presents itself. Once the regime of Saddam Hussein is removed from power, Iraq can be remade out of the ashes of decades ofbrutality, domestic and foreign wars, nightmare weapons, and near total economie collapse. Such an extraordinary event calls for extraordinary measures and procedures. Iraqis abroad, who are in a position to act, are morally obligated to do so and to do so fast. It is in that spirit of great urgency and responsibility, that this report has been put together.
1 Transitional Issues Task Force: Mohammad Abdul Jabbar; Aiham Alsammarrae; Feisal Amin Istrabadi; Nuri Badran; Ghalib Bradosti; Salem Chalabi; Kassim Daoud; Khalil Al Khafaji; Laith Kubba; Fuad Masum; Dilshad Miran; Ali Naqib; Entifadh Qanbar; Rend Rahim Francke; Mowaffak AI Rubaie; and Jamal Al Wakil.
Human Rights and Rule of Law Task Force: Feisal Amin Istrabadi; Salem Chalabi; Munther Al Fadhal; Emanuel Kamber; Khalil AI Khafaji; and Farouk Ridha'a.
Civil Society/Civil and Political Rights Task Force Aiham Alsammarrae; Emanuel Kamber; Rend Rahim Francke; Qubad Talabany; Jamal AI Wakil; and Albert Yelda.
Federalism Task Force: Mohammad Abdul Jabbar; Ghalib Bradosti; Muhannad Eshaiker; Munther al-Fadhal; Orhan Ketene; Fuad Masoum; Dilshad Miran; Hatem Mukhlis; Qubad Talabany; and Albert Yelda.
Coordinators-at-Iarge: Ghassan Atiyyah and Kanan Makiya
1.0 The Legal Basis of a Transitional Authority
1.1 The Problem
The July 1958 revolution abrogated the 1925 Constitution, the most legitimate constitution ofIraq because it was adopted after a process of social debate. Since 1958 five "interim" constitutions have been promulgated. AU were issued in the wake of the military coups that brought army officers or narrow political parties to power. Shortterm considerations ofpersonal or party political self-interest were by and large the shaping force behind each "interim" constitutional initiative. In 1990, a draft of a permanent constitution was for the first time put forward by the Ba'ath Party, but it never underwent ratification because of the August 1990 invasion of Kuwait and its consequences. The last interim constitution, and therefore the one that is in principle still in effect today, was promulgated by the Ba'ath Party in July 1970. It was amended in 1974 to reflect the provisions of the March Il, 1970 accords. And it was "interpreted" in 1977 as follows:
If the people are "the source ofauthority and its legitimacy," as is stated by the Iraqi Constitution (article 2), then it is the definition of the concept of the people on which the definition of democracy depends ....
The people as interpreted by the Revolution and the Leading Party, the Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party, is ail the members of the society who enjoy equal rights and equal duties. But in exercising democracy ... it is inevitable to exclude ail pers ons who take a political, economical or intellectual attitude hostile to the Revolution and its programme. The status of such people shall be defined [and] revolutionary political consciousness shall play a decisive role in immunizing public opinion towards them. This being an exceptional case created by the necessity oftransforming society.
(Law nO.35 of 1977, Legal System Reform, Alwaqai al-iraqiyya 20, no. 37, September 14, 1977: 21)
1.2 A Transitional Authority, however it is set up, must operate under sorne governing law, or constitution, if it is to become the vehicle of a new constitutionally based democratie government. An important question facing the Democratie Principles Work Group is what should the goveming law contain and be based on. Two principal options present themselves:
1. Accept to work with an amended version of the existing interim constitution of July 1970; or
2. Begin the road to true legitimacy by repudiating the constitutional basis of the old regime.
Democratie Principles Work Group
Final Report on the Transition to Democracy in Iraq
Compt d'auteur
Compt d'auteur
Final Report on the Transition to Democracy in Iraq
Final version of the working document of the
Conference of the Iraqi Opposition
as amended by the members of the
Democratie Principles Work Group
November 2002
