Democracy Must Reign Iraq's Future, Says Rights Group
Thu Feb 13,11:31 AM ET Add World - OneWorld.net to My Yahoo!
Beth Bolitho,OneWorld UK
Rights advocates staking out early positions in advance of possible military action against the regime of Iraq's leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), are calling for democratic principles to be upheld in any post-conflict settlement for the multi-ethnic and religiously diverse country.
• The Report from Minority Rights Group International
• Iraqi Voices Discuss Building a New National Identity on OpenDemocracy
• Kurdish Human Rights Project
• OneWorld Special Report on Iraq
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All sections of Iraq's population must have ownership over efforts to rebuild the country in the aftermath of any attack, according to London-based Minority Rights Group International (MRG), which published a report Wednesday based on interviews with a number of internationally-renowned post-conflict, constitutional law, and human rights experts.
"Self-determination of the Iraqi people is the overriding criterion for creating democracy in Iraq," according to the report, 'Building Democracy in Iraq,' which recommended a central role for the population in "decisions over the structure of any transitional administration, the choice of representatives, the design of the constitutional process, and the form and content of the new constitution."
The report said that this model should be favored over other options--including establishing a 'United States protectorate' or appointing an Iraqi general as interim president--recently considered by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites), who has publicly stated that "regime change" would be one of the goals of action against Iraq.
Such non-inclusive approaches would undermine the legitimacy of a transitional government, and threaten the viability of a more permanent body elected by the Iraqi people, according to MRG's director Mark Lattimer, who authored the report.
"Installing another Iraqi strongman or general as president...would likely result in continued discrimination against minority communities in Iraq and may lead to a backlash, and might have the effect of prolonging division and even increasing the chance of a widespread civil conflict," he said.
Iraq is home to a range of ethnic and religious groups, including members of the region's Kurdish population in the north, alongside Assyrian and Turkoman communities, and Shi'ite Muslims in the south, who make up a majority of the country's Islamic population, dominated by the politically influential Sunni grouping around Baghdad.
"What is necessary is a constitution-making process which encourages cooperation between communities, while recognizing and protecting identities--like that of the Kurds--where these are strongly felt," said Lattimer, whose report also calls for a "Pan-ethnic president."
MRG's appeal comes ahead of a new report, due to be delivered to the United Nations (news - web sites) Security Council on Friday, from chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix. That report--on progress in uncovering evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq--is likely to prove decisive in preparations for military action in the coming weeks.
The U.S., along with Britain--which together are building up a substantial military force in the Gulf--is seeking Security Council authorization for an attack on Iraq, but is facing opposition from three veto-holding permanent members of the Council - France, Russia, and China.
However, U.S. public support is growing for military action in Iraq with or without a UN mandate. According to a poll conducted this week by the Washington Post and ABC News, 57 percent of those surveyed would stand behind an invasion even if only the U.S. and its close allies were involved.
If an invasion were to take place without UN backing, Lattimer stressed, the legitimacy of any nation-building efforts could be seriously undermined.
"It will make it much harder to get UN or EU support for international peacekeepers, a major aid effort, or even an international criminal tribunal, all of which need to be genuinely international and neutral in the eyes of the Iraqi people in order to be successful," he said.
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