Woman and Constitution

an interview with Layla Mohammed

Khisraw Saya: as you know that the global media's have posted recently the draft of the constitution for Iraq, which was supposed to be put forward for the Iraqi people to vote it in the coming days. Even though the agreement has not been reached yet regarding some clauses; it seems that there will be no big difference between the drafted one and the argued upon one in the coming days. What do you think about this draft in general?

Layla Mohammed: if we put the contents of the constitution aside for a moment, the question will be who is writing this constitution? Under what conditions? Moreover, what it is the mechanism of the referendum process? A quick answer of these questions will clarify the political game in Iraq, which aims to distribute powers among the ethnic, religious, and tribal groups. In addition, we have to know that these powers are not put in place to establish a constitutional and parliamentarian government based on what the referendum outcome will be even if this constitution is full of reactionary articles.

The U.S. occupation ousted Saddam and his bloody regime without a role of these powers, destroyed all the civil society foundations and appointed of these powers a humiliated government but they are tyrannical in standing against the hopes of people. The last thing these powers think of is the people's interest, and basic needs, because they are in a race with the time to rob off the people who were under a bloody regime for decades.

Even if we take a glimpse to these powers and their nature, we will find that these groups are actually are serious barriers that prevent the people from gaining their demands. Someone might ask can the Islamic powers who spread around fears and agonies in the region's they control, facing people demand with bullets, standing against all types of freedom, and preventing people from expressing their opinions or even what they wear, are these groups willing to accept political freedom and democracy? I believe that the Iraqi people expressed their opinion regarding the constitution way back when they marched the streets to protest the resolution 137 and prevented it. This resolution is an essential part of the proposed constitution. Didn't that tell them anything? In fact, what is happening in Iraq is only to legitimize the quota system in the upcoming government that was appointed by United States in a dirty game. The last thing they will think of is to strengthening the role of people to say their word, which is nothing, but to kick these powers out and have them joining the former regime.

Khisraw Saya: after all this constitution is written after the downfall of Baath regime, is there any similarity between this constitution and the one of the former regime?  If the answer is yes where do they meet?

Layla Mohamed: writing this constitution after ousting the former regime does not mean a good sign at all. The former regime and because of his bloody nature was in conflicts with many social and progressive movements from one hand, and with the reactionary movements on the other hand. What was so called constitution under the former regime actually did not exceed a materialization of a dictatorship based on nationalist and chauvinist ideology and did not recognize any political freedom in the totalitarian state. This coming constitution does not do well either, it materializes the US policy that deals with Iraqi people by dividing them to clashing sectors. This in fact means denying the people the most fundamental characteristic that is human based society.  Actually, they have appointed some reactionary powers and told the world that these groups represent the Iraqi society and spectrum. Next thing they put forward a constitution that complies with the power balance, but not the hopes and desires of the civil Iraqis. The former regime constitution did look like everything but the constitution. However, it could not dare to deny the civil characteristic of the Iraqi society.

Khisraw Saya: part of the draft speaks of women freedom and rights. What is your view in this regard and how do you think it will comply with the women equality and freedom?

Layla Mohamed: the articles and clauses presented in this draft regarding woman freedom and political freedom actually reflects the reality of the conflicts among the ethnic, nationalist, and tribal powers that allied with the American policy more than a representation of the ideologies of these powers. For instance the Kurdish nationalists powers who claim secularism in its conflict with Shiite Islamic powers, were in reality the main assistant of the political Islamic groups in north of Iraq (Kurdistan) since 1992 until the American intervention 2003. In addition, they never hesitated to fund these groups while Kurdish people were enduring poverty and deprivation. Giving the fact that they attempted to put the worker communist party of Iraq in trial because of his claims to establish a secular government. They did not stop there though; they attacked the party and his offices, killed many members of them and finally banned their activities forever. This means that these groups are not fighting over a secular constitution or any ideological based theories, it is over special interests.

Looking at every single article in that constitution, it closes up with a sentence saying "only if it will not violate the Islamic sharia and its principles" it is actually nothing but a joke. Islamic Sharia is well known of its repression to woman and taking away her rights. I believe that the most essential condition to liberating woman is to recognize and identify her as a human being and before doing so we have to deter the Islamic religion from running our lives and put it back where it belongs, in the mosques. Also, separate religion from the state and consider it as a personal affair.

In addition, how can these people believe in woman freedom while they send groups of woman to demonstrate in the street chanting "No to full equality between men and women"!

Finally, if we agreed upon the essential task of the constitution, which is to organize the political freedom in the society, to secure the civil rights and to maintain human rights and responsibilities. Therefore, the broad participation of mass organizations such as labour, woman, students and other segments of the society is a mandate to achieve such a goal, not giving consent to some groups who their hands bloodstained with Iraqi people, and determining a comprehensible mechanism for referendum not the one like the fiasco of the past election. I believe we can achieve that after sending these reactionary groups to where they came from.