Iraqi Christians fear prospect of Islamic law

The Tablet , UK
July 22 2005

RAMPANT violence across Iraq is threatening the rebuilding of the
country as it moves towards the drafting of its first post-Saddam
constitution, which religious minorities are concerned may leave out
any meaningful provisions for religious freedom.

More than 130 people were killed in a three-day bombing frenzy last
weekend, including 90 who lost their lives when a suicide bomber blew
up a propane gas tanker on Saturday near a Shia mosque in the town
of Al-Musayyib, south of Baghdad.

The attack was the single deadliest strike since the formation of
the new government in May, and was believed to have been the work
of Sunni insurgents intent on sparking off sectarian conflict with
Iraq’s Shia majority. Iraqi and US officials believe that keeping the
political process on track is the only way to prevent the insurgency
from spiralling out of control. Sticking to the political schedule
looks to be key in preventing a full-scale civil war but, on Tuesday,
three Sunnis working on the draft of Iraq’s new constitution were
gunned down in Baghdad, rattling hopes expressed earlier in the day
by interim president Jalal Talabani that the new charter might be
completed ahead of next month’s deadline.

The latest attacks came as Iraq’s Christian leaders petitioned
the United Nations and their country’s interim officials to urge a
constitutional separation of religion from politics. Nine Christian
leaders, including the Roman Catholic Archbishop Jean Sleiman
of Baghdad, the Syrian Archbishop Athanase Matoka, the Chaldean
Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni and Mgr Andon Atamian, administrator
for Armenian Catholics, made the plea in a letter delivered mid-July
to Mr Talabani and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

In the letter, the Christian leaders said they feared discrimination
if the draft constitution, to be completed by 15 August, enshrines
sharia, or Islamic law. Iraq’s minorities are concerned that if
the constitution names sharia as the main source of civil law –
as suggested by many Shia Muslims, who make up 62 per cent of the
country’s population – non-Muslims will be relegated to second-class
status at best and, at worst, be driven out of the country, slain or
forced to convert.

Painting a grim picture of life for minorities in Iraq, Christian
leaders say that religious persecution has worsened since the Americans
arrived in the spring of 2003 and that tens of thousands of Christians
have fled to neighbouring countries. They are worried that things
could get worse still, and that the discrimination experienced by
other Christians under sharia, in Sudan and Nigeria for example,
could also arise in Iraq if such a constitution is ratified.

Last week, Chaldean Bishop Andreos Abouna, an auxiliary in Baghdad,
took the appeal to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of
Westminster. He warned that a pro-sharia constitution would massively
speed up the exodus of Iraq’s 800,000 Chaldeans. Highlighting the
unprecedented unilateral action by the Church leaders, Bishop Abouna
told the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need: “If we do not
act together, we will lose. It is very urgent that we address this
problem and that we do so together.”

“If there is a move toward the confirmation of the role of the Islamic
religion in Iraqi society, then it is only natural to confirm the role
of other religions that have been historically established in Iraq,”
the Christian leaders said in their letter. “We are only asking for
… equality, freedom and equal opportunities and [prevention of]
racial, religious and denominational discrimination.”

On Tuesday, President Talabani predicted the new constitution could
be ready by the end of the month pending the settlement of some final
differences with minority Sunnis on the drafting panel.

The Iraqi Government has promised that the constitution will be put
to a referendum before it is ratified. Until then, Iraq will continue
to be under the authority of an interim constitution, prepared before
sovereignty was handed over in June 2004. This effectively sidestepped
the issue of sharia, saying its place in Iraqi law would have to be
decided at a later date.

Mr Talabani said this week that the fast trial of Saddam was also
essential in weakening the insurgency, with almost 25,000 Iraqi
civilians killed since US-led troops invaded in March 2003, an average
of 34 a day, according to a British study. Last Sunday the ousted
dictator was charged for the massacre of 143 Shia villagers in 1982.

Michael Hirst