|
Working towards a
'federal' Iraq
By Mohammad Akef Jamal, Special to Gulf News ; gulfnews.com
August 28, 2008
In an unprecedented manner, right-wing political parties in Iraq are
building alliances with the left and liberal parties. They do not consider
these coalitions unusual or strange.
The scene becomes more bizarre as the US, which is considered the
"godfather" of the political process in Iraq, continues to sponsor this
controversial scenario, despite its great animosity to the right-wing
Islamic parties and its historical opposition to leftist movements. The
conservative, religious and ethnic forces have succeeded in applying this
strange political equation to the Iraqi political decision-making process.
They were also able to achieve their goals by setting up their own agenda in
the framework of the constitution. Moreover, they also guaranteed the
approval of the liberal and left forces for all their policies. This gave
them the strength to refute any doubts about their political intentions.
Federalism, that was brought into Iraq in haste and was forced into
constitution, has become a notion which sets Iraq apart from other Arab
countries. The concept of federalism entered Iraq along with "democracy",
giving the impression that they both go hand-in-hand and are inter-related.
All the political fronts that are backing and promoting federalism in Iraq
did not hesitate in paving the road for implementing it. They legalised it
by voting for the executive procedure law of regions on September 8, 2007.
Approved
The legislation was approved at a time when
Iraqis were in dire need for laws to improve their miserable daily lives
that were made worse due to rising illiteracy, unemployment and lack of
basic services. The federal agenda promotes the disintegration of Iraq into
smaller entities - a democratic practice that enjoys the backing of the
constitution.
The new Iraqi constitution is designed to weaken the powers of the capital
city, Baghdad, by empowering the governing councils of the federal regions.
The constitution's fifth chapter deals with all problems these regions may
face in the future.
Federalism is a political philosophy in which a group of members are bound
together with a governing representative head. The term federalism is also
used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is
constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and
constituent political units such as states or provinces. It is also the
system in which the power to govern is shared between the national and state
governments, creating what is often called a federation.
A federation may be optional such as the case in Switzerland, or compulsory,
as in Russia. However, the entities in a federation may enjoy a limited
amount of authority, varying from one place to another. Moreover, the
unification of these entities in a federal state may be built on ethnic,
religious or regional bases.
The orientation towards federalism in Iraq goes back to 1991 when the Kurds
in Iraq were given political, economic and administrational rights that
resemble a sovereign state, blessed and protected by the US. The Kurdish
federal project flamed the greed of other players in the Iraqi political
process. These players grew big under the unusual Iraqi state of affairs of
today, where ethnic and sectarian affiliations surfaced successfully.
These circumstances have also enabled these players to be in a position to
sign political treaties that resemble trade agreements. As a result, Iraq's
interests took a big step backwards.
The call for establishing federal regions in the south, middle or anywhere
else in Iraq is made to look as though it will solve a big problem in a land
where all its people share a common history, religion and ethnic
affiliation.
So what is behind such calls?
This question will be answered through the coming events in Iraq. However,
in the absence of a true democratic tradition, federalism in Iraq may hold a
disturbing separatist trend. Democracy in its true essence is not present in
Iraq. Hence, the consequences of a federal structure will be devastating.
Dr Mohammad Akef Jamal is an Iraqi writer based in Dubai.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Will Iran’s ethnic clampdown backfire?
By Daniel Brett ; 31 August 2008';
alarabiya.net/
Iran has begun a campaign to intimidate, imprison and even execute writers
and journalists from non-Persian ethnic groups in an attempt to remove the
ethnic issue off the political agenda ahead of next year’s presidential
elections. Yet, Tehran’s actions against these moderate campaigning
journalists could spur the very separatist sentiment it seeks to repress.
This week the international media freedom group Reporters Without Borders
called for the Iranian government to drop its case against prominent Ahwazi
Arab journalist Youssef Azizi Bani Torouf after he was this month sentenced
to five years in prison for ‘threatening national security’. Azizi’s ‘crime’
was to condemn excessive force by security services against Arab
demonstrators in April 2005, in which up to 160 unarmed civilians were
killed over a number of days of rioting.
‘President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is systematically exploiting the judicial
system to crack down on journalists from the minority communities, for whom
they often act as spokesperson,’ the organisation said.
Azizi worked for 12 years for the daily Hamshari newspaper, currently works
for foreign Arabic news publications and has authored a number of books in
Farsi and Arabic which have earned him plaudits in Iran and the Arab world.
Although the Iranian government has attempted to tie him to separatist
movements it alleges are sponsored by Israel, Britain, the US and Saudi
Arabia, Azizi has consistently stated that the ‘Arabs of Khuzestan, as a
nation or an ethnic group are an inseparable part of the Iranian nation.’
Azizi’s case is part of a growing trend in Iran against journalists from
Arab, Azeri, Balochi and Kurdish ethnic groups, which have become
increasingly restive amid claims of cultural persecution and discrimination.
Reporters Without Borders has also drawn attention to the cases of other
minority journalists held in prison in what it describes as an ‘outrageous
gagging policy’. They include Azeri journalist Said Matinpour of the leading
Azeri weekly newspaper Yarpagh, who was given an eight year suspended
sentence for ‘having dealings with foreigners’ and for ‘publicity against
the government’.
Several Kurdish journalists are currently detained, including Kaveh
Javanmard, Adnan Hassanpour and Ejlal Qavami. Kurdish journalist Mohammad
Sadegh Kabovand was also sentenced to 11 years in the notorious Evin prison
for ‘threatening national security’ after he set up the Kurdish Human Rights
Organization (RMMK). He was also the editor of Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdestan
(Kurdistan People's Message), a weekly newspaper published in Kurdish and
Persian which was banned on 27 June 2004 after only 13 issues for
'disseminating separatist ideas and publishing false reports'. He was
originally given an 18 month suspended sentence, but this sentence has
progressively lengthened as more charges are brought against him in order to
ensure his silence.
Like Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand, minority journalists who have been convicted
of such crimes have often found that additional charges are later brought
against them in an effort to ensure their silence. Sometimes the price of
silence is their lives. Earlier this month Yaghub Mehrnahad, a 28 year old
Balochi journalist and cultural activist, was finally executed following
months of torture. He had criticised the regime’s treatment of the Balochi
ethnic group and formed the Javanan Sedayeh Edalat (Youth Voice of Justice)
non-governmental organisation, which was recognised and registered by the
Iranian government. The group organised events such as music concerts and
educational courses for young Balochis and also tackled issues such as the
spread of AIDS and other diseases and supporting healthcare for Balochi
women and children.
There was no official announcement of the death sentence nor the charges
brought against him, with his trial held in secret and without legal
representation. The local media claimed he had links with the Balochi armed
group Jundullah (Army of God) after he criticised the treatment of Balochis
during a conference. The Iranians claim the Jundullah is financed and
organised by the CIA, but has failed to prove any association between
Mehrnahad and the alleged US campaign to split Iran along ethnic lines. Yet,
the decision to execute him has puzzled many human rights activists as he
had never advocated violence and Jundullah denied he had any association
with the group.
State repression of ethnic minority journalists goes hand in hand with the
violent harassment of non-Persian minorities, who together comprise at least
half Iran’s population. The campaign to silence these free-thinking
journalists demonstrates that Tehran will not broach even the mildest
expression of ethnic discontent.
At the same time, nearly all foreign journalists and Western nationals are
banned from visiting areas where non-Persian groups are in the majority,
particularly Khuzestan and Balochistan. It is also evidence of endemic
paranoia of a regime that is intent on seeing its critics as Zionist agents,
British and American imperialists or Wahhabis in order to shift the blame
for growing ethnic unrest. But the actions against minority journalists also
belie the Iranian Constitution, which enshrines cultural and linguistic
rights. The regime’s actions against these campaigning journalists suggest
that the exercise of these rights is an existential challenge to the
political system and, by extension, represents enmity with god. By silencing
the voices of moderates, Tehran is playing into the hands of separatists who
used repression as proof that non-Persian groups cannot win freedom and
equality while remaining a part of Iran.
* Daniel Brett is a freelance journalist and publisher specialising in
emerging markets and geopolitical issues, working with a number of leading
business intelligence and security organizations.
|