Erbil Workshop
November 27, 2005

The Iraq Foundation held a one-day workshop on constitution education in the Northern Iraqi City of Arbil on November the 27 th, 2005. The workshop was held in partnership with the Arbil-based Amal Organization. The workshop was divided into two panels:

Panel one: Rights and Freedoms in Iraqi Constitution

Mrs. Ozzdeen Dihzay, a lawyer and lecturer at Salah el Din University, introduced the panelists and started the session with a presentation of a comparative study on the constitutions of Iraq’s neighboring countries and those of established democracies across the world. Following an overview of a number of different constitutions, Dr. Sarhanak al Barazanji presented his paper on Rights and Freedoms in Iraqi Constitution, which included information on the American, French, and Swiss constitutions, as well as previous Iraqi constitutions. Dr. Barazanji pointed to the fact that none of the previous Iraqi constitutions included articles that guaranteed that the state would respect human rights. Dr. Baraznji stressed the importance of including language in the constitution that explicitly guarantees the rights and freedoms of citizens. Finally, Mr. Maher al Obaedi discussed the differences between freedoms and rights guaranteed in the constitution and those that were guaranteed in the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq .

Panel two: Civil Society and the Right of Assembly (Article 43)

The Session started with Dr. Abd el Salam Madni’s presentation on the importance of the work of civil society and freedom of assembly in democratic systems and the mechanisms that could guarantee this right. Meanwhile, Mr. Abd el Satee’a Boutros discussed the importance of freedom of assembly and the freedom to protest. Dr. Abd el Fatah Abd el Razak concluded the workshop with his presentation on civil society’s status in the Iraqi constitution.