NCRI, October 12 – In an appeal published in the Washington Times today addressing President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Iraqi leaders, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, more than 150 Parliamentarians from 20 European countries called for an urgent modification of Article 21C of the draft Iraqi constitution on asylum rights.
The signatories, who included Parliamentarians from Britain, Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Austria, the Netherlands, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, urged the Iraqi and Coalition authorities to ensure that the draft constitution that is due to be put to a referendum on October 15 would not contain a phrase that pre-eminent scholars of international law have described as being contrary to international conventions on asylum and refugee rights.
The signatories also included Mr. Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos, the European Parliament’s Special Rapporteur on the Iraqi constitution, as well as former cabinet ministers and senior parliamentary figures.
Dozens of jurists and lawyers in different countries have supported the call by 4,500 Iraqi lawyers and legal experts who likewise called for modification of Article 21C of the draft constitution. They included the Rt. Hon. the Lord Slynn of Hadley, Chairman of the Executive Council of the International Law Association and former Judge of the European Court of Justice and Lord of Appeal; Professor Eric David, President of the Center for International Law at Universite Libre de Bruxelles; Professor Jean-Yves de Cara of the University of Paris (V); Professor Marc Henzelin of the University of Geneva; and Professor Steven Schneebaum of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
The full text of the joint letter of appeal by 150 parliamentarians is as follows:
At a time when the world is anxiously hoping for the progress of the fledging democratic experience in Iraq, the new constitution will be seen as an indispensable roadmap to the establishment of a viable democracy in the war-torn nation.
It is universally acknowledged that respect for the right to asylum is a duty incumbent on States and is one of the benchmarks of democratic governance. We are gravely concerned, therefore, that the draft constitution contains a clause that, in the view of eminent experts of international law, would be at odds with the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees and other provisions of international law on asylum. The third clause of Article 21 of the draft constitution states that political asylum shall not be granted to those “accused of terror crimes”.
As the Rt. Hon. Lord Slynn of Hadley, the former judge of the European Court of Justice and Law Lord, has written, “the mere ‘accusation’ of such a crime cannot, as a matter of international law, disentitle the accused person of political asylum”, and it violates the fundamental principle of presumption of innocence. Lord Slynn further noted that such accusations can be made “without any adequate basis in fact or law to justify the accusation”.
We share the concern of a million Iraqis and 4,500 Iraqi lawyers and jurists, who have blamed the Iranian government for using its influence to insert this clause into the draft constitution as a way of jeopardizing the safety and security of thousands of Iranian dissidents who have taken refuge in Iraq, including members of the PMOI opposition group in Ashraf.
We urge you to intervene in this important humanitarian issue, so that the word “accused” is changed to “convicted” in the final draft of the constitution.
