A stumbling start 步步維艱的開始
Iraq’s constitution 伊拉克制憲
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Tuesday August 16, 2005
The Guardian 衛報
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憲法草案的延遲,反映出伊拉克錯綜的
政經背景
「中央地方權力分配 石油利益分配
保持單一國家 政教分離」
Establishing a new constitution for Iraq was never going to be quick or simple, and yesterday’s cliffhanger, which failed to produce a completed draft by the midnight deadline, demonstrated that.
制定一部伊拉克新憲法絕不會是件迅速簡單的事，從昨日的高潮迭起的情節也證明了；無法在午夜期限內擬出一份完整的草案。
Under the timetable set by the United States, parliament had to approve a draft by August 15. This would be followed by a national referendum in October and, all being well, the first parliamentary elections under the new constitution in December. All these dates were somewhat arbitrary, but without them the drafting committee’s deliberations might well have gone on interminably.
在美國設定的時間表上，國會必須在八月十五日前批准草案。接著是一場十月的公投，以及在一切順利時，新憲法之下十二月的第一場國會選舉。 這些時程稍嫌獨斷，若不如此則擬憲委員會可能會永無止境地進行商議。
Washington, of course, had its own reasons for insisting on the timetable - not least because it could create a political opportunity to declare victory and start pulling out troops early next year.
當然，華府有其堅持時間表的理由：能創造出政治上宣佈勝利以及得以在明年初開始撤軍的機會。
The process has usefully brought the areas of contention into sharper
focus but on the two crunch issues of Islam and federalism nothing has been clearly resolved. The main question is how to achieve a fair and sustainable balance that not only gives the Shia majority its due but protects the interests of the Kurds, the Sunni Arabs and smaller groups such as the Turkmen and the Assyrians.
這過程有效地為該保守區域帶入更犀利的視角，但在伊斯蘭教國家和聯邦制這兩項關鍵的議題上沒有得到明確的解決。問題主要在於，如何達到一個公正且站得住腳的均衡，不僅給予多數什葉派應得權益，卻也保護庫德族和少數族群如土耳其人與亞述人的利益。
This is not just a matter of deciding how to apportion power between central government and the provinces. In the background there are fears for the continued existence of Iraq as a single state as well as arguments about the distribution of oil revenue.
不單是決定如何分配中央政府與各省之間權力而已。在這背景下，有著為了繼續保持伊拉克作為單一國家的憂懼，以及石油利益分配的爭議。
Finding a workable solution, as a report from the Carnegie Endowment noted last week, "would probably strike even a veteran Israeli-Palestinian negotiator as complicated and difficult".
就如卡內基國際和平基金會在上週一份報告中所提，要找出可行解決方案「可能也會讓老練的以阿談判專家想到複雜和困難這字眼」。
The other issue - which has particularly exercised secularists, US officials and human rights activists - is the extent to which Islamic law will be allowed to shape future Iraqi legislation.
另一個議題：允許伊斯蘭律法型塑伊拉克未來立法的程度，已讓政教分離主義者－美國官員和人權行動者感到特別擔憂。
Almost all Arab constitutions state that Islam is the official religion and that Islamic law is either "a source" or "the main source" of legislation. This keeps the religious conservatives happy but in practice - along with much else in Arab constitutions - the rule tends not to be followed very strictly.
幾乎所有阿拉伯國家的憲法都指明，伊斯蘭教是官方宗教，而伊斯蘭律法既是立法其一且主要的來源。這一直為宗教保守派所樂見，但實際上，還有其餘許多阿拉伯國家的憲法，不想要那麼嚴格地遵守這個尺度。
One real problem is the difficulties this causes in the field of human rights, and the international convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women is an example. With the exception of Qatar, all the main Arab countries have signed it. But most have also tabled reservations which in effect negate their signature, citing Islamic law as the excuse.
真正麻煩的是在人權領域所導致的難題，消滅歧視女性所有形式的國際條約便是一例；除了卡達，所有主要的阿拉伯國家都已簽署。但是大多國家都擱置這項保障，引用伊斯蘭律法作為藉口，實際上使其簽署無效。
In Iraq’s case, it is possible that different versions of Islamic law - Sunni and Shia - would be applied to different citizens, depending on their sect, with separate rules for the Christians. It is probably true that the majority of Iraqis would not be unduly troubled if that happened, but they ought to be.
以伊拉克而言，不同公民適用不同版本的伊斯蘭律法－遜尼派和什葉派，是有可能的，取決於居住的區段和此處基督徒不同的規定。如果發生這樣的事，有可能大多數的伊拉克人真的並不會過於憂慮；但他們是該憂心的。
A basic principle of democracy is that the people are sovereign and a system where their will can be overridden by clerical interpretations of a holy book - whether it be the Qur’an or the Bible - is essentially anti-democratic. Whatever happens between now and October,it is by no means certain that voters in a referendum will say yes. The rules effectively give the Sunni Arab and Kurdish minorities a veto (on a two-thirds "no" vote).
民主基本原則之一即主權在民，而神職人員對聖書的解讀可以凌越人民願望的這一個系統，實質上是反民主的，無論是可蘭經或是聖經。不論現在到十月之間發生了什麼事，還無法確定選民是否在公投投下贊成票。公投條例給予遜尼派阿拉伯人及佔少數的庫德族法律上否決權的效力（三分之二投反對票之下）。
That would send the process back, more or less, to square one. In a region where it is almost unheard of for people to vote no in a referendum, it would be a democratic first of sorts - but not what anyone is really looking for at the moment.
或多或少，這會退回到還算公正的進程 在一個幾乎沒聽說人民會投公投反對票的地區，這勉強算是民主之先；但這非人們在此刻真正所想追求的。
Of course, there is a positive side to all this. After decades of oppression, the Iraqis are finally and in a painfully cumbersome way beginning to work out their own destiny. On current form, though, there is little to suggest they will fulfil President Bush’s stated hope of creating a model democracy that would inspire the rest of the region
當然，這些都具正面意義。在被壓迫數個世紀後，伊拉克人終於以戮力負重的方式開始決定自己的命運。目前形勢之下，看不出他們將能實現布希總統所訴說，建立一個激勵其餘地區的民主典範的這個希望，
來源:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,3604,1549787,00.html
