Women’s equality and ban on slavery absent from Egyptian constitution. But don’t insult the prophet

I guess Obama and Bill Kristol along with everyone else that thought we should support the removal of Hosni Mubarak should be very happy. After all, the Egyptians got to vote and that means Democracy will flourish, right?

CBS NEWS – The fledgling Egyptian democracy just got its first draft constitution, but a lot of Egyptians aren’t happy about it. It is the work of religiously conservative supporters of President Mohammed Morsi. Protesters had already filled the streets of Cairo, angry because Morsi had granted himself near absolute powers last week. They fear that the new constitution will take away many of their rights.

The assembly that wrote the draft constitution is dominated by President Mubarak’s Islamist allies. So on the one hand, it gives Islamic law a bigger role in government. But on the other hand, a clause that specifically guaranteed equality for women was removed.

On Friday, CBS News spoke with an Egyptian blogger who said she’s worried that this draft constitution could be used to violate her rights.

“You take your salary from my taxes,” said the blogger. “You have no right to tell me to live my life, how to dress, how to talk. You have no right to put me in jail because I’m expressing my opinion on the Internet or in the streets. And this is what they did in the constitution.”

They’ve also failed to ban slavery outright in the Egyptian constitution. According to the BBC the current draft constitution says:

“Enforced employment, slavery and sex trade are deemed acts punishable by law.”

I guess, that is, if they feel like punishing someone for slavery or the sex trade. The AP (via Jihad Watch) says that an outright ban was omitted:

Omissions of certain articles, such as bans on slavery or promises to adhere to international rights treaties, were equally worrying to critics of the new draft, who pulled out from the panel before the vote.

Oh, and lest we forget, the BBC also points out that the Egyptian constitution does ban insulting Muhammad:

“Insulting prophets and messengers is forbidden”

Well, a ban on insulting Muhammad should make Obama happy. In fact, I guess this whole constitution makes Obama happy because apparently he’s been completely silent on the matter.

Also be sure and check out this article on Jihad Watch as it lays out why this draft constitution will likely result in Sharia law.


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