Iraq
Iraqi protesters wear masks to protect themselves from tear gas as they take part in an anti-goverment demonstration in the southern city of Basra on November 8, 2019.Photo: Hussein Faleh/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Rights Group Amnesty International has called on Iraqi authorities to “immediately rein in” security forces amid the continued killing of protesters across the country.
More than six people were killed in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on Saturday, the rights group said in a Saturday statement after speaking with eyewitnesses in the capital. Medical equipment lay in ruins and treatment tents lit up in flames as four protesters were shot dead with live ammunition.
Two more were killed by tear gas canisters launched at the crowds.
Despite the ongoing risk of death and injury, people continue to take to the streets in demonstrations which have now entered their second month.
Protesters in Baghdad and across the south of the country have taken to the streets in two waves since October 1. Protests recommenced with vigour following a brief hiatus for the Shiite religious commemoration of Arbaeen on October 8, and what began as a calls for an end to corruption and better employment opportunities have now evolved into demands for constitutional reform and the overthrow of the government.
Baghdad’s Tahrir Square and the southern port city of Basra have emerged as major hotspots for violence against protesters as they struggle for control of strategic locations, including several bridges leading to Baghdad’s Green Zone. The repeated closure of Basra’s Umm Qasr port has dealt a severe blow to the Iraqi economy, estimated up to $6 billion.
Nearly 260 protesters have been killed and 10,000 more injured since protests began, according to official numbers.
Numerous foreign leaders and representatives have slammed the use of lethal force against Iraqis since October 1.
The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Morgherini, described the excessive use of force as “deplorable” in a statement released last week.
The US and France levelled criticism at the Iraqi government, with a French foreign ministry spokeswoman calling on Iraqi authorities to “uncover the circumstances that led to the violence.”
US Ambassador to Iraq Matthew H.Tueller recently denounced the intimidation and targeting of demonstrators, adding that the US has repeatedly asked the Iraqi government to adhere to international human rights norms.
In a panel discussion hosted by the Middle East Research Institute (MERI) last week, Ambassador Tueller described the rising death toll as “unacceptable” and seemed to accuse the government of intimidating protesters.
“I do sense there are some activities going on that aren’t under the full control of the government or anybody else but some protest leaders, figures, activists who are disappearing are receiving intimidation, extortion,” he told a crowd in Erbil last Wednesday.
Videos circulating on social media this weekend depicted gruesome scenes of canisters lodged in the skulls of protesters, an alarming trend which has only grown as security forces continue to target Iraqis gathering across the country. Amnesty reported at least nine other cases of similar deaths in little more than two weeks.
Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa Director Heba Morayef labelled the protests a “bloodbath” and urged the government to uphold its duty to protect its citizens.
“The government of Iraq has a duty to protests its people’s right to life, as well as to gather and express their views. This bloodbath must stop now, and those responsible for it must be brought to justice”, she said.
Morayef also slammed the empty words of the Iraqi government in response to the protests, adding that “all government promises of reforms of investigations ring hollow” while the killing of protesters continues.
Described by one protester as a “psychological war”, those who take to the streets run the risk of abduction, intimidation and violence, AFP has reported.
Among those targeted are medical staff and students treating the wounded. 24 year-old Saba el Mahdawi, a volunteer medic and activist has not been since November 2, when she was reportedly abducted by masked men on her way home.
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