ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A popular Iraqi activist and journalist takes to Twitter on July 7 to criticize a militia umbrella group, a faction of which is suspected to be responsible for the assassination of widely respected security expert Husham al-Hashimi.
One response was particularly chilling. “Calm down and shut up, or I will scratch you, same as Husham,” came a message from an account named Hussein Muhsin, an Iran-backed militia supporter.
Hashimi, a security advisor to the Iraqi government, was shot multiple times at close range outside his home in eastern Baghdad last Monday. The perpetrators are still at large, but blame has mostly been squared at the Iran-backed armed militias – particularly Kataib Hezbollah, a Tehran-backed Iraqi militia falling under the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, known in Arabic as Hashd al-Shaabi) umbrella. Hashimi had received death threats from hardline PMF factions soon before his death, his associates said.
Omar al-Janabi, author of the initial tweet and friend of Hashimi, told Rudaw English on Wednesday that the analyst’s assassination has struck fear in already wary journalists and activists speaking out against the militias.
“The intention of his assassination was undoubtedly to silence his voice and send a clear, frank message to everyone who speaks negatively about Iraq’s armed militias,” Janabi said in a written message to Rudaw English. “Criticize them, and face the same fate.”
“Every anti-militia activist and journalist in Iraq lives in more fear after the assassination of Husham, and they are even more wary of being killed or assassinated like Husham was.”
Janabi said he has received multiple death threats on Twitter from both named and anonymous supporters of Iran-backed militias for voicing criticism of armed groups he describes as “outlaws”.
‘Campaign of intimidation’
Aside from his unrivaled knowledge of the Islamic State (ISIS), Hashimi was an expert on – and vocal critic of – PMF factions still not under the authority of Iraqi premier and armed force commander-in-chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
The PMF was established in 2014 following a fatwa – a religious call to action – from Iraq’s highest Shiite religious authority, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to fight ISIS.
However, several pro-Iran militias – established to fight the US occupation beginning in 2003, then insurgent Sunni groups during the ensuing civil war – joined the PMF, many of them becoming proxies for Iran’s political and military interests in Iraq.
Some of these factions are thought to be responsible for the killing or kidnap of anti-establishment protesters, who began taking to the streets en masse in October. A December report from Human Rights Watch identified them as “unidentified militias”.
Journalists and activists too have been caught in the crosshairs of these armed groups over the course of the ongoing protests, which have seen over 600 people killed.
Prominent Iraqi journalist Ahmed Abdul Samad and his cameraman Safaa al-Ghali were killed in Basra while covering protests for Dijlah TV in January. Samad, who had been covering the protests since they began, posted a video criticizing Iran’s role in Iraqi politics, shortly before he was found dead in his car with a gunshot wound to the head.
Fahim al-Taie, an activist from Karbala, was killed outside his home in December by unknown gunmen riding a motorcycle. Several other activists nationwide, including women, have been assassinated or have survived attempts on their life.
By March 17, at least 53 assassination attempts on protesters and aligned activists had been recorded, with 22 killed, Ali al-Bayati, commissioner of Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR), a government-funded body documenting abuses told Rudaw English on Wednesday. Of 75 people kidnapped, only 25 have been released to date, the fate of the remaining majority unknown.
Most of the slain activists and journalists had criticized Iran’s influence in Iraq, including the deadly role played by Tehran-backed militias.
Raz Salayi, Iraq researcher for Amnesty International, linked up the deaths as a “campaign of intimidation”, “carried out by several actors in Baghdad and other governorates, including security forces, members of the PMU [PMF], as well as ‘unknown armed men’.”
“It is the role and duty of the Iraqi authorities to reveal who is behind this campaign and hold them accountable,” Salayi told Rudaw English.
‘Real and early test’ for Kadhimi
For Salih al-Hamdani, a famous Iraqi writer and activist with a focus on Shiite politics, Hashimi’s assassination was meant to strike fear not just in activists and journalists, but the political elite too - describing Hashimi’s assassination as a “real and early test” for Kadhimi and his cabinet.
“Husham’s assassination intended to limit freedom of expression, and send a message to Iraqi Prime Minister,” Hamdani told Rudaw English of the murder of his friend. “The aim is to strike fear in us.”
Kadhimi was still at the helm of Iraq’s intelligence service in January, when senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed by a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport. Iran-backed PMF militias including Harakat al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah accuse Kadhimi of facilitating their killings, but have yet to substantiate their accusations.
Iran-backed militias have opposed Kadhimi’s tenure since it began, despite his statements hailing the PMF as a "force of the homeland". Opposition reached new heights when Kadhimi ordered units of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (ICTS) to raid a Kataib Hezbollah base in Baghdad late last month, with 14 of the group’s fighters arrested, including commanders.
The raid came after a two-month flurry of rocket attacks on American military and diplomatic targets, including Baghdad’s Green Zone – home to embassies for the US and other Western countries – and areas close to Baghdad International Airport, which hosts US troops and diplomatic staff.
In protest of their detention, fighters and supporters of Kataib Hezbollah and other PMF groups gathered with their military vehicles in front of the ICTS headquarters in Baghdad following the raid, protesting the detention of their fellow fighters.
Just three days after the raid, all but one fighter was released, and photos circulated on social media showed released militia members stepping on posters of Kadhimi while waving Iraqi flags; other photos showed fighters burning the flags of the US and Israel.
Following the raid, Kataib Hezbollah spokesperson Abu Ali al-Askari issued a scathing attack on Kadhimi, for what he claimed was performance of the bidding of “his American master’s orders”. Kadhimi “implemented another plan of theirs in Iraq, after he was involved in the assassination of the two martyrs [Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis],” Askari said via Telegram.
Avoiding 'Husham's fate'
An activist and journalist spoken to by Rudaw English refused to be named for security reasons, afraid his criticisms of Iran-backed militias might have made him next on a list of targets.
“I’ve received many death threats due to my stance and I’m trying to avoid Husham’s fate, so I refuse to be named,” the anonymous activist and journalist told Rudaw English on Wednesday in a text message. “They want to kill me.”
He believes Hashimi was the least guarded figure in Kadhimi’s team, making him the most vulnerable to militia attack.
“The assassination of Husham was a clear message to Kadhimi, that the [Iran-backed] militias can easily reach his team,” the activist said.
Kadhimi must ensure an end to rounds of assassination, he said – “Husham’s assassination was not the first, but it should be the last” – but he holds out little hope, criticizing the premier and his cabinet’s failure to have identified and name those who have killed Iraqi protesters both during and prior to his tenure as prime minister.
“We doubt the perpetrators of Husham’s assassination will be detained,” he said.
In a statement condemning Hashimi’s assassination, Kadhimi vowed “to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice…we will not stop chasing the criminals, and we will use all of our efforts to return the control of weapons to the state…no power is above the power of the rule of law.”
“The fact that this has gone on for so long can only lead to lack of faith in the authorities,” Amnesty researcher Salayi said of the continued campaign against the outspoken.
“We know activists and journalists will continue to exercise their freedoms of speech and peaceful assembly, but they must be given the guarantee that they can do this without risking life and limb.”
