ERBIL, Kurdistan region — The High Commission for Human Rights in Iraq (IHCHR) said on Thursday that 76 activists and protestors have gone missing since the start of the October (Tishreen) demonstrations in 2019 and the majority of them have since been located. Commission member Fadel al-Gharawi told Rudaw English 58 of those who went missing have been found. In some cases they were returned to their homes, and in others they were found to be detained by police. Investigation is still underway to determine the whereabouts of the remaining missing persons. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) documented 48 incidents of attempted or targeted killings of protestors and critics between October 1, 2019 and May 15, 2021. At least 32 people were killed and 21 were injured as a result of assassinations during this period, while 20 protestors who were abducted by militias remain missing. Iranian backed militias, including factions of the Popular Mobilization forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi) are widely blamed. There have been 81 attempted assassinations of activists since anti-government protests began in October 2019, according to Ali al-Bayati, a member of the Iraqi High Commission of Human Rights. Thirty-four activists have been killed. Since the emergence of the protest movement in October 2019, at least 600 protesters and members of the security forces have been killed and more than 18,000 injured, Amnesty International said in January 2020. UNAMI revealed on Sunday that more than 1,000 court cases relating to violence against Iraqi protesters were closed, many seemingly due to threats against victims' families, prolonging impunity for the “unknown perpetrators.”
