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Iraq
Iraqi protesters hold hands as a sign of unity after taking part in collective prayers during ongoing anti-government demonstrations in the central holy shrine city of Najaf on November 10, 2019. Photo: AFP / Haidar Hamdani
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Resolution of ongoing protests in central and southern Iraq cannot be achieved through a security solution, Iraq’s three presidencies and its judiciary chief asserted in a joint meeting on Sunday - despite security forces continuing their crackdown to bring an end to the protests.
“The attendees affirmed the immutable stance to reject and shun any security solution for peaceful protesting, and holding any confrontation that depends on excessive force strongly accountable,” the joint statement following Sunday’s meeting between the President, Prime Minister, parliament speaker and Supreme Judiciary Council chief read.
The protests are “inevitable” and necessary for the reform of service provision “in a manner that Iraq deserves,” the statement added.
However, the statement’s rejection of violence and claims to hold its perpetrators accountable rings hollow as security forces forcefully retake protest sites, causing the protester death toll to climb.
According to the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, 319 protesters and security forces members have died since protests began almost six weeks ago.
Iraqis took to the streets to demand an end to corruption, nepotism, and unemployment, among other issues gripping the oil resource-rich country. They were met with deadly force, including the fire of live ammunition rounds and tear gas. Protests paused on October 8 as the Shiite religious pilgrimage of Arbaeen approached.
A second wave of protests began on October 25. In response to the violence enacted during the first wave of demonstrations, protesters upped the ante and demanded the overthrow of the government, a change of Iraq’s system to a presidential one, and the amendment of the 2005 constitution, among other demands.
The second wave of protests have been marked by the fire of heavy, military-grade tear gas canisters directly at protesters, a number of whom have died as a result of the skull injuries incurred.
Iraqi forces have already evicted protesters from the al-Sinak, al-Shuhada, and al-Ahrar bridges that lead to Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, where embassies and government offices are located.
Protesters maintain control of the central Tahrir Square, the prominent “Uhud Mountain” building overlooking it - otherwise known as the Turkish Restaurant - and a section of the Jumhuriya Bridge leading off of Tahrir. They fear being encircled and forcefully pushed out of the protest zones by security forces.
Also feeding protester fear is the killing and disappearances of prominent protesters and government critics, who it is widely believed are being deliberately targeted.
On Saturday, international bodybuilding champion Mushtaq al-Izzawi was hospitalized after being shot three times in his own car.
Civil activist and Rudaw Arabic columnist Amjad al-Dahmat was assassinated on November 6 in the southern Iraqi province of Maysan. He was a prominent figure in the protest movement in the province.
Dahmat’s death was preceded by the killing of Iraqi caricaturist Hussein Adil and his wife Sara in their home in the southern city of Basra in October.
Prominent activist Saba al-Mahdawi, kidnapped by masked men on her way home from a protest earlier this month, is still missing.
As signs reading “Don’t cross the bridge. Your life is precious” hung in Tahrir Square, protesters speaking to Rudaw on Sunday remained defiant.
“No demands have been met. All of their [politicians] promises are lies. We die so that the country lives. No going back before victory,” one protester told Rudaw.
“Today on Sinak Bridge, there was direct shooting at protesters. I am a witness to this,” they continued, claiming that even the army and federal police were being shot at.
“Yes. The protesting will help us get all of our demands met. Allah willing, all of our demands will be met. We will not retreat from the Tahrir Square. We would die and still not retreat,” another protester said.
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