ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi has established a committee to investigate the killing of more than a hundred people and the maiming of thousands more in nationwide protests last week.
Protests, which began in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on October 1 before spreading to other southern and central provinces, saw thousands of young men rally against unemployment, corruption, and the chronic lack of public services.
At least 108 people were killed and up to 6,000 injured in clashes between protesters and security forces.
Headed by Abdul-Mahdi, the Iraqi National Security Council met on Friday to discuss what went wrong.
Following the meeting, Abdul-Mahdi published a statement confirming a committee had been established consisting of ministers, members of parliament, representatives of Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights, and the judiciary council.
The committee aims to identify those who used live ammunition against unarmed protesters and attacked the offices of media channels in Baghdad, he said.
“The committee will investigate and transfer the accused officer to the court to face justice and get their deserved punishment,” Abdul-Mahdi said in the statement.
“Also it will reveal the ones who were behind the murdering of protesters, Iraqi security forces, and attacking media channels.”
Yehia Rasool, the defense ministry spokesman, tweeted further details about the committee.
“The committee will be consisted of Defense, Interior, Planning, and Justice Ministers alongside MPs and representatives from judicial council and Iraq’s High Commission for Human Rights,” Rasool said early Saturday.
Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq’s highest Shiite religious authority, issued a statement on Friday saying the Iraqi government is responsible for the deaths, even if rogue security elements were the ones pulling the trigger.
“The government and its security forces are responsible for the abundance of blood spilled in the protests of the last days, whether be it from innocent civilians or security forces tasked to deal with it, and it [the government] cannot escape from assuming this huge responsibility,” Sistani said in a Friday public sermon read by his representative Sheikh Abdulmahdi al-Karbalai.
If security forces use “excessive force,” the government is still “responsible” because these security members are undisciplined, disobey orders, and are unqualified to deal with mass protests, asserted Sistani.
“It [the government] is responsible when armed individuals outside the law, in front of security forces, target protesters and snipe them, and assault certain media outlets to strike fear in those who work there,” said the cleric.
Sistani demanded the government investigate the shootings and make public the names of officers who shot protesters or gave shoot-to-kill orders. These individuals must be brought to justice “within a limited period, like two weeks,” he added.
Holding to account those who opened fire on protesters will demonstrate the government’s seriousness “and its true intention in undertaking wide steps for real reform,” Sistani said.
On Friday, Abdul-Mahdi announced that his Supreme Anti-Corruption Council had referred the cases of nine former ministers and governors to stand trial.
On Monday, Iraq’s highest judicial authority, the Supreme Judicial Council, has said it would launch an investigation into those responsible for killing protesters.
At the height of the protests, the Iraqi government imposed curfews on city centers and cut internet services across the country’s south. However, the government claims it did not order the brutal repression of protesters, accusing armed groups of exploiting the unrest.
Since taking power in October 2018, Abdul-Mahdi has said his government’s priority is to clamp down on corruption. Critics say he has moved too slowly, however. The PM is under mounting pressure to deliver results and not just a few token scalps.
