Twelve Iraqi protesters killed in two days: human rights commission

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Twelve protesters have been killed and hundreds more injured since Iraqi security forces initiated their crackdown on Iraqi protesters on Saturday, Iraq’s High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) has announced.

“The Commission expresses its regret and deep worry over the events that occurred that led to the death of martyrs and injured among protesters and security forces, which constitutes a flagrant violation of human rights,” IHCHR said in a Sunday statement.

Nine of the 12 were killed in Baghdad, while three were killed in the southern province of Dhi Qar. IHCHR also reported the injury of 230 protesters and security force members, and the detention of 89 protesters in Baghdad and Basra.

Iraqis have been on the streets since October 1 of last year, demanding early elections, an overhaul of the political system, and the ousting of the post-2003 ruling class.

More than 600 people have been killed and around 18,000 injured in clashes between protesters, security forces, and pro-Iran militias according to Amnesty International.

Influential Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr withdrew his once strong support for the protest movement on Friday, calling on his supporters to leave the ground zero of the protests, Baghdad’s Tahrir Square – a move that effectively greenlighted a security force attack on protesters.

Security forces began a deadly crackdown on Saturday to clear protesters from key locations across Iraq, including major sites of protest in Baghdad.

Violence continued into Sunday, as security forces fired at protesters to deter their return to public squares. Five people were killed around Baghdad’s Wathba Square alone, according to Hunar Ahmed, Rudaw’s reporter at the scene.

On Sunday afternoon, security forces fired at protesters in and around Wathba Square; however, protesters pressed forward in an attempt to retake the square whenever rounds of fire ended, according to Ahmed. Protesters have tried to retake Wathba thirty times, Ahmed said.

“We keep saying that ‘You [politicians] all will go away eventually’. How long will you rule? 50 years?” one protester said. “We are not afraid of them. Let them do what they want.”

Protesters who spoke to Rudaw called on the UN, the US, and the country’s highest religious authority, Ayatollah Sistani to step in “because things can’t continue like this”.

Reporting from between Khilani and Tahrir Square, Rudaw’s Mustafah Goran said security forces fired live rounds, rubber bullets and tear gas, causing protesters to withdraw temporarily.

“We have told them we will not leave this area,” one young protester told Rudaw.

“We are a peaceful people. We are only carrying the Iraqi flag,” said another.

Protesters remain camped out in Tahrir Square, where the protests first began.

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