Iraq: several arrests after the death of a protester in Basra

The body of the young protester killed by militiamen on Sunday in Basra carried by relatives, May 11, 2020. REUTERS

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The new Iraqi Prime Minister had promised to end the violence against the demonstrators. And Moustafa al-Kazimi seems to decide to enforce his commitments. Five militiamen linked to a political party were arrested after the death of a protester in Basra, in the south of the country. They are accused of having opened fire on the crowd.

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In the oil city of Basra as in other Iraqi cities, protests broke out again on Sunday despite the change of government. Despite promises of reform, some are trying to relaunch the "October revolt". In Basra, the situation escalated on Sunday evening when protesters demanding a complete renewal of the political system and its men approached the headquarters of a small local party. Gunmen shot at them, a young man died.

Last year, nearly 600 demonstrators were killed in similar circumstances, by militias linked to political parties which intend to make their law. And without the perpetrators of these murders being prosecuted. But this time, the new government of Mustafa al-Kazimi , appointed last week, seems to have wanted to stand out from its predecessors. Security forces announced on Monday that they had arrested five members of a small party.

►Listen to: New government in Iraq: "Mustafa al-Kazimi is a relatively modern and moderate figure"

"  Each time, there is live ammunition to disperse the demonstrators. And once again in Basra, these shootings have claimed victims,  "laments Mahdi al-Tamimi, director of the High Commission for Human Rights in Basra, who hopes that the new executive will finally put an end to impunity political parties and their armed wing, challenged by the Iraqi street.

"We hope for real change. " 

"  Today, with this new government in power, we really hope for change," he explains. The issue of human rights must be the priority of Prime Minister Moustafa al-Kazimi. The protesters' (socio-economic) demands are more than legitimate. So the question we have to ask ourselves is: why are our young people still on the street? Why they have been demonstrating for years. Here in Basra, the protest movement even dates back to 2010. So if the new government really wants to show that it has heard the people, it must also release the protesters who are imprisoned. Then, justice must do its job and identify and prosecute these militiamen who shoot the crowd. It is imperative that the government respond quickly to all popular demands.  " 

Mustafa al-Kazimi, the former chief of intelligence - one of the few branches of the security apparatus which was not implicated in the repression -, has multiplied the announcements promising freedom to the detained demonstrators, of compensation for the families and a ban on law enforcement to shoot demonstrators.

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  • Iraq
  • Human rights

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