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The violent repression in Iraq has considerably weakened popular mobilization. Tahrir Square, epicenter of anti-government demonstrations in Baghdad, now offers two faces: it is almost empty during the day but at night, the more adventurous make their voices heard.
With our special envoys in Baghdad, Sami Boukhelifa and Boris Vichith
It is noon in Tahrir Square, and only about fifty students are still demonstrating. Iraqi flag on the shoulders, Malek Hussein, future engineer, seems determined to continue the mobilization. " Because of the repression, people have abandoned the fight. We are also under pressure. National security agents threatened us. They came to college and even abused us. They told us: the protests are over! But their threats will not stop me. "
In the evening, reinforcements arrive and the crowd grows. Zeidoune is also a student. But he chose to demonstrate after classes only. " Of course there are fewer people on the streets. We were threatened. They told us: if you do not come back to college you will be excluded. And they told the officials who were protesting that they might be fired. We do not have a choice. He has spent the past few weeks collecting automatic weapon casings and tear gas cartridges, and hopes that this evidence will be used by potential UN investigators.
On the television the authorities say that riot police only use blanks, that's wrong! Every day, there are dead and wounded.
Testimony of Zeidoune, a young Iraqi protester from Tahrir Square 12/11/2019 - by Sami Boukhelifa Play
At the end of the day, the firing of tear gas resumed and with them, the ballet of the ambulances carrying the wounded.
Popular mobilization weakened by repression
The irreducible people of Tahrir Square denounce a " rogue " state, adept at targeted threats and intimidation, kidnappings of activists and representatives of civil society. They accuse the authorities of acting in the shadows via the security services. " They come to see you at home and threaten your family, " says a student, who says many of his comrades are missing.
But if the power has managed to break this popular movement, it is also thanks to the successive tough interventions of the police . Live ammunition, tear gas and stun grenades contributed to a climate of terror. Several deaths in recent days, even more in recent weeks: a wave of panic has seized the street.
For the moment, the political power remains silent. The challenged leaders are still in place. Nothing has changed in more than 40 days of popular mobilization in Iraq, an unprecedented movement by its spontaneity.
►Also read: In Iraq, the center of Baghdad takes on the appearance of a battlefield