The Washington Post: He pledged to deliver justice ... Will Al-Kazemi win the battle against the protesters' killers?

The head of the intelligence service at the time, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, attended the funeral without prior notice, and most astonished by his arrival was the sad father Ali Al-Mukhtar, who walked slowly in the funeral hall and received the death certificate of his middle son Muhammad saying, "It should be written here," referring to the cause of death that was not written on the paper, "You have to tell everyone what happened."

Writers Louisa Lovelock and Mustafa Selim said in a report published in the Washington Post that all those present that night were unaware that Al-Kazemi would soon - and unexpectedly - become the prime minister of Iraq.

His response to the father's request will reveal that he is a leader bent on pushing Iraq on a new path, but that he often faces violent forces bent on disrupting him.

Mohammed, 20, is one of more than 500 Iraqis shot dead by security forces and militias during anti-government protests last year.

As head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, Al-Kazemi particularly supported the protesters' demands to form a new government free from corruption, sectarian influences, and foreign domination.

But as the country's new leader, his efforts to achieve justice for their deaths and advance their revolutionary agenda run counter to the interests that have been the backbone of the political system in Iraq since the overthrow of late President Saddam Hussein in 2003.

According to some relatives who attended the funeral, Al-Kazemi put his hand on his chest in response to the grieving father’s plea and his promise that the killers would be held accountable, then told him that “Muhammad’s blood will not be in vain.”

Since becoming prime minister last May, Al-Kazemi has pledged to open an investigation into Iraqi youths who were killed in the protest squares.

The authors reported that many Iraqis are wondering whether Al-Kazemi would dare to name those who issued the orders, and whether he would succeed in punishing the Iranian-backed state militias.

But as soon as Al-Kazemi's intentions became clear, one of those armed groups assassinated a prominent researcher who was among his closest associates, Hisham Al-Hashemi, a clear warning directed at the Prime Minister.

I Kazemi while offering condolences to the family of an activist (Reuters)

Save the country

Protester Muhammad was for the first time eager to realize a dream, as were two other young men who died with him on that gloomy day in February.

None of them knew each other and were from different backgrounds and religions, but their individual stories were woven from a common history.

Muhammad was born into a wealthy Shiite family, and planned to graduate from college to become a computer engineer, but his career faltered because getting a government job required paying a huge bribe, while the private sector was suffering from a deficit.

As for the demonstrator, Alaa Al-Shammari, he grew up on the other marginalized side of the country, and he was the son of a Shiite family that had long struggled to make ends meet.

Alaa was born on the outskirts of Sadr City, east of Baghdad, which is home to hundreds of thousands of families who fled southern Iraq in search of a better life in the capital.

But roads collapsed and electricity was cut off, and American soldiers fought fierce battles in that area, and during the sectarian violence that the country witnessed, explosions left body parts on the streets.

Ramon Ryan, a 16-year-old still in his teens, had faith in his life.

There were 1.4 million Christians in Iraq, but two-thirds of them are believed to have fled the country.

Ramon was born in the northern city of Mosul, and his family had to move several times due to the wars.

In 2009, Al Qaeda kidnapped his father, and they only released him after the family sold what they had to collect the ransom money.

Then in 2014, Christians fled in terror after the rise of the Islamic State, and when the Ramon family arrived in Baghdad, they had little money left.

Ramon did not tell his parents where he was going that morning in February and he left home for the last time.

Iraqi protesters during a previous demonstration in Tahrir Square in Baghdad (Reuters)

We want a home

As Ramon was making his way towards central Baghdad on February 25, Muhammad was in his apartment near the airport as well preparing to join the protests, his family members say.

Ali once asked his son Muhammad if it was worth the risk, while hundreds of people have already been killed in the protests, and Muhammad’s answer was as follows: “What I am doing is not just for me, but for all of us. We need a homeland.”

In their recounting of events, the protesters recounted the details of the tension between them and the policemen who threw tear gas bombs and opened fire, killing Alaa instantly, and Muhammad sustained a fracture at the level of his skull, which caused him internal bleeding.

Near him, Ramon's slender body was pierced by shrapnel.

According to Amnesty International, Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and smoke bombs that were ten times stronger than those usually used to disperse the demonstrations, and several protesters were shot directly.

Muhammad passed away on the night of February 25.

On the death certificate, doctors at the Baghdad morgue wrote "pending" under the cause of death.

Muhammad's family said that they called the morgue several times to follow up on the case, but their calls were not answered.

"No one in this country dares to accuse the police or call them criminals," said Mohamed's father.

A week after the killings, the Ramon family, who lives in the Karrada neighborhood, visited a guest who told them that he had witnessed his killing, and that the young man had been killed by another member of the riot police.

He pledged to present a signed statement identifying the alleged killer, but they felt helpless because they had no opportunity to hold the perpetrator accountable, and only the Prime Minister could have the powers to do so.

When he was head of intelligence, Al-Kazemi boycotted sessions of the Iraqi National Security Council when violence against protesters reached its peak late last year.

Some politicians said that he "would have resigned at that time, but was pressured to reverse his decision, and he thought that killing protesters was wrong."

When the death toll reached 350, then Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi resigned.

Political parties in Iraq, which include several paramilitary groups, have demanded the appointment of a prime minister after Abdul Mahdi stepped down from office.

And last May, after other candidates had failed to win enough support, the parties chose Al-Kazemi to take the position.

Iraqi authorities talk about 561 people killed in the protests (Anatolia)

Prepare for battle

About 10 months after the start of the protests, Hisham Daoud, an advisor to Al-Kazemi, told reporters that the first phase of the investigation had been completed, announcing that 561 people had been killed, most of them youths who were in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad.

The government classified the victims as "martyrs," giving everyone's family the right to receive approximately $ 8,400 to cover funeral expenses, burials, etc.

Daoud said that the investigation may see the killers prosecuted.

Skeptical journalists asked Al-Kazemi's advisor if officials would dare to investigate the pro-Iranian factions responsible for some of the biggest violations, replying seriously, "We don't want to continue establishing committees. There is a famous saying in Iraq that if you want to bury a case, create a committee."

The two writers indicated that the groups accused of shooting the demonstrators are now preparing to fight a battle against Al-Kazemi.

While he was appointing his allies at the head of the Iraqi security forces and clamping down on militia revenues, the pro-Iranian groups were accused almost daily of defying the prime minister by launching missile attacks on US targets and interests.

The assassination of the researcher, Hisham Al-Hashemi, last July, who is close to the government, as a threatening message.

Although an investigation committee has been formed into his assassination, no results have yet been announced.

The two writers reported that Al-Kazemi's political partners have disappeared from the arena, with some wondering who will be next among them.

One of Al-Kazemi's advisors stated frankly that he wanted justice, but his hands were tied.

Little did he know that the reaction would be that difficult.

Meanwhile, the killing of protesters began again, this time in the southern city of Basra.

As in Baghdad, the dead were citizens who were demanding a better Iraq.

Activists point the finger at the pro-Iranian militias.

One of the demonstrators, a young man who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety, said that "without prosecutions, the lives of our Iraqi youths do not mean anything."

For many family members of Baghdad victims, the investigations conducted to date appear too little and too late.

For his part, Ramon's father was urging the youth to support Al-Kazemi, as he considered it premature to despair of justice or even to the dawn of a new dawn for Iraq.

On his visits to Tahrir Square, where the protesters were still continuing their protest movement, Ramon's father was trying to convince them that the prime minister needed time to make substantial progress.