Iraqi Youth Demands For A New Democratic Future Must Be Met With Dialogue Not Guns
NOVACT Over the last weeks, unprecedented massive demonstrations erupted in Baghdad and other central and southern Iraqi cities. The protestors, majority are marginalized youth and women, demands a wider spectrum of issues, including economic reform and employment, reliable public services, prudent and impartial governance, an end to corruption, credible elections and reform of the political […]
Iraqi Protests Again… A Peaceful Call for Basic Human Rights is Met with Violence
Ahmed Alaa. A civil activist from Iraq Ehab Hussein, 24 years old, experienced his first protest in early October 2019. He is an unemployed graduate of the Department of Chemistry Education, where he should have been a chemistry teacher. Instead, he became a street vendor. He and his brother support their family of seven through […]
Iraqi Human Rights Defenders: Challenges They Face and Support They Need
The Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI) Overview Since the beginning of October 2019, there have been widespread nonviolent protests against the authorities in cities across the nation. Many Iraqis have participated and authorities have responded with violence. In this report we focus on the experiences of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs). By HRDs, we mean […]
Shiite Protesters Get Broad Backing Throughout Iraq
ِAl-Monitor – Saad Salloum The crowd in Baghdad’s Mohammed al-Qasim Street on Oct. 31 was not caused solely by a street vendor selling Iraqi flags for 1,000 dinars (less than $1). The street, the longest highway that wraps around the perimeter of Baghdad, had never seen so many flags flying from the windows of every passing car, in a show […]
Security Forces Attack Medics Treating Protesters
Human Rights Watch Fire Teargas, Live Ammunition; Destroy Medical Tents (Beirut) – Iraqi security forces have attacked medical workers for treating protesters since protests began on October 25, 2019, firing on medical workers, tents, and ambulances with teargas and live ammunition, Human Rights Watch said today. The attacks have left at least one medic dead. “Medics have […]
AlHurra Mushriq Abbass It is clear that the political forces and the armed militias that control the decisions of Iraqi officials have chosen categorically not to look at any of the data emerging from the Iraqi protests, and will not consider productive options about how to deal with them. Instead they have chosen the easy […]
Turkey’s Other Weapon Against the Kurds: Water
By Alexandra Marvar – The Nation, 11 November 2019 In times of conflict, war, and climate change, hydropower is state power Since the early 2000s, a massive hydropower project in southeastern Turkey has been mired in controversy, moving forward in fits and starts. But as of this past July, construction is finally complete. As the […]
Civil Society Groups Meet in Erbil to Identify Solutions and Recommendations for the Crisis in Iraq
Civil society organizations condemn the repression of peaceful protesters and call for authorities to respect freedom of opinion and expression. 32 civil organizations representing all Iraqi provinces held a meeting in Erbil as part of the project, ‘Middle East Forum 2019 – End Wars and Create Peace’. Organized by the Middle East Research Institute (MERI) […]
A National Initiative By Civil Society to Support the Nonviolent October Uprising in Iraq
In order to defend and sustain human rights, public freedoms and the national, economic, social and cultural interests of all Iraqis, whatever their religious, ethnic, or political affiliation, we, members of trade unions, professional and labor unions and Iraqi civil society organizations, announce here a national initiative to support the nonviolent October uprising which has led to […]
By Mina Al-Oraibi – The New York Times Protests and the violent response of the government have shredded the myth of state-sponsored sectarianism as the organizing principle for political power. The persistence and magnitude of protests in Iraq since early October and the brutality of Iraqi government forces and militias seeking to crush them have shaken […]
Mounting Toll in Iraq Protests as Internet Cut Again
Baghdad (AFP) | November 5, 2019 A mounting death toll in Baghdad and across southern Iraq coupled with reimposed internet restrictions sparked concerns on Tuesday that anti-government protests would once again trigger chaos. A first wave of protests that erupted on October 1 met with brutal violence, with at least 157 people killed over six […]
Human Rights Violations Ongoing: UN Second Special Report on Protests in Iraq
UNAMI – Baghdad, 5 November 2019 UNAMI has found that serious human rights violations and abuses continued to occur during the second wave of demonstrations that started in Iraq on 25 October. A second report, prepared by the UNAMI Human Rights Office, was published today. It follows an earlier special report which covered the 1-9 […]