As Iraq Forms New Government, Protesters Demand Justice
By: Nathan Matsko
An Iraqi female protester is walking next to burning tires & wearing an Islamic cloak. Anti-government protesters block the road partially with burning tires and blocks in Iraq. Photo by HASAN9. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
State College — Iraq’s new government is making several minor concessions in an attempt to appease participants of the nationwide anti-government protests, which have been revitalized in the past week.
Newly elected Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has ordered the release of any protestors imprisoned since the initial demonstrations began late last year. Al-Kadhimi is also planning to compensate families of the hundreds of protestors that have been killed.
Thousands of protestors, many under the age of thirty, began demonstrations in Iraq at the beginning of October last year. Activists cited corruption in government and the intervention of foreign powers as the main issues driving the protests, predominantly after the demotion of famed General Abdul-Wahab Al-Saadi, who was deemed a hero in the fight against the Islamic State. Protests enveloped the entire country and grew more intense over time, demands shifting to the removal of the government entirely. Then Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi eventually stepped down in November, though anti-government protests continued as politicians scrambled to form a government. After the assassination of Qassem Soleimani in January, tensions once again escalated.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic has limited further demonstrations, sentiments no doubt remained, as Al-Kadhimi and his new government were immediately met by intense protests across the country. Despite a number of concessions made just as the government is coming together, demonstrators are not satisfied. Many are demanding that those responsible for the countless deaths across the country during the protests be brought to justice.
Protests were met with a brutal response by police from the onset, with water cannons and live-fire becoming commonplace. It is estimated that some 700 demonstrators and security officials have been killed.
Police were not the only ones responsible for violence against protestors. Iranian-backed militias have been accused of carrying out intimidation, violence, and even murder against prominent activists. In one of many cases, two notable leaders of the movement were intimidated prior to the explosion of public protests by a Shi’a militia, who forced them to name other activists and prompted them to flee for Turkey. Before they had a chance to leave, the two were killed in their home in Basra, just as the central protests began. Though no arrest has been made, it is a widely held belief that the same militia which threatened them carried out their execution.
Various Shi’a militias became an official part of Iraq’s armed forces after their actions against ISIS. This place of prominence gives credence to many protesters who claim that Iran is influencing Iraq’s political landscape.
Prime Minister Al-Kadhimi has made moves to address these claims, including the reinstatement of anti-Iran General Al-Saadi. Additionally, after protesters were shot outside of a prominent Shi’a militia’s headquarters in Basra, Al-Kadhimi sent the police to raid the compound, making numerous arrests and confiscating several weapons.
While protesters continue to demonstrate against the political elite, Al-Kadhimi seems to be extending an olive branch by taking issues surrounding the protests seriously. Though not every demand has been addressed yet, activists in Iraq are gaining influence as officials seek to put out the flames of revolution before they burn out of control.