ONE YEAR OF PROTESTS.
AT LEAST 600 DEATHS.
LITTLE CHANGE IN IRAQ.

Families of killed and wounded Iraqi protesters still waiting for justice

The government has promised a thorough investigation into the excessive use of force during protests that began last year, writes Sinan Mahmoud in Baghdad

Layla Abbas Hussein says a year has passed since the killing of her son, Mohammed, and there is still no clue about the killers. Haider Husseini for The National

For Layla Abbas Hussein, getting justice for her slain son seems a distant dream.

Mohammed Habib Abbas was the first demonstrator to fall in Iraq’s unprecedented pro-reforms protest movement. A tear gas canister fired by security forces lodged in his right shoulder and he bled to death.

“He was only holding the Iraqi flag and chanting ‘we want a country’ along with others,” Ms Hussein, 51, tells The National before bursting into tears.

“A year has passed now and there is no clue that could lead us to the killer, each government faction blames the other,” she says. 

Ms Hussein's son Abbas, then 21, was one of the thousands of young people who took to the streets in Baghdad and southern cities.

The number of dead varies, but according to government statistics released on July 30, at least 560 protesters and members of security forces have been killed. 

Most were protesters killed or wounded by security forces and state-backed militias firing live rounds and military-grade smoke or tear gas. But some were assassinated – including two young activists in Basra last month – or simply disappeared.

The government has failed to hold anyone accountable, promises of an investigation and financial aid remain elusive.

Ms Hussein says she is still devastated by the death of her son, who was to be married a few weeks later, and that a fire rages inside her.

Mohammed Abbas was 21 when he was killed. Haider Husseini for The National

“We have zero trust in the government to bring us justice,” she said.

“All I need now from the government is to identify the killer of my son and his tribe will take revenge.”

The government led by Adel Abdul Mahdi, which resigned over the violence, denied it had ordered the use of lethal ammunition against the protesters, blaming a “third party” for the killing.

This month, Mr Al Kadhimi, his replacement, announced that the first stage of listing the names of victims had been completed. The next stage involving the launch of investigations and bringing those involved to justice will start “soon”, he said.

Also this month, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani joined the calls for justice to the victims.

The government needs “to seriously work to reveal all those who committed criminal acts that killed and wounded protesters and security forces … especially parties that are behind kidnappings and assassinations," he said.

The government led by Adel Abdul Mahdi blamed a 'third party' for the killing. Haider Husseini for The National

Days later, Mr Al Kadhimi placed a travel ban on Iraqi army Lt Gen Jamil Al Shammari over his involvement in the deaths of dozens of protesters in the southern city of Nasiriyah in a single day last November.

The killings there were a major factor that led to the resignation of Mr Abdul Mahdi.

Thousands of protesters who survived their injuries are living with scars.

Haider Hassan Alwan was one of seven people who escaped with injuries when security forces opened fire on protesters in Baghdad’s Hafidh Al Gadhi square last November. Twenty others died.

Haider Hasan Alwan lost an eye during an attack on protestors. Haider Husseini for The National

But he also paid a price: the loss of his right eye.

“We were waving Iraqi flags and chanting slogans when security forces took us by surprise and attacked us from three directions,” Mr Alwan, 30, recalls.

“All of a sudden, a tear gas canister hit my forehead and penetrated about 2 centimetres, smashing the bone above my eye.”

Nearly two months ago, he lost his job driving a taxi when the car's owner took it back after an accident caused by his impaired vision.

“What hurts a lot is that we achieved nothing and the government doesn’t hold anyone accountable and doesn’t compensate us,” Mr Alwan says.

Mr Alwan has now lost his job as a taxi driver due to poor sight. Haider Husseini for The National

Desperate for justice, families have taken to social media to voice their complaints.

A mother launched a Facebook page dedicated to her son, Mohanad Al Qaisi, who was killed in February in the southern city of Najaf.

“We have been in the courts for seven months now and have offered the court evidence and witnesses, but to no avail,” the mother says in a video as she sits next to a picture of her son.

“I have not seen any of the committees that Mr Al Kadhimi formed and none called me… tell us what’s wrong with our case, why is it stalled?” she says.

Addressing the government, she adds: “If you don't see this case as a big one and you can’t proceed with it, tell us and I’ll go to the international courts.”

How violent repression and Covid-19
may still kill the uprising

Demonstrators vow to carry on until the government meets their demands but numbers are reducing on the streets, Mina Aldroubi reports

Iraqi women seen at anti-government protests in the holy city of Najaf on October 30, 2019. AFP

A year in, Iraq’s protest movement has yet to achieve its aim of wholesale political change and risks being snuffed out by widespread violence and intimidation at the hands of the security forces and militias coupled. The Covid-19 pandemic, experts and activists say, has only made things worse. 

The protestors demand the replacement of the political system that has left public services crumbling and overseen the rise of overwhelming corruption.

While the movement – and ultimately, the violence that faced it – forced the resignation of prime minister Abdul Mahdi, nothing systemic has changed.

“Not much has changed, accountability for those killed have not been made, electoral law has not changed in the way we would have hoped, we wanted to put an end to the sectarian divides in parliament. We’ve not seen any deep-rooted changes,” Inas Jabbar, a human-rights activist from Baghdad told The National.

Protesters gather on Al Jumhuriya Bridge which leads to the Green Zone in Baghdad on October 31, 2019. AFP

While protesters managed to maintain momentum in the face of bullets and teargas, by the time the global pandemic forced the government to order people to stay home in mid-March, momentum was waning.

“There is a willingness from the public to re-engage in the movement, but threats, assassinations and coronavirus have impacted and reduced its momentum,” Ms Jabber said.

She participated in last year's protests and said ahead of the anniversary that demonstrators would be back in Tahrir Square because the government has not met their demands. 

Protesters called for sweeping changes to Iraq's political system, put in place after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

The May election of Mr Al Kadhimi, who said he wants to implement the changes demanded on the streets and hold early elections, broke the political deadlock.

But, experts warn that he will not be able to deliver the systemic shift many on the street want to see.

An Iraqi women uses a sling to hurl rocks at security forces on Al Rasheed Street, Baghdad, on November 29, 2019. Getty Images

“The Iraqi situation is beyond a place where incremental reform could work,” said Renad Mansour, senior researcher and Iraq expert at the Chatham House in London.

Neither the government nor political parties have been able to respond to the public’s needs, so Iraqis will continue to protest he said.

“They haven’t addressed the roots of the Iraqi state that these protesters are rising up against. So, until they are addressed, changing a person or a post here or there, won't work,” Mr Mansour told The National. 

While the demands on the street are numerous, one issue that highlights the difficulty Mr Al Kadhimi faces is in compensating the families of protesters killed or wounded or prosecuting officers responsible.

“The government has not even compensated those injured by security forces, there has been little contact made with them,” Ms Jabbar said.

Delivering accountability is even more of a challenge because those responsible are protected by the security forces or have powerful political cover, Lahib Higel, Crisis Group's senior analyst for Iraq, told The National. 

Such has been the crackdown and internal divisions, the expert says it is unlikely Iraq will see demonstrations on the scale of the peak of the movement.

“One reason is that protesters have different visions for how to carry on the struggle. Another is the violence and intimidation that many mobilisers have faced,” she said. 

But Belkis Wille, a senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch, said protesters today have an even more reason to take to the streets than they did a year ago. While the movement was initially powered by anger at the system’s failings, there is now the anger at the killing of demonstrators and the government's inability to hold the perpetrators to account while still failing to pass reforms.

Iraqi students take part in an anti-government demonstration in front of their university in Basra on October 29, 2019. AFP

“The question is going to be whether this government is able to control the security forces across the country and ensure respect for the protesters' safety. And we don't yet know the answer to that,” Ms Wille said. 

While the pandemic and violence appeared to reduce the numbers taking to the streets each week, Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at the London School of Economics, told The National, said that the protests have already returned but are more geographically diffused across the south and no longer centrally focused on downtown Baghdad.

“They could well explode again ... But they are not yet as strong as last year because of the sustained, mostly covert, violent repression delivered by the militias,” he said. 

This campaign of repression has broken up the protest leadership but, along with Covid-19, has also discouraged all but the most tenacious from taking to the streets, Mr Dodge said. 

A young Iraqi is tossed into the air by fellow demonstrators during a lighter moment in the protests in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, on December 3, 2019. AFP

Raid Madhaa, a protester whose murals in Tahrir Square became a symbol of the protests, said the demonstrations started to disintegrate in February following the outbreak of coronavirus and was derailed by infiltrators.

“They really ruined the movement, a friend of mine was going to get killed because of the infiltrators. People are in two minds when it comes to participating this year – they are worried about their safety and feel that their voices are not heard,” Mr Madhaa told The National. 

“I’ll be there on Thursday, but will be monitoring the situation from far away because there is a lot of uncertainty as to what will happen this week,” he said.