‘People have no future’: Iraqi protester killed at Baghdad rally Middle East News

One protester was shot dead and dozens injured in a rally in Baghdad during the violence, and thousands gathered to demand responsibility for the killings of Iraqi activists and prominent protesters.

What started on Tuesday morning was a promising wave of demonstrations in Tahrir Square and tensions erupted throughout the day and violence between protesters and security forces erupted in the afternoon.

Videos shared on social media showed tear gas, wildfires and chaos as the national uprising began nationwide in October 2019 and security forces shot dead several protesters.

Since then, nearly 600 protesters have been killed and 35 activists killed in 82 targeted killings, according to the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR).

Tuesday’s protest sparked the killing of civil activist Ehab Jawad al-Wazni on May 9 near his home in Karbala and his family called on protesters to demand an end to impunity.

The perpetrators are yet to be identified, but activists and protesters have pointed the finger at Iraq’s insurgent-backed militias in Iraq, and their presence has been called by protesters.

Ali al-Bayati of the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights said security forces should also be held accountable.

“Through these channels we can reach out to real criminals and end the ongoing impunity,” al-Bayati said, adding that Tuesday’s protests against “activists against what is happening on the street, including systematic killings including ongoing killings.”

Unified attitude

Demonstrators asked “Who killed me?” They gathered under the unofficial slogan, and were armed with flags and banners bearing the faces of the dead.

“This is in response to the call of Ehab al-Wazni’s family … and to oppose a political system that is not really democratic but looks,” said 27-year-old Laith Hussein of the Baghdad Student Union.

“We want to remove the parties in power, [we want] real freedom, real democracy and radical change in that system, ”Hussein added.

A man has injured a member of the Iraqi security forces in Tuesday’s protests [Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters]

Among the disorganized youth, some elderly men and women also took to the streets for a show of support.

“My son has no future, my country has no future,” 68-year-old Abu Marwan said. “I’m old, my life is over, but I want a future for this generation.”

October elections

The ongoing killings and attacks on activists and journalists have sparked calls for a boycott of the October parliamentary elections.

Many protesters said they would not vote, disappointed by a system that did not protect them.

“The boycott is a peaceful way to say it while it has links to armed militias [political] those who kill the parties and the opposition, we cannot say that it is a legitimate process, ”said 34-year-old protester Deena al-Tai.

“As long as armed groups have power, we will not participate.”

Tuesday’s protests resulted in the killing of civil activist Ehab Jawad al-Wazni on May 9 near his home in Karbala. [Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters]

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report warned that continued impunity would prevent Iraqis from voting in the upcoming elections.

“If the authorities are unable to take urgent action to stop these extrajudicial killings, the apparent climate of fear they have created will limit the ability of Iraqis who are demanding changes in the upcoming parliamentary elections,” the HRW chief investigator wrote. Belkis Wille.

Despite the ongoing targeted killings and the exodus of activists to a safer, Kurdish-controlled north, the protest movement has not diminished, said Munqith Dagher, a non-resident researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Research in Washington, DC.

“The soul of the movement is there and it is developing and the system has attacked and failed to demonize it,” Dagher told Al Jazeera.

Following the violence on Tuesday afternoon, the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq said in a tweet: “Accounts will only stop the pattern of deadly attacks on civilian and political activists. Although the perpetrators may think they have silenced their voices, they have only intensified. the people have a right to know ”.