Summer time is when Iraqis come out to protest a number of ills, the most common being the lack of electricity during the searing heat, other services, and jobs. There have been demonstrations every week recently, and one in Basra province turned deadly as police killed two people.
On July 8, there was a protest
in Imam Sadiq near the West Qurna 1 oil field in Basra. People were demanding
jobs from the international companies operating there, electricity and
water. They blocked
a road leading to the oil field, and would not allow workers through. The police
then set
upon them with batons, leading to rocks being thrown, and then gunfire that
killed
one immediately and wounding 3 more. One of the latter passed away from his
injuries. This brought
out more people into the streets as around 200 demanded justice be served
for these deaths. One of those that lost their lives belonged to the Bani
Mansour tribe, which gave the security forces 12 hours to turn over the
perpetrator. The Basra governor and provincial councilmen visited the sheikhs
to try to calm them down and assure them the matter would be investigated. This
was not the first time this has happened. In previous years police have shot
and killed demonstrators as well. It shows bad command of the local security
forces as there was no need to use guns.
To make the situation worse, the Basra Operations Command attempted
to make an excuse for what happened claiming they were attacked. Basra
commander General Jamil al-Shammari issued a statement that there was an armed
group, not part of the protesters that blocked the road and started shooting at
the police. He went onto say that all the casualties were from this armed group
and did not include any demonstrators. People involved in the day’s action
denied that story. This was an obvious attempt to defer blame for what happened,
and satisfied no one.
More demonstrations can be expected in both southern and
northern Iraq as this has been an active summer. There have been people taking
to the streets every day for the last week. For instance, on July 4 there
was a protest in Zanko in Irbil province over the lack of power and water. The
next day, hundreds marched
to the provincial council building in Basra city demanding jobs. July
6, there was another large gathering in Khasib, Basra over power outages and
salinity that is destroying farmland. July 7, people
blocked the main road in Khabat, Irbil over electricity shortages. The same day
as the shooting in Basra, there were other demonstrations
in Maysan and Wasit over the lack of services and power, with the latter being broken
up with tear gas by the local authorities. For years now, people have been
taking these types of actions with no real substantive response from the
government besides empty promises. It was frustration with this lack of
progress that largely contributed to the lowest
voter turnout since 2005 in the May national elections as people are
becoming disillusioned with politicians that they see as working for themselves
rather than the people.
SOURCES
Al Alam, “Unemployed people are demonstrating in Basra to demand jobs,”
7/5/18
Al Forat News, “Death of a second demonstrator from Basra,” 7/8/18
Middle East Monitor, “Iran cuts electricity supplies to Iraq
over unpaid bills,” 7/7/18
Al Mirbad, “An angry demonstration in Abu Khasib protesting power
outages,” 7/6/18
- “The Bani Mansour tribe gives 12 hours to hand over the murderer of
its demonstrator,” 7/8/18
- “Director of Health to Mirbad: Killing and wounding 4 civilians, the
outcome of shooting north Basra,” 7/8/18
- “In response to Basra Operations protesters deny the presence of
gunmen,” 7/8/18
- “Popular protests over the deterioration of electricity in Maysan and
Wasit,” 7/8/18
- “A sit-in in district north of Basra city to protest the killing of a
demonstrator,” 7/8/18
NRT, “People In Erbil’s Khabat Protest Shortage Of Electricity,” 7/7/18
- “Residents Of Erbil Neighborhood Protest Scarcity Of Power, Water
(Video),” 7/5/18
Reuters, “Iraqi police open fire on protesters near southern
oilfields,” 7/8/18
Sotaliraq, “Security forces dispersed protest in Kut by force and
injuries,” 7/8/18
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