Campaign Against Protesters In Dhi Qar

Al Mada reported that authorities in Dhi Qar continue to persecute activists over the 2019 protest movement. Dozens have been arrested and others are facing lawsuits over their activities.

Demonstrations Breakout In Nasiriya As Police Arrest Those Involved In 2019 Protest Movement

On October 18 protests broke out in Nasirya the capitol of Dhi Qar province demanding the release of detainees. Activists said there was a political campaign to arrest people involved in the 2019 protest movement.

Clashes In Baghdad As People Gather To Mark Anniversary Of Protest Movement

(Shafaq News)

On October 1 around 100 people showed up in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square to mark the four year anniversary of the protest movement. Some people called for the release of their relatives from prison who have been incarcerated for years. Younger people marched and clashed with the security forces. Every year since 2019 there have been similar observances.

Review A Stranger in Your Own City, Travels in the Middle East’s Long War

Abdul-Ahad, Ghaith, A Stranger in Your Own City, Travels in the Middle East’s Long War, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2023

 

A Stranger in Your Own City, Travels in the Middle East’s Long War by journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is an engaging story about him growing up in Baghdad and then experiencing the aftermath of the U.S. invasion. It’s a tale of a nation beset by problems from the 1990s sanctions that impoverished most to the exiles that created a new ethnosectarian political system that was then used it to justify violence. The new elite ended up killing its youth in the street for protesting against corruption. It’s an important addition to the cannon because it not only includes his own recollections of this period but also many Iraqi civilians, soldiers and officials when most books are by and about Westerners.

Review Impossible Victory, How Iraq Defeated ISIS

Al-Abadi, Haider, Impossible Victory, How Iraq Defeated ISIS, Croydon: Biteback Publishing, 2022

 

Impossible Victory, How Iraq Defeated ISIS is an autobiography written by former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. It was probably ghost written and starts off like a personalized version of government press releases. Abadi paints himself as an underdog who always had to fight against the odds from becoming the leader of Iraq to the war against the Islamic State. That’s all to be expected, but when the war begins the book becomes a re-writing of history as he omits and glosses over all the problems and abuses that occurred during the conflict.

Human Rights Reports On Iraq

In March, the State Department and Amnesty International released their annual human rights reports. Both were full of the usual critiques of Iraq such as the lack of due process, arbitrary arrests, harsh conditions, torture and abuse in jails and prisons, lawsuits being filed against critics of the government to limit freedom of speech and the press, and more. Amongst all that there were three specific issues that need further discussion.

Coordination Framework Moves To Re-Write Iraq’s Election Rules

(The National)

On March 27 Iraq’s parliament voted to amend the Election Law and return to the old system of having each province be its own voting district. This overturned the 2021 amendment that broke up governorates into multiple districts which allowed the emergence of several new parties and led to large defeats for some of the more established ones.

Coordination Framework Wants To Change Iraq’s Voting System To Better Its Chances in Next Election

(Kurd Press)

Most of the parties included within the Coordination Framework did badly in the last election due to a new voting system which broke up Iraq’s provinces into multiple voting districts. That led them to introduce a bill to revert back to the old way when each governorate was a single district. This is facing opposition from Moqtada al-Sadr and the remnants of the protest movement.

Activist Imprisoned Over Tweet Leads To Deadly Protests In Iraq

(AFP)

On December 5 activist Haidar Hamid Fenian Fadhil was given 3 years in prison for Tweeting about dead leader Abu Muhandis and the Hashd. The courts found him guilty under an old Saddam era law against defaming government officials. His sentence sparked a series of protests in Dhi Qar where he came from.

Review The Fires of Spring, A Post-Arab Spring Journey Through the Turbulent New Middle East, Turkey, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Tunisia

Culbertson, Shelly, The Fires of Spring, A Post-Arab Spring Journey Through the Turbulent New Middle East, Turkey, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Tunisia, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2016

 

The Fires of Spring, A Post-Arab Spring Journey Through the Turbulent New Middle East is a travel journal by author Shelly Culbertson as she went through five countries to see how the Middle East had changed after the Arab Spring protests of 2011-12. She tried to give a brief history of each nation and then interviewed several people to try to find out what direction each country was going in. It’s a good introduction to the politics and societies of the region in the 2010s.

3 Year Anniversary of Iraq’s Protests Shows Dwindling Movement

Demonstration in Maysan to mark 3 yr anniversary of protest movement (Al Mirbad)

October 25 marked the three-year anniversary of Iraq’s protest movement. People came out in 10 provinces but not in the large numbers seen in previous times.

Protesters Mark 3 Yr Anniversary Of Movement Marred By Sadrists

(AFP)

On October 1 activists returned to the streets of Baghdad and the south to mark the three-year anniversary of the protest movement. Not as many people as planned showed up while the Sadrists tried to take over the event in the capital. Things were peaceful in most of the country but in Basra and Baghdad there were day long clashes with the police.

UN Report On Continued Killing And Intimidation Of Protest Activists In Iraq

(AP)

The Kazemi government came into office in 2020 promising to bring to justice those responsible for attacks upon the protest movement. The United Nations has issued several reports about how the prime minister has failed to achieve this. The latest came out in June documenting how the targeting of activists has continued even though the demonstrations have ended and that few if any people have ever been convicted of murdering protesters.

2021 In Iraq In Review

(AFP)

End of Iraq’s Protest Movement

 

2021 marked the end of Iraq’s protest movement. In January a Nasiriya activist was arrested as part of a government crackdown which restarted demonstrations in the city. The crowds would demand the Dhi Qar governor step down. He responded by calling out the police which used force leading to twelve people being killed. The violence would eventually lead the governor to resign in February and the protests to end afterward. In May an activist was assassinated in Karbala leading to demonstrations there. This would start the call to boycott the 2021 elections. This split the movement and ended the protests.

Deadly Clashes Outside Baghdad’s Green Zone Over Election Results

(Al Sumaria)

For the second time in two weeks Fatah followers tried to storm the Green Zone in Baghdad over their claims that there was voter fraud in the October election. This time there were deadly results. Fatah is trying to gain by force what it failed to achieve at the ballot box.

Marches Commemorate Anniversary Of Iraq’s Protest Movement

(Al Mirbad)

October 25 saw marches in four provinces to mark the two-year anniversary of the protest movement in Iraq. In Wasit and Maysan people demanded that the killers of activists be brought to justice. In Basra demonstrators called for the murderers of two journalists be found and prosecuted. Finally, in Dhi Qar there was a commemoration ceremony.

Revised Election Returns For Iraq’s Oct 2021 Election

(Fika Forum)

The Iraqi Election Commission said that it is done with its manual count of ballots and issued the results. Media outlets such as Al Aalem, Al Hurra, and Bas News all had different seat numbers each party won. Rudaw was the only source that broke down the vote by province which is reproduced below.

2021 Election Reshuffles Iraq’s Political Deck

(AP)

Iraq’s 2021 election had some predictable winners mixed in with unexpected results. The main take away was that Sadr’s movement is the strongest political force in the country right now. Others did better than expected while some long standing parties faced crushing defeats. Two new parties won seats in parliament as well and will likely form the country’s first opposition.

Iraq’s Kurdistan Imprisons Two More Journalists For Covering Protests

Journalist Qaraman Shukri was given 7 years in prison by a secret trial in the KRG for covering protests (Committee to Protect Journalists)

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) imprisoned two more journalists. On June 22 Omed Baroshki was convicted on three charges in Dohuk and received 12 months in prison and a fine. He was convicted of violating the Communication Devices Misuse Law and for disobeying public officials. A few days later Qaraman Shukri was found guilty and given 7 years in a secret trial. Both were detained by Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) security in Dohuk for covering protests. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned both actions by the KDP.

Iraq’s Electricity Grid Shuts Down During Summer Heat

(Al Mirbad)

As temperatures regularly rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit/38 degrees Celsius per day Iraq’s power grid shut down. That trickled down throughout society as water went off because it relies upon electricity and drove people out into the streets in protest.