This is the nineteenth periodic report issued by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) since January 2020, documenting the human rights situation in Iraq. It covers the recent elections that took place on 10 October 2021, the peaceful protests taking place in the country, harassment of civil society activists, journalists and the media, as well as exposing the practise of torture against several citizen.

Violations and attacks during Iraqi elections

On 10 October 2021, legislative elections were held in Iraq with the participation of about 41% of the total number of voters, which amounted to 25 million people. During the voting process, some election centres witnessed several violations and attacks against observers and attempts to defraud, entrap and intimidate some voters.

Observers reported that voters at Al-Tamim electoral centre in Khan Bani Saad sub-district in Diyala Governorate, eastern Iraq, were pressured to elect a specific candidate.

Also, gunmen attacked and wounded a political activist in the Byara sub-district located within the Hawraman‏ area in the Halabja Governorate in northern Iraq.

On 03 October 2021, armed men affiliated with a political party attacked the house of a citizen who refused to hang an election banner on his house, as one of his protest mechanisms, and he was wounded by a gunshot.

On the day following this incident, 04 October 2021, another group attacked another citizen who also refused to hang an election banner on his workplace, only to then have the building be bombed with a sound grenade.

The Iraqi authorities recorded at least 77 violations in the election process, ranging from attempts to intimidate, entice, threaten and attack technical and administrative staff. These violations occurred in the Governorates of Baghdad, Nineveh, Diyala, Kirkuk, Basra, Anbar, Salah Al-Din, Erbil, Wasit and Diwaniyah.

The authorities announced that the violators had been referred to the judicial committees that were formed by the Supreme Judicial Council in preparation for taking legal measures against them.

Some of the parties that emerged from the October 2019 protests have achieved positive results. The Emtidad Movement, headed by the former civil society activist and deputy in the new parliament Alaa Al-Rikabi, achieved nine parliamentary seats, including his own.

After the results were announced the next day, a group of political parties and armed groups challenged the election results, and Iraqis fear that these objections will turn into armed clashes between political parties in Iraq.

Political targeting operations

In recent weeks, political targeting of political activists and candidates participating in the elections has increased. Prior to the elections, on 08 October 2021, gunmen opened fire on political activist Sadir Al-Khafaji, a candidate for the Parliament elections, in the Karrada district in the centre of the capital, Baghdad, but he was not hurt and the damage was limited to the car he was driving. A security source said in a press statement after the incident that “the bullets hit his wheel and he was able to escape from them,” adding, “The damage was material and there were no casualties.”

On 17 September 2021, unidentified persons in Baghdad burned media pictures of the “I go out to take my right to democracy” movement, one of the movements that emerged from the October 2019 protests. The media pictures carried the goals and slogans of the movement that participated in the recent elections.

On 04 October 2021, political activists Hussain Flaieh and Jaber Heigl were arrested in the city of Diwaniyah, after calling on citizens to boycott the elections. Although they were exercising a natural right protected by the Iraqi constitution, the Iraqi authorities arrested them and did not release them until about 24 hours later.

GCHR sources reported, “The arrest came after Flaieh and Heigl promoted a boycott of the elections, and had it not been for the pressure exerted on the authorities by civil society activists and lawyers, they would not have been released.”

Assassination of civil society activists

Civil society activists in Iraq are still pressuring the authorities to a great extent in order to achieve justice and hold the killers of protesters accountable, but despite these demands, the authorities’ actions are still weak, and do not meet their aspirations to reach accountability and end impunity.

On 30 September 2021, the Iraqi judiciary issued a death sentence against the person convicted of killing the folk poet Jaseb Hattab Al-Heliji. He is the father of human rights lawyer Ali Al-Heliji, who remains kidnapped for over two years.

The accused confessed, according to a statement by the Supreme Judicial Council, to the details of this crime, saying that he killed the victim in Al-Maareth area (Exhibition area) in the centre of Al-Amarah. On 12 March 2021, GCHR documented the assassination of Jaseb Al-Heliji. He put all efforts and raised his voice in protests and various places in order to find his son Ali Al-Heliji, who was kidnapped on 07 October 2019 in the city of Al-Amarah, capital of Maysan Governorate.

On 30 September 2021, a judge survived an assassination attempt when gunmen targeted him in Maysan Governorate. The first judge in the Al-Amarah Investigation Court, Harith Jabbar, was in his car when it was hit by a hail of bullets in the city of Al-Amarah, but the operation did not succeed and Jabbar was unhurt.

In the early hours of dawn of 03 October 2021, civil society activist Azhar Hatem survived an assassination attempt in the centre of Nasiriyah, the capital of Dhi Qar Governorate in southern Iraq. Hatem was attacked while he was demonstrating in Al-Haboubi Square calling for the authorities to reveal the fate of his fellow civil society activist, Sajjad Al-Iraqi (Al-Mushrifawi), who was kidnapped on 19 September 2020 in Dhi Qar Governorate.

After surviving the assassination attempt, on 08 October 2021, he posted on his Facebook page, which he uses to support the popular movement and to remember fellow protesters who lost their lives during the protests, the following: “If it were not for God’s kindness, the calamity would have been greater. Praise be to God anyway. Thank you to everyone who stood with me. Thank you to everyone.”

On 09 October 2021, the body of the youngest peaceful protester, Haider Mohammed Al-Zamili was found in a river in the city of Diwaniyah, Al-Qadisiyah Governorate capital four days after his disappearance. Al-Zamili, only 16 years old, was one of the most prominent participants in the protests that took place in his governorate. The authorities have not yet released any information about Al-Zamili’s disappearance or death, which is suspected to have been murder.

A number of his fellow protesters told GCHR that they believed his activity on his Facebook page, in which he expressed his personal opinions and criticism of political parties, was the likely reason for his disappearance and death by drowning. He took part in demonstrations, and he was arrested twice by the security authorities on malicious charges.

Exposing torture practices

GCHR has received disturbing reports of the torture of a child by his father, and the torture of a number of detainees in the custody of the Iraqi security forces. These reports revealed the extent of the violations that detainees and prisoners are subjected to in government prisons and detention centres, in addition to the extent to which some children are subjected to domestic violence at the hands of their families.

On 12 April 2021, the wife of Ali Al-Jubouri disappeared. He was arrested two months after her disappearance and falsely accused of her murder, after he appeared in a television programme in which he confessed to this crime. On 18 September 2021, the wife returned, and he was released three days after her return.

He told his relatives that he was tortured by interrogators during his detention, forcing him to confess to killing her. After news of his case spread, the Iraqi authorities took urgent measures, and he was received on 24 September 2021, accompanied by members of the security forces who tortured him, by Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, who ordered their detention and submission to the courts. The Prime Minister also directed that a new committee be formed in the Ministry of Interior to follow up the implementation of human rights standards and observe the work of the investigators.

On 22 September 2021, a video clip showing a bloodied child crying and begging his father to kill him instead of torturing him, sparked a huge controversy in Iraq. His father used to curse and beat him after he tied him with iron chains. Two days later, the security forces arrested the father, after Prime Minister Al-Kadhimi issued an arrest warrant for him, “for violating the applicable laws and acting away from Islamic morals and harming family cohesion.”

According to information received by GCHR, the child is currently in an orphanage in Baghdad, after this family requested help GCHR is refraining from publishing his picture in this report because it violates UNICEF standards in dealing with pictures of children.for him and psychological rehabilitation.

The representative of GCHR in Iraq said, “This clip showed the brutality of some parents in dealing with their children. This case was published, and the torture of this child stopped, so what about the cases that we do not know about?” She added, “Violence against children in the family and in the street is an inevitable result of the lack of proper application of the law, and the failure to approve the laws on children’s rights and combating domestic violence.”

On 29 September 2021, a video clip was published of 29-year-old citizen Hassan Mohammed Aswad, showing the severe damage to his palms as a result of torture. He was working for a security company to guard the industrial district of Kirkuk at night, when he was arrested in June 2021 by the security forces in a case of mistaken identity.

His father said that Aswad was subjected to “torture by hanging him from handcuffs for long hours in the sun on a daily basis, which led to poisoning, as well as beatings and violations.” He added that, “doctors had to cut four fingers from his left hand, and remove bones from some of the fingers of his right hand trying to save it.”

Ongoing targeting of civil society activists and journalists

The targeting of activists and journalists continues, despite the great and many promises made by Al-Kadhimi’s government to protect them and provide a safe environment to express their views, but this is still far from being achieved.

On 08 October 2021, journalist Abbas Al-Arkoazi, correspondent of Al-Baghdadiya TV, was arrested in Khanaqin district, Diyala Governorate, by the security forces while covering the special voting process of the Iraqi elections. In a live broadcast, he criticised the Iraqi security services for preventing journalists from covering the voting process. Al-Arkoazi is also the director of the Department of Arts and Culture in Khanaqin. He was released the next day.

On 07 October 2021, journalist Ali Abdulzahra disappeared in Baghdad under mysterious circumstances. No one knows the details, and he did not explain exactly what happened when he returned to his home after two consecutive days.

Journalists informed GCHR of the disappearance of Abdulzahra, who works as a correspondent for the German channel DW. His relatives said that, “his mobile phone was switched off at 10 pm on Thursday, 07 October, and his last known presence was in the Al-Karrada area in central Baghdad.”

After his release, Abdulzahra wrote on his Facebook page, “Despite everything that has happened and may happen… I continue to believe in the state… because the state is the only mother who does not kill her children, but rather works to take care of them, not kidnap them. Thanks for all the efforts made by friends, colleagues and brothers in the Ministry of Interior and other security services, for all their efforts which were effective in putting pressure on the party that is still ‘unknown.’ We apologise to all of them, for the anxiety and pain caused by this enforced disappearance. And most importantly – Iraq is our home in which we are born, we grow up in, and we die in it and for it. Note: All my accounts are closed and my phone is as well, as it stayed with them and I did not receive them. And now I am writing from my personal laptop at home.” Abdulzahra uses Facebook to express his personal opinions and publish his media activities. He worked for a number of press and media organisations, including Alsumaria TV.

On 01 October 2021, the house of civil society activist Abu Ayham Al-Nuaimi was targeted in the centre of the city of Samawah, the capital of Al-Muthanna Governorate, with a grenade attack by two unknown persons riding a motorcycle.

Following the incident, Al-Nuaimi wrote on his Facebook page, which he uses to express his views, support protests and fight corruption, the following: “A little while ago, my house was attacked with grenades by the corrupt and murderous parties of the Iraqi people, and in my absence, my wife and Ehab left, with God’s protection in safety. I swear in Iraq, I will not leave Samawah, nor my country, even for my dead body and the body of my wife and son Ehab. Whoever commits this attack on my house will receive his just punishment according to the law.”

On 26 September 2021, writer and political analyst Ali Al-Baydar informed GCHR that he was threatened by influential politicians as a result of his views and comments he publishes on social media.

Al-Baydar said, “A politician threatened me to stop criticising the political process and politicians, or else my fate would be behind bars.”

Al-Baydar uses his Facebook page to publish his opinions, writings, and television seminars in which he participates, reflecting his interest in the public affairs of citizens in Iraq, including the recent elections. On 18 October 2021, the following was published on this page, “The armed factions resorting to the street and brandishing weapons represent an indirect coup against the will of the Iraqis, and the confiscation of their wills, but this path comes to consolidate their gains in power, and also to strengthen the guarantee of their symbols [leaders], from trials, and to surround them with a kind of immunity.”

Violence against woman

On 02 October 2021, a young woman who escaped from solitary confinement in prison appeared in a video clip, appealing to Prime Minister Al-Kadhimi for help. She said, “I thought a million times about what to tell to you to save me, because the cheapest thing in Iraq is the lives of women, and after the suffering of three years I managed to escape. I hardly came back to life and I do not want to lose it to be a victim of ignorance, believe me, Prime Minister, I wish I could complete the journey of survival without anyone’s help, but I have to. Please do not disappoint me because I have no breadwinner.” It is not known until now if Prime Minister Al-Kadhimi has provided her with any help or not.

In another case, on 04 October 2021, Saja Ahmed, a player for the Iraqi taekwondo team, appealed to Prime Minister Al-Kadhimi to save the young woman from the threats she was facing from her ex-husband who works in the Ministry of Interior.

Saja Ahmed spoke in a video clip that she posted on social media about the state of terror that she and her grandmother lived in, as they live in one house, and how she was beaten and abused by her ex-husband who still comes to the house and threatens her.

News of peaceful demonstrations and protests

Demonstrations are still continuing across Iraq, albeit intermittently, but they express great popular anger towards what is happening in the country – from the spread of corruption, poor public services, and restrictions on the public freedoms of citizens, as well as the continued protests of professional groups such as engineers and graduates of postgraduate studies, among others.

On 01 October 2021, thousands of Iraqis marched in Baghdad and other governorates to commemorate the second anniversary of the launch of the popular movement on 01 October 2019, which claimed the lives of about 800 peaceful demonstrators, and left thousands wounded and detained, and dozens disappeared. The demonstrators renewed their demands that the killers of protesters be held accountable and comprehensive reforms be carried out.

Al-Tahrir Square in Baghdad, the stronghold of protests in Iraq, was filled with demonstrators again, months after they withdrew from it and raised their tents, in an attempt to revive their popular movement in order to achieve its goals. They faced large numbers of security forces that worked to close the vicinity of Tahrir Square before the start of these demonstrations.

Recommendations

Once again, GCHR calls on the Iraqi government to take full responsibility to protect all demonstrators, journalists, human rights defenders and members of civil society. In addition, the authorities must reinforce laws against sexual assault and domestic violence, especially when women and children are most vulnerable during the isolation imposed by the current crisis. GCHR also calls on the Iraqi authorities to identify all perpetrators of kidnappings, torture, and killing of human rights defenders, peaceful demonstrators and other activists, and bring them to justice. The authorities must fulfill their constitutional obligations not to violate public freedoms, including freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press, which can be respected while protecting public health.