Successive Iraqi governments have failed to ensure justice, truth and reparation for the lethal crackdown against the 2019 Tishreen [October] protests that led to the killing and disappearance of hundreds and the injury of thousands of protesters, Amnesty International said today, ahead of the five-year anniversary of the nation-wide protests that saw hundreds of thousands of Iraqis calling for economic reforms and an end to corruption.
A new report entitled “We hold them responsible for the blood of our youth” exposes the Iraqi authorities’ litany of broken promises to the victims of the October 2019 protest crackdown. The report reveals an alarming pattern of neglect and impunity, with meagre attempts to deliver meaningful justice in comparison to the scale of serious human rights violations and crimes under international law committed during and in the aftermath of the nationwide protests of October 2019, including the excessive and unlawful use of lethal force by anti-riot police, counterterrorism forces and members of Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).
“The five-year anniversary of the nation-wide Tishreen protests is a stark reminder of ongoing entrenched impunity coupled with the Iraqi authorities’ lack of political will to ensure justice, truth and reparation to victims, survivors and their relatives for crimes under international law and other grave human rights violations committed by security forces and affiliated militias during and in the aftermath of the protests,” said Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“The Iraqi authorities must take all measures to ensure independent, impartial and transparent investigations that include those who may have planned or ordered crimes committed since 2019 against protesters, activists and their families, as well as ensure protection for witnesses and for families campaigning for justice. They must establish a national database to provide reliable data on the identity of disappeared persons, as recommended by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, and ensure the draft law on enforced disappearances currently before parliament is in line with international law and standards. Members of the international community must also pursue criminal investigations into the crimes committed by the Iraqi authorities under the principle of universal jurisdiction.”
Out of the 2,700 criminal investigations opened, only 10 arrest warrants have been issued against suspected perpetrators, and only seven convictions were handed down, according to Amnesty International’s analysis of information from Iraqi courts that Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council shared with the organization in August 2024. Six high-profile cases related to Tishreen violations examined by Amnesty International underscore the serious flaws in the judicial system, political interference in the work of the judiciary, the lack of will to hold the powerful members of the security forces and affiliated militias accountable, and the complete lack of transparency surrounding judicial proceedings. The cases also demonstrate the acute risk that witnesses and family members of victims seeking justice face.
The five-year anniversary of the nation-wide Tishreen protests is a stark reminder of ongoing entrenched impunity coupled with the Iraqi authorities’ lack of political will to ensure justice, truth and reparation….
Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International
The violent crackdown on protests, which Amnesty International consistently documented, was accompanied by a campaign of intimidation, abduction and killings targeting prominent individuals within the protest movement or those seeking justice for the abuses perpetrated.
Rather than making a genuine effort to engage civil society on reforms, secure accountability and prevent future violations, the government has adopted new measures that further shrink civic space. On 9 May 2023, MPs reintroduced a draft law to Parliament regulating freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, which, if passed, would significantly curtail the rights to freedom of expression and effectively give the authorities unchecked powers to ban all protest. At the time of writing, a draft law on governing NGOs was under discussion in Parliament. Civil society leaders who have seen leaked versions of the draft in 2024 said that they were alarmed by provisions that would allow NGOs to be dissolved without a judicial order. Civil society workers told Amnesty International that these restrictions are being driven by “fear of another Tishreen” implementing measures to prevent future uprisings and stifle dissent, rather than addressing the legitimate grievances that drove Iraqis to the streets in 2019.
Amnesty International interviewed 56 individuals for this report, including survivors, witnesses, family members of those killed, as well human rights defenders, lawyers and civil society workers. It also submitted requests for information from the Iraqi government, and reviewed court documents, medical reports, media articles and social media posts related to specific incidents.
Failed accountability amid a climate of fear
Over the past five years, Iraqi authorities established numerous committees to investigate the killing and attempted killing, disappearance and injury of protesters and activists. However, their findings, membership, budgets and scope of work remain shrouded in secrecy. A few months after becoming prime minister in October 2022, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani directed the fact-finding committee established by then Prime Minister al-Kadhimi to expedite its work and promised that the results of the committee’s investigations would be presented at a public conference. To date, that has not materialized.
At least nine individuals interviewed by Amnesty International echoed a phrase, unprompted, that has become commonplace when describing these committees: “If you want to kill a cause, form a committee”.
One woman who took part in the protests in Baghdad said: “We hold [the authorities] responsible for the blood of our youth that we lost, blood that was spilled on these streets. But the government does not care”.
Many families of victims have been forced into silence or relocation after facing intimidation and reprisals for speaking out publicly, amid the authorities’ failure to protect them. In one case, the relatives of those killed or disappeared were themselves killed merely for publicly demanding justice and naming those suspected of criminal responsibility.
In another case, Sajjad al-Iraqi, a prominent civil society activist and influential figure in the Tishreen protests was abducted by a group of armed men while travelling in Thi Qar governorate in September 2020. His family asked the authorities for his whereabouts but did not receive any substantive response. They were subjected to multiple threats after filing a court case against the suspected perpetrators.
One relative told Amnesty International: “Sajjad’s case is the most dangerous because the accused are known and their names are known… They want us to give up on the case.”
An appeals court issued arrest warrants for two individuals over his abduction, and they were later sentenced to death in absentia, but to date,
neither have been apprehended and al-Iraqi’s fate and whereabouts remain unknown.
Arduous process to secure compensation for injuries
At least 504 families received compensation for the killing of their loved ones during the Tishreen protests, according to a letter sent by the Prime Minister’s Office to Amnesty International on 2 April 2023, after the government recognized them as “martyrs” entitling them to a one-off payment through the Martyrs Foundation.
However, those injured or disabled during the protests continue to face significant hurdles in accessing these funds.
Some protesters who were injured or who sustained a disability during the protests said they are discouraged from seeking compensation because the government buildings they had to visit were not accessible, and the process is lengthy and arduous requiring navigating no less than five government bodies.
Another significant bureaucratic hurdle was the requirement that injured protestors present a hospital report from when they were initially injured to apply for compensation. Some protesters said they were reluctant at the time of the incident to seek medical treatment fearing that they would be arrested by security forces. Amnesty International documented cases of arrests and attempted arrests of injured protesters from hospitals and ambulances in 2019, leading many to flee with their injuries instead of seeking medical help.