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  • Campaigns
  • Iraq
  • Detention

Iraq: Police Arrests Teacher and Protest Organizer: Badal Abdulbaqi Aba Bakr Barwari

On 16 May 2020, armed members of the Asayish and local police entered the home of teacher and activist Badal Abdulbaqi Aba Bakr in Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and arrested him without a warrant. He is being charged with “the misuse of electronic devices” for his role in organizing peaceful protests through social media platforms and remains detained. His family are unable to visit him due to COVID-19 measures and they have not been able to contact him directly.

Date:
26 May 2020
Ref:
MDE 14/2396/2020
  • News
  • Iraq
  • Death Penalty

Iraq: New government must put human rights at heart of agenda

The newly-formed government in Iraq must ensure human rights are placed at the heart of its agenda, and reverse course from decades of impunity, Amnesty International said in a new open letter. Writing to new Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhim after the government was sworn in yesterday (7 May), the organization highlighted continuing concerns relating to the lack accountability for the authorities’ violent response to protests last year and early this year; in the aftermath of the conflict against the armed group calling itself ‘Islamic State’ (IS); and also concerns relating to COVID-19 and domestic violence.

Date:
8 May 2020
  • Research
  • Iraq
  • Demonstrations

Iraq: Open Letter to Iraq's New Prime Minister

In this open letter, Amnesty International urges the newly formed government of Iraq to tackle impunity by taking concrete steps towards justice and accountability. Specifically, it is imperative that the government secures: accountability for the unlawful killing and injuring of thousands of protesters since October 2019; an end to the collective punishment of internally displaced Iraqis; and disclosure of the fate and whereabouts of thousands of men and boys who were forcibly disappeared during the conflict against IS.

Date:
7 May 2020
Ref:
MDE 14/2290/2020
  • News
  • Africa
  • Death Penalty

Death penalty 2019: Saudi Arabia executed record number of people last year amid decline in global executions

Saudi Arabia, Iraq, South Sudan, and Yemen bucked a global trend with spikes in executions Global executions fell by 5%, hitting a 10-year low Saudi Arabia executed a record number of people in 2019, despite an overall decline in executions worldwide, Amnesty International said in its 2019 global review of the death penalty published today. The Saudi authorities put 184 people to death last year, the highest number Amnesty has ever recorded in a single year in the country.

Date:
21 April 2020
  • News
  • Africa
  • Death Penalty

Op-ed: New 10-year low in global executions, but progress marred by spikes in a few countries

By Clare Algar, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy and Policy Abdulkareem al-Hawaj from Saudi Arabia was 16 when he allegedly took part in anti-government protests in the country’s Shi’a majority Eastern Province in 2012. Two years later, the teenager was arrested and charged with offences relating to his involvement in the protests. Abdulkareem was reportedly held in solitary confinement for the first five months, as well as beaten, intimidated and threatened with the death of his family during brutal interrogations in which he was pressured to “confess”.

Date:
21 April 2020
  • Campaigns
  • Iraq
  • Unfair Trials

Iraq: Assistant Judge's Trial Postponed: Hatsyar Wshyar

The trial of assistant judge Hatsyar Wshyar was postponed from 8 March 2020 to 22 and 26 April 2020, following the COVID19 outbreak in Iraq. Hatsyar remains on hunger strike since 2 February 2020 and his health has significantly deteriorated. Authorities must release Hatsyar Wshyar immediately and unconditionally, drop all charges, and ensure a prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigation into the torture allegations.

Date:
24 March 2020
Ref:
MDE 14/2025/2020
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Demonstrations

Iraq: 3D reconstruction shows security forces deliberately killed protesters

An exclusive new visual investigation by Amnesty International and SITU Research shows that Iraqi security forces intended to kill or severely maim dozens of protesters when they fired military-style grenades directly into crowds on the streets of Baghdad from last October onwards. The organizations’ interactive website, Smokescreen – Iraq’s use of military-grade tear gas grenades to kill protesters, includes a 3D reconstruction of deadly incidents captured on video around the capital’s Tahrir Square and Jimhouriya Bridge.

Date:
17 March 2020
  • Campaigns
  • Iraq
  • Detention

Iraq: Assistant Judge Convicted In Unfair Trial: Hatsyar Wshyar

On 24 November 2019, the Kurdish security forces, also known as Asayish, arrested Hatsyar Wshyar, assistant judge in Sulaymaniyah court, and held him in solitary confinement for seven days, during which he was reportedly tortured. On 2 December 2019, following an unfair trial, he was sentenced to one year in prison for “misuse of electronics” over social media posts. Currently serving his sentence in Sulaymaniyah prison, he has been on hunger strike since 2 February 2020.

Date:
28 February 2020
Ref:
MDE 14/1881/2020
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Detention

Iraq: Protest death toll surges as security forces resume brutal repression

Death toll exceeds 600 since October with 12 reported killings this week alone Verified resumed use of live ammunition and deadly ‘smoker’ grenades to kill protesters Ongoing wave of intimidation, arrests and torture Chilling eyewitness testimonies and verified video analysis by Amnesty International confirm that security forces have resumed their campaign of deadly violence against largely peaceful protesters in Baghdad and cities in southern Iraq, the organization warned today.

Date:
23 January 2020
  • News
  • Ireland

In a dangerous world, human rights activists have been winning all year

With inequality, injustice and hate speech seemingly ever more prevalent across the globe, you’d be forgiven for thinking 2019 has been a bad year for human rights. Yet, we have also seen some significant wins. Activists the world over have been galvanised to stand up and fight for our human rights – and thanks to their relentless campaigning we achieved some striking leaps forward. Here are some highlights… January  Legal abortion services were finally available to women in Ireland, following an historic referendum in May 2018 that marked a huge victory for women’s rights.

Date:
18 December 2019
  • News
  • Iraq
  • Unlawful Killings

Iraq: End ‘campaign of terror’ targeting protesters

The Iraqi authorities must step up to their responsibilities and take immediate and effective action to put an end to a growing lethal campaign of harassment, intimidation, abductions and deliberate killings of activists and protesters in Baghdad and other cities, said Amnesty International today. The organization has gathered testimonies of nine activists, protesters and relatives of missing activists from Baghdad, Karbala and Diwaniya who have said that what is happening is a “campaign of terror” and that “nowhere is safe” after a number of protesters and activists were killed, or abducted and forcibly disappeared in the past two weeks mostly on their way home from protests.

Date:
13 December 2019
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Censorship and Freedom of Expression

Iraq: Iranian tear gas grenades among those causing gruesome protester deaths

**UPDATE [13 December 2019]** The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, working in collaboration with Amnesty International, published new investigation on the deadly tear gas grenades used against protesters in Iraq. It traces some of them back to what some at the time called the arms "deal of the century” between Serbia and Iraq in 2009. This directly contradicts Defence Minister Najah al-Shammari’s televised statement that the weapons were not imported via official Iraqi channels.

Date:
31 October 2019
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Killings and Disappearances

Iraq: Testimonies emerge of coordinated attacks which killed at least 20 protesters

Amnesty International has gathered detailed eyewitness testimony of the coordinated attack by unidentified gunmen in Baghdad last night, which claimed at least 20 lives and left more than 130 injured. The organization also verified footage from Baghdad that corroborated testimony of witnesses who described the arrival of fleets of gunmen. Witnesses describe how “endless gunmen” arrived in pick-up trucks and minivans whilst others who had mingled with the crowd shot and stabbed protesters and attacked and set fire to parts of the Garage al-Sinak building.

Date:
7 December 2019