BAGHDAD: Clashes between security forces and protesters left one man dead and more than a dozen wounded Tuesday after countless Iraqis took to the streets in Baghdad to protest an increase in targeted killings of prominent activists and journalists. Violence erupted near Tahrir Square at the morning after a mostly peaceful demonstration. Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and live rounds to disperse the crowds and demonstrators hurled rocks at riot police, witnesses and Iraqi security officers said. 1 protester was captured and died at a hospital and over a dozen were wounded, a security officer and the semi-official High Commission for Human Rights stated. The safety officers spoke on condition of anonymity according to regulations. The shooting started after security forces used tear gas to disperse the crowds. The demonstrators responded by throwing rocks, and on several occasions bricks , based on an Associated Press videographer about the spectacle. Formerly, demonstrators assembled in the square below heavy security, one of those protesters from southern countries such as Dhi Qar and Karbala. Tensions there have been mounted recently on the increasingly common targeted killings. “Now’s protests happened since the feeble government failed to keep its promises to bring the murderers to justice,” said activist Kamal Jaban in Tahrir Square. Many waved Iraqi flags and elevated pictures of Ehab Wazni, a notable activist assassinated in Karbala, one of three targeted killings this past month alone. Protesters had given the police two weeks to maintain his killers accountable. “The government didn’t send, we needed to sign up,” explained Jaban. The High Commission for Human Rights reported almost 35 activists are murdered in Iraq as an anti-government demonstration movement spanned Iraq at October 2019. There were almost 82 tried killings considering them. In the past year alone, 15 Iraqis were killed and that there have been 30 tried killings listed by the commission,” said spokesman Ali al-Bayati. Protesters voiced outrage that despite starting a few investigations into the killings, Iraqi police haven’t named any perpetrators. They widely think that the recruits to be connected to Iran-backed militia bands and the government is helpless and reluctant to spot them. “Impunity comes in the collapse of associations to get the perpetrators to account,” explained al-Bayati. “This provides the green light to keep.” Many anticipate the killings to last as Iraq intends to have early elections in October, that was a key requirement of anti-government protesters. Now, a number of the exact protesters are calling for the elections to be pinpointed because the death toll against targeted killings increases, saying they don’t have any faith in the present system. “We won’t postpone the elections when we get reasonable and secure opportunities to take part in these,” explained Jaban. “We will boycott the elections unless we’re positive impacts.” A new Human Rights Watch report increased issues without oversight the killings could stop Iraqis from participating in this election. “When the government aren’t able to take urgent measures to prevent these extrajudicial killings the real climate of fear they’ve made will severely restrict the power of Iraqis who’ve been predicting for change to take part in the upcoming parliamentary elections,” wrote senior researcher Belkis Willesaid Heavy security deployments have been observed in central Baghdad before the Tuesday protest. Iraqi security forces detained four”infiltrators” near Tahrir Square in the early hours, based on an Iraqi army statement. The people were allegedly carrying firearms and sought to incite violence. Tens of thousands of protesters, the majority of them Iraqi youth, took to the roads at October 2019 to decry corruption, weak unemployment and services. Demonstrators camped outside at Tahrir Square for weeks. However, the movement petered out from February this past year due to the government’s heavy handed reaction along with also the coronavirus pandemic. More than 500 people died because safety forces used live ammunition and tear canisters to disperse crowds. Even though protests have waned, targeted assassinations against civic society groups and also outspoken activists are still develop a climate of anxiety. Most activists have abandoned Baghdad to find refuge from the Kurdish-controlled northern area, or sought asylum in Turkey. ___ Associated Press author Murtada Faraj at Baghdad contributed.
One killed as protesters scuffle with Iraqi security forces
