• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Sunday, January 24, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World

In Iraq Protests, Counting the Dead is a Dangerous Job

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
10/31/19
in World
Protesters in Iraq's Basra

Basra protest. Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

One protester killed. Then five. Suddenly, more than 40. As Iraq’s anti-government demonstrations turned bloody, a network of rights defenders and medics began documenting deaths to fill a gag order on casualty numbers.

Remarkably, the watchdog at the heart of the effort is itself a government entity: the Iraqi Human Rights Commission, created in 2012 but now facing its most important – and politically sensitive – mission yet.

When protests erupted on October 1, the first casualty report of one protester shot dead and 200 more wounded in the capital was released by the health ministry.

But as more reports came in of live rounds and alleged indiscriminate force used against protesters across Baghdad and the south, the government clammed up.

It released no further tolls, imposed an internet blackout and halted information-sharing with the commission.

“The ministries of health and interior stopped giving us numbers,” said Faysal Abdallah, a journalist by training and commission member since 2017.

“So we started going to the morgues to get numbers of dead, the hospitals to learn of the wounded and the police stations for numbers of detainees,” he told AFP.

As protests grew, the commission published statements on the rising toll, which would sometimes spike suddenly.

Those jumps, members said, reflected delays caused by the resistance they faced from hospital administrators wary of contravening official orders not to release figures.

During the government’s two-week internet blackout, the commission texted updated tolls to reporters and other monitors.

When the internet returned with restrictions on social media, the rights body circumvented the blocks again to publish numbers on Facebook and Telegram, remaining the only named source for a toll.

It pledged to file a lawsuit against the health ministry for “misleading public opinion.”

‘Impossible to Record’

The violence deployed against the initial wave of protests from October 1 to 6 sparked worldwide condemnation, and a government probe even concluded “excessive force” was used.

The inquiry, whose results were released October 22, found that 157 people were killed, mainly protesters in the capital who suffered gunshot wounds to the head or chest.

A United Nations report published the same day said it encountered difficulties in its own investigation because public hospitals had been “restricted” from sharing statistics with outside organizations, including the U.N.

Indeed, several medics in Baghdad and the south declined to talk to AFP about the subject, citing “instructions.”

Others spoke anonymously and said they faced not only a gag order, but restrictions by security forces within the hospitals themselves.

One doctor in the capital, who asked his place of work not be named, said security forces ordered ambulances not to pick up wounded protesters for several hours on October 4.

“I’m sure the total death toll is much higher than the official numbers,” the doctor said.

The commission has also recorded dozens of arrests by security forces in hospitals.

Witnesses told AFP they had seen armed men recording the names and identifying information of patients in Baghdad hospitals, particularly if they were seeking treatment for tear gas or bullet wounds.

“Many people came in with gunshot wounds but just asked to be bandaged and discharged because they were afraid of being arrested,” a second medic in Baghdad said.

“That makes it impossible for us to record the number of wounded properly,” he added.

‘No One’s Talking’ 

Protests resumed on October 24, with the commission documenting 100 deaths, mostly demonstrators, since then.

Gathering reliable tolls has only become more difficult, with the most demonstrative case in the holy city of Karbala in the south.

Clashes broke out there on October 28 between protesters and security forces, with AFP’s correspondent reporting heavy gunfire near the provincial headquarters.

The governor and security forces said no one had died in the incident, but medical sources provided varied numbers.

Karbala’s forensics department said one 24-year-old male was killed, while a doctor there reported three dead had arrived at his hospital alone.

“The forensics department has strict orders. No one’s talking,” the doctor said.

Even the commission struggled to confirm a toll beyond the death reported by Karbala’s forensics chief amid fears it was being boxed out.

“We used to work on cold cases, old violations. But these are different – these need a rapid response,” said member Ali Bayati, a doctor.

The body was formed by parliamentary decree and is funded by the government, putting them in a precarious spot.

Bayati said commission members had been assaulted, wounded and warned to stop.

“I’ve gotten many threats from unknown numbers that call and say what we’re doing is unacceptable,” he told AFP.

But Bayati said the commission’s unique position also meant it could mediate between the Iraqi government and the protesters demanding its collapse.

“We could create that bridge. But will the government allow that?” he said.


More on the Subject 

 

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Mass protesters in Iraq.
World

A Year After Unprecedented Iraq Protests, What Has Changed?

by Staff Writer
September 29, 2020
Thousands of Iraqis Rally Against Government, US, and Iran
Featured

Iraqi Protesters Face Off Against Cleric’s Followers

by Staff Writer
February 4, 2020
Iraq Demonstrations Flare as Baghdad Faces Renewed Pressure
Featured

Renewed Violence Against Iraq Protesters as TV Station Suspended

by Staff Writer
January 28, 2020
Iraqi Protesters Attack US Embassy Over Deadly Strikes
Featured

Iraqi Protesters Attack US Embassy Over Deadly Strikes

by Staff Writer
December 31, 2019
Lebanon Reopens But Crisis Remains After PM Resigns
Featured

UN Urges Probe into ‘Excessive Force’ Against Lebanon Protesters

by Staff Writer
December 16, 2019
Iraq Demonstrations Flare as Baghdad Faces Renewed Pressure
Featured

‘This is My Sacrifice:’ Thousands Maimed in Iraq Protests

by Staff Writer
November 20, 2019
Next Post
Migrants and refugees look on after minor clashes with Greek policemen occurred at a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, March 2016

Rights Groups Condemn Controversial New Greek Migration Law

The body of a woman shot dead near her house in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico on Aug. 1, 2018

Atrocities and Impunity in Mexico: Too Hot to Handle for the ICC?

Recommended

A woman leaves after receiving the Covid-19 shot at the Al-Abbas Islamic Centre, which has been converted into a temporary vaccination center in Birmingham.

UK Imams Mobilize to Counter Covid Vaccine Disinformation

January 22, 2021
The EU's corruption watchdog has been investigating Frontex.

EU’s Frontex Says ‘No Evidence’ of Illegal Migrant Pushbacks

January 21, 2021
As members of the Covax facility, the poorest nations are expecting their first doses in February.

Covax: The Global Plan to Share Covid Vaccines

January 21, 2021
Vatican has vaccinated 25 people experiencing homelessness against the coronavirus.

Vatican Vaccinates Homeless Against Coronavirus

January 20, 2021
President Donald Trump sits alongside Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, during a meeting on the opioid epidemic in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on June 12, 2019.

Queen Rat Conway Swims for Safe Harbor: Too Little Too Late?

January 20, 2021
President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden at a COVID-19 tribute in DC on Tuesday.

In Washington, Biden Leads Tribute to 400,000 Covid Dead

January 19, 2021

Opinion

President Donald Trump sits alongside Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, during a meeting on the opioid epidemic in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on June 12, 2019.

Queen Rat Conway Swims for Safe Harbor: Too Little Too Late?

January 20, 2021
Medical personnel is given the Pfizer-Biontech Covid-19 corona virus vaccine at the Favoriten Clinic in Vienna, Austria, on December 27, 2020

The Vaccine Battle Highlights the Need to Communicate Science

January 20, 2021
President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.

Threatening Democracy: The Choice Between Progress and Extremism Has Never Been So Clear

January 13, 2021
Jake Angeli speaks to a US Capitol Police officer.

American Democracy Will Prevail

January 13, 2021
Pro-Trump protester in front of Capitol Hill.

Riots at Capitol Hill: Darkness Before the Dawn?

January 8, 2021
Volunteers are given the Moderna vaccine on August 5, 2020, in Detroit, Michigan.

Who’s First-in-Line for the Vaccine? A Classic Problem in Medical Ethics

December 30, 2020
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post