• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Sunday, July 3, 2022
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 Featured

Iraqis Arrested For Backing Protests On Facebook

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
11/04/19
in Featured, World
Protesters in Iraq's Basra

Basra protest. Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Iraqi security forces in a western province unaffected by anti-government protests are detaining people for posting messages of solidarity with the rallies, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

At least two people have been arrested and a third interrogated in Anbar province, a Sunni-majority desert region in the country’s west, after Facebook posts.

Protests demanding an overhaul of the political system have rocked Baghdad and southern Iraq, both mainly Shiite, but have not reached the west or Kurdish-majority north.

Residents of western Iraq have told AFP and HRW they were remaining quiet of out of fear of being accused of being “terrorists” or backers of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein.

At least three were shot dead when protesters attacked the Iranian consulate in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala

The protesters demanded Iran stop interfering in Iraq's internal affairs

[tap to expand] https://t.co/X2TXljHnfa pic.twitter.com/X33hNH9spO

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 4, 2019

But security forces there appear to be monitoring social media accounts, HRW said on Monday.

“Despite years of terrible conflict, many Iraqis have felt free to speak out on political issues,” said HRW’s Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson.

“But these cases mark a disturbing change, if you contrast these men’s entirely peaceful political statements with the completely inappropriate response by the Anbar authorities.”

The watchdog said Anbar’s security forces had detained three men within hours of their posts in support of the protests, which erupted on October 1.

Two of them were later released, while a fourth man had gone into hiding after being warned he was wanted for his Facebook posts.

Shortly after protests first broke out, Iraqi authorities imposed a total internet blackout for about two weeks.

They later banned social media sites including Facebook and popular messaging app WhatsApp, but Iraqis are widely using virtual private networks (VPN) to continue accessing them.

Security forces and unidentified assailants have also arrested hundreds of demonstrators in Baghdad and the south including from hospitals, according to the Iraqi Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International.

Most were later released but some remain missing, including medic Saba al-Mahdawi, who was abducted on Saturday night after returning from a protest


More on the Subject

Iraq Protests Enter Second Month, Defying Pledges of Reform

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Iraq
Middle East

Amnesty Urges Iraq to Account for 643 Missing Boys and Men

by Staff Writer
June 3, 2021
Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani
Middle East

Anti-US Chants as Iraqis Mourn Commanders Killed A Year Ago

by Staff Writer
January 3, 2021
An Iraqi Kurdish woman wearing the Kurdish flag.
Middle East

Iraqi Kurds Look on as Israel Befriends Old Arab Foes

by Staff Writer
November 29, 2020
Mass protesters in Iraq.
World

A Year After Unprecedented Iraq Protests, What Has Changed?

by Staff Writer
September 29, 2020
Fleeing Yezidis
Middle East

Yezidi Children Freed From Is Haunted by Health Crisis: Amnesty

by Staff Writer
July 30, 2020
Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.
Interviews

Not Accepted: The Tale of an Iraqi Human Rights Activist in Turkey

by Victoria Mulville
July 30, 2020
Next Post
A demonstrator dressed as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) with blood on his hands protests outside the Saudi embassy in Washington, DC after Khashoggi went missing.

Repression Deepening in Saudi Arabia Even After Khashoggi Murder: HRW

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi

India Will Not Join China-Backed Trade Deal in Blow to Sprawling Pact

Recommended

Google logo

Google to Pay $90 Mn in Settlement With App Developers

July 1, 2022
Mexico murdered journalists

Journalist Murdered in Mexico, 12th This Year

June 29, 2022
Spain migrants

Spain Prosecutor Opens Probe Into Melilla Migrant Deaths

June 28, 2022
Afghan refugees

Pakistani Migrants in Afghanistan Caught in Quake No-Man’s Land

June 27, 2022
Joe Biden climate summit

Biden Calls Clean Energy Matter of National Security in Face of Russia War

June 17, 2022
climate change

Developing Countries Left ‘Disappointed’ at Climate Talks

June 16, 2022

Opinion

US President Donald Trump

Owning the Words and the Libs

June 16, 2022
Officers in Uvalde, Texas, stand outside Robb Elementary School near a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims

Child Sacrifice Makes a Comeback

June 3, 2022
A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
A man holding a gun

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

May 2, 2022
China Muslim Uyghurs

Unfair Politicization, Corruption, and the Death of Modern Olympism

April 23, 2022
Ukraine war

The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis and the Hierarchies of Western Compassion

April 20, 2022
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