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Iraq
Anti-government protesters hang their demands and slogans while standing on a building near Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq on October 30, 2019. Photo: Hadi Mizban/AP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Iraqi government has completed registration of 90 percent of protesters killed during the nationwide demonstrations, and each family will be compensated with 1.2 million Iraqi dinars ($1,000) and a fixed monthly payment, according to a Baghdad official.
Tariq al-Mandalawi, head of the government Martyrs Foundation Department of Victims of Terrorism and Military Operations announced the news to Iraqi state media late Monday.
“The families of the martyrs of the protests will be compensated with 1.2 million Iraqi dinars, and a fixed salary will be provided as well,” al-Mandalawi said.
Injured demonstrators will also be provided with monthly aid.
“Wounded protesters will be compensated based on the level of their wounds, and the protesters who have 75 percent to 100 percent [bodily] wounds will be compensated the same as a martyr,” he added.
Iraq has seen frequent protests since October 2019, with demonstrators demanding basic services, jobs, and the fall of the corruption-rife political establishment that have been in place since the 2003 US invasion.
When security forces and pro-Iran militias began attacking the protesters, killing hundreds, activists began demanding an end to foreign interference in Iraqi affairs and called for the overthrow of the political elite.
Kadhimi received a group of wounded Iraqi protesters from the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in a meeting in Baghdad last month, during which he promised to help those injured in the mass demonstrations.
After the meeting, the PM “vowed” to provide medical treatment to wounded protesters in a separate tweet, saying they would “transfer some of them for treatment outside Iraq if necessary.”
Mandalawi stated the number of killed protesters to be slightly more than 500 since October 2019, excluding members of the security forces.
Human rights monitor Amnesty International estimates that at least 600 protesters and members of the security forces have been killed, with more than 18,000 injured in the protests.
Kadhimi has previously vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Leaders from across the political spectrum have condemned the deaths, but protesters complain that the killers – largely believed to be members of Iran-backed militias - are not being brought to justice.
Two protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces since Kadhimi took office in May, when electricity cuts and soaring temperatures prompted demonstrations in central Baghdad.
Kadhimi ordered an investigation into the deaths, demanding answers within 72 hours.
The government suspended three soldiers, including two senior officers, in connection with the deaths.
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