Iraqi PM spokesperson denies reports of Baghdad compensation protest deaths
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A spokesperson for Iraqi prime minister and armed forces commander-in-chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi has denied any fatalities in Sunday’s protests in southern Baghdad, after a spokesperson for protesters claimed two deaths.
Protesters in the Iraqi capital demanding an end to a government-proposed reform cutting compensation paid to victims of Saddam Hussein's regime and their families were fired upon by security forces, spokesperson Sheikh Amer Shalan Rafawi said – a claim dismissed by Yehia Rasool, spokesperson to premier Kadhimi in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces.
“Our security forces on Sunday prevented some buses...which did not adhere to the procedures of the Supreme Committee for Health and National Safety regarding the coronavirus pandemic, because they were crowded with demonstrators heading to Baghdad,” reads Rasool's statement.
“Unfortunately, some of the demonstrators attacked the security forces that were present to protect them, and attempted to cross by force, so the security forces had to stop them," the statement added.
"No live ammunition was used as rumored, and no victim fell.”
Protester spokesperson Rafawi told Rudaw on Sunday that two demonstrators were killed and 16 injured when security forces fired at a crowd stopped at a checkpoint at Daira bridge, just south of the capital. Confrontation escalated and security forces fired upon the protesters, Rafawi said; videos purportedly from the scene show security forces wielding batons and driving Humvees through crowds of protesters.
“They fired on us upon direct orders from Kadhimi and killed two of us,” Rafawi said.
Thousands of people travelled from several southern Iraqi provinces to Baghdad in the early hours of Sunday morning, protesting an end to monthly, government-allocated compensation as part of an economic reform package announced by Kadhimi.
Kadhimi announced the reforms in late May as his government faced serious economic crisis due to low oil prices and the devastating consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kadhimi ordered authorities to stop paying more than one monthly compensation payment to any of the country's citizens.
Thousands of Iraqis imprisoned for political reasons during Saddam Hussein's regime receive compensation payments from the government, an increasing strain on thinning state coffers. The reform especially impacted Iraq's Shiite south, who were of particular target by the Baath regime.
Protesters in the Iraqi capital demanding an end to a government-proposed reform cutting compensation paid to victims of Saddam Hussein's regime and their families were fired upon by security forces, spokesperson Sheikh Amer Shalan Rafawi said – a claim dismissed by Yehia Rasool, spokesperson to premier Kadhimi in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces.
“Our security forces on Sunday prevented some buses...which did not adhere to the procedures of the Supreme Committee for Health and National Safety regarding the coronavirus pandemic, because they were crowded with demonstrators heading to Baghdad,” reads Rasool's statement.
“Unfortunately, some of the demonstrators attacked the security forces that were present to protect them, and attempted to cross by force, so the security forces had to stop them," the statement added.
"No live ammunition was used as rumored, and no victim fell.”
Protester spokesperson Rafawi told Rudaw on Sunday that two demonstrators were killed and 16 injured when security forces fired at a crowd stopped at a checkpoint at Daira bridge, just south of the capital. Confrontation escalated and security forces fired upon the protesters, Rafawi said; videos purportedly from the scene show security forces wielding batons and driving Humvees through crowds of protesters.
“They fired on us upon direct orders from Kadhimi and killed two of us,” Rafawi said.
Thousands of people travelled from several southern Iraqi provinces to Baghdad in the early hours of Sunday morning, protesting an end to monthly, government-allocated compensation as part of an economic reform package announced by Kadhimi.
Kadhimi announced the reforms in late May as his government faced serious economic crisis due to low oil prices and the devastating consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kadhimi ordered authorities to stop paying more than one monthly compensation payment to any of the country's citizens.
Thousands of Iraqis imprisoned for political reasons during Saddam Hussein's regime receive compensation payments from the government, an increasing strain on thinning state coffers. The reform especially impacted Iraq's Shiite south, who were of particular target by the Baath regime.