Gruesome images emerged on social media on Thursday of an individual being strung up from a set of traffic lights in Baghdad’s Wathba Square, where protesters have been camped out for several weeks.
The incident has been universally condemned by protesters, who have been out on the streets since October 1 demanding jobs, public services, and an end to corruption.
It was alleged that the individual, named by his family as Haytham Ali Ismael, had fired on protesters from a rooftop, killing at least five, before being grabbed by the mob.
Conflicting reports say Ismael, born in 2004, was running away from police, who then stood by as he was attacked by the mob.
Rudaw tracked down Ismael’s grandmother, Sameerah Ahmed, who has been forced to flee after the mob torched the home she shared with her grandson. Ismael’s father had been killed 15 years ago while serving in the Iraqi National Guard and his mother had remarried.
Ahmed insists Ismael did not provoke the attack by shooting at the protesters as some accounts suggest. He had merely gone outside to tell the protesters to move their encampment from outside his grandmother’s home.
“The thing is he went out, told them that they should leave because they have girls at home, that it is inappropriate [for them to continue camping in front of his house],” Ismael’s aunt told Rudaw.
“He told them that they are protesters, that they should be protesting in Tahrir Square, not near families,” she added.
The aunt had been weary of male protesters harassing her six daughters.
Ismael was beaten by protesters several times in the weeks leading up to his death, his aunt claimed.
“On the third occasion, he shot one bullet into the air to make them go away,” she said. It was then that security forces intervened.
“The emergency [forces] got him out of the house, then handed him over to them [protesters], telling protesters to kill him, to slay him,” said Ahmed.
Videos which have surfaced on social media show armed security forces trying to break into the house.
Ahmed says she went to the Civil Defense Forces to ask them to rescue her grandson, but they told her they could not intervene.
“They beat me too. They were saying kill her alongside him,” she said, claiming the assailants stole her gold jewelry and millions of Iraq dinars from her home.
According to the autopsy report seen by the family, Ismael was stabbed 30 times, his aunt said.
The family directly called on Muqtada al-Sadr, the firebrand Shiite cleric, to protect them. Sadr’s ‘Peace Brigades’ – recognizable by their blue caps – have been deployed to the city’s squares to help protect activists.
“I want my son. What has he done? He was just 14 years old,” Ahmed said.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) condemned Thursday’s violence.
“Events in Wathba square another absolute low. Violence, abductions and barbarism must stop. Call on security forces to ensure full protection of peaceful demonstrators. Perpetrators must be brought to justice,” UNAMI tweeted.
In a Friday sermon, read by his representative Sayid Ahmed al-Safi, Iraq’s highest Shiite religious authority Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urged protesters to remain peaceful and denounced the gruesome incident.
“As we denounce strongly the killings, kidnappings, and all types of assault [against protesters], including the disgusting, horrendous crime that occurred yesterday in Wathba area, we call on the relevant authorities to shoulder responsibility and reveal those who committed these sinful crimes and hold them to account,” Sistani said.
With reporting by Halkawt Aziz
