New CCTV footage shows failed assassination attempt against three Basra activists

Lawk Ghafuri

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — At least four activists have faced targeted assassination attempts in the southern Iraqi city of Basra over the span of a week, with one dying of his injuries. A newly published surveillance video from Iraq’s southern city of Basra shows the moment three activists narrowly escaped attempts on their lives in the oil-rich city.

Ludia Remon, Fahad al-Zubaidi, and Abbas al-Subhi, are three activists from Basra city survived an assassination attempt on Monday by an unknown assailant. Remon recounted her near-death experience to US-based Iraqi news outlet Irfaa Sawtak on Tuesday.

“I was waiting for my friends to come and pick me up to go to the funeral of our friend Tahseen, may his soul rest in peace,” Remon said. “When I went out of my house, my friends were waiting for me in their car. Suddenly a white vehicle carrying four passengers stopped by [us] and they started to shoot.” 

Remon noted that her leg was wounded in the attack, and her friend Abbas was shot in his back.

“Thankfully Abbas and I both survived as the driver of our vehicle bolted from the area with us,” Remon explained.

Remon believes that the assassination attempt took place because of her and her friends' involvement in local protests.

“I received death threats back in 2018 for protesting and promoting anti-government protests in the city of Basra,” the activist added.

CCTV footage from outside Remon's home shows a white SUV pull up to the kerb. As she approaches the car, another white vehicle stops nearby, and an assailant exits and begins shooting at them. Remon then rushes into the SUV, which quickly races away from the scene.

On Friday, Tahseen Oussama, a prominent activist from Basra, was shot dead by unknown assailants in the city’s northern al-Junaina neighbourhood.

Oussama had taken part in local anti-establishment and anti-corruption protests that had spread across the country from the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in October of last year. He was a vocal critic of both the government and of militias accused of killing protesters with impunity.

Iraqi protesters expanded their movement in Basra on Sunday following the assassination of Oussama. Protesters started to march near the governorate building in Basra and close to the house of the Basra governor, Asaad al-Idani.

Videos circulating on social media platforms show security forces using live ammunition against protesters in front of the governor’s house and the governorate building in Basra city on Sunday. They also show some protesters using Molotov cocktails against security forces. 

In response to the violence, the Iraqi government sacked two senior security officials in the city. 

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.

Iraqi activists have been warning of an increasingly threatening environment for those who speak out against the country's current political order. Data provided to Rudaw English from the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) last month put the number of successful targeted assassinations of protesters and aligned activists between October 1, 2019 and March 17, 2020 at 22. 

Nearly 560 protesters and security force members have been killed at demonstrations since October 2019, according to data provided by Hisham Dawoud, advisor to the prime minister.

However, 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.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-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.

Under the rule of Kadhimi’s government, two protesters were killed in clashes with security forces late last month, when electricity cuts and soaring temperatures prompted demonstrations in central Baghdad.

Kadhimi ordered an investigation into the deaths, demanding answers within 72 hours. The Iraqi government later suspended three soldiers, including two senior officers, in connection with the deaths. 

“These criminal acts are the result of many years of conflict,” Kadhimi said in an interview with the Associated Press published on Monday, blaming poor policies and improper management by his predecessors for undermining the authority of the state. “It is not surprising then that criminals work here and there to destabilize security.”