ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Four days after student protests in the Kurdistan Region that escalated into violence in some areas, the Iraqi prime minister on Thursday said that attacking protesters and public and private property is unacceptable.
“Peaceful demonstrations are a constitutional right, however, attacking protesters and damaging public and private property is not acceptable,” Mustafa al-Kadhimi tweeted early Thursday morning.
“The recent painful events in Sulimaniya requires a unified stance from all sides to preserve civil peace and prevent further escalation,” added the PM.
The protests began on Sunday at the University of Sulaimani, calling on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to reinstate their student allowance, which has been cut since 2014 due to the financial crisis. Students at public universities used to receive 40,000 to 100,000 dinars [$27-67] monthly.
The allowance was, however, the start of a long list of grievances, students told Rudaw English on Wednesday. Students said they demand better services, the removal of political influence from university affairs, and a better education system.
The protests soon spread to other cities and towns, including the regional capital Erbil – but were heavily controlled by security forces. Footage showed the Hawler Medical University campus completely surrounded by security, with media prevented from covering the hundreds of demonstrators within.
The protests in Sulaimani city were met with a crackdown as police used electric batons, teargas, rubber bullets, and water cannons to disperse the crowd – but they continued and grew in size.
The KRG on Wednesday said that they have decided to provide funds for the ministry of higher education to improve the situation.
Attacks on students in #Sulaimaniya is not shocking. In the past decade, Asayish forces of both major parties of @Kurdistan gov have made freedom of expression & assembly one of the most dangerous practices to take part in.A subject discussed only in whispers or cries of agony.
— Raz Salayi🕯️ (@razsalayi) November 25, 2021
Security forces have continually said that there are other people and sides attempting to change the direction of the protests. Counter-Terrorism forces affiliated with Sulaimani’s ruling party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), on Thursday said “we will harshly confront any political group or interest-seeking people that change the direction of the protests for their own means.”
Iraqi President Barham Salih on Wednesday said he was concerned about the unrest in Sulaimani.
"The peaceful protest of the students for their demands is a constitutional right, violence against civilians and the public security is condemned. It is the duty of the security forces to protect the protesters. Let's protect peace, rights of people, public property and the sacred [things] of the homeland," he tweeted.
Amnesty International Iraq in a tweet on Thursday said they are “disheartened but not shocked," adding that the violent dispersal of protesting students “is only the latest attack by Kurdistan’s security forces on freedom of expression & assembly.”
