Has anything actually changed since Iraq’s protests began?

BAGHDAD, Iraq – On a cold Wednesday evening in mid-February, as I slowly made my way toward Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Baghdad’s protest movement, a tuk tuk pulled up and offered me a free ride into the centre. 

Bumping along, we passed three security checkpoints, each inspecting the tuk tuk and my ID. Lining the route were dilapidated homes which once belonged to Iraq’s Jewish community. Now the government owns them, my driver Emad tells me.

Arriving at the entrance to the square and waving off Emad as he clattered away, I sat down on a concrete roadblock and surveyed the vast concrete space, occupied by protesters since the movement began in October last year.

Tahrir Square has become the thumping heart of the anti-government protests. The overwhelmingly young crowd initially limited its demands to improvements in public services, employment opportunities, and action against corruption.

Since the bloody crackdown by security forces and pro-government militias, their demands have grown with calls for the complete overthrow of the post-2003 elite.

More than 600 people have been killed and around 18,000 injured in clashes, according to Amnesty International.

Few of those I spoke to in the square were willing to be filmed or photographed. Their reluctance is easy to understand. Unidentified armed men regularly abduct and murder young activists.

Walking deeper into the square, approaching the iconic Freedom Monument, I come across a young medical student called Mohammed. The 22-year-old is supervising a first aid tent, where those injured in clashes with police are brought for treatment. 



“The most important change is that more awareness has been achieved, and it is very clear to see that,” Mohammed told me. “Protesters started to freely express their views and feelings despite the constant threats. They also stopped fearing political parties.”

Tahrir Square is less crowded than it was during my last visit. Many protesters appear to have left, exhausted after months camped out in the winter cold or intimidated into silence by armed men. 

Many others have abandoned Tahrir Square and headed south to join ongoing protests in Iraq’s other cities, like Basra, Najaf, and Nasiriyah. 

Omar Kati’e has chosen to stay put. He is something of a hero among protesters, widely recognized for his live videos about the movement broadcast on Facebook.

I met Kati’e in front of the iconic Turkish Restaurant, a tower on the edge of the square which once acted like a command center for protesters monitoring the movement of security forces across the nearby al-Jumhuriyah Bridge. 



Protesters and police routinely fought for control of the bridge spanning the Tigris River, connecting Tahrir to the heavily fortified Green Zone – the seat of government. 

Before the protests began, the building was a dilapidated, 14-storey shell that once housed a luxurious Turkish restaurant – hence the name. It was badly damaged in the US ‘shock and awe’ bombing campaign in 2003.

The protesters were ejected from the tower in early February by supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr – known as the ‘blue hats’ for their distinctive headwear. 

“We have made 14 achievements since the beginning of the protests,” Kati’e told me at the foot of the tower. “But I will mention only the one I think is the most important.”

“We proved that we are united, and the politicians are the ones who are divided, as politics created sectarianism, not us, as here in  Tahrir Square we are Shiite, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians, Assyrians,   Sabeea’a, and Chaldean, all having one heart. They will leave and we will stay.”



Standing among the dwindling crowd in Tahrir, it’s hard to see what has really changed. But I hear several protesters refer to these alleged ‘14 achievements’.

Among them is the reinstating of police and soldiers laid off by the government after the defeat of the Islamic State group (ISIS). Many of them had been hired on a casual daily rate to help combat the group.

After several weeks of protest, the Iraqi government yielded to the demand to reinstate them and offer them permanent jobs. 

“We have 14 achievements, including the resignation of the prime minister, election law amendments, and the return of the army personnel sacked because their contracts expired,” said Ahmed, a 21-year-old Baghdad native, who was in the square with his mother.

“We are here to stay in Tahrir Square, all the protesters and revolutionaries are here to stay until the entire government resigns.”

Ahmed condemned the “government of snipers” which used live ammunition and military-grade tear gas against protesters on the streets of Baghdad and other cities. 

The government has failed to investigate the disproportionate use of force and has apportioned blame for the killings to “third parties”. 

Amnesty International released its 2019 annual report last week on the human rights situation in the Middle East and North Africa region, dubbing it “a year of defiance”.    

Iraqi protesters showed “tremendous resilience,” Amnesty said, facing gunfire, military-grade tear gas, and, most recently, hunting rifles.

After some hesitation, Um Ahmed (mother of Ahmed) agreed to speak to me.

“The sacked soldiers went back to their duty – this is the first achievement,” she said.

“The new government employees, who were on daily payment contracts, are now permanent. And [now the government is] conducting snap elections,” she added.

Very few female activists remain in the square. Several have been kidnapped, assaulted, or even murdered by unknown assailants since the protests began. 

Saba al-Mahdawi and Mari Mohammed were two prominent activists who were both kidnapped by armed groups in Baghdad. Although they were both later released unharmed, they have been intimidated into silence.

Zahraa Ali al-Qaraloosi, 19, was kidnapped and killed in Baghdad on December 2 while heading home from Tahrir Square. Her body was found near her home.

Another protester called Mounir is less positive about the movement’s achievements, but remains defiant. 

“Nothing changed,” he said. “The only change they made was changing the ministers, and I wonder why the blood of those people is still pouring into the streets. They are targeting us with bullets. Are we mice or chickens to be targeted with bullets?”

Ministers may have changed, but the same establishment remains in power, he says.

“Kidnappings by dirty militias are still ongoing, and that is why nothing has changed,” Mounir said. 

“They only changed ministers and brought another [prime] minister without listening to our demands, and that is why we are here to stay, and we will keep our feet here until our last breath, for the sake of martyrs’ blood.”

Iraq is in a state of limbo, as caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi lingers on in office while PM-designated Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi cobbles together his cabinet.

Abdul-Mahdi resigned from his post in late 2019 following months of protests and a direct call to go from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s highest Shiite religious highest.

Allawi, a former minister in the government of Nouri al-Maliki, was tasked by President Barham Salih with forming a new cabinet of independents and technocrats on February 1. However, objections by Iraq’s Sunni and Kurdish minorities have slowed his progress.

The Iraqi parliament held an extraordinary session on Thursday to vote on Allawi’s cabinet. But, after the parliament failed to meet quorum, the session was postponed until Saturday. 

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