More than 1,000 cases of violence against Iraqi protesters closed by courts: UNAMI

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) revealed on Sunday that more than 1,000 court cases relating to violence against Iraqi protesters were closed, many seemingly due to threats against victims' families, prolonging impunity for the “unknown perpetrators.” 

The report, the sixth UNAMI has written since the protest movement began, was based on interviews conducted with families of the victims of the attacks carried out during the protests, talks with the Iraqi Human Rights Committee, a number of lawyers in several Iraqi provinces, and the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq.

The report said 8,163 cases filed relating to violence during demonstrations that occurred between October 1, 2019 and March 31, 2021 were submitted to courts and an investigative committee. According to the report, 1,122 cases were closed, most of which were registered against “unknown perpetrators.” Investigations are ongoing in 3,897 cases.

“We refuse to even come close to touching anything to do with ‘militia’ cases because it would put our lives in jeopardy. Our strategy is to focus on the violations against the protesters by the security forces instead,” a lawyer told UNAMI.

The report showed a fact-finding committee formed by then Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi in 2019 to investigate cases of killings and violations that occurred during demonstrations from October 1 to October 8, 2019 revealed the involvement of 44 security personnel in the killing of 107 demonstrators, including top officials. 

However, only a limited number of investigations and judicial trials took place.

As for the committee formed by current PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi in May 2020, UNAMI was unable to obtain any information on their findings.

“The absence of information available on the committee, including the selection process for its members, the identity or background of its members, its methodology… prevents an objective assessment of its adherence to human rights standards,” the report said.

Protests broke out in central and southern Iraq in late 2019, calling for an end to corruption, unemployment, and for the provision of basic services. In early 2020, Amnesty International published figures estimating that around 600 protesters and members of the security forces had been killed by then. 

48 incidents of attempted or targeted killings of protesters and critics were documented by UNAMI between October 1, 2019 and May 15, 2021. At least 32 died and 21 were injured as a result of assassinations, while 20 protesters who were abducted by militias remain missing.

Iranian backed militias, including factions of the Popular Mobilization forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic) are widely blamed.

The mission's report states that judicial sources, lawyers and victims confirmed that many cases were closed or abandoned based on the victims' withdrawal of complaints, especially those related to "unidentified armed elements", as victims were under threat to drop their cases.

“We grudgingly agreed to accept blood money of 30 million Iraqi dinars because we know the case may take ages with no tangible results, since those responsible are an ‘influential entity’ who will do whatever they can to close the case and hide the evidence,” the father of a protester killed in Najaf told UNAMI in an interview.

“Another reason that we closed the case is because we were threatened by […], of course, it was offered as ‘advice’ but I took it seriously and decided to waive the case and receive the compensation,” he added.