Attacks on public figures raise the specter of political eliminations in Iraq. An Iraqi journalist was early Monday, May 10, in intensive care after an assassination attempt in the south of the country, 24 hours after Ehab al-Ouazni, one of the anti-power voices, was shot dead.
Early Sunday, during one of the “Nights of fate” of Ramadan – sacred in Islam – as Ehab al-Ouazni returned home to the alleys of Kerbala, where pro-Iran armed factions are legion, motorcycle shooters appeared to shoot him down. This coordinator of the demonstrations in Kerbala, who had been involved in all social struggles for years in this city, had narrowly escaped the same scenario in December 2019. Motorcycle shooters, pistols equipped with silencers in hand had killed a man before his eyes. comrade of struggle, Fahem al-Taï.
Since the assassination of Ehab al-Ouazni, the situation has continued to deteriorate. Demonstrations broke out in Kerbala, but also in Diwaniyah and Nassiriya, two other towns in the South. While in the evening, demonstrators burned tires and prefabs in front of the Iranian consulate in Kerbala after chanting during the funeral procession of Mr. Ouazni “Iran get out! “ or “The people want the fall of the regime! “, a new attack took place.
Around one a.m, “As he got out of his car to go home” near Diwaniya, the journalist Ahmed Hassan of the Iraqi channel al-Fourat, was the victim of shootings, reports to Agence France-Presse (AFP) a witness present at the time of the facts. He has since been in intensive care after receiving “Two bullets in the head and one in the shoulder”, explained a doctor to AFP.
Legislative elections expected in October
The assassination of Mr. Ouazni and the assassination attempt against Mr. Hassan immediately resurfaced the specter of political eliminations, in a country that was customary during the civil war (2006-2009) but where they had since ceased.
This violence comes as the country is supposed to organize legislative elections in October – an early poll promised in the wake of an unprecedented revolt in October 2019. This movement, the “October revolution” concluded by nearly 600 dead, only stopped under the blows of a campaign of intimidation, kidnappings and assassinations.
As anger spreads through the ranks of the anti-power across the Shiite, rural and tribal south of Iraq, five parties, including Al-Beit al-Watani (“The national bloc”, in Arabic), one of the few parties born of the “October revolution” who still wanted to participate in the legislative elections scheduled for October, announced that they were throwing in the towel.
“How can a government that lets silenced pistols and bombs pass before its eyes guarantee a secure electoral climate?” “, asked al-Beit al-Watani in a statement, calling for “Boycott the entire political system”. The Communist Party has also announced plans to boycott the elections.
A lack of protection
The activists are exasperated, demanding protection from the current government, named because the previous one had to leave in the face of the “October revolution”. The police in Kerbala may well say that they do not “Would not spare his efforts” to find ” The Terrorists “ behind this “Assassination” and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi promise to “Catch up with all the killers”, they did not convince.
The Ouazni family thus affirmed that they would not receive any condolences until the perpetrators were unmasked. Because activists consider that Mr. Kazimi, also head of intelligence, has still not done, a year after taking office, justice to the critics murdered.
“What real steps have been taken by the Kazimi government to hold the perpetrators accountable for their crimes? “, asks Ali Bayati, of the government human rights commission.
Mr. Ouazni himself attacked the head of government in February on Facebook: “Do you know what’s going on?” Do you know they kidnap and kill or do you live in a country other than us? “
Since October 2019, at least 70 activists have been victims of assassinations or attempted assassinations and dozens kidnapped more or less briefly. Hicham al-Hachémi, a specialist in jihadism, was assassinated in July 2020 in front of his children in front of his house in Baghdad.
No one claimed responsibility for their deaths, but for the activists, as for the UN, these are “Militias”. “Iran’s militias murdered Ehab and will kill us all, they threaten us and the government is silent”, denounced one of his friends in a video shot in the morgue. And above all, hammer the activists, video in support, Mr. Ouazni had recently told the police to feel threatened. No protection was granted to him, they assure.