Iraqi female activist shot dead during protests in Basra

  • actual
  • 09:35 23 January 2020
  • |
img
NEWS CENTER - More and more people are being deliberately killed during the protests in Iraq. In the southern Iraqi city of Basra, an activist who was shot from a vehicle by armed men has been buried.
 
An activist critical of the government has been killed in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra. According to eyewitnesses, 49-year-old Janat Mahdi Hussein was shot dead from a vehicle by armed men late Tuesday evening, according to police sources. Five other people, including at least one other local activist, were injured. A source at the Forensic Institute in Basra, the centre of the country's oil industry, has confirmed that Hussein had suffered gunshot wounds. The activist, who is also said to have been a paramedic, was buried today.
 
Iraq has been shaken once again in recent days by mass protests and their violent repression. The protests against the political elite, mismanagement, corruption and high unemployment have been continuing since October, but subsided briefly at the beginning of the month after the targeted killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani by a US drone attack at Baghdad international airport. Now the protests have flared up again.
 
At least five demonstrators were killed during protests in Iraq on Monday when security forces fired live ammunition into the crowd. In Baghdad, three people died from injuries sustained during the protests: two from bullet wounds, the third was hit by a tear gas cartridge which, according to eyewitnesses, was fired directly at his head. A fourth demonstrator was shot dead by police in the central Iraqi town of Karbala, south-west of Baghdad, and the fifth died in the north-eastern Iraqi town of Baquba.
 
Earlier, the protest movement had issued an ultimatum to the government on Sunday and announced that the riots would intensify if its demands were not met by Monday. Demonstrators are calling for the appointment of an independent person to form a new government of technocrats, as well as snap elections and trial of those responsible for the deaths during the demonstrations.
 
The discredited government has so far not met any of the demands of the protest movement. Although Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi resigned two months ago, he is still in office provisionally because the Iraqi parliament cannot agree on a successor. His government takes a tough stance on the renewed protests. Adel Karim Khalaf, spokesman for the Iraqi armed forces, has already stated that the security forces are "absolutely justified" in suppressing the protests.
 
Hundreds of thousands of people have so far taken part in the wave of protests that broke out in Iraq on October 1. More than 500 people have lost their lives since then, and more than thirty people who were accused of leading roles in the uprisings have been assassinated. 56 protesters have disappeared and their fate is unknown.

View More Articles

02/07/2025
16:16 People of Şirnex demand cancel of dam projects
13:45 Delegation from Europe demands immediate and unconditional release of Öcalan
11:44 Attack on Baloch women in Iran: 1 dead, 11 injured
11:12 Abdullah Öcalan sends message to European delegation
10:12 Women to convey demands on process to Parliament
09:27 Occupation continues in Serêkaniyê, Girê Spî, and Efrîn
09:21 Embargo continues in Makhmur: Hundreds of patients unable to access treatment
09:20 Health of ill prisoners worsens in Antalya prisons
09:19 ‘Workers must be the subject of the process’
09:18 Increased Pressure on Kurds in Iran: Demand for autonomy suppressed
01/07/2025
16:17 Details of the draft DEM Party to submit for the commission
15:15 European Delegation Visits DEM Party in Istanbul
15:07 Family of Rozerin Çukur Reacts to Constitutional Court Ruling: We could not find justice
13:09 Delegation from Europe submits petition to meet Abdullah Öcalan
13:00 Fatma Bostan Ünsal: Concrete legal and political steps must accompany peace rhetoric
11:50 Bar Association Chairs urge TBB to form legal monitoring committees
11:10 Seferi Yılmaz: Everyone must work for peace against war profiteers
09:39 Let’s hold firmly to the process says Writer Faik Tac
08:32 Tatvan festival: We women are ready for process
08:27 Operation against CHP members in Izmir: Tunç Soyer detained
30/06/2025
17:00 Amed Ecology Assembly: Let's defend nature with communes
14:54 Women's festival on its second day
14:15 Kerim Boran releases
11:46 Mothers: Unity must be achieved
10:57 People want to meet Abdullah Öcalan to come to Turkey
10:42 Civil society organisations call on government to take steps
10:14 4 years since the Istanbul Convention cancelled: We will not give up
09:26 Presidential pardon for ill prisoner Boran
29/06/2025
15:24 Struggle of the Kurdish people will end in victory says DBP Chair Bayındır
14:21 'Women should be involved in process'
13:48 Labour in Democratic Society Workshop: Let’s be builders, not watchers
12:25 War increases the number of disabled
11:56 According to Constitutional Court, killing of Rozerin Cukur lawful!
10:43 Journalists: Those threatening our colleague must be prosecuted
10:28 The problems of the 'Others' await solutions
09:47 Constitutional jurist Yokuş: The process will succeed with legal guarantees
08:00 Final declaration of Sheikh Seid conference published
27/06/2025
18:04 Call for Freedom of Abdullah Öcalan at UK Parliament
16:26 Rights organisations declare start to work to contribute to process
15:00 Şırnak Journalists Association: We stand by Zeynep Durgut
14:56 Prison report: Even the most basic human rights have been suspended
13:50 Abdullah Öcalan sends message to conference in Brussels
12:12 Families apply to İmralı Directorate
11:15 From Amed to the government: Call to ‘take action and end operations’
09:25 ‘Child detention increases crime rates’
09:25 Meral Danış Beştaş: Developments in the Middle East urge Turkey to resolve its internal issues
09:24 Lost four family members during the conflict: The state must take steps
09:23 Crisis felt in Wan and Qers: The solution lies in peace
09:22 Father of two sons buried under a sidewalk: Only peace can ease our pain
08:37 5 regions declared as 'special security zones' in Şirnex