BAGDAD – Thousands of protesters took to the streets on Sunday to commemorate a year since mass protests against the government swept through Baghdad and southern Iraq, prompting calls to end final corruption.
Protesters marched in the capital and several southern towns, Nayaf, Nasiriyah and Basra, to renew demands declared a year ago to end corruption among politicians.
Mustafa Hussein, about 20, attended the protests last year and returned to Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on Sunday and said little had changed.
“Our requests that we have written in the blood of our martyrs are still on the lists of requests from officials,” he said.
More than 500 people were killed in last year’s motion, many of them protesters shot dead by Iraqi security forces who used live ammunition and tear fuel to disperse the crowds. In some cases, tear gas canisters hit the protesters’ heads, killing them instantly.
In February, protests ceased following the blockades and restrictions of the coronavirus, which led activists to cancel mass marches and sit-ins.
An order from the Baghdad Operations Command, which oversees security forces in the capital, on Sunday prevented several hundred demonstrators from entering the city from Babylon and Diwanieh provinces.
In Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, which is the center of the protest movement, young Iraqis carried banners with portraits of others killed by Iraqi security forces. Protesters erected tents and created their edition of utopia filled with food vendors, cinemas and bookstores.
“Today we are the October Revolution, especially those who fell into battle,” said Fadel Ahmed, a 25-year economy graduate. “Our demands are contrary to the corrupt parties in force and opposed to the failed parliament. “
In October last year, tens of thousands of generally young Iraqis marched in Baghdad and southern cities to denounce government corruption, unemployment and poor services. Protesters invaded Baghdad’s public squares and camped for months, refusing to leave until their demands were met. Gathered.
The motion was initially successful. Pressure from the protesters led to the resignation of Adil Abdul-Mahdi’s government. Mustafa al-Kadhimi assumed the post of prime minister after months of political stagnation and after two previous hopefuls failed to reunite enough among the elites.
Al-Kadhimi has presented himself as an advocate for the call-up of the protesters, appointing long-standing activists among his organization of advisers, and promised that early elections, a key call for protesters, would take a position next June.
Despite the repression of the militias and the government, protesters say their movement is alive.
“We only have this revolution for our purposes,” Ahmed said. “If not, Iraq will be lost. “
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