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Iraqi militants linked to established political parties have killed and abducted dozens of political activists, analysts say, creating a climate of fear ahead of the October parliamentary elections.
Despite government promises to protect activists and punish attackers, analysts have said powerful paramilitary groups seek to discourage voting and intimidate the two-year grassroots protest movement that wants political change in the oil-rich country.
The UN has documented specific killings of 32 “protesters and critics” between October 2019 and May 2021, while 16 more people survived the assassination attempt. Twenty other people are missing after being abducted. About 500 people died during the violence in the October 2019 demonstrations, which overthrew the previous government.
“We cannot say that there is an author behind all the kidnappings and murders,” said Lahib Higel, a senior analyst at Baghdad-based Crisis Group. But “for activists and those trying to establish political parties. . . it is very clear that it is the politically affiliated paramilitary groups that drive this kind of intimidation. They want to discourage them from participating in formal politics. “
This pattern of violence “has contributed to a climate of fear,” Higel added.
No one has been charged with any of these crimes. Some incipient parties have already boycotted the elections, which are taking place for the first time since the October 2019 protests. An Iraqi activist, who hides because he fears being attacked, said he felt the attacks on activists were “because [political elites and militias] he felt the danger of activists in the elections.
Shiite militias flourished in chaos after the U.S.-led ouster of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein. Its power and popularity were bolstered by its role in the fight against Sunni jihadists Isis, which began in 2014. But as accusations of militia crime arose after the defeat of Isis on 2018, public opinion turned against the militias, which are now under a state. sponsored security umbrella called Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Forces. Protesters have criticized Shiite militias for their links to Tehran, which has used its revolutionary guards to support Iraqi groups that have regularly attacked military bases housing U.S. troops.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, unelected, installed after protesters overthrew his predecessor, has expressed support for the protest movement, but is hampered in efforts to curb militias that have influence. real politics. His success at the polls in 2018 means that armed groups “have more state power than the prime minister. They have access to more deputies. . . more access to the judiciary, more access to key political actors, ”said Renad Mansour, a senior researcher at Chatham House. “They are not a handful of militias that can intimidate the prime minister. They are within the state system, “he added.
The protesters had hoped that a new electoral law, which was ratified in late 2020 and increases the number of constituencies, would loosen control of the power of established political parties. But analysts warn that larger parties, with deeper pockets and stronger local ties, will continue to be in control.
“The same parties that benefit from the low turnout are trying to depress people, disappointed by the possibility of achieving change,” said an Iraqi political adviser, who called for him not to be named. “And we believe that even the [latest] the murders can be explained in this sense “.
As blatant attacks on activists, often carried out in broad daylight or captured on CCTV, have continued, public confidence in the Iraqi government has plummeted. Only 22% of Iraqis said they trusted their government when respondent in April, by the research group Al Mustakilla and Gallup International.
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