Basra activist arrested in overnight raid after calling for water crisis protests

BASRA — A civil activist and media worker was arrested in the early hours of Thursday in Basra, following a video post criticizing the oil minister and the city’s worsening water crisis. The arrest, which took place without a warrant, has drawn concern from family members and supporters.

Alaa Al-Bukhateri, known locally for his activism and media work, was detained during a raid by a joint force from the Criminal Investigations Department and the SWAT unit. The operation occurred at approximately 1:30 a.m. at his family home in the Al-Hayyaniyah neighborhood, according to his brother, Uday Al-Bukhateri.

“We asked if they had an arrest warrant, and they said, ‘There’s no warrant,’” Uday told 964media. “When we asked who had filed a complaint against Alaa, they told us to go to the Criminal Investigations Directorate to find out.”

Uday described the raid as traumatic. “They entered while everyone was asleep. They pulled Alaa from the bedroom wearing only shorts. It was terrifying — the kids were screaming. We quickly dressed him in a T-shirt before they took him.”

The family said they visited both the city center and the Basra court in the morning, but received no information regarding the legal grounds for the arrest or the party behind the complaint.

“Alaa is not a criminal,” Uday said. “He was demanding clean water like any Basra resident. He’s a well-known activist and media figure. If there was a complaint, it should have been handled through the publishing court, not with a midnight raid.”

The arrest followed a video Alaa posted on July 7 calling for protests over Basra’s escalating salinity levels and water shortages. In the video, he criticized the display of Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani’s photo on a water tanker and accused the Ministry of Oil of exacerbating the crisis.

“#WeRejectHumiliation, we’re not servants,” he said. “Al-Hayyaniyah is the home of heroes. The Ministry of Oil is the root of the problem. For every barrel of oil, give us four barrels of water. Basra produces four million barrels a day — do the math. And now you act like you’re doing us a favor with government water and vehicles.”

Another video circulating online shows Alaa being taken from his home by security forces. In the footage, he tells his family not to cry as he is escorted away.