Tishreen victims’ families rally in Najaf to demand accountability

NAJAF — Protesters, activists and families of people killed in the Tishreen protests gathered in Najaf on Friday to mark the movement’s seventh anniversary and renew demands for accountability for those who killed and wounded demonstrators.

Participants gathered beneath the Thawrat al-Ishreen overpasses, carrying banners and slogans demanding that those responsible for suppressing the protests be held to account.

They said cases involving Tishreen victims remain unresolved and that families are still waiting for clear judicial action. Protesters called for the findings of investigations into killings during the demonstrations to be made public and for anyone found responsible to be prosecuted, and said they would keep pressing for the rights of victims and their families.

The protests began in October 2019 over economic hardship, poor services and state dysfunction, and became the largest wave of demonstrations in Iraq since 2003. The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights has identified 624 people killed, nearly half of them in Baghdad, more than the 541 deaths the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights recorded between October 2019 and June 2020. The observatory has warned that continued impunity raises the risk of further violence.

On Thursday, the National Path Current called on the state to reopen Tishreen-related cases through the courts, disclose the full circumstances of the violations, hold those responsible accountable and compensate victims and their families.