Tishreen anniversary draws hundreds to Tahrir Square demanding justice

BAGHDAD — Hundreds of Iraqis gathered in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on Sunday to mark the seventh anniversary of the Tishreen uprising, demanding accountability for the killing of protesters in 2019 as calls for demonstrations spread across the country.

Young activists carrying Iraqi flags chanted “We want a homeland,” reviving one of the central slogans of the movement that challenged Iraq’s political establishment seven years ago. Protesters told 964media in the square that their demands were unchanged, above all identifying and prosecuting those responsible for killing demonstrators, and stressed that the gathering was peaceful and carried no symbols other than the Iraqi flag.

Calls for renewed protests had gone out in several governorates, but turnout outside Baghdad could not be established.

Police deployed across Tahrir Square and surrounding streets early Sunday, carrying Iraqi flags and no visible weapons, and some officers handed out drinking water. There were reports of restrictions on journalists filming the gathering. Baghdad Operations Command had announced security measures on Saturday, including inspections of people approaching the square and restrictions on tuk-tuks and motorcycles along several main roads, saying they were meant to protect protesters and maintain public order.

Activists had warned of reported arrests in Baghdad and Dhi Qar governorate ahead of the anniversary. Leftist politician Jassim al-Hilfi said the concerns were understandable given past crackdowns but that he had no information confirming plans for a new arrest campaign. Unemployment, inequality, corruption and sectarian power-sharing, among the main grievances behind the 2019 uprising, remained unresolved, Hilfi told 964media, calling for investigation findings to be made public and those responsible for attacking demonstrators to be held to account.

The National Home Party, which emerged from the Tishreen movement, urged Iraqis on Saturday to return peacefully to public squares and renew demands to end corruption, sectarian power-sharing and weapons outside state control. It called on the authorities to identify those responsible for the protest killings and not to appoint people accused of suppressing the uprising to government posts. The demonstrations were not directed personally against Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi but against the political practices that have governed Iraq since 2003, party Secretary-General Hussein al-Ghurabi said.

The newspaper Al-Mada reported that factions opposed to the government’s disarmament program had considered joining the protests over economic and security policies, and Tishreen activists warned against attempts to exploit the movement in disputes between rival armed groups. The Popular Mobilization Forces, meanwhile, issued a statement Sunday commemorating Wisam al-Alyawi, an Asaib Ahl al-Haq official killed during the October 2019 unrest, and described Oct. 25 as a dark day, a reminder of the competing accounts of the violence around the uprising.

Ahead of the gatherings, the State Administration Coalition called for peaceful demonstrators to be protected and their demands heard, while urging participants not to damage public property or block roads. Zaidi had instructed security agencies to protect peaceful protests and treat demonstrators humanely, and former Communications Minister Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi <a href=”https://en.964media.com/54161/”>called for a committee of security officials and protest representatives</a> to agree routes and prevent clashes.

The Tishreen protests began on Oct. 1, 2019, over corruption, unemployment, poor public services and dissatisfaction with the political system, and resumed on a larger scale on Oct. 25, spreading across Baghdad and the southern governorates. Hundreds of protesters were killed and thousands wounded, and the unrest led to the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi.