The commander of an Iraqi Popular Mobilization Unit accused of involvement in murder was released June 9 after the court said it failed to find sufficient evidence.
Arrest of an Iraqi PMU commander puts militias on notice Amid protests demanding justice after a series of assassinations, Iraqi security forces have arrested the commander of one prominent militant faction. Members of the Iraqi Counter-terrorism Service are deployed in the streets of the capital Baghdad on March 27, 2021. - AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images
May 27, 2021
BAGHDAD A day after a major protest demanding greater accountability in Iraq, especially as concerns the unsolved murders of several activists, the commander of a faction affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Units was arrested in a move that was followed by allied factions entering Baghdad’s Green Zone in a show of force.
IRAQ and IRAQI KURDISTAN: Systematic targeting of human rights defenders
26/05/2021
Paris-Geneva-Baghdad-Beirut-Erbil, May 26, 2021 – In the framework of the ongoing demonstrations against corruption, unemployment, and for political reform in Iraq, human rights defenders, peaceful protesters, bloggers and independent journalists have been targeted by a wave of threats, kidnappings, arbitrary detentions, and killings. The Observatory (OMCT-FIDH) the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR), the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR), Metro Center. Iraqi Al Amal Association (IAA), and Iraqi Network for Social media (INSM) express their utmost concern over these events and call on the Iraqi authorities to put an end to all acts of harassment against human rights defenders, journalists and peaceful protesters and hold perpetrators accountable.