“They will not shoot down our dream”: Challenges faced by human rights defenders in Iraq
New report examines the increasingly hostile environment for human rights defenders and activists following Iraq’s October 2019 demonstrations.
Iraq: Activists tortured in some of the ‘most horrific prisons in the world’
A new report by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) documents how in the absence of effective legal mechanisms holding perpetrators accountable, Iraqi civil society activists continue to face torture in detention.
Justice for Iraq’s murdered and forcibly disappeared voices
Since the start of anti-government protests in October 2019, dozens of Iraqi activists, journalists, and civil society members have been killed or forcibly disappeared, while their perpetrators roam free. To mark this year’s International Human Rights Day, rights groups call for an end to impunity, and the release of those arbitrarily held for their free speech or peaceful assembly.
Iraq: Vague cybercrime bill threatens free expression
According to Human Rights Watch, a cybercrimes bill being considered by Iraqi parliament could be used to stifle free expression, giving authorities yet another tool to suppress dissent in an already shrinking civic space.
Iraq: Women activists and children targeted on the protest front lines
The Gulf Centre for Human Rights calls on Iraqi authorities to stop targeting peaceful demonstrators, especially women and children who have been playing a prominent role in anti-government protests.
How anti-government protesters in Iraq are being kidnapped and assassinated
GCHR says peaceful protesters, civil society activists and human rights defenders in Iraq are increasingly being kidnapped, tortured and assassinated for their participation in ongoing anti-government protests.
Brutal Baghdad: How Iraqi authorities are complicit in protest deaths
Iraqi security forces reported withdrawing from Baghdad’s al-Khilani Square as unidentified militias massacred protesters earlier this month.
Open fire in Iraq: Continued killing of protesters despite orders to stop
The rising death toll suggests security forces are either ignoring orders to stop targeting protesters with live fire, or authorities have lost command of their own forces.
Iraq protests: The vicious tactics of a violent crackdown
As the death toll climbs, rights groups call on Iraqi authorities to cease the use of excessive force, and uphold the peoples’ right to peacefully demonstrate.
Iraq: How security forces are weaponising teargas for crowd control
Human Rights Watch documents the use of excessive force to quell protests in Iraq, and the deadly impact of tear gas cartridges.
Abducted voices: Freedom of expression threatened as Iraqi peaceful protesters are targeted
Rights groups call on Iraqi authorities to secure the release of civilian activists and human rights defenders that have been abducted and forcibly disappeared in recent weeks.
Protests in Iraq: How a deadly crackdown has put freedom of speech and assembly in peril
Rights groups call on Iraqi authorities to investigate protester deaths and uphold the right to freedom of expression and assembly.
Silencing Baghdad: Iraqi news stations targeted
Gunmen attack at least three TV stations, while Internet blocking persists.
Under fire in Iraq: Security forces must stop targeting demonstrators
As Iraqi citizens take to the streets in protest of the status quo, the right to demonstrate must be protected.
Is press freedom on the ‘brink of extinction’ in Iraqi Kurdistan?
How political party rivalries sparked a rise in detentions, arrests, and violence against journalists.
Iraqi Kurdistan’s autonomous government must release journalist Zuber Bradosti
Reporters Without Borders calls on Iraqi Kurdistan’s autonomous government to shed light on the circumstances of journalist Zuber Bradosti’s arrest by its intelligence services three weeks ago and to order his release.