#Dr. Adel Bakawan#
On October 1st 2019, a protest, unprecedented in its nature and its magnitude, shook Iraq. The ruling elite, in a state of generalized panic, adopted a strategy of repression, just as unprecedented, at least since 2003.
The toll is heavy: between the 1st of October and the 31st of December 2019, the number of deaths amounted to 669, the number of wounded to 24 488, and the number of arrestations to 29 806 . Assassination, abductions, hostage-taking, incarceration, torture, individual and family threats: the movement, generally peaceful, was defenseless in front of a power that killed wit19h no restraints .
The rise in power of the protest movement and the radicalization of the repression bring us to ask ourselves about the situation of a state characterized by two major and decisive phenomena, which are widespread corruption 3 and the systematization of milicization . They also bring us to ask ourselves about the actors who are militating with a strong desire for an exit, whether gentle or brutal, out of what we now call the “militia-state” and for a better future.[1]
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