Title: “We Might Call You in at Any Time”
Free Speech Under Threat in Iraq
Place of publication: US
Publisher: Human Rights Watch
Release date: 2020
Authorities are continuing to use vaguely worded laws in places throughout Iraq, including in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, that allow prosecutors to bring criminal charges for opinions they object to. Authorities in areas controlled both by the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are using prosecutions under these laws to intimidate and in some cases silence journalists, activists, and other dissenting voices.
Recent violations of the right of Iraqis to freedom of expression are particularly relevant in the light of protests that broke out across central and southern Iraq in October 2019. The protests, focused on government corruption, economic conditions, and abuse by security forces have crossed sectarian divisions, taking place in both Shia and Sunni communities. Security forces have used excessive force, including firing live ammunition at protesters, to suppress the protests, killing at least 544 people and wounding at least an additional 24,000 between October 2019 and March 2020. Authorities have also ordered the closure of a dozen television and radio stations. The outbreak of Covid-19 and subsequent government measures to minimize the spread of the virus in March 2020 brought an end to the 2019 protest movement.
Before 2003, then-President Saddam Hussein’s government maintained a stranglehold over all of Iraq's institutions, including the media, and did not allow criticism of either Hussein’s family or top officials. After the US-led military intervention overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003, some democratic governance structures were established, but free speech failed to flourish. Between 2017 and 2019, the period covered by this report, Iraq was a hostile environment for those wanting to criticize the government and armed groups like the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashad, armed forces formally under the prime minister's command).[1]