Latest Iraq protests

Protests

Iraqis rally in Baghdad, media banned from live coverage

Al Sumaria reports (March 8^th): Hundreds of Iraqis rallied on Monday in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square in protest against lack of services. Demonstrators are calling to dissolve the provincial council and bring all parties involved in corruption to justice. 

Iraqi security forces banned media from covering manifestations live on air. 

http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-61276-Iraqis-rally-in-Baghdad%2C-media-banned-from-live-coverage.html

Iraq Shuts Office of Protest Organizers

NY Times reports (March 7^th): Two political parties that led demonstrations in Baghdad over the past two weeks said Monday that security forces controlled by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki had ordered them to close their offices. Officials for the Iraqi Nation Party and the Iraqi Communist Party said in interviews that dozens of armed security forces had come to their offices, two days after another round of demonstrations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/world/middleeast/08iraq.html

Iraqi Kurdish protesters to press demands for freedoms and transparency

Azzaman reports (March 11^th): Tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurds have risen against their factional leaders, demanding transparency and more freedoms.

The demonstrations have so far concentrated in the Kurdish Province of Sulaimaniya but anger and resentment of policies pursued by the Kurdish region’s government are triggering unrest across the current Kurdish administration.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2011-03-11\kurd.htm

Iraq Kurds protest, man tries to set himself ablaze

Reuters report (March 11^th): A protester tried to set himself on fire in Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish zone, where demonstrators have camped out on a square to call for the ouster of the powerful regional administration.

Protests were also held in several other Iraqi cities, although numbers were smaller than in previous weeks and there was no major violence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110311/wl_nm/us_iraq_protests

Iraq protesters call for jobs and better services

AFP report (March 11^th): Hundreds of Iraqi protesters demanded jobs and better basic services, in the latest challenge to the government as a wave of popular uprisings sweeps across the Arab world.

Some 500 protesters turned up in Baghdad's Tahrir Square and about as many in the city of Fallujah west of the capital.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110311/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticsunrest

Iraqi protesters accuse security forces of detaining, beating demonstrators

Canadian Press reports (March 11^th): Several Iraqis among a crowd of protesters in Baghdad accused security forces of detaining and beating them for taking part in earlier demonstrations calling for better services and a corruption-free government.

The new accusations came from three protesters gathered in Baghdad's Tahrir Square — one of at least four demonstrations Friday morning in major Iraqi cities. The largest rally was in northern Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, with an estimated turnout of 4,000.

Protester Sami Majid, 23, said he was among crowds during a deadly demonstration in Baghdad on Feb. 25, which was billed as the Iraqi "Day of Rage," when he was detained by police who held him at a military base in the capital's east.

"They beat and kicked me, then forced me to sign a commitment that I would not participate in demonstrations or raise riots," Majid said. He joined about 300 other protesters at Tahrir Square who held the soles of their shoes in the air — a sign of disrespect in the Middle East — and shouted, "Liar, liar, Maliki!" in an affront to the prime minister.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gf9AN5za1ClfK8kBkuJs_EJUF5Og?docId=6213569

Iraqi activists' torture allegations spark fears for detained protesters

Amnesty International reports (March 10^th): A group of anti-government protesters missing since they were arrested this week in Baghdad are feared to be at risk of torture, after other recently released protestors told Amnesty International they were tortured in detention.
  
At least 10 people were detained on Monday while returning home from a Baghdad protest against unemployment, government corruption and poor social services. 
  
The arrests came as other protesters who were detained last month told Amnesty International that they were tortured in detention. 

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/iraqi-activists-torture-allegations-spark-fears-detained-protesters-2011-03-10