In his hand he has a photo of his son, with the question “Who killed my son?” Written in large size on it. The woman, 70, is the mother of Ehab al Wazani, and continues her protest in the Iraqi holy city of Kerbala. He wanders through the streets, sleeping in the square, knocking on the iron doors of the seat of the supreme council of the judiciary. He even hit the windows of a United Nations car. He wants the authorities to find out the names of the killers who killed his son on May 8, 2021.
Following an investigation, Iraqi security forces arrested Qasim Muslih, one of the top militia leaders, accused of ordering the murder. But the man was released because the jury found “no evidence of his guilt”.
The lonely protest of Ehab al Wazani’s mother was quickly imitated in the governorates of Babil, Wasit, Dhi Qar and Baghdad, where the mothers of the slain protesters began to follow her example. They gathered in front of the local courts showing signs with the same question: “Who killed my son?”. The question is addressed to the Iraqi magistrates, accused of having sided with the militias under threat.
Without security
Their question about the murderers of children is of great concern to at least 28 states. During a session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva focused on Iraq, the ambassador of the Netherlands Monique van Daalen regretted the increase in violence in the protests in which at least 700 were killed. demonstrators since October 2019.
The clashes have worsened with preparations for early elections, scheduled for next October. More than twenty coalitions and parties, many of which emerged during the protests, decided to boycott the vote because Mustafa al Kadhimi’s government was unable to deliver on its promise to create a safe environment for fair elections.
Hisham al Mouzani, one of the candidates who founded a new party, told reporters: “I fled into exile after they burned my car and attacked and burned my house.”
Al Kadhimi has tried to reach an agreement with the leaders of the main political movements to prevent armed factions from interfering with the electoral process and would also like to prevent by law the use of racist speech or interreligious hatred during rallies and in the electoral campaign. But it is precisely the main parties that lead the government, with their militias, who are responsible for the spread of violence.
(Translation by Francesco De Lellis)
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