Human Rights Watch - "Protesters Beaten, Abducted"

Then they grabbed him and his 23-year-old son Ahmad, who was the cameraman, and tried to take them away, but a police officer intervened. The police took both Haqqi and Ahmad Hadi and the two unidentified men to the police station, where the alleged intelligence officers attempted to get Haqqi and Ahmed transferred to their custody. Hadi told Human Rights Watch that after the alleged intelligence officers threatened that he and his son would remain in detention until after the holiday – almost a week – he agreed to drop a complaint against them. The police officers then told him to affix his fingerprints to a note stating that he would not sue the intelligence officers, then released them.

Sajjad Sadiq, an activist and journalist in his 20s, told Human Rights Watch that police violently dispersed a protest on September 11, in Hilla, capital of the Babylon province, demanding an end to government corruption and the resignation of Babylon’s governor, Sadiq Madlul al-Sultani. The police violently dispersed the protesters, saying, “You have no legitimate demands,” Sadiq told Human Rights Watch. The police detained two of his friends, but calls from supporters led to their release the same day. Sadiq said that he went to the hospital to get a medical report for his injuries, but the hospital administration refused to issue a report without police permission.

On September 12, Sadiq and 25 others filed a complaint against the police with the public prosecutor, but nothing has happened, Sadiq said. He said he believed the prosecutor needed more time to decide whether to start proceedings. According to Sadiq, both the governor and the police chief denied during meetings with the protesters that they gave orders to use force to disperse the protest.

In an incident in Hilla at 4 a.m. on August 23, Ahmad al-Khaiqani, a protester, told Human Rights Watch that anti-riot police stormed the square in front of the governor’s office where protesters were demanding better services and an end to corruption. The anti-riot police were accompanied by masked assailants wearing military uniforms, who beat the demonstrators, al-Khaiqani said. Throughout the previous day, the demonstrators had shared food and water with the police, calling them “our brothers,” al-Khaiqani said.