The specter of administrative corruption arouses citizens' resentment

• Babil Governorate demonstration 08-16-2023

flags, and there was a law enforcement force armed with electric sticks and shields standing in front of the education system during their gathering. An officer issued a directive and delivered a speech instructing the demonstrators to withdraw and leave the vicinity of the Directorate of Education in Babylon. After this speech, the force moved and appeared to disperse the demonstrators by intimidating them with the sound of the electric baton and advancing towards them step by step, resulting in the demonstrators' withdrawal while the law enforcement forces moved their withdrawal behind them. They removed them from the vicinity of Tarabaa Babel and brought them to the end of Tarbeeh Street, where there were two patrols crossing Tarbeeh Street during the presence of the demonstration. Here, they stopped the demonstrators and the law enforcement forces without instances of excessive force being used, and they remained standing for an hour until the Coordinating Committee announced its statement to withdraw and move in the coming days. The Director of Education must expedite the completion of the procedures, and the protesters withdrew at 11:30 without the presence of media and news agencies.

Those appointed to the new staff in front of Babylon Education at eight o’clock in the morning. Four days ago, the Coordinating Committee of the New Staff in Babylon gathered for a demonstration in front of Babylon Education,

 demanding several demands, which are adding the certificate for those confirmed to the new staff, accelerating the correction of job titles, and accelerating the completion of the procedures for financing the salaries of the new staff for August.

Education. After verbal altercations between the demonstrators and the security forces, the security forces pushed The demonstrators, the demonstrators withdrew and moved away from the vicinity of the Babel Education Directorate. Now, the matter did not stop there, rather the security forces continued to engage in verbal altercations with the demonstrators, forcing them to move away and ending the demonstration. Indeed, after the security forces intimidated the demonstrators with the sound of the electric sticks that were in the possession of the security forces, and the demonstrators advanced towards them with steps. The demonstrators were finally forced to withdraw from the Directorate of Education, and the security forces continued to push the demonstrators away and move behind them to keep them away from the area surrounding the Babylon Education Department.

In the end, the demonstrators settled at the end of Al-Tarbeeh Street, where there were two patrols of the security forces, who blocked the road for the demonstrators, which forced the demonstrators to end the demonstration several hours after its start. Despite the intervention of the security forces to end the demonstration, these forces did not use excessive force against the demonstrators except intimidation and pushing the demonstrators away from the Education Directorate.

During the hours of the demonstration, the Coordinating Committee announced its statement to withdraw and move in the coming days by pressing the Director of Education to expedite the completion of the procedures. The demonstration ended without any injuries at exactly 11 o'clock when the demonstrators withdrew peacefully. Governmentally, no government statement was issued in response to the demands of the demonstrators. Also, in the media, no media channel was monitored during the demonstration.

Muthanna Governorate demonstration 08-16-2023                     

and leaders of the Al-Muthanna clans in the home of the Al-Dhawalim clan, and a gathering of the Bani Hajim clan elders in Al-Muthanna. The city of Samawah. The gathering began in the celebration square, and it consisted of various age groups carrying banners calling for the dismissal of the governor, Ahmed Munfi, as a result of corruption cases and the acquisition of land and suspicious contracts, where the demonstrators headed with a security cover without restricting freedoms of peaceful expression, Corniche Street and the governorate's square, then They went to the governorate's square.

One of the most important files that the protestors came out to demand is the file of corruption in the distribution of land plots to employees, which deprived them of this legal right and seized the plots. Demonstrators, a group of deputies, and the prime minister met to discuss several issues, including corruption files and the decline of services.

One of the demonstrators stated that residents of the Al-Muthanna governorate suffer from numerous administrative problems, including corruption, because this governorate suffers from numerous administrative problems and that this demonstration is a rejection of this widespread corruption in the governorate.

peacefulness of the demonstration, as well as to organize its movement and prevent riots and violence. In addition to social media, several media outlets were present to cover the event. In general, the gathering was peaceful, but there were instances of demonstrators blocking the streets with burning tires and stones; however, the response to humanitarian cases prevented any violent scenes from occurring.

The motivations for the demonstration and the demonstrators' demands

By evaluating the demonstration that took place, it is evident that the following were the most significant causes for the demonstration's inception:

• Certificate allocations for new proprietors have been increased.
• Accelerate the process of correcting job titles.
• Accelerating the completion of procedures for financing the new owners' remuneration.
• Termination of the governor.
• Anti-corruption measures.

Remarks on how the security forces handle gatherings:

During the monitoring of the two demonstrations that occurred in Iraq during this period and based on the observations of the monitoring team, it can be concluded that the treatment of the security authorities has worsened compared to the preceding months when signs of the use of violence against demonstrators were observed, efforts were made to end them, and citizens were not permitted to freely express their opinions and assert their rights. This behavior can be viewed as a negative indicator for assessing the performance of security forces in coping with protesters. The use of force against demonstrators can be viewed as a weakness in the handling of the demonstrators' file, which guarantees the right to demonstrate and freedom of expression. While the security forces did not use violence against the demonstrators in Al-Muthanna Governorate, their tendency to use violence against them can be considered declining.

Kurdistan Organization for Human Right Watch

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