Sit-ins and protest demonstrations calling for amending the salary scale

• Baghdadgovernorate demonstrations 01-05-2023

The Supreme Coordinating Committee for Iraqi employees gave the Council of Ministers 72 hours

to approve the amended salary scale. - one demonstrator stated that the salary scale is unfair, especially since there are employees who receive low salaries that are not in line with the continuous high prices that the country is witnessing. This demonstration gives justice to the segment of employees whose salaries are low and living costs are high.

Governmentally, the government did not issue any reactions or explicit statements. As for security, intense security deployment was observed in the Green Zone. Despite the peaceful demonstration, the security forces did not adhere to their professionalism in dealing with the demonstrations. The security forces used tear gas. To deal with the demonstrators and disperse them. And that the matter did not develop, things quickly calmed down between the demonstrators and the security forces. After the demonstrators indicated they would continue their sit-ins until the government responded to their legitimate demands, the demonstration ended late at night.

Demonstrations inDhi Qar Governorate on 01-05-2023

On Monday 1-5-2023 at8:30 am, hundreds of employees and educators turned out in massivedemonstrations. This was in response to the call made by several activists onsocial media to hold a demonstration in several Iraqi governorates. Thedemonstration coincided with a general mobilization of all state employees inBaghdad and the rest of the provinces. Demonstrators in Nasiriyah, theadministrative center of the Dhi Qar Governorate, demanded an amendment to thesalary scale from the Dhi Qar Governorate Office building.

The monitoring team met the protester - Hazem Al-Ghazi - who asked not to mention his government department, that the income of the Iraqi individual now is not commensurate with the high prices and exorbitant rents, so we demand justice among the members of the same people economically and socially and improve the living situation, otherwise there will be a revolution for the hungry - as he said -.

It lasted approximately three hours under protecting the security forces. These forces provided them with a smooth demonstration and facilitated the entry of local media institutions to film and cover the event. As for the government, no statement was issued by the government agencies. The presence of security forces in the area was limited to organizing the demonstration, as the security forces did not issue any reactions that would provoke the demonstrators. Therefore, it can be said that the demonstration continued intact until its end. Therefore, it can be said that the security forces in Nasiriyah fulfilled their commitment to facilitate the movement of peaceful demonstrations and not to attack them. Rather, the security forces found the demonstrators an appropriate distance to protect them.

Demonstrations in Babil Governorate on 05-10-2023

The demonstration was launched after calls for the demonstration through social media, by employees of the ministries with low salaries, including - Education, Agriculture, Municipalities, Water Resources, Construction, and Housing - by mobilizing a media campaign to go out with a

The strange thing is on the day of the Council of Ministers session, which is held on Tuesday of every week, peace was not approved within the Council of Ministers session. This prompted the Employees Coordinating Committee, which was formed to follow up on the proposed amendment to the salary scale, to issue a statement calling for a strike and demonstration on the coming Tuesday, May 9, 2023.

As a precautionary measure by the government, all ministries and departments affiliated with it are prohibited from giving any kind of leave to employees, and those who are absent from work are held accountable.

The demonstration began by calling the Central Committee to follow up on the new salary scale. This committee comprises representatives from some ministries, namely the Ministry of Education, Health, Water Resources, Municipalities, Water, Sewage, Construction, Housing, Agriculture, and Finance. It started at eight o'clock in the morning and continued by standing and cheering in front of the provincial office. It delivered words of emphasis on demanding the Council of Ministers to approve the new salary scale, otherwise, an escalation would occur.

Governmentally, the Director General of Babylon Education directed the educational supervision to register the absence of any teacher or teacher who does not attend on the day of the demonstration, Tuesday, May 9.

The monitoring team showed that the employees of the Ministry of Water Resources, Education, Municipalities and Agriculture, the Ministry of Construction and Housing, the employees of the governorate office, and the employees of the mayor of Hilla gathered in large numbers in front of the governorate office. During the demonstration, they raised banners calling on Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani to speed up the approval of the salary scale, after which the demonstration continued until eleven thirty after the Coordinating Committee announced the withdrawal from the demonstration and awaiting the statement of the Iraqi Employees Coordination Committee.

The demonstration was peaceful, as no form of violence occurred at all during the demonstration, and despite the law enforcement forces (which are government forces affiliated with the Babylon Police Command and were created months ago and are the same as the riot forces, but they were replaced by the name of the law enforcement forces), the demonstration continued to be peaceful, but the demonstrators blocked the main road to the main street by the local police to protect the demonstration and prevent the passage of civilian cars. In the media, several satellite channels were present, including the Iraqi Al-Oula channel, to cover the demonstration.

The reasons for the demonstration / the demands of the demonstrators

By reviewing the demonstrations that occurred in several Iraqi governorates, the most prominent reasons for its launch are:

• Modifying employees' salary scale.
• Achieving fairness in salary distribution
• Addressing low-income employees' poor economic situation.

Notes on security authorities' handling of gatherings:

Although the demonstration topic was the same as the governorates from which it was launched. This was despite the peaceful demonstrations in the three governorates. Now the security forces responded mixed. The security forces have committed themselves to impartiality in Dhi Qar and Babel. However, Baghdad security forces did not protect the demonstrators, as violence was used to disperse them. The scene of violence by security forces, especially in the Baghdad governorate, was repeated more than once. This makes us think about the way the security forces work, how they deal with demonstrators, and the reasons that push the security forces to resort to violence against demonstrators in Baghdad in particular. This may be because of the security forces' fear of demonstrators mobilizing and not controlling the demonstration if it continues. While there is no justification for violence against demonstrators, violence is still used in Iraq to suppress demonstrations.

Kurdistan Organization for Human Right Watch

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