Cairo: 22 January 2020

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) condemned today the killing of Iraqi photojournalist Youssef Sattar after the security forces fired live rounds Monday morning near Muhammed Al-Qasim Bridge in Baghdad.

In the early hours of Monday, January 20, the Iraqi security forces began to attack the anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad, Tayaran Square and on the highway linking north and south of Baghdad, using tear gas and live bullets.

Hours before the end of the grace period or the deadline gave by Iraq’s parliament and the Presidency of the Republic to act on the protesters’ demands, which are represented in mandating an independent person to form the next government and holding the killers of protesters accountable, the security forces attacked the protesters leading to the murdering of photojournalist Youssef Sattar, who was working with an Iraqi NGO called Support Without Borders, in addition to wounding dozens of protesters.

These protests come as part of the demonstrations broke out in a number of Iraqi cities on the first October, 2019 objecting to the poor public services, rampant corruption and lack of job opportunities. The security forces consequently confronted the demonstrators with bullets and tear gas canisters.

ANHRI’s director, Gamal Eid, said: “The killing of the photojournalist Youssef Sattar and other protesters shouldn’t go unpunished. The Iraqi authorities must assume their responsibility to protect protesters and work on meeting their legitimate demands, especially in light of the mounting probability of increasing the number of casualties among protesters.

ANHRI called on the Iraqi authorities to promptly bring those responsible for the killing of photojournalist Youssef Sattar and other protesters to justice, to enable Iraqis to exercise the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press, and to respect the right to peaceful assembly. It also called for the swift mandating of an independent person to form a government of competencies to work on confronting corruption and the dysfunction of state’s administrative apparatus.