Iraqi officials and activists depict a pattern of mass arrests, intimidation and torture, and in some cases targeted killings of protesters after demonstrations aimed at removing the government and powerful Iran-backed paramilitary groups that support it
BAGHDAD - After armed men raided the home of Hussein Adel al-Madani and his wife Sara Talib last year, the Iraqi activists spent months of self-imposed exile in Turkey, changed address upon returning home and ceased participating in protests, according to two friends of the couple.
Reuters interviews with five officials and more than half a dozen Iraqi rights activists depict a pattern of mass arrests, intimidation and torture, and in some cases targeted killings of Iraqi protesters. An Iranian official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said accusations of killings and threats by militias Tehran supports were “baseless.”
The Iraq government spokesman, al-Hadithi, denied that those detained had been tortured or subjected to violence, adding that the Justice Ministry and Supreme Judicial Council were overseeing the questioning of those arrested. He denied that security services or the military were detaining peaceful protesters.
Abbas, a close friend and former housemate of al-Madani, said the couple were among the first to protest last year in the southern city of Basra, and Sara was among the first women out on the streets. The government official, asked whether Iran-backed militiamen had killed the couple to silence them, said: “A powerful militia threatened them, they fled and when they returned were killed. Everyone knows who did it, but doesn’t dare say.” He didn’t specify which group.
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