Since the October 2019 protests calling for reform and an end to corruption, the Iraqi city of Basra has been the scene of a chilling spree of assassinations of activists. To date, no one has yet been held to account for these crimes that have spread fear in protestors’ ranks. This paper highlights the profile of the activists, the circumstances of the killings, and the possible motives behind them in the context of Iranian influence in Iraq, the approaching anniversary of the protests and the elections scheduled for next year.

By Yaseen Taha Mohammed
Iraqi Researcher

Since the youth-led uprising known as the “October Revolution” of 2019, the southern governorates of Iraq in general, and the city of Basra in particular, have been witnessing a string of assassinations and physical liquidations of civil activists and media workers. These crimes raise questions about the motives of the assailants, the parties behind them, as well as the circumstances in which they took place, and which seem to be organized and coordinated and do not care about the strong national and international condemnation. This paper seeks to shed some light on this phenomenon and its repercussions for Iraq.

This paper does not point the finger to any parties that could be involved in the string of the assassinations. It simply highlights different public views and interpretations commenting on these assassinations, including those that claim the activists were killed because they were “agents” of the United States of America or pose a serious competition to the traditional political players in the forthcoming elections, or the killings were acts of intimidation amidst fears of an outbreak of protests again in the streets.

Basra: Corruption and the anti-corruption protests

Basra is the third-largest city in the Republic of Iraq after Baghdad and Nineveh, it has the largest oil wealth, which makes it the hub of the Iraqi economy. However, corruption files are topping the list of its numerous problems,  starting with the smuggling of oil and its various derivatives through professional and organized smuggling networks, said to have a direct link with armed militias connected to the official parties of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities and – directly or indirectly – to the “Shiite” parties.

The spread of smuggling in Basra dates back to the period after the fall of the previous regime  (2003) when the weak rule of law had prevailed and the federal authorities were overwhelmed by their accumulated problems. This opened the door widely to the local groups to manage the oil smuggling operations before the armed gangs and influential parties enter the scene. This is due to the distance of the city from Baghdad and the growing influence special groups exerted in it. Various sources showed that more than 40 armed factions and about 10 political parties in Iraq are making illicit gains from oil smuggling from southern Iraq as Basra is the capital of its extractive and export industries. Leaks from official reports also mentioned the involvement of 10 political parties in the government in the smuggling operations through high-profile officials loyal to them in the ministries of oil and interior and the customs, with the help of armed factions through their zones of influence.

Despite the promising financial potential of Basra, it suffers from poverty, unemployment, and lack of public services. Its streets are filled up with piles of garbage and sewage water, and entire neighbourhoods have no access to drinking water or electricity. Worse still, the city has turned to a breeding ground for corruption and armed parties and militias over the past few years.¹

This harsh reality has fuelled popular anger and led to continuous demonstrations over the past few years protesting against what they called financial and administrative corruption and the deteriorated public services. The protests also escalated, in some cases, to demand the dismissal of the present governor, Asaad al-Eidani, who was nominated by the Shiite parties for the post of the Prime Minister following the resignation of Adel Abdul Mahdi.²

Basra City and the October revolution

The city of Basra activists and youth took part in the demonstrations that erupted in October 2019. While the Basrawi activists dubbed this movement “The Iraqi Revolution,” others in Najaf, Maysan, and Muthanna preferred to call it “The Awareness Revolution.”³

Read more from the source: Arab Reform Initiative