More than seven years after the United States invaded Iraq, the concept of freedom of speech does not seem to have taken hold there. In separate incidents last week, Iraqi government security forces attacked journalists.

 

During Friday’s “Day of Rage” protests, in which intellectuals demanded political reforms, Iraqi police arrested about 300 people, including prominent journalists. Four reporters said they were handcuffed, blindfolded, beaten and threatened with execution by soldiers from an army intelligence unit before being released.

 

“It was like they were dealing with a bunch of al Qaeda operatives, not a group of journalists,” journalist Hussan al-Ssairi told The Washington Post. “Yesterday was like a test, like a picture of the new democracy in Iraq.”

 

In addition to the arrests, security forces reacted violently towards protesters. Nearly 30 people were reportedly killed as the peaceful demonstrations turned ugly after police fired water cannons, sound bombs and live bullets to disperse crowds that had gathered in Fallujah, Mosul and Tikrit.

 

Prior to the Day of Rage demonstrations, security forces raided the office of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, an Iraqi press freedom group. According to Human Rights Watch, more than 20 armed men, some of whom wore military uniforms and red berets or black military uniforms with skull-and-cross-bones insignia on their helmets, broke into the office in the middle of the night on February 23 and seized computers, external hard drives, cameras, cell phones, CDs, documents, and several flak jackets and helmets marked “Press.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

After Iraq's Day of Rage, a Crackdown on Intellectuals (by Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post)

Iraq: Security Forces Raid Press Freedom Group (Human Rights Watch)

At a Crossroads: Human Rights in Iraq Eight Years after the US-Led Invasion (Human Rights Watch)