UN urges Baghdad to respect people’s legitimate concerns following protests

The UN called for the immediate installation of “a new inclusive and pro-reform patriotic government that will put the rich resources of the country at the disposal and for the benefit of its own people.”

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Tuesday, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Ján Kubiš, urged the Iraqi government to address the people’s legitimate concerns following protests in the country’s south over the lack of services, unemployment, and poor living conditions.

Tuesday marks the ninth day of the demonstrations that started in Basra on July 8 before spreading to other provinces. So far, violence from the protests has caused hundreds of casualties with over 10 reportedly killed.

The UN official called on political actors to ensure the next government prioritizes good governance, reforms, and the fight against corruption that will enable economic development and progress, employment, and delivery of critical public services. 

The turbulence of the protests coincides with attempts to form a government after the contested May 12 parliamentary elections.

“At the same time, the Special Representative is deeply concerned about violence as well as acts of vandalism which accompanied some of the otherwise largely peaceful public protests,” a UN statement read.

“He [Kubiš] regrets the loss of life and numerous injuries on the side of both protestors and security forces and the destruction of public and private property including offices of government institutions and political parties as well as oil and public infrastructure,” it added.

The UN representative, meanwhile, said that people have the inalienable right to freedom of expression, including the right to partake in peaceful demonstrations without fear and intimidation or arbitrary detentions.

The Iraqi government responded to the protests by shutting down all social media and most internet services. Despite this, demonstrations in southern Iraq continued.

“It is the duty of the authorities to enable such lawful demonstrations and to protect their participants,” Kubiš said, urging security forces to “exercise restraint and avoid use of excessive, disproportionate, lethal force.”

The UN said the people of Iraq are in desperate need of sustainable, long-term stability that can only be achieved through a unified effort, especially now that the country is recovering from the Islamic State war.

Claims of fraud and vote-rigging marred Iraq’s controversial parliamentary elections. Soon after the announcement of results, the outgoing parliament ordered a manual recount of ballots.

As votes are recounted, Kubiš called for the immediate installation of “a new inclusive and pro-reform patriotic government that will put the rich resources of the country at the disposal and for the benefit of its own people.”

“Such a government will be able to deliver on the people’s demands and answer their aspirations of boosting economic performance, creating jobs, improving services, fighting corruption and instilling hope of decent and dignified life for the youth, for all Iraqis,” he concluded.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany