Rights Groups Sound Alarm on Jump in Iraqi Activist Assassinations

Angry Iraqi demonstrators mourn the killing of female activist and paramedic Janat Madhi, in Basra on Tuesday night, part of an upsurge of violence against the three-month-old protest movement. — AFP
Angry Iraqi demonstrators mourn the killing of female activist and paramedic Janat Madhi, in Basra on Tuesday night, part of an upsurge of violence against the three-month-old protest movement. — AFP
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Rights Groups Sound Alarm on Jump in Iraqi Activist Assassinations

Angry Iraqi demonstrators mourn the killing of female activist and paramedic Janat Madhi, in Basra on Tuesday night, part of an upsurge of violence against the three-month-old protest movement. — AFP
Angry Iraqi demonstrators mourn the killing of female activist and paramedic Janat Madhi, in Basra on Tuesday night, part of an upsurge of violence against the three-month-old protest movement. — AFP

Human rights monitors sounded the alarm over a recent spike in assassinations targeting civil rights activists in Iraq's south on Thursday, ahead of a much anticipated meeting between the prime minister and the US president as part of ongoing strategic talks.

Mustafa al-Kadhimi departed for an official trip to Washington this week and is expected to meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday to conclude strategic talks expected to shape the future of Iraq-US ties.

Assassination plots have targeted more civil activists this month in southern Iraq, compared to the period at the height of the protest movement in October, monitors said. Iran-backed militia groups are widely suspected of perpetrating both.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets in October to decry rampant government corruption, poor services and unemployment in Baghdad and across Iraq’s south. Hundreds died as Iraqi forces used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse crowds, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

Activist Reham Yacoub was gunned down in the southern Iraqi province of Basra on Wednesday by unidentified gunmen, a security official and human rights watcher said, marking the second such killing in the span of a week. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Activist Tahseen Osama was killed Friday, prompting dozens to take to the streets and block roads. Police responded by firing live rounds at the demonstrators.

Yacoub was a respected activist who took part in many protests in 2018 and October.

“It seems that there is a well programmed cleansing of activists who were influential in the last protest movement,” said Ali al-Bayati, spokesman for the semi-official Iraqi Independent High Commission for Human Rights.

According to the commission, there have been six assassination attempts targeting activists with two killed in Basra in the month of August alone. That represents a jump as the commission recorded 16 attempted targeted killings in the 10 months after the uprising started in October.

A recent government investigation said 560 protesters and security forces were killed in the October movement. The probe drew criticism from activists who said it fell short of naming the perpetrators, who are widely suspected of having links to Iran-backed militia groups.

Al-Kadhimi fired the Basra police chief on Monday and ordered a new probe into the killing of Osama.

According to AP, in Washington, talks are expected to focus on the future of the US-led coalition in Iraq. Coalition troops have left most bases in a planned drawdown. US officials have also voiced concern over the presence of Iran-backed militia groups.

Following a meeting in Washington with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that armed groups outside of state control “have impeded our progress."



Jumblatt Ends Annual Commemoration of His Father’s Assassination after ‘Historic Justice Takes Course’

Former head of Lebanon Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Walid Jumblatt delivers his speech during the commemoration on Sunday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Former head of Lebanon Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Walid Jumblatt delivers his speech during the commemoration on Sunday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Jumblatt Ends Annual Commemoration of His Father’s Assassination after ‘Historic Justice Takes Course’

Former head of Lebanon Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Walid Jumblatt delivers his speech during the commemoration on Sunday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Former head of Lebanon Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Walid Jumblatt delivers his speech during the commemoration on Sunday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Former head of Lebanon Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt announced on Sunday he was ending the annual commemoration of the assassination of his father, Kamal, “after historic justice has taken its course.”

Jumblatt had been holding the commemoration annually since his father was assassinated by the now ousted Syrian regime on March 16, 1977.

Earlier this month, the new authorities in Syria announced the arrest of former chief of intelligence Ibrahim Huweija, who is accused of “hundreds of assassinations” under the Assad regime. He had overseen Kamal Jumblatt’s assassination.

Politicians, Druze figures and supporters across Lebanon had gathered at Mokhtara on Sunday for the 48th anniversary of the assassination.

Addressing the crowd, Jumblatt declared: “For 48 years, we had gathered on March 16 to read the Fatiha and place a red rose on Kamal Jumblatt’s grave and the grave of his companions Hafez al-Ghosseini and Fawzi Chedid. This was an occasion to forge ahead in defiance and confrontation.”

16 March 2025, Lebanon, Mokhtara: Lebanese Druze attend a ceremony to mark the 48th anniversary of the assassination of leader Kamal Jumblatt, father of Druze chief Walid Jumblatt in the village of Mokhtara. (dpa)

“During the worst of times, it was an occasion to remember and persevere, derive strength to continue living,” he added.

“Now, freedom shines in Syria at long last. The regime of oppression and injustice has collapsed after some 54 years. The Syrian people are free and the new authorities led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa have arrested the man behind Kamal Jumblatt’s assassination,” he added.

“On behalf of my family and the PSP, I declare an end to the tradition of holding the commemoration given that historic justice has taken its course albeit after some time,” he stressed.

Jumblatt said: “Mokhtara is looking forward to a new chapter in struggle and defiance in new areas, not limited to, more humanitarian socialism as advocated by Kamal Jumblatt.”

He underlined the historic reconciliation in Lebanon on August 3, 2001, that was sponsored by late Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. The agreement lays the foundation for intra-Lebanese relations that rise above political divisions.

He also underscored the importance of “clinging on to Lebanon’s Arab identity as promoted by major thinkers, writers, politicians and nationalists. This identity has been tarnished by regimes of oppression.”

Jumblatt also stressed the need to liberate southern Lebanon from Israeli occupation, the demarcation of the border to protect Lebanese sovereignty, implementation of international resolutions, and the reconstruction of areas destroyed by the Israeli war on Hezbollah last year.

Former head of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Walid Jumblatt (C) lays a flower on his father Kamal Jumblatt's grave during a ceremony to commemorate the 48th anniversary of his assassination in Mokhtara, Chouf Mountains, southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, 16 March 2025. (EPA)

Moreover, he called for “rebuilding Lebanese-Syrian relations on new foundations away from past experiences.”

Turning to the Druze community, he urged them to “maintain their Arab identity and protect their history of joint struggle with Arab and Syrian nationalists against colonization. Maintain your position in confronting the occupation of Arab territories in the Syrian Golan Heights.”

Commenting on the visit by Syrian Druze clerics to Israel last week, he said: “Religious visits do not negate the occupation of Palestine and the Golan.”

He called on the Druze to “preserve their Islamic heritage,” warning them against being influenced by Zionism. He also warned them against being manipulated “to divide Syria and the rest of the region under the pretext of the alliance of minorities that was opposed by Kamal Jumblatt – a stance for which he paid for with his life.”

At the end of his speech, Jumblatt declared: “We were patient, persevered and were victorious.”