The Basra governorate is witnessing an increasing tension because of the killing of a protestor and the injury of another, last Sunday, during the protests that broke out due to the deterioration of electricity and services.
In an earlier electronic newsletter, we confirmed that the security forces were present in different areas of the province to control the situation, after the great anger caused by the death and the injury of two people by shooting at the protest.
According to our sources, protestors from “Al-Qibla” area, southwest of Basra, continued their protests, cutting off a number of roads, burning tires and chanting slogans denouncing the government.
The human rights organizations asked the government to intervene urgently to resolve the crisis through several actions; the first one consists of the firing of the commander of the operations and the commander of the strike force in Basra, who attacked the protestors. Secondly, the prosecution of the perpetrators of shooting at unarmed protestors.
The organizations also stressed the need to meet the former promises for the establishment of power generation plants and water desalination, and the payment of the Basra gains from the oil revenues since 2014. They warned of the possibility of the outburst of the situation in Basra if the Iraqi authorities do not take the necessary measures against the forces that attacked the protestors and stressed the acceleration in the provision of services to prevent the expansion of protests.
#social_conditions #Basra #protests
English 
العربية