Iraq Heads Towards Civil Strife

In less than a month after U.S. troops exited the country Iraq’s government appears in turmoil. Barham Salih, Prime Minister of the autonomous northern Kurdish region, said the internal conflicts are “tearing the country apart,” with the new motto being, “I’ll have him for lunch before they have me for dinner.” Over the past several months, the security services, under Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, have incarcerated more than 1,000 members of other political parties. Al-Maliki’s chief political rival, Ayad Allawi has submitted written allegations to Iraqi’s supreme judicial council detailing detainee torture, and demanding the detainees receive legal counsel and due process. Allawi stated, “information has reached us that is beyond doubt regarding the brutal torture of our detainees in an attempt to extract false confessions from them, confessions referring to the general secretary himself.”

Yesterday, Human Rights Watch released its World Report 2012, in which it concluded that over 2011, Iraq had intensified its crackdown on “freedom of expression and assembly by intimidating, beating, and detaining activists, demonstrators, and journalists.” The Middle East Director at Human Rights Watch, Sarah Leah Whitson, said, “Iraq is quickly slipping back into authoritarianism as its security forces abuse protesters, harass journalists, and torture detainees. Despite U.S. government assurances that it helped create a stable democracy, the reality is that it left behind a budding police state.” Ali al-Mousawi, an advisor to al-Maliki, condemned the report and denied the existence of secret prisons in Iraq. Al-Mousawi admitted there could be “individual cases committed by individual security forces” and promised to hold them accountable. Samer Muscati, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, said, “Iraqis are quickly losing ground on the most basic of rights, including the right to free speech and assembly.”