Assassination, assassination attempts, attacks with explosives: In Iraq an "environment of fear and intimidation" has limited freedom of expression over the past year, the UN mission in Iraq said on Thursday. a new report that documents 26 incidents.

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However, the report notes the "significant progress made in compensating the families of those killed during the demonstrations", in reference to the immense and unprecedented popular uprising of autumn 2019, the repression of which left nearly 600 dead and 30,000 injured. .

But the report, which assesses the progress made between May 2021 and May 2022 on the basis in particular of 27 individual interviews and meetings with judicial officials in Baghdad and in the south of the country, evokes many shortcomings.

The report mentions incidents "aimed at repressing all dissent (...), perpetrated by unidentified armed elements".

Among 26 incidents targeting activists, there are "one targeted assassination, three attempted targeted assassinations, five violent attacks, one search, 14 attacks using explosive devices", according to the study carried out by the mission of UN Assistance for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The report refers to "the persistent impunity for targeted attacks against protesters (...) activists and dissidents adopting views critical of armed elements and political actors affiliated with them".

After protests in 2019 castigating endemic corruption, unemployment, and the absence of the rule of law, dozens of activists were victims of assassinations, assassination attempts or kidnappings. This violence has never been claimed, but the demonstrators point the finger at the powerful armed factions, often pro-Iranian, linked to power.

Impunity “propagates an environment of fear and intimidation that continues to severely restrict the enjoyment of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful association,” the report adds.

While most of the attacks remain anonymous, “information indicates that individuals detained and convicted for these incidents may belong to known armed elements operating outside state control,” the report said.

The study evokes the assassination in July 2020 of the researcher Hicham al-Hachémi and the trial of a policeman brought to justice for this murder. “In February, the trial was postponed for a fourth time, then adjourned sine die, due to the impossibility of bringing the accused to court”.

Ray of hope: “significant progress” in compensating families of slain protesters, with the report indicating that 509 families of “martyrs” received special compensation from the Prime Minister (nearly $7,000).