Demonstrators detained at Al-Sulaymaniyah protest, rights watchdog says

Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah

Security forces forcibly dispersed a protest over electricity prices in Al-Sulaymaniyah's Penjwen district in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) on Tuesday, arresting some participants and burning their tents, according to Alliance Network 19.

The alliance, a coalition of human rights organizations and advocates, said residents had launched a sit-in on Mlakawa Street three days earlier, drawing hundreds of people, mostly young residents, to the site day and night, where artistic activities were also held.

In the early hours of September 22, security forces allegedly surrounded the protesters from three directions before breaking up the gathering. One organizer quoted by the alliance said the forces “opened fire,” prompting some demonstrators to flee while others were detained. The identities of those arrested remained unknown, while 40 to 50 participants had switched off their phones.

The coalition urged authorities to explain the alleged violations, citing protections for the right to demonstrate under the Iraqi Constitution and the Kurdistan Region’s Law No. 11 of 2010.

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Ali Hama Saleh, leader of the National Stance Movement (Halwest), an opposition party in the KRI, separately accused a security force affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of arresting 50 protesters and assaulting many of them.

The PUK did not immediately comment on the allegations.