Basra's activists live in fear after the assassination of Fatima Al-Bahadli's son 

Shafaq News / The recent assassination of an activist's son in Basra has overshadowed the governorate's general situation, particularly women activists, who have expressed concern of suffering the same fate as a result of the unrestricted weapons and weak legal procedures.

Last Sunday, a security source told Shafaq News agency that Ali Karim, the son of human rights activist Fatima al-Bahadli, president of the Al-Fardaws Association in Basra, was assassinated.

Police found Karim's body in the Al-Zubair district, west of Basra, after he disappeared for 24 hours.

A Basra activist told Shafaq News agency that Basra's women, especially the activists, are frequently threatened and targeted.

The activist, who preferred to remain anonymous for fear that she or her family would be threatened or assassinated, said that being an activist is a humanitarian job, though some describe them as traitors, "The role of female activists is to highlight the women's abused rights and defend them even in state circles," noting that many female activists were threatened, while several of them were killed, including Reham, Su'ad, and Fatima al-Bahadli's son.

The activist stressed that Basra's women are ruthlessly killed. Some families do not bring this issue up out of worry of the dominant parties. At the same time, some consider those crimes as honor crimes, "Every female activist's family members fears that they could be murdered at any moment in light of the current security chaos."

Another activist, who also preferred anonymity, pointed that activists face gruesome accusations such as treason and being paid for by foreign embassies, "85% of activists were, directly and indirectly, threatened, especially through social media."

"It is terrifying to go out of the house," said activist Nouri Hilal, "We do not know when chaos breaks out in these streets and accelerate to the point that we find ourselves surrounded by unrestricted weapons."

Zahra al-Bachari, an MP of Basra, called for security protection for female activists in the governorate, "Iraqi society, particularly in the central and southern governorates, is a traditional tribal society that does not accept women as leaders."

Al-Bachari added, "female leaders and activists in the central and southern governorates are suffering in the security aspect, and they might be murdered at any moment."

"We have requested the chairman of the High-Security Committee, the governor of Basra, to conduct the investigation, redress the victims, and give everyone their right," Mahdi al-Tamimi, director of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Office in Basra, told Shafaq News agency.

On Tuesday, July 27, 2021, the security media cell announced arresting activist Fatima al-Bahadli's son's killer in Basra governorate.