under national security and cybercrime laws security forces, leaving at least two people for acts related to freedom of expression. dead and over 100 injured. In apparent KRG security and intelligence forces retaliation, three drone attacks were carried violently dispersed and arrested protesters. out on Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi’s Measures to contain Covid-19, coupled with home on 7 November; no one was killed. droughts, adversely affected the economic Iraq’s Supreme Court upheld the election welfare of Iraqis. Armed actors continued to results on 27 December but a new obstruct internally displaced people from government had not been formed by the end accessing their human rights, and Iraqi of the year. authorities closed all but two camps and In Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region of subjected thousands to secondary Iraq (KR-I), rocket attacks on the airport displacement and collective punishment. where US personnel are based, and on the Gender-based violence increased US embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone, were dramatically during the pandemic, and attributed to PMU factions. central and regional authorities failed to Hundreds of families returned to Iraq from address protection of women and girls in Syria; they had fled the country during the the home. The armed group Islamic State conflict involving Islamic State. continued to target and kill civilians and Turkey increased air attacks on areas in the members of Iraqi security forces in northern KR-I, mainly in Duhok and Erbil and central Iraq. Courts in Iraq continued to governorates, targeting the Kurdistan Workers hand down death sentences for a range of Party. criminal acts and carried out executions. In November and December, heavy rainfall BACKGROUND caused flash floods, destroying at least hundreds of homes in Erbil, displacing Humanitarian actors reported significant thousands of people and killing at least community transmission of Covid-19 seven. throughout the country, but Iraqi authorities EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS AND opted for restrictive measures such as ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES curfews, restricted hours and closing shopping centres instead of full lockdowns In several southern governorates, armed due to the adverse impact on the economic actors, including PMU members, welfare of Iraqis. extrajudicially killed or attempted to kill tens The initial results of parliamentary elections of activists who rose to prominence during on 10 October were disputed after factions of protests that began in October 2019 against the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) militias government corruption and for improved job – which are affiliated to the central authorities opportunities and public services. Most and were designated as part of the Iraqi victims were killed late at night, often as they armed forces in 2016 – disputed the results were returning home from protests, mainly by in which they lost 48 seats. They cited voter armed men on motorcycles or in vehicles fraud, vote tampering, “foreign interference” with blacked-out side windows. Shots were and made threats of violence against election usually fired at the head or chest. committee staff and independent monitors. In July, the authorities announced the arrest On 24 October, at least 1,500 supporters of of one suspected perpetrator of these killings these factions attempted to storm the but no further information was provided. In International Zone (Green Zone) in the capital October and November, relying on the 2005 Baghdad but were stopped by Iraqi security Anti-Terrorism Law, courts sentenced to forces. In response, a manual recount of death individuals who had been convicted of votes was conducted. On 5 November, targeting and killing activists and journalists supporters of the factions again attempted to in Baghdad and Basra in 2019 and 2020. storm the Green Zone and clashed with However, beyond the limited information Amnesty International Report 2021/22 202