Irakischer Milizführer gibt zu, 2019 Tausende Demonstranten getötet zu haben

Bis die Coronapandemie ihnen ein Ende setzte, demonstrierten im Winter 2019/20 monatelang Hunderttausende Irakis gegen ihre Regierung und vor allem auch den iranischen Einfluss im Land.

Sicherheitskräfte gingen damals mit äußerster Brutalität gegen die Protestierenden vor - unterstützt auch von verschiedenen schiitischen Milizen. Der Chef der Badr Brigaden, eine der größten und gefürchtetsten dieser Milizen, Hadi al-Amiri hat nun zugegeben, dass von ihnen Tausende getötet wurden:

A video of Amiri, a former member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, giving a speech began to make the rounds in Iraq on Monday.

“The resistance stood bravely in the face of the October fitna [as it was dubbed] and preserved the state and political system,” he said.

It’s worth understanding the terminology here. Amiri uses the term “resistance” to refer to the Iranian-backed militias. These groups are part of the government’s paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Some are also formally part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.(...)

Amiri uses the word fitna, which has a number of meanings but essentially accuses the protesters of sedition and heresy. It accuses the protesters of undermining the state and trying to create civil strife.

He was basically admitting that the Iranian-backed militias, such as Badr, had massacred hundreds or thousands of people. He was accusing the protesters of being traitors who were then put down.

Amiri’s speech comes as Iraq seeks to disarm and rein in the militias. Several of the most powerful militias have said they would not disarm, or they have presented new conditions for placing their arms under state control. They include Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Kataib Hezbollah, and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada.

Badr is not usually seen as one of the most extreme militias. Amiri has long played a role as a power behind the throne in Iraq, however, with Badr as an enforcer of Iran’s agenda.