Protests in Iraq

That this House notes with concern the mass protests in Iraq in October 2019 in response to corruption, unemployment, weak governance and unequal access to public services and the disproportionate response by Iraqi security forces to those protests, which resulted in more than 150 people being killed, thousands of people being injured and hundreds of people being detained; expresses concern about the fate of civil activist Dr Maitham Al-Helo, who was taken from his private surgery in West Baghdad by unidentified armed men and who has not been seen since; further notes with concern reports that security forces, including militia groups, fired tear gas and live rounds at demonstrators in Baghdad and several southern provinces, that some activists were savagely beaten and that a minority of demonstrators used violence; reiterates the UN’s message to the Iraqi authorities that the protestors’ demands are legitimate and that the Iraqi authorities should allow people to express their grievances in a peaceful way; urges the Iraqi Government to hold those responsible for the excessive use of force against the demonstrators and other human rights abuses to account and to address the demonstrators’ grievances, including by prioritising effective action to stamp out corruption, which has permeated Iraqi politics and society, and by re-examining the power-sharing quota system; and calls on the UK Government to support the Iraqi authorities and people to comply with the international human rights framework to help prevent instability and violence in that country.