The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights called on the Public Prosecution to open a formal investigation into Badr Organization head Hadi al-Amiri's statements describing the Tishreen protests as "sedition" and citing the "Resistance's" role in confronting them, saying they bear directly on the killing of over 600 protesters. IOHR demanded his testimony be taken, previous inquiry findings disclosed, and offered its full documentation to the judiciary.
3 September 2026
The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR) is following with deep concern the recent statements made by Hadi al-Amiri, head of the Badr Organization, in which he described the October 2019 (Tishreen) protests as a "fitna" (sedition) and stated that "the Resistance stood courageously against the Tishreen fitna and preserved the state and the political system."
IOHR considers that these statements, coming from a senior political figure, contain an explicit reference to the role of non-state armed actors in confronting peaceful protests whose participants were exercising a right guaranteed by the Iraqi Constitution. As such, they constitute information directly relevant to the record of violations committed during those protests and warrant judicial verification, particularly given that official authorities have, for years, attributed those violations to an unidentified "third party."
Through its field teams in Baghdad and the central and southern governorates, IOHR has documented the killing of more than 600 Iraqis, the majority of them young people, during the suppression of the Tishreen protests. IOHR has also documented the assassinations of Ihab al-Wazni and Amjad al-Dahamat, the attempted assassination of Lodia Remon, and the abduction of Sajjad al-Mashrafawi, known as "Sajjad al-Iraqi," who has remained missing since September 2020 without the authorities providing his family with any answer as to his fate.
IOHR recalls that the investigative committees formed since 2019 have produced no published findings, lacked adequate powers, and have not resulted in the prosecution of a single official for the crimes committed against protesters. This has entrenched a state of impunity and left victims' families without answers about the fate of their loved ones or the identity of those responsible for their deaths.
Accordingly, the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights calls on:
The Office of the Public Prosecutor to exercise its legal authority to act on its own initiative by opening a formal investigation into Hadi al-Amiri's statements and taking his testimony regarding the actors he referred to, the nature of their role, the areas in which they operated, and their connection to the killings, sniper attacks, abductions, and assassinations documented by IOHR.
The Supreme Judicial Council to guarantee the independence of this investigation, shield it from any political interference, and make its findings public.
The Government of Iraq to declare its position on these statements, disclose the findings of all investigative committees established since 2019, and inform victims' families of their conclusions.
The relevant authorities to reopen the files on assassinations and enforced disappearances.
IOHR affirms that justice for the victims of Tishreen is not merely a legal demand but a humanitarian and moral obligation incumbent upon the state, and that every delay in achieving it prolongs the suffering of families who lost their children and have waited seven years to learn the truth.
The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights declares its full readiness to place its complete list of victims' names, its full documentation database, and the testimonies of witnesses and victims' families at the disposal of the Office of the Public Prosecutor and any competent judicial authority.
