The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said Nineveh governor Nawfal al-Aakoub used his authority to intimidate civil society activists to prevent them from carrying out their activities, continuing their defence of human rights, and criticizing authorities for poor services or corruption in the province.
The observatory also said "Civil activism in Nineveh seems to provoke the conservative, this is not the first time that civil society activists are threatened … There is something unclear about the position of the governor of civilian activists who played an important role in helping displaced families and restoring life to Mosul City at a time when the local government is absent from providing assistance to them.
Social networking activists circulated pictures of Nineveh governor Nawfal al-Aakoub smiling as he appeared behind Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi as they inspected the wounded and survivors at the Al-Salam Hospital in Mosul on March 21 and wrote on Facebook pages that they had been threatened by the governor.
Activist Laith al-Rashdi, who was run over by the Governor of Nineveh near the sinking site, said in an interview with the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights "I and a group of activists were threatened by Nineveh governor Nofal al-Aakoub and a group of his associates, all because we asked him to be held accountable because of the sinking of the ferry and our criticism of his irresponsible attitude, laughing in front of the camera among the bodies that had sunk".
He also said, "Nofal hit me by his the car and suffered injuries to my body because I stood in front of his car and shouted against his negligence in the cases that concern the people, I suffered severe injuries, and that Nofal is still free so far and one punished him.
Activist Mohammed Al, wrote on his Facebook page, "During our testimony before the presidents and the deputies at the Nineveh Operations Headquarters on the ferry incident, Nineveh governor Nofal al-Aakoub was implicitly threatening me personally and asking my triple name in a mockery manner.
"We watched three of Novell's guards taking pictures of all the young people who testified against him before the president," he wrote.
The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said that "the behavior of the governor of Nineveh, Nofal al-Aakoub, indicates the survival of the authoritarian mentality, which is not acceptable to criticism, and also indicates that executive positions are still used for personal purposes and interests, and this is a major threat to Iraq."
He also said that "the Iraqi Council of Representatives and the President of the Iraqi government and also the President of the Republic, to deal seriously with the threats launched against civilian activists, which negatively affect the work of civil society, which had the greatest role in restoring the life of Nineveh province and Mosul specifically.
An activist in civil society in Nineveh told to the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights that "the threats of her access to Facebook by unknown people since the accident sinking." She did not know who was behind the threats, but she says her colleagues were also insulted and slandered Governor of Nineveh Nofal al-Aakoub".
She also said "When we criticized the position of Nawfal and his neglect of the situation of the province, I started to come out with Facebook accounts that insult us and threaten us, they do not want us to demand our rights and live a secure life, they want us to remain silent and accept anything".
The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said that "the danger to a group of civilian activists working in the city of Mosul, a matter of concern The Iraqi government to avoid the matter and hold accountable those behind these threats, and the governor of Nineveh Nofal Akakob because of direct threats and hit a group of demonstrators".
