Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One issue that should receive more attention in Australia and more attention this House is the current situation in Iraq. As somebody who has followed the situation in Iraq very closely over the years and visited Iraq, particularly Baghdad and Erbil in 2017, I am deeply dismayed at what we are observing in Iraq as we speak. Not only in Baghdad but around Iraq, protests are under way and have been continuing in Basra, Najaf, Karbala and in many Iraqi provinces.

These protests are not new; they've been occurring for many years. What is new is the level of repression that is occurring in Iraq and the level of violence that is occurring in Iraq. We have seen 4,000 people injured and 100 people killed as a result of these protests in Iraq. This is completely unacceptable. Friends of democracy anywhere in the world should be concerned about this, and friends of Iraq should be concerned about this. There is a campaign of intimidation and assault against activists. There is a campaign of repression which is occurring. The demonstrations started on the first of this month, on the one-year anniversary of the Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi's government. They have claimed the lives, as I have said, of over 100 people. I note that it has been denied that this violent activity has been ordered by the government or by the Prime Minister. The question is: if the government hasn't ordered it, who has ordered this crackdown on democracy in Iraq?

This has caused grave concerns in the Iraqi community in Australia. As a representative of many Iraqi Australians, I share those concerns and bring them to the attention of the House. On Friday last I met with the Joint Committee of Iraqi Organisations in Australia, representing 23 different organisations in Iraq, covering a range of religions and ethnic groups—Assyrians, Chaldeans, Mandaeans, Kurds and other representatives of the Iraqi community. They made the point that the violence does not discriminate—that people of all faiths have been impacted by the violence being perpetrated in Iraq—and that this has caused deep concern for the friends of Iraq and Iraqi Australians.

Quite rightly, there's been a focus on events in Hong Kong, and I understand that and share that concern. But what we're seeing in Iraq, with 100 people killed, deserves the attention of the House as well. Australia of course played a role in the fall of Saddam Hussein, and therefore there is an ongoing interest and, indeed, an obligation on this House to take an interest in what has followed the fall of Saddam Hussein. What we have seen in recent months is reminiscent of the Hussein regime. Two activists, Ali Jaseb al-Hattab and Maytham Mohammed Rahim al-Helo, have been forcibly disappeared. According to the relatives of al-Hattab, armed men in a black pick-up truck dragged him away from his car, where he'd been to meet a client, and drove him away in one of their trucks. He has not been seen since. Again, this is reminiscent of previous days in Iraq. Australia and other coalition partners combined forces to improve the situation in Iraq, but what we have seen is not an improvement in many senses.

The protests are set to resume on 25 October, this week, after a religious observance period which has seen the protests not proceed over recent days. I am deeply concerned, as I'm sure all honourable members would be, that, when they do resume the protests, the killing and the violence will resume as well. The Australian government needs to make very strong representations to the government of Iraq that this sort of violent crackdown on protesters is not acceptable to us as a country which has a deep interest in Iraq and which is home to many Iraqi Australians. The Joint Committee of Iraqi Organisations has called for the identification of the offenders who shot civilians and justice for them; the enforcing of the law to prevent violation of human rights; a guarantee of the right of demonstration; restriction of the ownership of arms within the Iraqi defence force; and a response to the demands of the demonstrators. These are reasonable requests—indeed, demands—on behalf of these Iraqi organisations to the Iraqi government. Iraq is meant to be a democracy, and with democracy goes the right to protest without fear for your life and fear of violence. As we speak, that is not happening in Iraq. Right across Iraq people are dying as they protest the actions of the government. Whether the government are right or wrong on policy, they are not right to engage in violence against Iraqi citizens. The situation is unacceptable.