Saba Almahdawy is missing.
As THE COMMON ILLS noted this morning, the point of reference is Hadi al-Mehdi.
From the September 9. 2011 snapshot:
"The martyr was one of the activists in
the movement against corruption and the curbing of rights and freedoms,
through Facebook and through demonstrations in Tahrir Square. He was
always stressing the need to reject any violation of the constitution
and the law." That's WG Dunlop (AFP) quoting activist Zahir al-Jamaa. Speaking of? Journalist and activist Hadi al-Mehdi who was not at the protest today because he was assassinated yesterday.
His face was seen at today's demonstrations across Iraq as, in Baghdad and throughout, protesters carried photos of Hadi. The Great Iraqi Revolution notes,
"Our correspondent in Baghdad:: The government forces refused to
release the body of the assassinated journalist Hady Mahdy for the
public funeral arranged by protestors. The did not allow a symbolic
funeral to take place either.// Hady Mahdy , what greatness! They fear
you dead or alive."
Dar Addustour calls
the assassination of Hadi "a deep wound in the conscience of Iraq" and
Hadi "a shining star in the honored sky illuminating the path in the
stuggle against tyranny." In Baghdad today, at the Tahrir protest,
activist Hattem Hashem told AFP, "The voice of Hadi will not be silenced, despite his assassination with a silenced weapon." Al Jazeera quotes
Hadi once telling the network, "When we speak up and raise our voices
they kill us and tell lies about us." They describe his weekly radio
program:
Music and humour punctuated his pointed attacks on everyone he thought was ruining Iraq.
Taxi
drivers were riveted by the show and callers phoned in to complain
about everything - from paying bribes to get running water to
politicians who, once elected, moved to the Green Zone, the heavily
guarded area where many of Baghdad's government institutions are housed.
Although
his favourite targets were corrupt politicians and the Iraqi
parliament, he also lashed out at armed groups considered untouchable.
Anne Gowen (Washington Post) reports
on the protest in Baghdad and notes Hadi al-Mahdi, "On his radio
program, 'To Whoever Listens,' Mahdi loudly criticized Iraqi politicians
of every stripe, including Maliki. He had a background in theater, and
it showed in his delivery. He often used humor in his attacks. Maliki's
officials often had complained about Mahdi's views to the radio station
that aired the thrice-weekly talk show, supporters said." Dina al-Shibeeb (Al Arabiya) reports:
Iraqis
reacted to the news of Mahdi's death with condemnation and criticized a
government they see as increasingly dictatorial and basically unchanged
from the rule of its brutal predecessor, Saddam Hussein.
In response to Mahdi's killing, a Facebook group, "We Are All Hadi al-Mahdi," was created, and has attracted 1,700 members.
"In
a cowardice operation a criminal hand killed the activist and the
organizer of tomorrow's protest ... " one member wrote, while another
commentator said "the path of freedom has become the path of martyrdom …
the revolution has begun."
One female reader wrote "write all that
comes from your souls and hearts, we are all corpses that will be buried
one day," and another group member said, "death to Maliki and long live
Hadi al-Mahdi."
Al Mada quotes
Hanna Edwar stating, "Hadi al-Mahdi was a strong voice calling out
attacks on freedom and demanding reforms in the system." Ali Hussein
(Al Mada) cals out the assassination and "the silencing of voices of
truth and justice" seeing similarities between the current Iraq and Iraq
under Saddam Hussein's rule, how "many things have not changed." The
assassination of Hadi is a cae where "a citizen loses his life with the
utmost simplicity due ot the absence of law and the lack of knowledge
and responsibility on the part of those who are supposed to implement
the law." The assassin accomplished very little because Hadi al-Mahdi
remains in the hearts of Iraqis with the same brilliant smile and
childlike features. Ali Hussien writes of knowing Hadi and of Hadi's
belief in the future of Iraq, of seeing him last in a Baghdad cafe one
evening with friends, full of life and talking about his future and the
future of Iraq and he saw Iraq as an adventure and living in Baghdad as
an adventure. Ali Hussein ends the column wondering, "Who killed Hadi
al-Mahdi? I think all of Iraq should be seeking that answer."
The Committee to Protect Journalists denounced
the assassination and CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney declared,
"Iraq remains one of the most dangerous places for journalists to work,
and the Iraqi authorities' record of impunity for journalist murders is
dismal. Wih this murder, a strong independent voice in Iraq has been
silenced. Those who carried out this killing cannot go unpunished." Human Rights Watch issued the following:
(Beirut) --
Iraqi authorities should conduct an immediate, full, and transparent
investigation into the September 8, 2011 killing of Hadi al-Mahdi, a
popular radio journalist often critical of the government, at his home
in Baghdad, and prosecute those responsible, Human Rights Watch said
today.
"The killing of Hadi al-Mahdi sadly highlights that journalism in Iraq remains a deadly profession," said Joe Stork,
deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "After more than six
years of democratic rule, Iraqis who publicly express their views still
do so at great peril."
Witnesses at the crime scene told Human
Rights Watch that they saw no evidence of a struggle or theft,
suggesting that the killing was deliberate. Al-Mahdi's cell phone,
laptop, and other valuables were left in the house untouched.
Al-Mahdi,
a freelance journalist and theater director, had been openly critical
of government corruption and social inequality in Iraq.
His popular talk radio program, "To Whoever Listens," ran three times a
week in Baghdad before he left the show two months ago. The program's
appeal was al-Mahdi's fearless and scathing voice, laced with a sense of
humor, Human Rights Watch said. Leading up to the country's "Day of
Anger" mass pro-democracy and anti-corruption demonstrations on February
25, he became increasingly involved as a vocal organizer of Iraq's new
protest movement in Baghdad.
Human Rights Watch spoke with al-Mahdi
during the demonstration on February 25, and he stressed the importance
of peaceful protest. As riot police began acting aggressively and groups
of protesters started to throw hundreds of rocks, Human Rights Watch
saw al-Mahdi take a leadership role with those who locked arms and made
a human chain between angry crowds and riot police in an attempt to
keep the peace. Many who did so were injured by rocks or by the riot
police's use of force.
After the protests, security forces arrested him and three other journalists at a Baghdad restaurant. They beat and blindfolded them, and threatened them with torture
during their subsequent interrogation. Al-Mahdi told Human Rights Watch
after they were released the next day that interrogators had forced
him, while blindfolded, to sign what he was told was a criminal
confession and also a pledge to refrain from participating in future
demonstrations. He showed Human Rights Watch bruises and red marks on
his face, neck, and shoulders, as well as on his legs and abdomen.
Al-Mahdi
continued to attend and organize many of the weekly Friday
demonstrations that followed in Baghdad's Tahrir Square. He told Human
Rights Watch that on March 4, an unknown man in the crowd approached him
in an intimidating fashion and said that security forces were watching
him, and then listed all of the people al-Mahdi had called on his phone
that day. Al-Mahdi said on March 11 that in the previous week he had
been threatened several times by phone or text message not to return to
Tahrir Square.
Al-Mahdi was also one of the prominent organizers of a
big demonstration planned for the first Friday after the end of the
month-long Muslim holiday of Ramadan, on September 9. His Facebook
profile picture was an announcement for the demonstration, and he posted
the following message describing threats against him in the hours
before his death:
Enough
... I have lived the last three days in a state of terror. There are
some who call me and warn me of raids and arrests of protesters. There
is someone saying that the government will do this and that. There is
someone with a fake name coming on to Facebook to threaten me. I will
take part in the demonstrations, for I am one of its supporters. I
firmly believe that the political process embodies a national, economic,
and political failure. It deserves to change, and we deserve a better
government. In short, I do not represent any political party or any
other side, but rather the miserable reality in which we live. ... I am
sick of seeing our mothers beg in the streets and I am sick of news of
politicians' gluttony and of their looting of Iraq's riches.
The killing of al-Mahdi follows years of targeted violence against journalists in Iraq. Most recently, on August 29, an assailant beat a prominent journalist, Asos Hardi, in Sulaimaniya with a pistol, requiring Hardi's hospitalization and 32 stitches.
Since
the start of protests in Iraq in February over widespread corruption
and lack of services, journalists have faced escalating attacks and threats, including from members of the government's security forces.
"In Iraq, we're used to journalists being attacked, but this one was close to the bone," Ammaral-Shahbander, head of the Institute for War and Peace Reportingin
Iraq and a friend of al-Mahdi's, told Human Rights Watch after seeing
al-Mahdi's body lying in the kitchen at his home. "This attack was
different because usually journalists here have been killed in the line
of duty, and you expect fatalities in war zones. But sitting in your own
home and getting shot like this is too much to bear."
Emad
al-Ebadi, another friend of al-Mahdi's, told Human Rights Watch that
al-Mahdi confided that he was receiving daily death threats via social
media and cell phones with blocked numbers: "He would come to me very
upset and angry and shows me the incoming calls to support his
allegations. I used to try always to calm him down and tell him to not
care that much about these phone calls and advise him to be careful at
the same time and stay alert."
Al-Ebadi,
a television journalist who has frequently criticized parliamentary and
government figures, survived an attempt on his life on November 23,
2009, when unknown assailants shot him in the neck and head.
Al-Shahbander expressed hope that al-Mahdi's killing would not deter Iraq's journalists from reporting on events in the country.
"So
many journalists have been kidnapped and killed in Iraq but it doesn't
matter how many are tortured, intimidated, or killed -- journalists will
continue doing their jobs," he said. "This attack just shows how
desperate the enemies of democracy have become."
Amnesty International notes:
The
killing of a prominent radio journalist in Baghdad highlights how Iraqi
authorities are failing to protect media workers from continued threats
and violence, Amnesty International said today.
Hadi al-Mahdi, 44,
was shot twice in the head in his flat in the Karrada district of
Baghdad yesterday, ahead of a planned protest he was due to attend in
the city's Tahrir Square today.
Friends have said he had feared for his life after receiving a string of threats in recent weeks.
"Journalists
continue to pay a high price amid the ongoing violence in Iraq, and
politically motivated attacks like this must no longer be tolerated,"
said Philip Luther, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at
Amnesty International.
"Iraqi authorities must roundly condemn Hadi
al-Mahdi's killing, carry out a full investigation to identify and bring
his killers to justice, and ensure other journalists who face threats
are given adequate protection if they request it."
Al-Mahdi was an
outspoken political critic, and his popular Radio Demozy show "To
Whoever Listens" took on a wide range of issues. No-one across the
political spectrum was spared his scrutiny, and his analysis was
described as irreverent and witty, drawing on his theatrical background.
Officials in President Nuri al-Maliki's government had reportedly complained to Radio Demozy about the show.
Al-Mahdi stopped broadcasting the show about two months ago, reportedly out of fear for his safety.
Earlier
this week, al-Mahdi had been using social media sites to publicize a
protest planned for 9 September in Baghdad's Tahrir Square, where he had
been attending weekly protests in recent months.
Several hours
before he was killed on the eve of the protest, al-Mahdi posted a note
on Facebook saying he felt he was in danger:
"I have lived the last
three days in a state of terror. There are some who call me and warn of
raids and arrests of protesters. There is someone saying that the
government will do this and that. There is someone with a fake name
coming on to Facebook to threaten me."
Earlier this year, al-Mahdi
had told Amnesty International about how a group of at least 15 soldiers
detained him and three other journalists on 25 February, after they had
attended a pro-reform demonstration in Tahrir Square.
The four
journalists were detained overnight for interrogation at the
headquarters of the army's 11th division, where al-Mahdi was beaten,
given electric shocks and threatened with rape, before being released
without charge.
In August, Iraq's Parliament passed a new law on
legal protections for journalists, who face ongoing politically
motivated threats and attacks. However, the law does not provide for
their physical protection.
"Al-Mahdi's murder just a month after this
new law was passed merely highlights this major loophole in the
measure," said Philip Luther.
"Iraqi authorities must redouble their efforts to ensure journalists can carry out their work in safety."
Hadi al-Mahdi, a theater
director and radio anchor who has been calling for reform, said he was
blindfolded and beaten repeatedly with sticks, boots and fists. One
soldier put a stick into Hadi's handcuffed hands and threatened to rape
him with it, he said.
The soldiers accused
him of being a tool of outsiders wishing to topple Maliki's government;
they demanded that he confess to being a member of Saddam Hussein's
Baath Party. Hadi told them that he blamed Baathists for killing two of
his brothers and that until recently he had been a member of Maliki's
Dawa Party.
Hadi said he was then taken to a
detention cell, his blindfold off, where he said there were at least
300 people with black hoods over their heads, many groaning in bloody
shirts. Several told him they had been detained during or after the
protests.
Hadi, who comes from a prominent
Iraqi family, and his colleagues were released after their friends
managed to make some well-placed phone calls.
"This government is sending a message to us, to everybody," he said Saturday, his forehead bruised, his left leg swollen.
And
many believe the assassination Thursday of Hadi was another message
from the government of Nouri al-Maliki. NPR's Kelly McEvers Tweeted
yesterday:
No effort was ever made to find Hadi's killer. To this day, no prosecution.
Nouri was attacking the press.
If Saba has disappeared, it's because the government is either attacking the press or condoning the attacks on the press.
Where is Saba Al Mahdawy?
