2012–2013 Iraqi protests
The 2012–2013 Iraqi protests started on 21 December 2012 following a raid on the home of Sunni Finance Minister Rafi al-Issawi and the arrest of 10 of his bodyguards.[3] Beginning in Fallujah, the protests afterwards spread throughout Sunni Arab parts of Iraq. The protests centered on the issue of the alleged sectarianism of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Pro-Maliki protests also took place throughout central and southern Iraq, where there is a Shia Arab majority. In April 2013, sectarian violence escalated after the 2013 Hawija clashes. The protests continued throughout 2013, and in December Maliki used security forces to forcefully close down the main protest camp in Ramadi, leaving at least ten gunmen and three policemen dead in the process.
2012–2013 Iraqi protests
21 December 2012 – 30 December 2013
(1 year, 1 week and 2 days)
- Corruption
- Unemployment
- Poor national security
- Poor public services
- Alleged marginalization of a Sunni minority; who previously held ultimate power
- Unfair treatment of prisoners
- Poor salaries of Sahwa militia
- Alleged abuse of De-Ba'athification laws
- Alleged Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs
- Two-thirds wage increase for Sahwa militia members
- Release of 3,000 prisoners,[1] including 600 female prisoners
- Crackdown by Security Forces results in renewed violence in Anbar
- Beginning of the War in Iraq (2013–2017)
200+
– On 5 January 2013, a 53-minute video was released on YouTube in which Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri, Secretary of the Iraqi Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, stated his support for and encouraged the protests, saying that "the people of Iraq and all its nationalist and Islamic forces support you until the realization of your just demands for the fall of the Safavid-Persian alliance".[59][60]
