Residents of Baghdad area say stringent security turns it into a big prison

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Residents of an area in northern Baghdad are decrying what they describe as unbearable security restrictions and sectarian discrimination that turn the area into an actual prison.

London-based al-Quds Alarabi quoted residents of Mashahda, Tarimiya, saying they are always undergoing stringent vetting and ID checks at checkpoints in the neighborhood. The army “maintains the closure of vital pathways, and has imposed “weeks-long curfews, trapped citizens inside and outside, and carried out random arrests”.

“The area has turned into both a big prison and a military barrack that is difficult to live in,” Omar Abu Kamel, a resident of the area, told the paper. “Many people are feeling rage, injustice and sectarian discrimination due to provocative practices by the Iraqi army and humiliating measures”.

Even residents with documents proving they belong to the area cannot escape the lockup, according Abu Kamel. “Many people have now no other choice but to relocate”, he said. “The security policy in Mashahda has emptied the area of men  who had to migrate for fear of kidnapping or detention”.

Abu Kamel accused army troops of carrying out home raids, assaulting dwellers and getting ransoms in return for the release of arrested family members. He said unknown, masked gunmen also usually pass through the army checkpoints unquestioned before making detentions.

Baraa al-Mashadani, a blacksmith, recalls how soldiers blocked his way to home in central Tarimiya and ordered him to turn back or, otherwise, get arrested for “collaborating with terrorists”. He said he, however, holds an ID that verifies he is a local of the area.

In June, in response to wide complaints of mass detentions in Tarimiya, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the campaigns were targeting Islamic State hideouts.

Throughout Iraq’s three-year campaign to eliminate Islamic State militancy, local and international human rights groups, and international agencies, have occasionally warned against vengeful violations by  government and paramilitary troops against civilians from opposite sects. They urged the government to ensure civilians are not abused for unbased accusations of affiliation with the militant group.