Hamza Qasem Matshr Aldarajy
Hamza Aldarajy is a human rights defender who participated in monitoring and documenting human rights violations which occured during protests in Iraq from 2011 to 2019. He shared the violations with many local and international news agencies, and organized different awareness wokshops for the youth who participated in the protests.
Iraqi human rights defenders are subjected to assassination, abduction, arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance. Iraq is considered an extremely dangerous country for human rights defenders, particularly with the ubiquity of armed groups who pose additional threats to obstruct their work.
Women human rights defenders have been subjected to smear campaigns on social media due to their participation in protests and have been specifically targeted for abduction and killing, particularly in the southern city of Basra.
Despite the appointment of a new government by the Iraqi Parliament in May 2020 in response to the protests, the administration has failed to protect human rights defenders. Several were assassinated in following months. Peaceful demonstrations continue, with human rights defenders putting their lives at risk to demand real change.
