Iraqi activists demand a law against domestic violence

Baghdad – Iraqi activists protested Sunday to demand a law against domestic violence, days after a YouTuber was strangled by her father in a killing that has outraged the conservative country.

Tiba al-Ali, 22, was killed by her father on January 31 in the southern province of Diwaniyah, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan said on Twitter on Friday.

Maan said there had been an attempt to mediate between the young woman and her relatives to resolve a “family dispute”. The father later surrendered to the police and confessed to murdering his daughter.

On Sunday, security forces prevented some 20 activists from demonstrating outside the country’s Supreme Judicial Council, and they gathered instead at a road leading to the building, an AFP journalist said.

Some held placards saying “Stop killing women” and “Tiba’s killer must be held to account”.

“We demand laws to protect women, especially laws against domestic violence,” 22-year-old protester Rose Hamid told AFP.

“We came here to protest against Tiba’s murder and against all others. Who will be the next victim?”

Another demonstrator, Lina Ali, said: “We will keep mobilising because of rising domestic violence and killings of women.”

On the sidelines of Sunday’s demonstration, human rights activist Hanaa Edwar was received by a magistrate from the Supreme Judicial Council to whom she presented the protesters’ grievances.

Tiba al-Ali had lived in Turkey since 2017 and was visiting Iraq when she was killed, a security official in Diwaniyah told AFP.

In Turkey she had gained a following on YouTube, posting videos of her daily life in which her fiance often appeared.

Recordings have been shared on social media by a friend of Ali, and picked up by activists, reportedly of conversations with the father, angry because she was living in Turkey.

In the recordings, she also accuses her brother of sexual harassment.

AFP could not independently verify the authenticity of the voice recordings.