Around 4,000 demonstrators crowded a square in the centre of the Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah on Tuesday, the latest protest against the dominance of two major parties in the Kurdish region.

Iraqi officials have tried to head off nationwide rallies by cutting the pay of ministers and MPs, hiking funds to buy food for the needy and delaying implementation of new import tariffs that would raise prices on goods.

But three young protesters have been killed and more than 100 wounded since Thursday in Sulaimaniyah, the second largest city in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, in demonstrations against corruption and the dominance of two parties.

The banners of demonstrators in the city's Tahrir Square, or Liberation Square, on Tuesday read: "Don't Forget Hosni Mubarak," referring to Egypt's president ousted after mass protests in Cairo's own square of the same name.

"We will continue our demonstrations until officials implement real change," said Kardo Karim, 35.

In a bid to prevent further violence, several of the demonstrators wore white shirts emblazoned with the words "Wall of Peace" and stood between the bulk of the protesters and security forces.

Two protesters were killed on Thursday and another died on Sunday in Sulaimaniyah when security forces fired their weapons into the air in a bid to disperse rallies.

On both occasions, demonstrators had been marching towards the Sulaimaniyah headquarters of the two main parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The KDP, which is led by Iraqi Kurdistan's regional president Massud Barzani, and the PUK, headed by Iraq's President Jalal Talabani, have lorded over northern Iraq for the past two decades.

Six members of the security force members and two civilians were wounded in protests in the Kurdish town of Halabja, east of Sulaimaniyah, a medical official in the town said.

Along with the Kurdish protests in Sulaimaniyah and Halabja, demonstrations have also been staged in and around Baghdad, Kut, Nasiriyah, Diwaniyah, Ramadi and Basra, with one dead and dozens wounded in the Kut rally.

In response, Iraqi authorities have proposed slashing politicians' pay in half and to redirect more government funds to feeding the needy. Officials have also pledged to delay implementation of an import tariffs law.

earlier related report

Iraq abuse worsening for women and minorities: HRW
Baghdad (AFP) Feb 22, 2011 –

Human rights abuses remain common across Iraq with the status of women and minority groups on the decline, eight years after the overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein, according to a rights watchdog.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) also said in a report released late Monday that journalists face harassment and assault from security forces and politicians, and detainees are regularly abused to coerce confessions.

"Today, Iraq is at a crossroads — either it embraces due process and human rights or it risks reverting to a police state," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at the New York-based group.

"Eight years after the US invasion, life in Iraq is actually getting worse for women and minorities, while journalists and detainees face significant rights violations."

In its report, HRW said Iraqis' rights were "violated with impunity" and anyone who attempted to expose abuse, either by officials or armed groups, did so at significant risk to themselves.

In particular, the group said women's rights had deteriorated significantly, noting that women in Iraq had enjoyed some of the strongest safeguards in the Middle East previous to the 1991 Gulf War.

The report said militias have increasingly targeted women for assassination, while violence against women at home has also been on the rise. According to HRW, women who seek official recourse risk further harassment and abuse.

Sex trafficking is also widespread, it added.

Marginalised minority groups, meanwhile, were in "dire straits," the report said, because Iraq was "failing some of its most vulnerable citizens, such as internally displaced persons, minorities and persons with disabilities."

HRW also said that "Iraqi interrogators routinely abuse detainees, regardless of sect, usually in order to coerce confessions" and called for "independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment" resulting in disciplinary action or criminal prosecution.

It said the prolonged period of political impasse after a parliamentary election in March, before Iraq's politicians finally reached agreement nine months later to form a government, had also "stunted progress" on human rights.

"Beyond the continuing violence and crimes associated with it, human rights abuses are commonplace," the report said.

HRW interviewed 178 Iraqis from various professions and backgrounds, including those who had themselves suffered abuses, in seven cities around the country in April 2010 for the report.

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