The bloody attack that occurred in Hawija on April 23 is being seen as part of the political, security and sectarian conflict in Iraq. This attack, however, is also a key test of the new Iraqi political system and its ability to handle security crises without abandoning democratic values and human rights principles.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report on May 4 on the incident and cast doubt on the official version of events. HRW called for a transparent investigation into how more than 50 people were killed and 180 wounded in the raid on April 23, 2013, by the Iraqi army on a square in Hawija (180 kilometers or 112 miles north of Baghdad), where protesters were holding a sit-in.