Iraq: 2 Brothers Disappeared after Arrest by Government-Forces in Baghdad
On 2 July 2015, Alkarama and Al Wissam Humanitarian Assembly submitted an urgent appeal to the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) regarding the case of Anwar Al Kawaz, who disappeared following his arrest by masked men in military trousers in August 2014. Almost a year later, in May 2015, Anwar's older brother, Firas disappeared in similar circumstances. If their family believes them to be held at the old Muthanna Airport secret detention facility in Western Baghdad, Anwar and Firas' official whereabouts remain unknown to date. Both their cases are now before the CED.
The facts
27-year-old plumber Anwar was arrested on 11 August 2014 in his home in Baghdad by six masked men wearing black t-shirts and military trousers, who handcuffed him and put a bag over his head before searching the house and confiscating his mobile and tablet. Anwar was then forced into a white Chevrolet and taken to an unknown location. Just after his abduction, the masked men went to Firas' house and searched it, keeping his mobile devices, money and family gold.
10 months later, at 9pm on 3 May 2015, 39-year-old Firas was arrested in the street leading up to his house in Baghdad, by eight men from the National Security Forces, under the control of the Ministry of Defence. Eye witnesses reported that the armed men, who also wore masks and black uniforms and drove white Toyota Pickups, did not present any arrest warrant.
Steps taken by the families at the domestic level
Following their sons' respective disappearances, the Al Anwar family submitted complaints to the Bab Al-Moatham police station in Baghdad, the General Inspector at the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Human Rights. None of these authorities was able to provide the family with any information or assistance.
After consulting informal channels, the family now suspects their sons to be detained at the Old Muthanna Airport in Western Baghdad, an infamous secret detention centre known for its systematic practice of torture and jointly run by the 54th and 56th Brigades – units of the Iraqi Army, which have in the past been commonly referred to by military and police as "Maliki's forces" as their chain of command bypasses the Defence Ministry under which they technically fall and reports directly to the Prime Minister (as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces) through its security office.
Alkarama's action with the UN
Having exhausted all domestic remedies, Anwar and Firas' family appealed to Al Wissam Humanitarian Assembly and Alkarama to ask the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance (CED) to raise both their cases with the Iraqi authorities and call upon them to release the brothers immediately, or at the very least to disclose their whereabouts and allow their family to visit them without restriction.
Although the authorities deny the use of enforced disappearances, the practice remains systematic and widespread in the country, as illustrated by the numerous cases of enforced disappearances documented by Alkarama in the past year, including that of 33-year-old salesman, Jamal Al Abdali, who went missing after his arrest by a security patrol in April 2014; 54-year-old Professor, Riyadh Al Obaidi arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Force in Baghdad in May 2014; Yasser Al Janabi, abducted by the military in June 2014; or 61-year-old Air Force Brigade pilot, Riad Al Obeidi abducted by a patrol of the 54th and 56th Brigades in June 2014 and detained in the old Muthanna airport and finally set free in April 2015.
In view of the facts, Alkarama urges Iraq, as one of the few countries in the region which has ratified the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), to live up to its 2010 commitment to take all necessary measures to put an end to the practice of enforced disappearance.
For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008)