Iraq: Disappearance of Maan Al Samarrai from Abu Ghraib Prison since July 2013

Maan Al Samarrai, a 41-year-old resident of Al Karkh, Baghdad, was detained in Abu Ghraib prison when, on 23 July 2013, hundreds of convicts escaped, while the remaining prisoners were transferred to unknown locations. His family does not have any official information on his fate and whereabouts since then, despite the fact that his brother, now free, reported they were detained together in Nasiriya prison in June 2015 and another informal contact referred that in December 2015 he was held in Baghdad International airport detention centre. Concerned about his fate, Alkarama and Al Wissam Humanitarian Assembly informed the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) of his case, hoping that this treaty body − a committee of independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) by its State parties − could help locate him.

Al Samarrai was arrested on 13 July 2008 by members of the Al Muthanna Brigade of the Iraqi army during a search in the Faculty of Agriculture in Baghdad, where he used to study. He was allegedly arrested for carrying  two ID cards.

After his arrest, Al Samarrai was then brought to the Baghdad Central Prison – formerly known as Abu Ghraib prison, where his mother was able to visit him on a regular basis until 23 July 2013.

That day, hundreds of convicts escaped, but Al Samarrai's mother believed her son was among the remaining prisoners and was transferred to another unknown detention centre.

In fact, Al Samarrai's brother, who had been detained since 2007 and is now free, reports he last saw him on 17 June 2015 in Nasiriya prison where they were detained together. On 15 December 2015, Al Samarrai's mother also was told that her son was detained in Baghdad airport prison. She therefore inquired at that prison in early 2016, but the authorities refused to provide her with any information on his fate and whereabouts.

In view of these facts, the two human rights organisations seized the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED), asking it to call upon the Iraqi authorities to disclose Al Samarrai's whereabouts and allow his family to visit him.

Concerned over the widespread practice of enforced disappearance in Iraq, Alkarama recalls that it is essential that the Iraqi authorities urgently implement the recommendations issued by the CED in September 2015, and in particular that they ensure that all persons who were forcibly disappeared and whose fate is not yet known are searched for and located without delay.

For more information or an interview, please contact media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).