Iraq: Farmers Association Union Worker Disappeared Since His Arrest by the Security Forces in June 2014

On 29 July 2015, Alkarama, in cooperation with Al Wissam Humanitarian Assembly, sent an urgent action to the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) regarding the case of Juma Al Dulaimi, a 51-year-old Iraqi citizen who disappeared following his arrest by the Security Forces in June 2014 in the city of Al-Mahawil, located 100 km south of Baghdad in the Babil Governorate.

On 13 June 2014, the Babil Intelligence and Military Forces raided the Farmers Association Union – the union of all municipal farmer associations – in Al-Mahawil and arrested one of its employees, Juma Al Dulaimi, as well as the head of the Union, without providing any reasons. They were both handcuffed and blindfolded before being transferred to the Babil Intelligence Department. While the head of the Union was released after 10 days, Al Dulaimi was kept in detention, and his fate and whereabouts remain unknown since.

After his arrest, the family filed complaints with the Babil Federal Court, the Babil Intelligence Department, and the Ministry of Interior. Al Dulaimi's relatives also inquired at the Al Aqrab prison in Hillah and the Baghdad airport prison fearing he could be detained there, but were denied any information on his fate and whereabouts.

Having exhausted all domestic remedies, his family then appealed to Al Wissam Humanitarian Assembly and Alkarama, who raised his case with the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance (CED) so that it calls upon the Iraqi authorities to release Al Dulaimi immediately, or at the very least to disclose his whereabouts and allow his family to visit him without restriction.

In view of these recurring cases of enforced disappearances, Alkarama urges Iraq, as one of the few States in the region to be a party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) – binding upon Iraq by virtue of its accession in November 2010 – to live up to its commitments and take all necessary measures to put an end to the widespread and systematic practice of enforced disappearance, in particular by:

• Taking the necessary legal measures to ensure that enforced disappearance is criminalised under Iraqi law and that the penalties provided reflect their grave nature;
• Ensuring that all cases of disappearances are thoroughly, promptly and effectively investigated, and that those responsible are prosecuted;
• Adopting measures to clarify the fate and whereabouts of all victims and ensure that any individual who has suffered as a result of the disappearance is entitled to redress;
• Explicitly prohibiting secret and incommunicado detention and taking the necessary measures to ensure that all secret detention facilities are closed;
• Allowing unexpected independent inspection of all places of detention.

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