Iraq: Three Men Disappeared Since July 2014 After Their Abduction by the Security Forces in the Village of Dulaim

On 30 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 cases of Mohammad Al Dulaim, Amer Al Dulaimi and Raed Al Dulaimi, who disappeared following their arrest by the security services in the village of Dulaim in July 2014.

On 28 July 2014, 28-year-old soldier in training Mohammad Al Dulaim, 33-year-old farmer Amer Al Dulaimi and 44-year-old construction worker Raed Al Dulaimi were all abducted from their homes in the village of Al Dulaim, in the district of Al-Mahawil in the Babil Governorate. The men who conducted the arrests belonged to different security forces, including the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit – a special security force that has considerably strengthened since its creation by the U.S. Army during the occupation – and the Federal Police, and were wearing masks and military uniforms. After arresting the three victims, the members of the security forces forced them into Hammer pickup trucks and took them to unknown locations. Mohammad, Amer and Raed have been missing since.

After their abduction and subsequent disappearance, their respective families submitted complaints to several authorities, such as the Jabla, the Hillah and the Babil Police Stations, the Fifth Division of Intelligence – a branch of the security services under the control of the Ministry of Interior –, the Ministry of Interior, the Al Muthanna airport secret detention centre and the Babil prison without, however, obtaining any information on the fate and whereabouts of Mohammad, Amer or Raed.

Left with no other avenue, their families then appealed to Al Wissam Humanitarian Assembly and Alkarama, who sent an urgent action to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance (CED) to call upon the Iraqi authorities to release them immediately, or at the very least to disclose their whereabouts and allow their family to visit them without restriction.

In view of these recurring 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)