During its 135th session, held in Geneva from 27 to 31 January 2025, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) reviewed several concerning cases of disappearances worldwide. Among these were the cases of Essam Al Obaidi, Jabbar Ali Jaro Aati Al Suhayli, Ali Hamid Abdul Wahab Al Jeyali, and Wissam Salam Kamal Al Hashimi—four Iraqi nationals who vanished following their arrests by US forces.
These cases were submitted to the Working Group by Alkarama and the Wissam Al Humanitarian Assembly between 2014 and 2015. They form part of a broader pattern of impunity for crimes committed during the US occupation of Iraq, leaving families in a state of perpetual anguish as they desperately seek answers. Recently, the Working Group referred these cases to US authorities, emphasising the United States' responsibility for the disappearance of these Iraqi citizens. They also took note of the official response recently provided by the US government.
An inadequate response from the US
In its response, the US government claimed that it had found no information regarding the four missing individuals and could offer no new details about their fate. This mirrors the response from 2017, when Washington also stated that it could not locate these individuals in its archives. Despite these answers, the cases remain unresolved and continue to be reviewed by the UN Working Group.
Case overview
Ali Hamid Abdul Wahab Al Jeyali, an Iraqi police officer, and Jabbar Ali Jaro Aati Al Suhayli, a civilian employee, were arrested on 16 October 2005, at the Babel Hotel by US forces without an arrest warrant or explanation. Their fate remains unknown.
Essam Al Obaidi, a police officer, was arrested on 20 December 2006, while en route to work. Witnesses reported that US soldiers apprehended him in Baghdad’s Al-Saydiya district during a wave of arrests following an explosion in the area.
Wissam Salam Kamal Al Hashimi, an Iraqi contractor who had worked for US forces, was arrested on 16 October 2005, at the Babel Hotel in Baghdad by US troops. He was last seen in August 2011 at Camp Cropper detention centre before the US military closed the base.
His father, Salam Al Hashimi, a long-time Iraqi human rights activist and director of the Wissam Al Humanitarian Assembly, collaborated with Alkarama to submit these cases of enforced disappearances to the UN mechanisms.
The heartbreaking testimony of Mr. Salam Al Hashimi
It is with heartbreaking depth that Mr. Salam Al Hashimi speaks of the disappearance of his son, Wissam—a memory that, despite two decades, remains as vivid as the first day: "As a father and a husband, I have lost a dear one. For twenty years, wherever my wife and I are, at every moment, we have never stopped—and we will never stop—thinking of our dear Wissam."
The words he chooses to describe his wife’s suffering resonate deeply, reflecting a pain shared by countless families whose lives have been shattered by the disappearance of a loved one: "It is hard to believe, but my wife has not found peace since Wissam’s disappearance. No medication has been able to calm her, and her mind, exhausted, now shows signs of deep amnesia."
He echoes the tragic condition of thousands of families whose lives have been forever altered by the loss of their loved ones: "Our jewels of the past are now nothing but the broken reflection of hundreds of thousands of other families, also engulfed in pain, sadness, poverty, need, hunger, loss, and wandering. No word or language can describe the extent of these sufferings." Yet, despite the overwhelming sorrow, hope persists—like a beacon defying the waves of despair.
Mr. Al Hashimi makes a solemn appeal to the international community, a cry for justice for all the disappeared innocents, hoping that one day the truth will emerge and provide the long-awaited answer: "We have made an appeal to the international community and the relevant United Nations bodies to intervene on this purely humanitarian issue and finally shed light on the fate of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Their families have the right to know, to learn their fate, rather than continue hoping for a return that may never come."
Alkarama’s unwavering commitment
Since submitting these cases to the UN mechanisms, Alkarama has tirelessly worked to uncover the truth behind these enforced disappearances and demand accountability from those responsible. As per the standard procedure, the cases were also referred to the Iraqi government, which, like the US, has failed to provide any meaningful response. The absence of any substantive reply from the United States, despite its direct involvement in these arrests, is a clear violation of its international human rights obligations.
Alkarama remains resolute in its efforts and will continue to fight until the truth is revealed, and justice is served for the victims and their families.