15 missing Iraqis found in government prisons

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday that it had located 15 missing Iraqis from Mosul in the prisons of the central Iraqi government, the Anadolu Agency reported.

The group accused the government of dealing with these 15 people with “excessive negligence”.

In a report, the Observatory said that the detainees’ families said that had gone missing when Daesh controlled Mosul and that when Iraqi forces entered the city they were in government prisons, some in Baghdad.

The Observatory said: “If the government wanted to prove its seriousness about the safety of civilians during the military operation, it should help the families of the missing people discover the whereabouts of their sons.”

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There was no immediate response from the government, but it has repeatedly stressed that all the people in its prisons are subject to fair and independent due process.

Iraqi forces arrested thousands of Mosul residents and those in areas liberated from Daesh between 2014 and 2017 claiming they were affiliated to the group.

The families of many still do not know of the whereabouts of their sons, the NGO added.