Disappearances and kidnappings of Iraq protestors on the rise

Shocking revelations about an increase in the number of kidnappings and forced disappearances of Iraqis involved in protests across the country over the past few months have come to light in a report by the Francophone Association for Human Rights (AFDH), published yesterday.

According to testimony provided exclusively to AFDH by an Iraqi citizen named Jasib Hattab Al-Heliji regarding the disappearance of his son Ali Jasib Al-Heliji, he was kidnapped by armed Shia militias affiliated with the Iraqi government on 8 October last year in Iraq’s south-eastern Maysan province.

The kidnapped man, who is a father of two, was active in the protests which have swept Iraq over the past few months demanding an end to government corruption and mismanagement. He was particularly involved as a human rights lawyer, civil rights activist and a representative of the demonstrators who were arrested. Having previously received threats from the militias and warnings to stop his activism, he was kidnapped and has not been heard from since.

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“To date, I have no information concerning my son’s whereabouts or fate,” Al-Heliji Senior told AFDH. “I have called upon the lawyers’ union to demand the authorities to disclose the fate of my son.” The lawyers and judicial members, however, have been avoiding the case and have no intentions of getting involved in it for fear of potential retaliation by the militias. “I have been forced to take my son’s plight to the courts and demand the authorities’ intervention to ensure his release. As an Iraqi, I also call for the establishment of a new government and president, free of interference from the current political parties.”

The revelation about the increase in disappearances and kidnappings comes after weeks of protests and the authorities’ brutal crackdown on those involved. Since the protests began on 1 October, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq has reported that almost 500 protestors have been killed and 9,000 injured. According to the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights and Amnesty International, though, at least 669 have been killed and 25,000 have been injured.

Last week, it was also revealed by the IHCHR – an official government body – that 121 attempted assassinations and kidnappings of protestors had taken place in the country since the start of the anti-government protests last October.

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Following months of protests, Iraq’s President appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi and asked him to form a new government and bring order to the country. Protestors, however, rejected the appointment and accused Allawi of being a candidate of the political parties that hold power and belonging to the same class of corrupt officials.

In response to reports of abductions and disappearances, the AFDH has called for the “Iraqi security forces to stop using violence against protestors, including human rights activists, journalists, paramedics, journalists and other persons with disabilities.” It described the authorities’ excessive force and brutal crackdown against protestors as “a grave violation of international and human rights laws, therefore serious measures must be taken to ensure that people are held accountable for these abuses.”