On July 5, 2016, Muhannad Al Jabouri was attempting to cross the Tigris river when he was abducted, near the town of Al Shirqat, at a checkpoint controlled by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU). He was allegedly abducted at a checkpoint by the PMU because he was not carrying an ID card. He was then taken to an unknown location.
On September 7, 2016, Al Jabouri was released following a decision of the Saladin Court of Inquiry. After he was released, his family received a copy of the decision in which it is mentioned that the Department of Anti-Crime Service of Saladin was responsible of Al Jabouri’s two month of detention.
On the day of his release, he tried to visit his sister who then lived in Baghdad. According to eyewitnesses, he was allegedly arrested again at a checkpoint near Baghdad. His family believes that the arrest was conducted by the PMU as they were controlling Baghdad’s entry points at the time of Al Jabouri’s disappearance.
In April 2018, Al Jabouri’s family consulted by phone a Baghdad-based lawyer to inquire about his fate and whereabouts. A few days later, the lawyer received informal information from sources in the security forces indicating that he may be detained in Nasiriyah Central Prison. According to the family, militias affiliated with the PMU and specifically the “Zainab’s brother’s militia” maintained an active presence within the prison preventing them to take further steps.
On March 24, 2021, MENA Rights Group and the Iraqi War Crimes Documentation Center requested the urgent Intervention of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.