On the night of March 17-18, 2017, around four members of the SWAT forces “Radd Al Sarye” entered the house of Mr Al Shabani in Hamam Al Alil sub-district, Al Arej neighbourhood, Ninewa. The SWAT forces reviewed Mr Al Shabani’s ID and then arrested him, without giving any reason for his arrest. The victim’s father wanted to accompany his son, but the forces prevented him from doing so. The family believes that there is no reason for Mr Al Shabani’s arrest and that he was only a student who had occasionally lead the prayers at a local mosque. On the same evening, the SWAT members allegedly arrested around seven other people from the neighbourhood, including the victim’s cousin as well as his father’s cousin. They later reappeared in prisons.
According to information received by the victim’s father, directly after their arrest, the arrested individuals were taken to a house called “the house of Hady Al Tayar” (Beit Hady Al Tayar) in Ninewa, Hamam Al Alil sub-district, which – according to rumours circulating in the town around that time – was used as a temporary detention centre. The house was, however, inaccessible to private individuals, so that Al Shabani’s father was unable to go there to enquire about his son’s fate and whereabouts.
In 2018, the victim’s family reported his disappearance to the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) in Mosul and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ninewa, but to no avail.
In 2021, several released detainees told Mr Al Shabani’s family that they had seen the victim in the Faisaliya detention facility and then in in Al Hout Prison, Nasiriya, at some point in the past, but the family could not verify this information.
In February 2021, Mr Al Shabani’s family enquired about his whereabouts at the Tilkaif “Tasfirat” pre-trial detention facility in the Tilkaif sub-district, Ninewa governorate. However, the authorities refused to respond to any question.
MENA Rights Group submitted the victim’s case to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances on July 7, 2021.
