On May 12, 2017, while Monzer Al Mehdawi was working at his grocery store, unidentified members of the military, wearing uniforms, approached him and abducted him, before taking him to an unknown location. Al Mehdawi was last seen by one of his clients, who was at his store at the time of his arrest and witnessed his abduction.
Due to the uniforms worn by the perpetrators, Al Mehdawi’s family believe that he was abducted by members of the Iraqi army.
Though Al Mehdawi’s family submitted a complaint regarding his abduction to the Khanaqin police station, they were unable to gain any information regarding his fate and whereabouts. From 2017 to 2019, Al Mehdawi’s family enquired about his whereabouts at Muthanna Airport Prison and Baghdad Airport Prison, but to no avail.
On August 19, 2020, MENA Rights Group and the Iraqi War Crimes Documentation Center requested the urgent intervention of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
