On November 25, 2019, Talib Habib Al Ahmad, who normally resides in London, returned back to Basra to check in on his family’s land in the Abu Al Khaseeb district, Basra governorate. After arriving in Basra in the morning, he took a taxi to his friend’s house in Al Amitahiyah, where he stayed for the night.
The next day, Al Ahmad went out to buy a sim card and walk to his family’s land, but he never returned. He was last seen in the Al Amitahiyah district on November 26, 2019 in the afternoon, when he walked into a shop equipped with a CCTV camera. It is suspected that a militia affiliated with the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) is responsible for his disappearance.
In January 2020, Al Ahmad’s family filed a complaint regarding his disappearance at the Al Baradi’yah Center Police Station in Basra, but to no avail. From December 2019 until July 2020, Al Ahmad’s family reported on his disappearance to the British Consulate in Iraq, the Iraqi Ministry of Defence, Prime Minister Mr Mustafa Al Kadhimi and MP of Basra Mr Asaad Abdulameer Al Eidani, and Khaliyat al Sukoor (Falcons Intelligence Cell), but also to no avail.
On September 10, 2020, MENA Rights Group requested the urgent intervention of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
