Yahya Al Ezzawi forcibly disappeared in Baghdad since 2014

Name:

Yahya Al Ezzawi

Nationality:

Iraqi

Status:

Disappeared

Date of arrest:

July 28, 2014

Last updated:

September 22, 2020

After leaving his workplace to bring his co-workers some lunch, Yahya Al Ezzawi, never returned to work and was instead abducted by joint forces of the Iraqi Army and Federal Police. His fate and whereabouts have remained unknown. He continues to be disappeared to date.

On July 28,2014, Yahya Al Ezzawi was working with other construction workers at a building site in the Al Hayakil district, in the Ghazaliya neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq. At around noon, he left the construction site to bring the other workers some lunch, but he never returned.

According to bystanders who witnessed the arrest, Al Ezzawi was arrested by joint forces of the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Federal Police, who were wearing their military uniforms.

In September 2014, two months after his arrest, Al Ezzawi’s family submitted a complaint regarding his abduction to the Ghazaliya police station in Baghdad. They also inquired about his whereabouts at Baghdad Airport prison and Muthanna Airport Prison and searched for his name in the Ministry of Interior’s database of detainees, but to no avail.

In April 2020, a former detainee informed Al Ezzawi’s family that he had seen him in Baghdad Airport Prison. And on September 21, 2020, MENA Rights Group and the Iraqi War Crimes Documentation Center requested the Urgent Intervention of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.

Timeline

September 21, 2020
MENA Rights Group and the Iraqi War Crimes Documentation Center request the urgent intervention of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
April 2020
A former detainee informs Al Ezzawi’s family that he had seen Al Ezzawi while in Baghdad Airport Prison.
September 2014
Al Ezzawi’s family submits a complaint regarding his abduction to the Ghazaliya police station in Baghdad and enquires about his whereabouts at Baghdad Airport Prison, Muthanna Airport Prison, and the Ministry of Interior’s database of detainees, but to no avail.
July 28, 2014
Yahya Al Ezzawi is arrested and abducted by joint forces of the Iraqi Army and Federal Police.