Iraqi juvenile disappeared in south Mosul since March 2017

Iraqi juvenile disappeared in south Mosul since March 2017

Karam Al Bari Al Qaisi, an Iraqi juvenile, was residing in Al Mansour neighbourhood in Mosul. In the context of the ongoing clashes between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Iraqi security forces, Al Qaisi and his family attempted to find refuge in Mosul’s Left Coast on March 7, 2017. To do so, they had to go through a security check at Hammam Al Alil. When they arrived there, Karam Al Bari and his brother were arrested by members of the Emergency Response Division (ERD) forces. Although his brother was eventually transferred to an official prison, Karam Al Bari Al Qaisi’s family received conflicting information regarding Karam Al Bari’s fate and whereabouts.

On March 6, 2017, Al Qaisi and his family fled Al Mansour neighbourhood in Mosul, where they normally lived, to Mosul’s Left Coast due to the ongoing clashes between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Iraqi security forces. In order to reach Mosul’s Left Coast, they had to go through Hammam Al Alil for a security check, in order to verify that they had no affiliation with ISIL. When they reached the checkpoint in Hammam Al Alil, they were not allowed to go through and were ordered to come back the next day.

On March 7, 2017, they tried to go through Hammam Al Alil one more time. When they arrived, Al Qaisi’s mother was separated from her two sons: Karam Al Bari and Mashal Al Qaisi. They were interviewed inside a container used by national security forces to conduct cross-identity checks while their mother was instructed to wait outside. A few hours later, Karam was arrested by members of the Emergency Response Division (ERD) forces and his brother Mashal was arrested. He was later transferred to an official prison.

In the beginning of July 2017, a former detainee informed Al Qaisi’s family that he saw him in a military detention centre in Kabar Al Abed town in Mosul. A few days later, Al Qaisi’s mother was able to get the contact details of a major who is responsible for the facility. When she contacted him, he acknowledged the detention of her son. He also told her that Karam Al Bari would soon be referred to a court in Baghdad and that he was innocent as they found nothing against him. When she called the major again, he told her that her son was no longer detained in Kabar Al Abed. They handed him over to the national security forces following the liberation of Mosul.

On November 11, 2019, Al Qaisi's mother reported her son’s disappearance to the office of the ICRC in Mosul and the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) office in Mosul. In the beginning of February 2020, the IHCHR referred the case to the Public Prosecutor of Mosul. The latter referred the case to the Investigating Judge of Mosul (the Right Coast), who asked Al Qaisi’s mother to appear in court on February 27, 2020. When she went to court on that day, the judge blamed her for submitting a complaint against a major from the Emergency Response Division (ERD) forces. In October 2020, Al Qaisi’s mother tried to search for her son’s name in the database of detainees’ lists in Tall Kayf prison, Nineveh Governorate. She found his name in the registry with the notation “wanted as a member of ISIS” and “fugitive from justice”.

On October 29, 2021, MENA Rights Group and Iraqi War Crimes Documentation Centre requested the urgent intervention of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.

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Photo Credits: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic  (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Timeline

October 29, 2021: MENA Rights Group and Iraqi War Crimes Documentation Centre request the urgent intervention of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
November 11, 2019: Al Qaisi's mother reports her son’s disappearance to the office of the ICRC in Mosul and the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) office in Mosul.
October 2020: Al Qaisi’s mother finds her son’s name in the registry of Tall Kayf prison with the label “wanted as a member of ISIS” and “fugitive from justice.”
Beginning of July 2017: A former detainee informs Al Qaisi’s family that he saw Karam Al Bari in a military detention centre in the town of Kabar Al Abed in Mosul.
March 7, 2017: Karam Al Bari Al Qaisi and his brother are arrested by members of the Emergency Response Division (ERD) forces.
March 6, 2017: Al Qaisi and his family flee from Al Mansour neighbourhood to Mosul’s Left Coast due to the ongoing clashes between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Iraqi security forces.