Iraqi engineer missing since 2015 arrest in Al Moshahda

Iraqi engineer missing since 2015 arrest in Al Moshahda

Issam Awad was abducted at his workplace along with another colleague by the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Federal Police. While his colleague was later released, Awad remains missing to date.

Issam Awad was arrested on October 6, 2015 at his workplace – the Karkh Water Supply Scheme in Al Moshahda – by members of joint forces of the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Federal Police. He was arrested without a warrant together with a colleague. The two men were handcuffed, blindfolded and brought to an unknown location.

Awad’s colleague was released two months after the arrest. He reported having been held in a detention centre which he could not identify, since he was blindfolded at the moment of his arrest and release. He reported that the detention centre was overcrowded with poor health conditions, and that during the first week after their arrest, he and Awad were severely beaten, including with the use of cables.

Awad’s family lodged a complaint at the police station of Tarmiyah on October 11, 2015, and the Central Criminal Court on November 1, 2015, but to no avail. They were unable to find his name in the detainees’ register of the Central Criminal Court.

Timeline

November 6, 2018: MENA Rights Group requests intervention of UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances
October - November 2015: Family lodges complaints at police station of Tarmiyah and the Central Criminal Court
December, 2015: Awad’s colleague is released
October 6, 2015: Arrested with a colleague at the Karkh Water Supply Scheme