Okeil: Independent international investigations must be conducted into all allegations of enforced disappearances in conflict areas and the perpetrators must be held accountable

Issa: We demand providing full legal assistance for victims of enforced disappearance to ensure their access to justice

Coinciding with the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, which is globally celebrated on August 30 of each year, Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights issues a new report entitled “Enforced Disappearance by Non-State Actors and Armed Groups in the Middle East (Yemen-Syria - Iraq - Libya)”.

The report discussed the framework of the international law to protect people from enforced disappearance and highlighted the crimes of enforced disappearance committed by armed groups against civilians, especially political opposition and human rights defenders in conflict areas in the Middle East, while focusing on the violations committed by the Houthi group in Yemen, armed opposition groups and terrorist groups in Syria, and armed militias in Libya and Iraq.

The report confirmed that the international law prohibits acts of enforced disappearance committed by all parties under all circumstances and cases. However, in Yemen, the Houthi group was involved in committing a total of 353 cases of enforced disappearance against political opposition and human rights defenders, including journalists, lawyers and human rights activists during the period between May 2016 and April 2020, and were also implicated in committing 62 cases of enforced disappearance during 2021 alone.

In Syria, there are 2,567 people, including 237 children and 446 women forcibly disappeared by the various armed opposition factions, including the National Army, since 2011 until now. In addition, more than 8,648 people have been forcibly disappeared by ISIS, including 319 children and 255 women, and more than 2,064 people, including 13 children and 28 women, have been forcibly disappeared by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham since the start of the Syrian crisis in March 2011 until August 2021.

Although there are no specific estimates indicating the number of enforced disappearances in Libya since the beginning of the Libyan crisis in 2011, Maat has reviewed dozens of local and international reports indicating the exacerbation of enforced disappearances committed by armed militias and other non-state actors in Libya since 2011.

In Iraq, more than 643 men and children are still forcibly disappeared since they were kidnapped by the Popular Mobilization Forces. More than 20 activists and protesters are still forcibly disappeared since they were kidnapped by unknown and non-state armed elements during the popular protests and demonstrations that erupted in Iraq in 2019.

For his part, Ayman Okeil, a human rights expert and president of Maat, shed light on the continued harassment and violations, including enforced disappearance, faced by human rights defenders, journalists, and lawyers in conflict areas, amidst widespread impunity.

There must be further cooperation between human rights mechanisms and relevant civil society organizations in order to document and pay more attention to the most vulnerable groups of victims, such as children and women, so that they can have access to effective remedies and reparations, Okeil noted. Moreover, Okeil called for immediate, fair, and independent investigations into all allegations of the enforced disappearance of opposition groups, human rights defenders and activists by armed militias.

Ahmed Issa, a researcher at Maat, urged for providing full legal assistance to victims of enforced disappearance to ensure their access to prompt justice, taking all necessary measures to overcome obstacles facing the victims and protect their privacy, and bringing perpetrators of enforced disappearance from armed groups and militias to justice and ensure that they do not evade punishment.

To view the report, visit the following link:-

https://maatpeace.org/ar/?p=36634