Malicious prosecutions and torture end the fate of thousands

Shafaq News / The Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) revealed that it had received hundreds of complaints from relatives of people detained on terrorism charges, citing complaints about arrests on malicious prosecutions, torture, and forced disappearance.

"The IHCHR office in Nineveh Governorate has received 4,500 complaints over the past two years, which constitute allegations that detainees were tortured during pre-trial interrogation, most of whom being prosecuted for terrorism cases", IHCHR Vice President, Ali Mizer Al-Jarba, told Shafaq News agency.

He added that the convicts' families had demanded presenting the detainees to medical committees that prove the torture they had been exposed to and obtain medical reports to quash their indictment in the Court of Cassation.

Confessed to killing his four friends who are still alive!

In the courtyard of the IHCHR office, our correspondent met a weeping woman who spoke about her 25-year-old son, Ibrahim, who ended up being imprisoned for life, "When ISIS took control of Nineveh, they started harassing my son Ibrahim because he did not abide by their laws. He resented them when they arrested his younger brother, tortured him, and broke both his feet. Ibrahim decided to leave the city and fled towards Kirkuk. When he arrived in Kirkuk, Iraqi security forces arrested him there and took his money, imprisoned him, and tortured him until he falsely confessed that he executed four of his friends and blew up a house in the Hatra district."

"His confessions were validated, and he was prosecuted and sentenced to life in prison. However, it was too late when we reached up to him. We appealed to quash the verdict and brought in his four friends – whom my son supposedly killed - and the owner of the house that Ibrahim supposedly blew up for testimony. But it was too late, and he is currently serving his sentence."

"We no longer have money to appeal for Cassation again. I have no one to save my son, who is wasting his youth between ISIS operatives and criminals while he is supposed to live his life normally. Is this the reward for those who escaped from ISIS to end up with them in prison?" added Ibrahim's mother.

The crisis of malicious prosecutions

"After the liberation of Mosul from ISIS, my son Alaa' was arrested by national security in the area of Sada and Ba'weza. He remained in custody for ten days until we found him lying near the church in Al-Arabi neighborhood, on the brink of death because of the severity of torture", a woman told our reporter.

"It was too long before my second son was arrested in Baghdad and taken from his workplace on charges of terrorism. Both of my sons were the victims of malicious claims by their cousins to covet a piece of land. One of my sons is in Susa prison, and the other is in Baghdad – as Alaa' was rearrested on terrorism charges. We no longer have a supporter, and people treat us like beggars and help us. I am torn between Finding money for living or appointing a lawyer to get my innocent sons out of prison. If they were involved with ISIS, I would not have defended them, nor would I be standing here seeking the tiniest hope to get them out. Our lives are ruined because of malicious claims," she added.

Unknown fate

Ahmed, a high school student who lives in the Al-Sada area on the left side of Mosul. His mother said that after the liberation of the city, her son was arrested by unknown men on 3 March 2017. Ahmed had disappeared without a trace, and his fate is still unknown, "I searched for my son in every known prison and registered his name at the High Commission for Human Rights. After a long period, they told me that my son is not in any of the official prisons. I do not know what to do next".

"This is unjust. We want to know where our son is. Even if he is dead, at least his fate would not remain unknown. No one is helping or supporting us, and we have lost Ahmed, who was the joy of our world. His father fell ill that he is now unable to work", added Ahmed's mother.

According to IHCHR's vice president, the complaints of missing and torture allegations in detention institutes amounted to more than 7,000 across the country, 4,500 of which filed in Nineveh alone.