Ali Jiyad Hussein Al Allawi disappeared since his arrest by the PMU in 2017

Ali Jiyad Hussein Al Allawi disappeared since his arrest by the PMU in 2017

Ali Al Allawi is the head of a well-known football club in Baghdad’s Al Ghazaliya district. On November 2, 2017, he was arrested by individuals belonging to the Directorate of Security and Discipline in the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) and has been disappeared since.

Ali Al Allawi is the head of a well-known football club in Baghdad’s Al Ghazaliya district. On November 2, 2017, he was arrested while travelling by car, alongside members of his team, to a football match in Al Ghazaliya. He was taken to an unknown location and has not contacted the outside world since. The individuals who arrested Al Allawi were travelling in white cars without number plates. According to witnesses, they belonged to the Directorate of Security and Discipline in the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU).

The PMU is an umbrella organisation composed of various militias that supported the Iraqi armed forces during the fight against ISIL. On December 19, 2016, the PMU were incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces, and on March 8, 2018, a prime minister’s decree formally included the group in the country’s security forces.

Al Allawi’s family reported that during the last four years, they have searched for him annually in the detainees lists of the Rusafa Court of Appeal, the Tesfirat Detention Centre of Baghdad, the Fifth Division Detention Centre (which is under the control of the Military Intelligence), Al Muthanna Airport Prison in Baghdad, the detention centres of National Security Agency and the Iraqi Army, but to no avail.

On April 22, 2022, MENA Rights Group and the Iraqi War Crimes Documentation Center requested the Urgent Intervention of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.

Timeline

April 22, 2022: MENA Rights Group and the Iraqi War Crimes Documentation Center request the urgent intervention of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
November 2, 2017: Al Allawi is arrested by agents belonging to the Directorate of Security and Discipline in the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU).

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