Iraqi fuel tanker driver Mohamed Al Shahwany disappeared since 2015

Iraqi fuel tanker driver Mohamed Al Shahwany disappeared since 2015

On December 6, 2015, Mohamed Al Shahwany hired a taxi to travel to Baghdad in order to continue to Kirkuk. When he reached the Bzebeez Bridge in Amriyat Al Fallujah district, at the end of which a checkpoint controlled by the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) was located, he called his family. Shortly thereafter his phone was switched off. His family has not had any news from him since then.

On December 6, 2015, Mohamed Sa'ad Younis Husain Al Shahwany hired a taxi to travel from Mosul to Baghdad and then continue to Kirkuk, as the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had blocked the Mosul-Kirkik road. He intended to return his fuel tanker that had been parked in Kirkuk for several months already.

At around 4 pm the same day, Al Shahwany called his family to inform them that he was about to cross the Bzebeez bridge in Amriyat Al Fallujah district, in the Anbar governorate. A checkpoint was located at the end of the bridge, which was controlled by the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) at the time of the victim’s disappearance. This was the last time the victim talked to his family as his phone was switched off shortly thereafter and his family has not had any news regarding his fate and whereabouts since then.

The PMU are 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 into the country’s security forces.

In July 2017, Al Shahwany’s family filed a complaint with the Investigative Court in the Al Hamdaniya district, in the Ninewa governorate, and informed the Qatar Red Crescent Society in Mosul of his disappearance. However, the family did not receive any response to their complaint or their inquiry.

MENA Rights Group submitted the victim’s case to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances on June 18, 2021.

Timeline

June 18, 2021: MENA Rights Group requests the urgent intervention of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
July 2017: Al Shahwany’s family files a complaint with the Investigative Court in the Al Hamdaniya district, in the Ninewa governorate.
December 6, 2015: Disappears at a checkpoint located at the Bzebeez Bridge in Amriyat Al Fallujah district.

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