From 2016 to 2017, areas of the Nineveh Governorate, which had previously been controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), fell back under the control of the Iraqi authorities. During this period, hundreds of men and boys who had previously lived under ISIL control were arrested and disappeared under the pretext of interrogating them to uncover who was affiliated with ISIL.

On February 3, 2017, Mohammed Al Tikriti and his family were visiting a friend at his home in Baghdad when three men, wearing civilian clothing, knocked on the door and identified themselves as being from the Iraqi Intelligence Service. The men asked for Al Tikriti, by name, and forced him to leave with them. The following day, Al Tikriti’s family submitted a formal complaint, in relation to his disappearance, at the Anti-Crime Section in Amil district, Baghdad, but to no avail.

Tawfiq Al Tamimi is a journalist and editor of regional news for the government-affiliated daily Al-Sabah. Two days before his disappearance, he published on Facebook a text calling for the release of Mazen Latif, a publisher and writer, who disappeared on February 1, 2020. Al Tamimi also voiced support for the Iraqi protests on Facebook and, shortly before he was abducted, had criticised the government’s economic mismanagement.

Nizar Al Jabari is a former intelligence officer who was made redundant following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. He disappeared near the Al Khayzaran checkpoint in Baghdad on January 22, 2020, around 1.30 p.m. When his family last contacted him on his mobile, he had just gone through the Al Khayzaran checkpoint in Baghdad on his way home. The policemen who were stationed at the checkpoint later found his car abandoned about one kilometre away, prompting them to alert the Iraqi Directorate for Combating Explosives.

In 2014, Hisham Al Assafi fled Zankoura, his hometown in the Al Anbar governorate, to find refuge in Erbil. Before arriving in Kurdistan, Al Assafi was wanted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) because of his affiliation with the Al Anbar Awakening, an armed group established to counter Al Qaeda in Iraq, where he was part of the 12th Anbar Emergency Regiment which received official recognition from the local authorities.

Melad Al Sayad is a well-known activist in Iraq who had joined several peaceful demonstrations in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square when the protests began in October 2019. On October 1, 2019, he was critically injured by a tear gas grenade fired by the anti-riot police.

Ahmed Al Zubaidi is a well-known activist in Iraq. In December 2019, he received the prize of the “Best Arab activist against electronic blackmail” awarded by the Arab Women Media Network. Before his abduction, Al Zubaidi had joined several peaceful demonstrations in Baghdad’s Tahrir square, including on the evening of December 25, 2019.

Before his arrest, Abdel-Messih Sarkis was regularly participating in anti-government demonstrations which started in October 2019. On one occasion, he was injured and hit in the back by a tear gas grenade fired by security forces during a demonstration held in Al Khulani square. After the injury, he did not receive adequate medical treatment.

Mosul and its surrounding regions were under the control of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) until October 2016, when efforts to liberate the territory from ISIL control began. In early March 2017, the Badush region was liberated and efforts to secure the area began. On March 15, 2017, Mohammad Earan was stopped and abducted at a check-point on the outskirts of Badush village, which was controlled by a militia of the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU).

Sarmad Al Zubaidi was originally from the Al Salam neighborhood in Baghdad and was working in a phone shop before he disappeared. On November 5, 2019, Al Zubaidi and two of his friends were on their way to Tahrir square to join an anti-government demonstration when they were suddenly stopped by a group of men wearing black uniforms with no distinctive mark, where they were handcuffed and forced into Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs before being driven to an unknown destination.