SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Amnesty International on Thursday called on the Iraqi government to reveal the fate of hundreds of men and boys who have gone missing after they were taken by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Fallujah.
Amnesty Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa Lynn Maalouf said the families of the missing men and boys had been living in anguish for five years.
“Young boys were ripped away from their parents and entire families torn apart,” Maalouf said in a statement.
“The families deserve to know what happened to their loved ones. They deserve an end to their suffering,” she added.
In June 2016, a group of men armed with machine guns and assault rifles took as many as 1,300 men and boys considered to be of fighting age away from their families as they were fleeing Saqlawiya in Anbar province, according to Amnesty.
The organization cited witnesses as saying that the armed men were members of the PMF, also known as Hashid al-Shaabi, based on emblems on their uniforms and flags.
At least 643 men and boys were boarded onto buses and a large truck, it stated.
“To date, the Iraqi authorities have never publicly revealed the outcome of an investigation into disappearances and abuses committed during the retaking of Fallujah, leaving families in a perpetual state of limbo,” Maalouf said.
“The Iraqi authorities must end this anguish and reveal the fate and whereabouts of those forcibly disappeared by the PMU,” she added, using another acronym for PMF.
“We also urge the authorities to publicly disclose the findings of their official investigation and hold those responsible to account.”
