Call for human rights organizations to save Ali Sorour
On Wednesday 03 April 2019, Iraqi citizen Ali Sorour (21) was kidnapped and detained (arrested without court order) in an unknown location in Najaf by orders of the governor of the city. According to the governor himself, the (arrest) was made by the governor’s guards because Sorour was seen on a Facebook live stream, on his personal page, where he cursed Imam Musa al-Khadim (745-799 CE), the seventh of the 12 Shia Imams.
Hours after his (arrest), a photo surfaced in social media showing Sorour with his head shaved as a form of degrading punishment on the hands of the police, which constitutes yet another violation of Sorour’s civil and legal rights.
At three in the morning on 07 April 2019, The General Directorate of Police in Najaf issued an official press release stating that their investigation has led to the conclusion that Sorour is running, along with three others (unnamed), an Islamic State sleeping cell. The press release also stated that Ali Sorour is arrested for committing a crime of terror, with accordance to Article 4 of the infamous Iraqi Anti-terrorism law, a crime that is punishable by death.
The clearly fabricated accusation triggered widespread criticism, and it was obvious that the fabricated accusation was an attempt by the police to demonize Sorour and to justify their crimes against him, including kidnapping, mistreatment, torture, forced confession, public exposure and shaming, in addition to denying him any legal rights such as the right to legal counsel and representation, family visitation, etc.
Hours after the police press release, the governor of Najaf said in an interview that the police should not have given such statement and that there is no evidence whatsoever that Sorour is a member of or has any affiliation to the Islamic State, but he is a member of “other organisation” that the governor failed to name. The contradiction between the statements of the two authorities raised suspicions and worries regarding Sorours whereabouts and safety.
Sorour’s parents issued a video statement (mother is all covered and father speaking behind the camera for their own safety) in which they stated that their tribe has officially shunned the whole family and stripped them of any protection, Sorrour’s sisters have been divorced by their husbands, and the whole family is on the run. The parents also stated that the accusations of the police are fabricated, and confessions have been extracted from him under extreme torture, and they suspect that their son has either been illegally executed or perished under torture.
We are asking all local and international human rights organisations to help Sororu’s family to know the fate of their son, kidnapped by the Iraqi authorities, and to make sure that all the wrongs committed against him will be corrected and that he would be treated, if still alive, with mercy and with accordance with Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Moreover, we ask all local and international human rights organisation to demand the Iraqi government to provide Sorour’s family with the protection they need and to compensate them for all the loses they endured as a result of the police misdoings.
