On the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances, which draws attention to the fate of individuals detained, the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory "JFO" calls on Iraqi authorities to conduct independent and effective investigations to determine the fate of journalists and defenders of human rights and freedom of expression who have disappeared in mysterious circumstances in recent years.
In October , the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory "JFO" and Reporters Without Borders collaborated on a report about the cases of disappearances of journalists, opinion leaders, and writers following the fall of Mosul to ISIS, where dozens remain missing without any official word on their whereabouts.
Before and after that date, the files of the forcibly disappeared journalists remained in limbo up until the point following the protests of October Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhemi stated at the time that his government would work to establish a new mechanism to locate the victims of enforced disappearance.
However, The Journalistic Freedoms Observatory "JFO" monitored during the current government period the lack of any progress in revealing the fate of the forcibly disappeared. JFO is surprised at the Iraqi government's failure to uphold its commitments. Indeed, under the current government's tenure, there have been examples of journalist disappearances and kidnappings, the most recent of which was journalist Bassem Zaak.
On October 24, , Zaak, a reporter for "Kol Al Arab" News Agency, made his last video appearance while documenting the tents of demonstrators in Baghdad who were denouncing the election results. Regarding other cases of disappearance, the families of the Iraqi writers Tawfiq Al-Tamimi and Mazen Abdullatif, who were abducted in Baghdad two years ago, are still awaiting any information and findings that can shed light on their whereabouts.
