Saba Al Mahdawi Released
On 13 November 2019, Saba Al Mahdawi was released eleven days after she was abducted by an unidentified militant group.
On 2 November 2019, woman human rights defender Saba Al Mahdawi was abducted by a group of unidentified militants in the city of Baghdad. Her current location remains unknown.
Saba Al Mahdawi is a volunteer medic and woman human rights defender who has been volunteering at the anti-corruption demonstrations which have swept through Iraq since early October. She helped to provide food and water to the protesters, and offered medical assistance to those who were injured. She has also collected donations for medicines, and assisted those with severe injuries to be transferred abroad for medical attention.
On 13 November 2019, Saba Al Mahdawi was released eleven days after she was abducted by an unidentified militant group.
On 2 November 2019, woman human rights defender Saba Al Mahdawi was abducted by a group of unidentified militants in the city of Baghdad. Her current location remains unknown.
Saba Al Mahdawi is a volunteer medic and woman human rights defender who has been volunteering at the anti-corruption demonstrations which have swept through Iraq since early October. She helped to provide food and water to the protesters, and offered medical assistance to those who were injured. She has also collected donations for medicines, and assisted those with severe injuries to be transferred abroad for medical attention.
On 2 November 2019, at around 23:20, while Saba Al Mahdawi was leaving Liberation Square in Baghdad, her car was stopped by three other vehicles containing several masked and armed men. They aggressively removed her from her car, confiscated her phones and took her to unknown location. Her family has submitted a complaint to the Iraqi police, but no effective action has been taken.
Human rights defenders continue to be targeted across Iraq, especially in the context of the protests. On 8 October 2019, human rights lawyer Ali Jaseb Hattab was abducted by a group of unidentified militants in the city of Maysan. Almost a month since his disappearance his whereabouts remain unknown.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned by the abduction of Saba Al Mahdawi, and it believes that it is solely motivated by her peaceful and legitimate human rights work. Front Line Defenders believes the pattern of disappearances of human rights defenders in recent weeks to be harmful to the overall protection of human rights in Iraq.
