IRQ 001 / 0407 / OBS 031
Assassination
Iraq
April 5, 2007
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Iraq.
The Observatory has been informed by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) of the abduction and subsequent murder of Mr. Najim Abd-Jasem, General Secretary of the Mechanics, Printers and Metalworkers Union in Baghdad since 2003 and a founder as well as a leader of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW).
According to the information received, on March 27, 2007, Mr. Najim Abd-Jasem, was abducted in Baghdad. His body, showing clear signs of torture, was found three days later, on March 30, 2007.
A very principled trade union leader, Mr. Najim Abd-Jasem was fired from his job during Saddam Hussein’s regime for having opposed the government’s official union.
The Observatory recalls that on January 25, 2006, Mr. Alaa Issa Khalaf, a member of the Executive Board of the Baghdad branch of the Mechanics Union, and a prominent member of the GFIW, was shot dead by several unidentified men as he left for work from his home in Baghdad. Likewise, Mr. Thabet Hussein Ali, director of the General Trade Union for Health Sector Workers in Iraq, was abducted on April 7, 2006 by a presumed terrorist group as he was leaving his union’s headquarters in Baghdad Al-Mansour neighbourhood. His body was found the following day, riddled with gunshot wounds and bearing marks of torture (See Observatory 2006 Annual Report).
The Observatory is very concerned that murder of labour leaders in Iraq has become a troubling trend in a country where trade unionists still operate under anti-union legislation which dates back to the Saddam-era, and urges the Iraqi authorities to immediately ratify the Convention 87 on freedom of association of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
More generally, the Observatory expresses its deepest concern at the situation of human rights defenders in Iraq, who face tremendous risk to their lives and security, and who are therefore conducting their activities in an extremely precarious situation.
Please write to the Iraqi authorities urging them to:
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Geneva-Paris, April 5, 2007
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Email: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH: 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 01 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT: + 41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
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