JNP Statement on the International Day of Enforced Disappearances

English -Arabic

On behalf of  Justice Network for the Prisoners , Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kadhim Al-Baydani, delivered the following statement on the occasion of the International Day of Enforced Disappearances, which falls on August 30, 2026.

Welcome to you all.

Today we stand in a moment of remembrance and responsibility as we mark the International Day of Enforced Disappearances—a global occasion established by the United Nations and observed by human rights organizations around the world on the 30th of August each year. This day is not merely a fleeting annual milestone; it is a collective cry of conscience to shed light on one of the most painful violations and the most profound assaults on human dignity—the crime of enforced disappearance, which tears entire families apart and leaves a bleeding wound that cannot heal except through truth, justice, and reparation for the victims and their loved ones.

When we look at the reality of prisons and places of detention in Iraq, we find ourselves facing a close and profound connection between the file of the missing and forcibly disappeared and the state of the penal system. The lack of full transparency in certain aspects of correctional management, along with weak documentation mechanisms and centralized record-keeping for detainees and convicts, opens the door to genuine and legitimate fears. From this standpoint, we affirm clearly that the Iraqi government, across all its institutions, bears immense moral and legal obligations that require it to uncover the fate of all those who have been disappeared, to ensure a prison environment subject to strict judicial and human rights oversight, and to guarantee that no detention center exists outside the law or beyond the reach of justice and the families.

Iraq is an official state party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which entails binding international and domestic commitments. Perhaps the primary and foremost obligation of any state that ratifies an international convention is to translate its provisions into enforceable national legislation. Therefore, we reiterate today the urgent need to expedite the enactment of a comprehensive domestic law that regulates and adheres to the provisions of this Convention, serving as a deterrent legal framework that protects citizens and puts a definitive end to any practices outside the framework of the Constitution and the law.

Justice for all, and the right to know the truth is a right that does not prescribe with time.