President Mas’ud Barzani

Kurdistan Regional Government

Erbil

Iraq

Your Excellency

Walid Yunis Ahmad was arrested on 6 February 2000 in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He had been working for a local radio and television station, where he helped to produce programmes and translated material into Kurdish, Arabic and Turkoman.

Shortly before his arrest, Walid Yunis Ahmad attended a meeting of the Islamic Movement in Kurdistan, a legal political opposition party. After the meeting, he was given a lift in a car which was stopped and searched by police. The police allegedly found explosive material and arrested both Walid Yunis Ahmad and the driver, even though Walid Yunis Ahmad denied any knowledge of the explosive material. The driver was released three months later.

Initially, the fate and whereabouts of Walid Yunis Ahmad were unknown and the authorities denied having any information about him. However, three years after his enforced disappearance, his family were notified by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that he was still alive and in detention. They were then allowed to visit him in the Asayish (security) building in Erbil. During his three-year enforced disappearance, Walid Yunis Ahmad alleged that he was tortured and witnessed other detainees being tortured, and that he went on hunger strike.

I call for Walid Yunis Ahmad to be released immediately and unconditionally, unless he is charged with a recognizably criminal offence and given a fair trial.

Furthermore, I call for the allegations of torture to be investigated and those responsible brought to justice.

Sincerely,

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