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Iraqis campaign against impunity for violence

Activists in Iraq and abroad are seeking to pressure Iraqi authorities into preventing impunity for perpetrators of abuses.

An Iraqi demonstrator carries a portrait of an activist who has been missing for weeks and was allegedly kidnapped
An Iraqi demonstrator carries a portrait of an activist who has been missing for weeks and was allegedly kidnapped, during a gathering in Haboubi Square in the southern city of Nasiriyah on Oct. 24, 2020, on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the anti-government demonstrations. — ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images

A prominent Iraqi activist in recent protests, Ali al-Makdam was declared “kidnapped” July 10 and then found dumped on a highway south of Baghdad 36 hours into his disappearance. He was subsequently admitted to the hospital for treatment.

While the party that kidnapped Makdam is unknown at this time, so is the modality, as surveillance cameras have failed to document what happened. Still, his disappearance reenergized a campaign led by a group of Iraqi activists — a campaign that had been ongoing for weeks previous to Makdam's kidnapping — to halt impunity for perpetrators of violations.

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