In Iraq, father challenges militia in search for son
BAGHDAD » In the span of 30 seconds, Ali Jasb, a young rights lawyer, vanished into the night in southern Iraq.
On an evening a year ago, a woman emerged from a dimly lit street in the city of Amara, her face hidden in a black abaya, and greeted Jasb. Almost immediately a black SUV pulled up, two men forced him in and sped away. The woman climbed into a waiting pickup and left.
That last sighting of the 21- yearold Jasb was captured by a surveillance camera at 6: 22 p. m. Oct. 8, 2019. Nothing has been heard from him or his captors.
Ever since, Jasb’s father has been on a search for justice that has run repeatedly against one major obstacle: the increasing helplessness of Iraq’s government in the face of powerful, Iranianbacked Shiite militias.
Jasb was abducted a week into historic protests that erupted across Iraq and saw tens of thousands of youths rallying against corruption and the ruling class. Like many others, hopes for change inspired by the movement emboldened Jasb to speak out against militias in his hometown.
Now Jasb is among 53 protesters who remain missing since the movement began Oct. 1, 2019, according to the semi- official Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights.
The protests largely have been silenced by a combination of the coronavirus and a violent crackdown by security forces and militias that, according to the commission, killed more than 500 people.
Within that crackdown, militias widely are believed to have waged a campaign of terror, abducting dozens of prominent activists and assassinating more than 60.
In Jasb’s case, judicial investigations seen by The Associated Press show a connection between his abduction and the most powerful militia in his home city, Amara.
His father, Jasb Aboud, is determined to bring its commander to trial. “I am afraid,” he said. “But I lost what was most valuable to me, so I’ve got nothing else to lose.”
” I can’t be silent”
Jasb exemplified the generation of hopeful activists who fueled the protest movement.
He threw himself into using the law to help people in Amara, a small city flanked by marshes on the Tigris River that is the capital of the province of Missan.
He married young and soon had a daughter, now 2. He often represented women trying to divorce abusive husbands. He was angered by the state’s failures, noting how his family still dug wells for water and relied on expensive generators for electricity.
When the protests erupted, Jasb participated and formed a legal committee to help those detained.
And he openly criticized the power of militias.
In Missan, that meant Ansar Allah al- Awfia, one of the more extreme pro- Iranian militias.
Over the years, it came to control important government offices and many businesses in Missan. Notorious for illicit dealings, it milked major revenue from border trade from Iran.
There was no response to repeated emails to the PMF seeking comment for this story, and calls and messages to al- Awfia were not answered.
When Jasb started getting threats, his father pleaded with him to stop criticizing the militia online.
“I can’t be silent,” Jasb replied. His peers believe his last case may have sealed his fate. He was helping the wife of a militiaman get a divorce, said his friend Akeel Auki, who heads the Missan lawyer’s union.
Any lawyer pursuing a case against a militia member will be “surrounded by threats,” Auki said. “I’ve received a lot of them.”
On Oct. 7, 2019, Jasb’s second child, a son, was born. The next day, he got a call: A woman seeking legal help asked to meet that evening on a street a few minutes’ drive away.
The surveillance camera later revealed what happened next.
Crisis inherited
The protest movement scored an early victory, forcing out Prime Minister Adel Abdul- Mahdi. His successor, Mustafa al- Kadhimi, branded himself as a champion of the protesters.
He promised to hold early elections, investigate violence against activists and curtail armed groups.
But he was soon faced with the limits of his own administration. Abdul- Mahdi had allowed militias’ power to grow so much that “now, we almost don’t have a state,” said a high- level official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Frequent rocket attacks targeted al- Kadhimi’s seat of power in Baghdad, straining relations with the U. S. A raid on the Iranianbacked Kataib Hezbollah, suspected of firing the rockets, backfired when most of those detained were set free — lack of evidence, the court said.
Militias blocked attempts to increase customs revenues, which would have cut funds they skim from cross- border trade, and militia corruption wrecked a program to boost agricultural exports, multiple officials said.
A fact- finding committee produced an official number killed during the protests but didn’t name the killers.
The government had inherited an economic crisis and an overwhelmed health system — “if we name the killers, we will drown,” a senior adviser to al- Kadhimi said on condition of anonymity to speak freely.
Activists continue to be targeted.
The July shooting death of a high- profile commentator and critic of Iran, Hisham al- Hashimi, sent shockwaves across Baghdad. Two leading activists in Basra were assassinated.
“If the government can’t deliver justice to someone like al- Hashimi, then who is Ali Jasb to them?” said Hasab Wahab of the al- Amel Association rights group.
The criminal case
On July 14, Jasb’s father Aboud met with a new lawyer in Baghdad. The investigation by a Missan judge into his son’s abduction had been stalled for nine long months.
They believed they knew why: Evidence had revealed a link to the commander of the al- Awfia militia, Haidar al- Gharawi.
“The accused is a militia that has power in Missan, so it could be that it has influence over witnesses, even the law,” said the lawyer, Wala al- Ameri.
Aboud and al- Ameri considered a bold gambit: Move the case to a hopefully more independent Baghdad court and request an arrest warrant against al- Gharawi.
Father forlorn
In September, al- Kadhimi visited Missan and gave Jasb’s father an audience.
During the 15- minute meeting held in the compound of a Chinese oil giant, Aboud laid out the court documents. He named the militia he believed took his son.
Al- Kadhimi was shocked, Aboud said. “He put his hand to his chest and promised he would deliver him to me.”
The prime minister may be the bereaved father’s last hope after he hit another dead end.
The Baghdad judge deemed there was insufficient evidence for an arrest warrant against al-Gharawi.
There are witnesses. None dare speak out.
One man told the AP he saw everything from a nearby shop. He spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear.
He recounted seeing the woman emerge and the men push Jasb into the vehicle. He saw police afterward search Jasb’s car.
But would he testify?
“It would be my funeral the next day.”