Amnesty: Iraq must report on detained aides

The human rights watchdog Amnesty International has called on Tuesday on the Iraqi authorities to reveal the whereabouts of two women arrested earlier this month, apparently for their connection to the country's vice-president. Rasha Nameer Jaafer aA-Hussain and Bassima Saleem Kiryakos were arrested by security forces at their homes on 1 January. Both women work in the media team of Iraqi Vice-President Tareq Al-Hashemi, who is wanted by the Iraqi authorities on terrorism-related charges. The Iraqi Vice-President has denied the charges, saying the accusations are politically motivated, Amnesty International reports. However, the group's Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui is reported to have said: “The arrest of the two women appears to be part of a wider move targeting individuals connected to Tareq al-Hashemi.” "The Iraqi authorities must immediately disclose the whereabouts of Rasha Al-Hussain and Bassima Kiryakos. At the very minimum they should have immediate access to their family and a lawyer," she said. According to Sharaoui, the circumstances of the two women's arrest and their incommunicado detention raise the greatest concerns for their safety, considering that torture is rife in Iraq, as she explains. According to Amnesty's press release, security forces detained the two women without arrest warrants, informing their families that they were being taken away for questioning, without explanation. Always according to Amnesty's report, Bassima Kiryakos called her husband on 20 January and informed him she was to be released the following day but neither woman has been heard from since. Meanwhile, Vice-President Tareq Al-Hashimi is facing charges of ordering his bodyguards to commit acts of terrorism. “It is up to the authorities to provide convincing evidence that the two women have committed a crime. Otherwise they should be immediately released,” Amnesty quoted Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui as saying. A warrant for Tareq Al-Hashimi's arrest was issued on 19 December shortly after his Sunni-backed Al-Iraqiya party announced it would boycott Parliament, accusing Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s government of being sectarian, Amnesty's press statement also reads. In December, state run TV channel Al-Iraqiya broadcast "confessions" by men said to be Al-Hashemi’s bodyguards saying that they had killed police officers and officials from ministries in exchange for payoffs from Al-Hashemi. The episode was followed by a wave of arrests of Sunni politicians, Amnesty International reports.