[The following statement was issued by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights on 29 April 2013.]
With utmost sorrow and grief, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) received the news of the assassination of human rights defender Jalal Thyab Al-Jawhar, President of the Liberty Supporters Association.
On 27 April 2013, unknown assailants opened fire and killed him in the vicinity of the headquarters of the Association, which is located in Al-Zubair City center, about 18 km west of the city of Basra in southern Iraq.
In 2009, Al-Jawhar co-founded Liberty Supporters Association as a civil society organization which aims, according to its constitution, to defend the rights of Iraq`s black citizens, who form a population between one and a half and two million. The group aims to draw the world`s attention to the bad economic, political and social conditions under which black citizens of Iraq live; to end the marginalization and discrimination against them; and to seek recognition for them as an ethnic minority in Iraq.
Al-Jawhar said before his death, as he was leading the campaign in order to ensure the rights of Iraq`s black citizens, "there is still a long way ahead of us to assume senior positions for our youth, but we have broken the barrier of fear which had consumed blacks and we achieved a lot."
The GCHR condemns in the strongest terms the killing of Jalal Thyab Al-Jawhar, and believes it to be solely motivated by his peaceful and legitimate human rights work, in particular his work to defend the civil and human rights of marginalized Iraqi black citizens.
The Gulf Centre for Human Rights urges the authorities in Iraq to:
- Carry out an immediate, impartial and thorough investigation into the killing of Jalal Thyab Al-Jawhar with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in line with local laws and international standards;
- Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of all human rights defenders and activists in Iraq;
- Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Iraq are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free from all restrictions including judicial harassment.