Iraq has arrested the suspected killer of a prominent rights activist’s son, whose bullet-riddled body was found in the southern city of Basra at the weekend, authorities said Tuesday.
The killer of Ali Karim, the activist’s son, has been arrested in Kurdistan’s northern region, according to the interior ministry.
The security services of the autonomous region claimed the man from Basra had “confessed to the crime” and had been handed over to federal authorities.
Karim, 26, had disappeared in Basra on Friday before his body was found the next day with gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
His mother, Bahadly, formed an organization dedicated to the protection and education of women, as well as the avoidance of youth recruitment by armed groups.
Activists claim she is frequently threatened.
The murder of her son “appears to be yet another in a growing list of attacks and killings” targeting Iraqi human rights defenders and their families, the Dublin-based rights group Frontline Defenders tweeted Monday.
Martin Huth, the European Union’s ambassador to Iraq, has called for an urgent investigation into the killing.
Since a popular revolt in late 2019 demanding political change and an end to Iran-backed forces in Iraq, dozens of activists have been killed or kidnapped, sometimes for a short time.
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