Moroccan citizen in Iraqi prison faces life-threatening illness, as appeal for action grows

The National Coordination of Families of Moroccan Detainees and Stranded Citizens in Syria and Iraq has issued an urgent appeal addressed to “international human rights organizations, the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and all relevant human rights bodies,” urging them to “save the life of Moroccan citizen Leila Qasimi, who is detained in an Iraqi prison and suffering from a life-threatening illness.”

In its appeal, the coordination highlighted that “available information indicates that Qasimi’s health has severely deteriorated to a critical point, and she is slowly dying in prison without receiving adequate medical care, while Iraqi authorities refuse to release her for necessary medical treatment.”

The appeal further noted that “the Moroccan chargé d’affaires in Iraq is facing great difficulty in communicating with Iraqi authorities, who have not responded to repeated calls for urgent intervention to save her life, making the situation more dangerous and raising serious concerns about the adherence to international human rights standards in Iraqi prisons.”

The coordination stressed: “We hold the Iraqi authorities fully responsible for Laila Al-Qasimi’s life and demand immediate intervention to pressure the Iraqi government to either release her or allow her to receive the necessary medical care in a hospital outside of prison.”

The coordination also called for “the dispatch of an independent medical team to assess her health condition and provide a documented report on her status,” as well as “engaging with Moroccan authorities to ensure her repatriation, especially given her deteriorating health that makes her unfit for continued detention,” and “holding accountable those responsible for the medical neglect that endangers her life.”