On the International Day of the Disappeared (August 30th), the International Committee of the Red Cross is calling on Iran and Iraq to clarify the fate of those reported missing during the 1980 to 1988 war.
During the war the ICRC registered almost 40,000 Iranian and more than 67,000 Iraqi prisoners of war. Many of them were voluntarily repatriated, but tens of thousands of soldiers, including some POWs remain unaccounted for today.

More than 20 years after the end of the war many families in Iraq and Iran are still waiting for news of their missing relatives.

"Families have the right, the need to know, what happened to their loved ones. It is extremely important for families to know that the person has died in that particular battle or place, that the bodies are retrieved and that the body is brought back to the family so that the grieving and mourning process can take place for this family" said Eric Marclay, the ICRC deputy head of operations for the Middle East.

25 year old Iraqi fighter, Noori Jaloob, was separated from his unit in June 1983. For years his family lived in a state of limbo, unable to grieve or mourn until they knew for certain what had happened to him. In 2008 they learnt from the TV news that he had died. Under an agreement between the ICRC, Iran and Iraq* his remains were transferred to the Al Zubair Martyr Centre in Basra, which specialises in handling the remains of soldiers from the Iran Iraq war.

"I am thankful to God that I had the chance to see my son and bury him", says his 77 year old mother Sabria.

The task of tracing those missing in action or detained as POWs has been complicated by Iraq's successive wars over the past decades. The Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights estimates that between 375,000 to one million soldiers and civilians went missing between 1980 and 2003.

"The ICRC is the voice of the thousands of families who are waiting for news of their loved ones" says Jamila Hammami, ICRC delegate in charge of the missing persons file for Iraq.

In Iran and Iraq the ICRC has facilitated the exchange of information about missing persons, provided technical support to the authorities, trained forensic experts in the identification of remains and, where necessary, supplied equipment and repaired storage and archive facilities.

During the Iran Iraq war the ICRC repatriated sick and wounded prisoners of war held in Iraq and Iran, transferring them via Larnaca airport in Cyprus.

Editors Notes:

* On 16th October 2008, the ICRC, and the Iraqi and Iranian governments signed a memorandum of understanding in Geneva to speed up efforts to account for those missing from the 1980-1988 war. They agreed to improve the collection and sharing of information, particularly relating to prisoners of war and the handing over of human remains.


SHOTLIST

00:00 The road from al Mudaina to Basra

00:04 Destroyed boat and bridge over the river Euphrates
00:08 Bombed Sunni mosque of Al Helah x 2
00:19 Old tank from Iran Iraq war close up Basra
Old tank from Iran Iraq war wide shot Basra
00:26 Military graves of remains of soldiers from Iran Iraq war who have been identified but not yet claimed in Basra (various images)

Iraqi family who have recovered remains of their brother who died during Iran Iraq war.

00:36 Mohsen Jaloob, brother of dead soldier, Noori Jaloob, with mother, Sabria and ICRC delegates at home in Basra
00:41 Sabria wiping tears from face
00.46 Photo of dead brother Noori
00:51 Family looking at photos of Noori
01:18 Sabri holding picture of Noori as a baby
01:22

Synch: Mohsen Jaloob (in Arabic)

"Thirty of them went out on patrol, a combat patrol. But only 29 returned. The one who didn’t return was my brother"
01:30

Synch: Mohsen Jaloob (in Arabic)

"He was like a father to us. He had a special place in our hearts. He never did anything to hurt us so that is why I really thought he would come back. For 25 long years we really hoped he would come back. But that was not to be his destiny"
01:55 Family outside with Noori's personal effects eg military card, decayed wallet and ID tag
02.16

Synch: Sabri Jaloob (in Arabic)

"I feel blessed that I got see my son and was able to bury him. He is now lying in the cemetery where I would like to lie with him."
02:47Al Zubair Martyr Centre, Basra:
02:52 Various images of staff sorting out human remains including director of Al Zubair Martyr Centre and Jamila Hammami
03:40

Synch Jamila Hammami, ICRC delegate in charge of the missing persons file for Iraq (in English).

"The ICRC has to be the voice of these hundreds of families who are waiting for news of their loved ones"
03:49

Synch Jamila Hammami (in English)

"We have to know that the solution to this problem is an Iraqi solution first of all. And there is the need that there is this political will from Iraq to handle the issue. Of course ICRC is here to back up that effort by our technical support and training, but also to make sure they are not forgotten and to remind the obligation of the authorities to provide information for the families of the missing".

04:22Director of the Al Zubair Martyr Centre with the register of all the remains identified and returned to families from the Iran Iraq war.
04:33

Synch: Director of the Al Zubair Martyr centre Hussein Eide Hassan (in Arabic)

"This process (identifying the remains and informing the families) is very slow and very complicated. It needs to be supported not only by governments but also by international organisations and other countries so that we are able to return all these remains back to the families"
04:51 Files piled up high of cases of soldiers whose remains have been identified and returned to their families.
05:01 Military cemetery, Basra
05:06 Military marked graves, Basra

Archive video 16 June 1981 repatriation of sick and wounded Iranian POWs from Baghdad to Tehran and sick and wounded Iraqi POWS from Tehran to Baghdad. Transfer carried out at Larnaca airport Cyprus.

05:17 Iraqi soldiers going onto the plane at Larnaca x 2
05.35 Iraqis on board the plane
05.42 View from the plane window
05.47 Iraqi Red Crescent officials
05:49 Iraqi on crutches
05:58 Iraqis onboard the plane
06:04 Iranian soldiers (in blue) on stretcher
06:17 Iranians (in blue) going onto the plane
06:38 Iranians (in blue) onboard the plane
06:49 Iranians arrival home on stretcher
07:05 Iranian soldier (in blue) greeted on arrival home in Tehran.

photos.

07:17 3 photos of dead soldiers in Iran March 1985

07:26

Synch: Eric Marclay, ICRC deputy head of operations for the Middle East (in English)

"Families have the right, the need to know, what happened to their loved ones. It is extremely important for families to know that the person has died in that particular battle or place, that the bodies are retrieved and that the body is brought back to the family so that the grieving and mourning process can take place for this family. The family can make a burial in the tradition that they have in the Middle East and this is the same throughout the world. It also helps the whole community and the whole society to come over the resentment that the war generated against the other party"

08:11

Synch: Eric Marclay, ICRC deputy head of operations for the Middle East (in English)

"A person missing in the Middle East is a very complex and sensitive humanitarian issue. If I look at Iran in particular there are still over 10,000 persons that are missing from the conflict and families are waiting anxiously for news about their loved ones".

08:33 END