UN experts express 'grave concern' over Pether's health

UN experts have expressed "grave concern" that Australian engineer Robert Pether, who had been living in Elphin in Co Roscommon, is rapidly declining as he faces a life-threatening medical situation in Iraq.

Mr Pether was released from prison a year ago after being detained for over four years but he remains under a travel ban in Baghdad.

The construction engineer had been living with his wife and family in Elphin before travelling to Iraq in 2016, where he worked on the rebuild of the Central Bank of Iraq's headquarters in Baghdad.

He was arrested and sentenced to imprisonment in 2021 after the bank accused him and his CME Consulting colleague, Egyptian Khalid Radwan, of stealing money from the project.

After being held without charge for almost six months, and then subjected to a speedy trial, the two were each given a five-year jail sentence and fined millions of dollars.

Read more: Pether remains under Baghdad travel ban year after Iraqi jail release

In 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Mr Pether's detention was arbitrary and that he was being used as leverage in a commercial dispute.

In a joint communication issued in May 2025, human rights experts reiterated concerns that his continued detention and treatment could amount to hostage-taking under international law.

Earlier this year, the Irish family of Mr Pether said they have given "everything in the fight to get him home" while he remains trapped in Baghdad.

In an open letter last Christmas, Mr Pether said: "I am completely broken after being handled like an inconvenience. Here I am: alive, but not living."

"Released six months ago, but still not free. Not home, not safe, not truly out. Not receiving the medical treatment I desperately need.

"My life is suspended in a place where no one will state a lawful endpoint, and where my future can be tightened or loosened at will by people who understand exactly what leverage is.

"I am sick. I am writing this as someone whose physical and psychological reserves have been ground down for years by uncertainty, fear," he said.

Mr Pether's family remain in Elphin. Speaking to ABC radio in Australia, his wife Desree, whose father is Irish, expressed frustration over the legal uncertainties and lack of support from the Australian government, which she felt could have been doing more.

She said the family have no salary now and faced significant financial burdens, having spent $130,000 on legal costs, medical expenses and accommodation.

"He is still a prisoner as such and not free. When we saw him on camera for the first time after 4 years, he was so emaciated and undernourished, he looked about 70 and can only keep baby cereal down.

"We thought all the accusations against had been resolved and the travel ban would be lifted. But he's just been left in a room with no proper care or attention.

"The last scan he had cost 1,000 Australian dollars and we're really struggling financially. We just want him home," she said.

Mr Pether's health situation has since reportedly deteriorated significantly.

He has a documented history of melanoma and dysplastic nevus syndrome, placing him in a high-risk category requiring specialist surveillance and treatment.

Concerns are heightened by previous skin procedures carried out while he was detained in Iraq, during which suspicious lesions were allegedly not properly assessed and treatment complications reportedly resulted in serious infection.

Medical assessments warn of the risk of further progression and metastasis and recommend urgent specialist oncological evaluation.

The experts reiterated that the situation is particularly alarming given Mr Pether's declining health, inadequate access to specialist medical care, and the severe psychological toll of his prolonged detention and uncertainty.

"No one should be deprived of access to potentially life-saving medical care because of a commercial dispute to which they are not personally a party," the experts said.

"Nor should financial claims, civil proceedings, or political considerations prevent a seriously ill individual from accessing urgent treatment and returning home," they added.

"We urge Australian and Iraqi authorities to act without delay to ensure that Robert Pether receives appropriate specialist medical care and that any remaining obstacles preventing his departure from Iraq are urgently resolved," they said.