Camp ASHRAF Iraq: Detainees held incommunicado risk torture

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Further information on UA: 212/09 Index: MDE 14/032/2009 Iraq Date: 06 October 2009

URGENT ACTION

Detainees held incommunicado risk torture

Thirty-six Iranian men who were arrested from Camp Ashraf in July, have been transferred from a police station to a military airbase in Baghdad. Fears for their safety remain as they are now detained incommunicado and are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. By continuing to detain them the Iraqi authorities are contravening a judicial order calling for their release.

On 1 October, 36 Iranian detainees were transferred from a police station in the town of al-Khalis, in Diyala province, north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, to the Muthanna military airbase in Baghdad where they are being held incommunicado. The detainees werearrested on 28-29 July 2009, when Iraqi security forces used force to take control of Camp Ashraf, in Diyala province, where 3,400 members of the People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), an Iranian opposition group,have resided since the mid-1980s. The detaineesare in poor health and have been on hunger strike since their arrest.

The transfer of the detainees from al-Khalis to Baghdad took place despite an investigative judgein al-Khalis ruling on three separate occasionsthat theyhad no charges to answer and orderedtheir release. The police at al-Khalis, however, refused to release them without providing any legal justification for their continuing detention. They were eventually transferred using force by the Iraqi military.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in English, Arabic or your own language:
    *      Urge the authorities to release the 36 Iranian detainees following repeated rulings from the investigative judge that they have no charges to answer;
    *      demand that the authorities protect the detainees from torture or other ill-treatment while they remain held incommunicado and ensure they are provided with any medical treatment they may require;
    *      calling on the authorities not to forcibly return to Iran these 36 or any other Camp Ashraf residents who would be at risk of torture and other serious human rights violations there.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BY 17 NOVEMBER 2009; via the e-mail addresses below, when available, as well as via the Iraqi embassy or diplomatic representative in your country, asking them to forward your appeals to

Prime Minister, Nuri Kamil al-Maliki
Email: admin@cabinet.iq
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Defence, General ‘Abdul Qadir Jasim al-‘Ubaidi
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:

Minister of Human Rights, Wajdan Mikhail Salam
Email: minister@humanrights.gov.iq
Salutation: Your Excellency

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. (Please note that e-mail addresses for Iraqi authorities can be changed at any time). Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the first update of UA: 212/09 (MDE 14/026/2009) 7 August 2009. Further information: www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE14/026/2009/en

Source:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE14/032/2009/en/5642d799-cfe1-407d-bee9-adc055b0fed0/mde140322009en.html