Iran: Massacre in Camp Ashraf in Iraq UNAMI and US urged to provide protection

Iranian opposition leaders savagely murdered

52 members of an Iranian dissident group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, PMOI, MEK have been murdered  in an early morning attack at their camp north of Baghdad on Sunday 1 September 2013. The attack was carried out by Iraqi military and special armed forces SWAT under direct command of the office of the prime minister Nori Al-Maliki who has close links to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, described this massacre committed by Al-Maliki’s forces at the order of the religious fascism ruling Iran, a crime against humanity and a war crime.

Iran, Iraq: Ashraf Refugee camp massacre, Nori Al-Maliki responsible fo crimes against humanity

52 members of an Iranian dissident group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, PMOI, MEK have been killed in an early morning attack at their camp north of Baghdad on Sunday.

Iraqi security forces raided the camp Ashraf with intention to kill all 100 residents. No mercy on ther wounded refugees. They were killed in clinic while receiving treatment.

The attack, started unexpectedly at 5 a.m. local time (10 p.m. EDT Saturday) and carried on until late in the afternoon, Iraqi security forces tied the Iranian dissidents’ hands behind their backs and shot them in the head, a resident of Camp Ashraf who witnessed the attack said in a phone interview. He requested anonymity out of concern for his safety.

Iran: Camp Ashraf in Iraq, refugees attacked, handcuffed and shot in the head by Nori Al-Maliki Forces

Maryam Rajavi urged the United Nations and US government to take urgent action for protection of the residents by either transferring them all to the United States or settling the UN Blue Helmets in Camps Ashraf and Liberty in order to protect the residents.

Sunday’s  massacre in Ashraf, is a big crime against humanity and a war crime. Machine gunning unarmed and defenceless people while their hands are tied is a crime against humanity by all standards and silence vis-à-vis this crime is complicity in it.

Until Sunday 1 September afternoon at 17:00,  52 residents have been identified as killed in massacre in Ashraf. 

The Iraqi government is telling outrages lies to cover the ongoing massacre at Camp Ashraf. This is while the criminal Iraqi forces who continue to siege Camp Ashraf have not allowed any visit by United Nations Assistance Mission (UNAMI) to Iraq and the United Nations High Commissioner (UNHCR) Representatives to visit the camp for the past 10 hours as the death toll in the camp has reached to 44.

The Iranian Resistance calls on the American Embassy in Baghdad, the European diplomats, journalists and human rights organization based in Iraq to immediately visit Camp Ashraf and witness the ongoing massacre of Camp Ashraf residents.
Source: National Council of Resistance of Iran

Tehran’s Foes, Unfairly Maligned

 

By LOUIS J. FREEH

Washington
      
AS the United States tries to halt Iran’s nuclear program and prepares to withdraw troops from Iraq, American voters should ask why the Obama administration has bent to the will of Tehran’s mullahs and their Iraqi allies on a key issue: the fate of 3,400 unarmed members of the exiled Iranian opposition group, Mujahedeen Khalq, who are living in Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad.
The government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a Shiite Muslim, has brazenly murdered members of the Mujahedeen Khalq. Mr. Maliki justifies his attacks by noting that the group is on the United States’ official list of foreign terrorist organizations.
In April, Iraqi forces entered Camp Ashraf and fatally shot or ran over 34 residents and wounded hundreds more. Mr. Maliki has now given the Mujahedeen Khalq until Dec. 31 to close the camp and disperse its residents throughout Iraq.

Rally to protect Ashraf.

Rally and Press conference in London to prevent another attack on Ashraf - December 15 at 11:30 am - Whitehall opposite Downing Street

On Tuesday, 15 December 2009, simultaneous with a threat by Iraq to forcibly displace Iranian Resistance members from Camp Ashraf, MPs, legal experts and human rights activists will hold a press conference opposite Downing Street in London to press for urgent intervention by the British government.

As Iranians escalate their anti-government protests, the regime has heightened its pressure on Iraq to conspire against residents of Camp Ashraf.

Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to forcibly displace Ashraf residents to southern Iraq this Tuesday, an act which would violate their rights "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention and breach the "principle of non-refoulement".

Iranian relatives of the residents in London have held a rally outside Downing Street since Friday and will continue to rally there from 11.30 to 13.30 every day. They fear that an attempt by Iraq to forcibly displace their relatives will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe far larger than the deadly attack on Ashraf in July.

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, who chairs the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom, will be speaking at the press conference. other speakers TBD.

Press conference/ Rally details:

Date: Tuesday, 15 December 2009,
Time: 11.30 - 12:30 am
Place: Whitehall, opposite Downing Street, London SW1A

Background information: Click Here

Iranian opposition group supporters in Iraq must not be forcibly evicted

Urgent Appeal

The Iraqi authorities must not forcibly relocate about 3,400 members of an Iranian opposition group from a settlement north of Baghdad where they have lived since the mid-1980's, Amnesty International said on Friday.

Sources have told Amnesty International that residents of Camp Ashraf, which is 60km north of Baghdad, have been given a deadline of 15 December 2009 to leave or they will be forcibly removed and relocated elsewhere in Iraq. Some may also be at risk of being forcibly returned to Iran.

Camp Ashraf is home to over 3,000 members and supporters of the Iranian opposition group, the People's Mojaheddin Organization of Iran (PMOI). The group have been living there for more than 20 years  and it is now a small town with shops, medical and other facilities.

"Whatever measures the Iraqi authorities decide to take with regard to the future of Camp Ashraf, the rights of all its residents must be protected and guaranteed at all times," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Amnesty International.

"Further no Iranian national in Iraq who is at risk of serious human rights violations in Iran should be forcibly returned there."

Government officials in Iraq have been quoted as saying plans are in place to forcibly remove people from the camp to other sites within Iraq in the coming days.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has reportedly announced that Camp Ashraf's residents will be moved to the southern province of Muthanna.

Amnesty International fears that forced removals of the residents of Camp Ashraf would put them at risk of arbitrary arrest, torture or other forms of ill-treatment, and unlawful killing.

Since mid-2008 the Iraqi government has repeatedly indicated that it wanted to close Camp Ashraf, and that its residents should leave Iraq or face being forcibly expelled from the country.

On 28-29 July 2009 Iraqi security forces stormed the camp and at least nine residents were killed and many more injured. Another 36 who had been detained were reported to have been tortured and beaten. They were released on 7 October in poor health after maintaining a hunger strike throughout their period of detention.

No investigations are known to have been carried out by the Iraqi authorities into their alleged torture and other ill-treatment or into allegations that Iraqi security forces used excessive, lethal force when taking control of Camp Ashraf last July.

Source:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/iranian-opposition-group-supporters-iraq-must-not-forcibly+evicted-20091211

British Parliamentarians support court's decision to probe killings in Ashraf camp

British MPs AND Peers from across the political spectrum have welcomed a Spanish court's decision to investigate claims Iraqi troops killed refugees at Camp Ashraf

By Sarah Cosgrove

Hendon Times - London - MPs and Peers from all parties have welcomed the decision by the Spanish central court to investigate a raid on July 28 and 29 by Iraq's armed forces on the Iranian refugee camp 60 miles north-east of Baghdad.

The raid led to 11 deaths and around 500 injuries, and 36 people were detained.

Relatives of the refugee camp's residents, many of whom live in Barnet, have claimed they were tortured, shot and taken hostage.

But the Iraqis say they went into the camp to establish a police station and did not use force.

Barnet residents went on hunger strike outside the United States Embassy earlier this year to urge the US to take back control of the camp and to secure the release of those taken from it.

Camp Ashraf's 3,400 residents are all political dissidents who escaped from Iran after the Islamic revolution and have lived under their own rules inside Iraq ever since.

The country's Central Investigative Court ruled on Friday that the residents of the camp were "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

It claimed its competency to investigate the events under the principles of universal jurisdiction established in the Geneva Conventions.

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, chairman of the all-Party British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom, said: "The court's affirmation of the status of PMOI members as 'protected persons' obliges the US and other Coalition members, as responsible parties in Iraq, to ensure that Baghdad ceases to violate residents' rights and refrains from its threats to forcibly displace them within Iraq.”

The court decided to investigate the raid following a complaint filed by relatives of Ashraf residents.

The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom said it strongly supported the decision of the Spanish court.

Source:
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/4778005.MPs_and_Peers_welcome_Spanish_court_s_decision_to_investigate_Iranian_camp/

Spain probes Iranian killings in Ashraf camp - Iraq

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish judge has asked Iraq if it is investigating a melee in which Iraqi security forces are accused of killing 11 members of an Iranian exile group — a first step toward a possible probe by the judge himself.

Judge Fernando Andreu is acting under Spain's universal justice doctrine, which allows grave crimes alleged to have been committed in other countries to be prosecuted here, so long as certain conditions are met. Andreu made the request in an order released this week and obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

One such condition is that the country where a crime allegedly took place not be holding — or already have carried out — an investigation of its own.

And although there is no link to Spain in this case — such a tie is a new condition set in a recent reform of the universal justice law — Spanish judges can still act if the crime violates an international treaty signed by Spain. Andreu says a Geneva Convention does apply, addressing the protection of civilians in war times.

This is the first universal justice case brought before the National Court since Parliament narrowed the scope of the law in October, amid criticism from Spain's allies that it was acting like a global gendarme.

Andrew is acting on a complaint filed by human rights lawyers in Spain representing members of the Iranian exile group, the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran. There is no deadline for the Iraqi government to respond to Andreu's query.

In Baghdad, Iraqi justice officials did not respond to calls for comment on the Spanish request.

The attack by Iraqi troops and riot police took place July 28 in Camp Ashraf, the base of the Iranian opposition group. Eleven Iranian exiles were killed: either shot, beaten or run over by military vehicles, and 36 were arrested, according to members of the group.

Throughout the confrontation, American soldiers who once protected the Iranian opposition group stood by. According to U.S officials, they had no legal authority to intervene.

The U.S. military guarded the camp since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, under an agreement that made its 3,400 residents "protected persons" under the Geneva Convention. The military stopped observing the agreement after a new security accord with the Baghdad government took effect in January.

Spanish prosecutors have argued that this country lacks jurisdiction because there is no relevant link to Spain — such as Spaniards among the victims or the physical presence in Spain of the alleged perpetrators of the crime. They also argued that Iraq has intervened on behalf of the 36 people taken away from the camp, and that a probe already has been requested — by Amnesty International.

But Andreu rejected the prosecutors' request that he drop the case.

He noted that Spain signed the Geneva Convention on protected persons in 1977 and is thus obligated to go after and prosecute people accused of violating it "no matter what their nationality."

Spain's observance of the concept of universal justice became famous in 1998 when Judge Baltasar Garzon had former Chilean ruler Augusto Pinochet arrested in London and sought, ultimately in vain, to put him on trial in Madrid on charges of torture, terrorism and other offenses during his dictatorship.

Source:
http://www.wwltv.com/news/world/78327107.html

Listen and you can hear the chains of religious tyranny torn asunder

By Shahriar Kia

The recent uprising of the Iranian people following sham elections in Iran, the formidable confrontation between the Iranian people and its Resistance on the one hand and the Iranian regime on the other, as well as the recent attacks against the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran aimed at destroying their camp in northern Iraq and extraditing its residents to Iran highlighted three major realities more than ever:

First - the simmering social conditions on the ground, which characterize the Iranian nation’s readiness for democratic change;

Second – the religious talisman of the Supreme Leader (Velayat-e Faqih) is broken and the regime is faltering apart as a result of its decision to get rid of all its rivals and to solidify its authority;

Third – Because of the crises they are facing, the ruling mullahs attempt to eradicate and obliterate the biggest menace to their regime, namely the Iranian Resistance, at every available opportunity.

Following recent developments and protests by the people of Iran against the entire entity of the Iranian regime, it became more evident that the regime is faltering apart, going through a phase of disintegration and defections. This is characteristic of the final stage of overthrowing this anachronistic regime. Recent elections and the subsequent political ‘surgery’ the Iranian regime carried out within the power structure should be considered as a turning point for the regime. Khamenei has purged his opponents and completed the plan he had started in 2005 by appointing Ahmadinejad as his regime’s president to solidify his rule. Such an internal power balance was unprecedented even during Khomeini’s reign as supreme leader. Therefore, today we face a regime that stands on a ’single leg’ and is totally disabled.

Of course, the main objective of Khamenei in this election was to pave the way to the acquisition of the nuclear bomb by closing up the gaps within the his ’fundamentalist front’ and getting ready for the looming attacks, counterattacks and crises.

In order to survive, the Iranian regime has set up its frontline in Baghdad and openly claims that Lebanon and Palestine constitute the ‘strategic depth’ of their rule. For this reason Iraq is the scene of a strategic confrontation between the Tehran regime against the international community in one hand and the Iranian people on the other. Without warmongering, crisis-making and the export of terrorism and fundamentalism, the mullahs’ regime has no place in Iran and will collapse. If the Velayat-e Faqih's regime decides, one day, to abandon its export of fundamentalism and terrorism to other countries and limit itself to the borders of Iran, it will lose its dynamism and will collapse from within. It is for this reason that peace in the Middle East and democracy in Iraq will hang the noose around the mullahs’ neck in Iran.

Khamenei tried to remove all the obstacles against implementation of his policies inside Iran and all over the region as well, and to enable the regime to forge ahead in its nuclear efforts, terrorism and warmongering policy in the region. The Iranian Resistance and the PMOI has been always his center of attention because it is an obstacle to export its religious fundamentalism in Iraq. All enmity towards the PMOI in Iraq is thus provoked by a regime that sees it as a bulwark stalling its belligerent efforts to dominate Iraq.

Throughout the year, and especially since the transfer of protection of the camp to the Iraqi authorities in January of 2009, the clerical regime resorted to every means to expel the PMOI from Iraq such as by using intimidation, blockading food, fuel and medicine, and by preventing the families of the residents and their attorneys to visit them in Ashraf, incessant psychological war, pressuring innocent families and relatives of Ashraf residents in Iran, and finally 11 dead, 500 injured and 36 people abducted for 72 days in an attack planned and conducted by Iranian regime and its embassy in Baghdad on 28 and 29 of July. (that enumeration is too long; it should be shortened, or cut into various sentences)

On February 28, 2009 in a meeting with Iraq's President Jalal Talebani in Tehran, Iranian supreme leader asked the Iraqi government to implement the bilateral agreement between the two countries to dismantle Camp Ashraf and expel the its residents from Iraq. The motive behind such extensive measures against the PMOI members in Ashraf is a boundless fear from a resistance movement; a movement that has not been defeated despite all the forces and resources assigned to eliminate it.

Today, one can say with full confidence that absolutely nobody wants to expel the PMOI from Iraq except the Iranian regime and its agents and proxies. 5.2 million Iraqi people in July 2006, and 3 million Iraqi Shiite in July 2008, signed declarations in support of the PMOI and its presence in Iraq. The treatment of the Mujahedin in Ashraf has become a yardstick indicating the distance or closeness of each party to the Iranian regime. The future of Ashraf will make clear whether the Iranian regime is indeed ruling in Iraq or whether western type democracy is in place.

The bravery of the 36 residents of Ashraf and the hunger strikers in the Camp as well as the widespread international support for Ashraf has dealt the Iranian regime a severe defeat in its attempts to crush the PMOI members in Ashraf. -- From late July until the release of 36 hostages on October 7, 2009. But the Iranian regime's conspiracy for a human catastrophe in Ashraf has not been stopped yet, and that regime is putting pressure on the Iraqi government to forcibly displace the residents of camp Ashraf inside Iraq. This will pave the way for another brutal massacre – worst than that which has occurred in the camp on July 28 and 29. There is no doubt that the international humanitarian organizations and human rights defenders as well as the residents of Ashraf cannot and will not succumb to this show of force by their enemy, and to ruthless conspiracies. Justice will prevail over savagery. Listen and you can hear the chains of religious tyranny torn asunder!

Source:
http://globalpolitician.com/26012-iran-ashraf-ncri-mek-pmoi

Top UN envoy concerned over conditions in Iraqi camp

UN News Centre - The top United Nations envoy to Iraq has expressed his concerns over the humanitarian situation in a camp north of Baghdad, housing thousands of Iranian dissidents.

Some 3,400 members of the People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mujahedin-e Khalq, live in Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s Diyala province.

During talks with diplomats the Iraqi capital, Ad Melkert, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, confirmed the commitment of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) to monitor the situation in the camp on a daily basis.

Earlier this month, UN human rights officials welcomed the Government’s decision to release 36 members of the PMOI who had been detained since July when security personnel used force to take control of the camp where they had been staying.

In a two-day operation in late July, Iraqi security personnel took control of Camp Ashraf. Eleven people were killed and dozens more were wounded in that operation.

In recent years, both the mission and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have been exploring how to reach a resolution consistent with Iraq’s legitimate sovereignty and international law.

“The UN continues to advocate that Camp Ashraf residents be protected from forcible deportation, expulsion or repatriation contrary to the non-refoulement principle,” according to a UNAMI press release issued today.

At the same time, the camp’s leaders have also been urged to cooperate with Iraqi authorities regarding the future of the site’s residents, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other agencies are ready to provide the necessary legal and social counseling.

“Efforts are now needed on all sides to reduce tensions and look for solutions,” UNAMI stressed. “The UN calls on the international community to provide all possible assistance in this regard, including resettlement to third countries of those that want to leave the camp.”
Source:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32710&Cr=&Cr1=#

UNAMI continued concern over the humanitarian situation at Camp Ashraf

Press Releases

Baghdad-26 October 2009: During his recent meeting with representatives of the diplomatic community in Baghdad, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General-for Iraq (SRSG) Ad Melkert expressed continued concern over the humanitarian situation at Camp Ashraf. He confirmed UNAMI's commitment for the duration of this critical period to monitor the situation in the Camp on daily basis.

Over the past few years the UNAMI and the High Commissioner on Human Rights have been closely monitoring the situation in Camp Ashraf, exploring possible assistance in reaching a resolution that is consistent with Iraq’s legitimate sovereignty rights, and international law.

To this end, the United Nations has engaged with all parties concerned, including the Government of Iraq which has reiterated its commitment to abide by Iraqi and international laws when dealing with Camp Ashraf and its residents. UNAMI is working with the Government through various channels to assist in meeting this responsibility.

UNAMI’s mandate includes the promotion of human rights in Iraq, and the Mission’s Human Rights Office regularly assesses the situation in and around the camp. The UN continues to advocate that Camp Ashraf residents be protected from forcible deportation, expulsion or repatriation contrary to the non-refoulement principle.

At the same time the Camp Ashraf leadership has been urged to meet the requirement by individual inhabitants of the Camp to cooperate with Iraqi authorities on the basis of their voluntary expression of preference concerning their options for the future. UNHCR and other relevant UN agencies stand ready to provide any legal and social counseling in this regard in a fair and neutral environment.

Efforts are now needed on all sides to reduce tension and look for solutions. The UN calls on the international community to provide all possible assistance in this regard, including resettlement to third countries of those that want to leave the camp.

Source:
http://www.uniraq.org/newsroom/getarticle.asp?ArticleID=1162

Account of attack in Iraq

By Jamshid Karegarfar
ASHRAF, Iraq.

How long can one live without food and water? It's a question that I never considered until it became more than an answer on a TV quiz program. It was a very personal matter of life and death.

Two-and-a-half months ago, I was living the day-to-day peaceful life of a resident of Camp Ashraf in Iraq. It's a place you probably never heard of. It's about 60 miles north of Baghdad and is home to some 3,500 Iranian dissidents - exiles like me who want nothing better than to return to Iran when it is free of the mullahs who oppress the people, preach hatred and export terrorism.

After I left Iran in search of freedom, I lived in California, Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee for some time. Then, 20 years ago, I became a resident of Ashraf, along with others who support the People's Mojaheedin of Iran (PMOI), the principal Iranian opposition movement and dream of returning home one day.

Since the American-led invasion of Iraq, we lived - unarmed and in peace - under the protection of U.S. forces and the Geneva Conventions. But since the United States agreed to withdraw its forces from Iraq, we've been at the mercy of Baghdad, which is more and more becoming good buddies with Tehran.

The situation came to a head July 28, when some 2,000 Iraqi forces stormed Ashraf, and to add insult to injury, used American Humvees and weapons to do so, while the Americans stood by and watched. The attack left 11 dead and 500 injured - and the Iraqis took 36 Ashraf residents as hostages. I was one of them.

At first, we were held outside Ashraf. During the first days of captivity we were severely beaten, and went through physical and psychological torture. Some of us who were run over by Humvees and hit by bullets were in excruciating pain.

Then, we were transferred to the local prison in the city of Khalis. From there, they took us to an Iraqi military intelligence detention center and finally to the prison at al-Muthana airfield.The goal was to break us down. But we refused to give in.

In protestof the raid and being taken hostage, we went to a hunger strike and refused food for weeks, and we prayed for deliverance. We had no idea what was happening or why we were being held. And we had no idea of the support we were getting around the world.

It was only after our release that we learned of hunger strikes outside the White House and the U.S. Embassy in London, at Ashraf and other places in Europe - all in support of our cause and of justice.

Our release was ordered three times by the court in Khalis, our initial stop. Iraq's prosecutor general sent out the order for our immediate release to all the police stations throughout Iraq. Yet, the Iraqi police and the government refused to implement the order due to pressures and demands from Tehran.

Finally, after 65 days, and with hope almost gone as we were transferred to Baghdad we decided to refuse not only food, but water as well.

As the days went by - one, then two, then three - hope faded even more. But we were adamant. Some of my friends went into comas, and were taken away by Iraqi guards. We found out later that they were taken to a hospital. And then, on the 72nd day of our hunger strike - and the seventh day of dry hunger strike as we were struggling between life and death - our prayers were answered.

We were freed. We were taken to Ashraf medical center. The doctors told me that several of us probably were only hours from death.

How we survived, I'll never know. It had to be God's will - that we should live to tell our story, so that incidents like this should never happen again.

We also learned of the worldwide support we received from organizations like Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human Rights, the World Organization Against Torture, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, and countless parliamentarians, international figures, and committees around the globe.We might have owed our lives to their efforts.

But that doesn't mean Tehran will stop trying to wipe out Ashraf and its opponents anywhere it can reach them. That's why the world community must act.

To prevent a repetition of what happened to me and other Ashraf residents, the U.S. government, the United Nations, and the European Union must step in.

The U.S. government, which signed an agreement with every single Ashraf resident, must guarantee secure protection of Ashraf residents at least until the end of 2011, while U.S. forces are present in Iraq.

The United Nations should deploy a permanent monitoring team in Ashraf to prevent further violence and a repeat of the attack or forced displacement of these people. And the fundamental rights and protections of Ashraf residents under the Fourth Geneva Convention must be recognized as stipulated in the European Parliament resolution adopted last April.

This would be a fitting time for President Obama to fulfill the Nobel Peace Prize committee's faith in him by using his "bully pulpit" in the cause of peace and security for the peaceful resident of Ashraf.

I don't want anyone else to find out firsthand how long one can go without water and live.

Jamshid Karegarfar is an manufacturing technology engineer, with expertise in safety. He was educated at Kentucky's Murray State University and became a resident of Camp Ashraf in Iraq 20 years ago.

Source:
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/25/account-of-attack-in-iraq/

Iraq: The unthinkable happened on July 28th

By Mostafa Sanaie
Ashraf, Iraq

On October 7, as the sun came up and I sat in my little prison cell in a suburb of Baghdad, I realized this could be the last sunrise I would see.

I always loved the sun. It is particularly gorgeous this time of year in Baghdad. But I was too frail to stand up to see it. I could have asked for help as I was surrounded by 35 friends. But none of them was in a position to help.

It was the 72nd day of our hunger strike, the last seven a dry hunger strike, meaning that for the past seven days we had refused to even take water. There was a deafening silence in the room. Each minute I and my friends knew our lives were ebbing.

Though I was in an Iraqi jail, I am not Iraqi. I am Iranian who has lived in Iraq for the past 23 years. All 36 of us are Iranian dissidents. all 3,400 of us live in a place called Camp Ashraf, a self-sustained community about 60 miles north of Baghdad. It was built by my relatives and friends, all members of the opposition People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI).

Residents of Ashraf lived in peace side-by-side with their Iraqi neighbors until the 2003 invasion by the U.S. and its Coalition allies. Then, we handed over our arms to the U.S. voluntarily and signed agreements with the U.S. to remain where we were as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

We were content to remain in Ashraf, live our lives in peace and strive to achieve our goals. But, when the U.S. signed an agreement with the Malaki government in Baghdad to withdraw its forces over the next two years, the rulers in Tehran saw an opportunity to try to remove a thorn (the PMOI) from its side.

Given the tumultuous state of affairs in Iran after the rigged elections, it was more imperative for the clerical regime to destroy its arch enemies. The mullahs prevailed on their friends within the Iraqi government to move on defenseless and civilian Ashraf residents.

The unthinkable happened on July 28: Iraqi forces, trained by the U.S. and using American grenades and humvees, raided Ashraf and started using fire arms three hours after the raid. Eleven people were killed, 500 wounded, and 36 - my friends and I - were taken away.

We were severely beaten. We were severely wounded as the result of the beatings and being run over by Iraqi humvees, with some suffering broken limbs. We all staged a hunger strike to protest our illegal arrest and the physical and psychological torture during detention. Our journey to an unknown future began.

After days in a makeshift cell outside Ashraf, we were taken to a prison in the city of Khalis. The judge, after reviewing all the evidence, issued three consecutive verdicts for our immediate release. But the Iraqi government ignored them.

Instead of being released, on October 1, we were beaten in our cells and taken ultimately to al-Muthana Prison in a Baghdad suburb. That's when we decided not to take in water, even though we knew we were fighting the clock.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human Rights, World Organization Against Torture, Human Rights Watch, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, and hundreds of parliamentarians, Members of U.S. Congress and international figures, emarked a campaign for our release.

On that sunny morning, as my life ebbed, my mind was on all the years that had gone by. One thought kept coming back: My ultimate dream of a free and democratic Iran; this was the goal that first had taken me to Ashraf as a young man and had given me the impetus throughout this saga.

I had lost the sense of time when the door to our cell was opened. I saw more troops. What did they want on our last day? What is left to be said? They knew we would not cave in to their demands.

But they said we were released and were going back to Ashraf. Our hunger strike and the international pressures compelled Iraqis to release us. We arrived there, on the verge of death, and were taken immediately to receive urgent medical care.

Now, I am hardly back on my feet and can enjoy the beautiful sun again - and I have a story to tell. But why should anyone listen?

The reason is simple: what happened to us can happen to others unless something is done to protect the defenseless residents of Ashraf. The mullahs want them eliminated, and regrettably they have the ear of Baghdad now that the U.S. is leaving.

It is essential that a permanent UN monitoring team be deployed in Ashraf to prevent further attacks and our forced displacement as well as to ensure the safeguarding of our fundamental rights and protections under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Also, the U.S. government must keep its agreement with the people of Ashraf that U.S. forces will protect them at least until the end of 2011, when the American withdrawal is completed.

And the world must watch what happens because it will be an indicator of which way Iraq is going - further into Tehran's camp or into a new future as a true democracy in the Middle East.

Mostafa Sanaie is a flight engineer. He studied in Northrop University, California. He is an expert in flight engineering of Boeing 727. He has been living in Ashraf, Iraq for the past 20 years. 


Source:
http://ncr-iran.org/content/view/7304/1/

European Parliament adopts urgent resolution on Iran

The European Parliament adopted an urgent resolution on the situation of human rights in Iran on Thursday in Strasbourg. The MEPs called for the release of prisoners arrested in the demonstrations that followed the June 2009 sham elections, the abolition of the death penalty and respect for press freedom.
Number of MEPs recalled the late July attack by Iraqi forces on members of the Iranian opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/ MEK), in Camp Ashraf in Iraq, which was carried out upon the order of Khamenei, mullahs’ Supreme Leader. They called for implementation of the April 24, 2009 European Parliament resolution on the rights of Ashraf residents.

Iran

MEPs call for the release of prisoners arrested in the demonstrations that followed the June 2009 elections, the abolition of the death penalty and respect for press freedom, in a resolution on the human rights situation in this Islamic republic.


The resolution condemns the massive and excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and possible torture to repress protest movements since Iran's controversial presidential election. MEPs ask that the International Committee of the Red Cross be permitted to see all prisoners, without exception.

MEPs reiterate their call for the death penalty to be abolished. (6). They condemn death sentences and executions in Iran, and in particular those passed or enforced on juvenile delinquents or minors. MEPs protest against the execution in Iran, on 11 October, of minor Behnood Shojaee, who was hanged in breach of recognised international legal guarantees in this area.

The resolution deplores the systematic restriction of freedom of information by blocking internet sites, which are prevented from reporting on unauthorised demonstrations, and the creation of new restrictions, which require journalists to obtain an authorisation before reporting on any event. MEPs call for the immediate release of Fariba Pajooh, a young Iranian-Canadian journalist and celebrated blogger, who was arrested at home in Teheran on 24 August 2009.

Specter of forced repatriation

Allan Gerson

Death no longer stalks the White House gates. The hunger strike of more than two dozen Iranian-Americans (as part of a vigil of hundreds of concerned people) came to a close Thursday with the news that 36 Iranian dissidents forcibly taken by Iraqi forces had been allowed to return - most in emaciated condition - to their enclave at Camp Ashraf, 60 miles north of Baghdad.

For more than 70 days, the hunger strike and vigil continued with the demand for the release of the hostages and protection for the 3,400 members of Iran's main opposition group, the mujahedeen (MEK), stationed at Camp Ashraf.

But it would be a mistake of enormous proportions to believe that the problem of Camp Ashraf and the specter of forced repatriation of its members to Iran or forced displacement inside Iraq (where the dissidents would be exposed to terrorist attacks by Tehran's operatives) are no longer a matter of grave humanitarian and national security concern. We should not be lulled into a false sense of safety that the problem has gone away.

At stake are the lives thousands of MEK members who are dedicated to the overthrow of Iran's mullah regime and its replacement by a democratic pluralistic government.

On July 28 and 29, Iraqi forces - undoubtedly heeding the call of Iran, which wants nothing as much as the eradication of the camp and the repatriation of its residents to Iran - forcibly entered the enclave. The operation against the unarmed and defenseless residents left 11 dead, hundreds wounded and 36 arrested.

The State Department maintains that sovereignty over all of Iraq, including Camp Ashraf, belongs to the government of Iraq and brushes off serious concern by pointing out that in any event, the MEK remains on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.

But Iraqi sovereignty does not entitle neglect of the U.S. promise to protect the residents of Camp Ashraf. This concerns a solemn pledge made by U.S. forces early in 2004, when they entered the enclave and signed written agreements stipulating that the residents would be granted protected-persons status under the Geneva Conventions until their final disposition.

The MEK terrorist designation, as concerns Americans, revolves around its purported role in the death of six American service members and military contractors 35 years ago.

As corroborated by former Assistant Secretary of State Martin Indyk, the designation in 1997 came about largely as a result of President Clinton's efforts to induce Iran's then-president, Mohammed Khatami, to adopt a more moderate posture. (It didn't work.)

In this context, it appeared on an internal State Department determination, which held that terrorism against our foes (even if directed against judges issuing death sentences without recourse to legal process) should be of as much concern to the United States as terrorism directed against American citizens.

The highest court in the United Kingdom recently overturned the terrorist designation in Britain as totally without merit. A similar conclusion was reached by the European Union. Interestingly enough, when the MEK filed a petition for revocation of its designation in July 2008, the State Department's top counterterrorism official, Gen. Dell L. Dailey, recommended that the petition be granted.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, however, overruled him - ostensibly because of the department's zeal not to allow anything to undercut its efforts to negotiate directly with Tehran.

Having been involved as an attorney for the PanAm 103 families in their quest to hold Libya accountable for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, I had dealt with the conditions for removal of Libya from the State Department list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Clear criteria for designation of an organization as a terrorist entity, and its corollary - clear criteria for de-designation - are essential if we are to remain a country of laws rather than one where diplomatic whim controls despite severe legal consequences. Yet, in dealing with MEK designation, the State Department refuses to specify applicable criteria. Such a posture degrades the terrorist designation to a mere political tool.

Clearly, neither Iraqi sovereignty nor the unwarranted U.S. terrorist designation can justify turning a blind eye to the fate of 3,400 people at Camp Ashraf who have dedicated their lives to ending the mullah regime in Tehran.

This is not only a matter of grave humanitarian concern, but also one that bears serious implications for U.S. national security interests. What lesson, after all, would Iran draw if we were to allow repatriation of the residents of Camp Ashraf?

What lesson would the world draw if it witnessed the U.S. government's inability to curry any influence with Iraq, a country in which we have invested so much of our resources and human treasure?

What is to be done? I recommend that two steps be taken immediately:

1.) President Obama or a high-level envoy needs to forcefully tell Iraq's leadership that the U.S. government will not countenance repatriation of the residents of Camp Ashraf or their forcible displacement within Iraq. The only safe place for them is Ashraf. Muted State Department assurances cannot suffice. In any event, no European or other nation seems prepared to welcome the residents of Camp Ashraf to its own shores.

2.) The U.N. secretary-general needs to express the United Nation's concern and work to set up a monitoring post at Ashraf to ensure that they are protected.

These steps are in America's interest. It cannot afford to ignore the potential for atrocities against the residents of Camp Ashraf. To abandon the MEK in their hour of need, especially when they are staunch opponents of the regime in Tehran, would only serve to encourage Iran to pursue its militaristic policies at home and abroad and to dispel the trust of America's allies.

Source:
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/13/specter-of-forced-repatriation/

IRAQ: All 36 Camp Ashraf residents released but OMCT remains concerned about the situation in Camp Ashraf

Geneva, 12 October 2009. The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) welcomes the release of the 36 Camp Ashraf residents, who were arrested and allegedly tortured and ill-treated during their detention following the raid by the Iraqi security forces on the Camp on 28 July 2009. However, OMCT repeats its call upon the United States (US) authorities and the United Nations (UN) to take effective measures to protect all Camp Ashraf residents.

On 7 October 2009, the 36 residents were released and returned to Camp Ashraf. Several of them were immediately hospitalised upon their arrival at the camp due to their poor health conditions. They were allegedly tortured and ill-treated during their detention and had been on a hunger strike to protest their arrest. According to the same information received, the 36 persons had been first held at a police station, some 25km from the Camp, and then moved to a military airbase in Baghdad, in flagrant violation of a judicial order by the investigative judge in the town of al-Khalis to release them.

OMCT recalls that about 3,500 members of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), an Iranian opposition group that left Iran for political reasons in order to escape persecution and to organise resistance against the Iranian regime, are living in Camp Ashraf, since 1986. In April 2009, the Iraqi security forces surrounded the Camp following several statements by both Iranian and Iraqi officials that the PMOI should be expelled from Iraq and the Camp closed, although their members have been designated as “protected persons” under Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the guarantees of which were clearly stipulated in various Protocols signed by the US forces. On 28 July 2009, the Iraqi security forces entered Camp Ashraf with bulldozers, and used grenades, teargas, water canons and pepper spray against Ashraf residents. At least eight people were killed and several persons injured during the raid.

In light of these events, OMCT reiterates its previous calls:

to the Iraqi authorities:

    * not to forcibly return any Camp Ashraf resident to Iran where he or she would be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment;

to the United States (US) authorities:

    * to ensure the effective protection of Camp Ashraf with the immediate transfer of the responsibility for its protection to the US forces, pending the establishment of an international force;

to the United Nations (UN):

    * to send a representative to collect information on the situation in Camp Ashraf in order to inform thereon the relevant UN human rights bodies, including the Human Rights Council, and, if necessary, to immediately urge the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Iraq and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) to set up a permanent presence in the Camp for purposes of monitoring and protecting the situation;
    * to decide to promptly carry out an international investigation into the alleged human rights violations that took place during and following the raid carried out by Iraqi security forces on the Camp on 28 July.

Contact:
Eric Sottas, Secretary General: + 41 22 809 49 39 / Email: omct@omct.org

Source:
http://www.omct.org/index.php?id=&lang=eng&actualPageNumber=1&articleId=8847&itemAdmin=article

OMCT-Related Statements/Urgent Appeals - English
Call for the immediate release of the 36 residents of Camp Ashraf

Fear for the safety of 36 Camp Ashraf residents who are currently detained by the Iraqi security forces

Iran’s heavy hand on human rights

By Gary Morsch

AS US officials grapple with Iran’s drive to acquire nuclear weapons, they also need to address its human rights abuses against its own people as well as the regime’s meddling in Iraqi affairs.

Soldiers don’t concern themselves with politics; we leave that to the politicians. There are times, though, when a soldier makes an exception. Like all American troops who have been deployed to Iraq, I went to serve my country and to help bring peace and democracy to the Middle East. I’m a doctor from Kansas and a colonel in the Army Reserve, and I served for a year in Ashraf, about 60 miles north of Baghdad.

Of all the places I’ve been in Iraq, Ashraf was probably the most peaceful. It was established 23 years ago by a group of Iranian dissidents, all members of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, who want to see democracy return to their homeland. They fled Iran shortly after the 1979 revolution because they opposed the theocratic state that had been established. Thousands of their friends had been slaughtered by the ruling ayatollahs’ henchmen.

In the middle of the desert, they turned a dry wasteland into an oasis. They built schools and hospitals, shopping areas, and places for sports and recreation and concerts. Even Iranian students who had gone to America to further their education returned to Ashraf.

And the Iraqi people befriended them.

After the US-led invasion in 2003, the People’s Mujahedin of Iran turned over their weapons to coalition forces and submitted to months of investigation - to prove that they were not terrorists and only wanted to live in peace.

The more I saw, the more I began to like the people of Ashraf. They are committed to the goals of democracy and a free Iran. Indeed, I learned that it was the People’s Mujahedin that first divulged the nuclear buildup within Iran, alerting the world to the danger the mullahs in Tehran posed.

Ashraf has been protected by an agreement with the United States under the Fourth Geneva Convention. But the pending withdrawal of US troops has left the area in a kind of no-man’s land.

Iraqi forces now control their own country, which is fine for most situations. But the Iraqi leadership is growing closer to Tehran, which wants Ashraf closed and its people sent back to Iran - to an ill fate one can only imagine.

On July 28, Iraqi police and military forces stormed Ashraf at the behest of Tehran. Eleven residents were killed, 500 wounded, and 36 were held hostage for 71 days.

And where were the American protectors? From the video clips I watched, they stood by and observed, doing little to stop the carnage.

The Obama administration criticized Iraqi security forces and their brutal attitude, but this is not enough. Iraqi forces still occupy parts of Ashraf. The lives of 3,400 people who trusted the United States are on the line. Knowing of their need for medical care, I have volunteered to go and provide medical assistance to the wounded in Ashraf.

I am sad for the people of Ashraf and angered by the American inaction. It was an embarrassing moment for me as a doctor, a soldier, a humanitarian, and above all as an American.

The nation I serve made a commitment to protect these people. While I was there, I carried out that mission. The Obama administration must find a way to honor that commitment, especially now. It is obvious that the winds of change are blowing across Iran. The fundamentalist mullahs in Tehran know that they are in trouble with their own people. The president needs to act now.

Dr. Gary Morsch is an Army Reserve colonel. 
Source:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/10/10/irans_heavy_hand_on_human_rights/

36 Ashraf Hostages were released

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”

Free At last, after 72 days, the 36 Ashraf residents, who had been abducted, were released and safely returned to Camp Ashraf.

Many of the hostages, who were on a hunger strike, are seriously ill but in a very high spirit. They were immediately taken to Ashraf medical center for treatment.

Mrs. Rajavi, Iranian opposition leader, who had repeatedly asked the hunger strikers to break their fast, sent a video message via satellite television to express her joy and commended their decision to end their hunger strike. President-elect of the Iranian resistance thanked Iranian compatriots, Iraqi officials and tribal leaders, members of parliaments and jurists, international human rights organisations across the globe for their relentless efforts to release the 36 hostages.

Also in London, hunger strikers ended their 72-day fast celebrating this victory.

Twelve  people in UK and hundreds more in 21 countries started to fast which continued for more than ten weeks in solidarity with abducted Ashraf residents in an attempt to convince international authorities to help with release of the 36 fellow Iranians taken hostage in a violent raid on Ashraf in July.

Upon hearing the news of the hostages’ release, everyone was crying, dancing, singing in the street in Grosvenor square in front of the US Embassy.
Video Clip
Celebrations continued late into the night. It was a truly wonderful end to a long rally for humanity, justice and love.

Huge international pressure, prompted by hunger strikers, helped bring about their release.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, the vice president of the European Parliament, Dr Alejo Vidal-Quadras, and the former Prime Minister of Algeria, Sid Ahmed Ghozali, and thousands of parliamentarians, jurists, human rights icons, dignitaries and personalities across the world condemned the Iraqi regime for failing to release the refugees, despite three separate rulings by Iraqi judges.

Amnesty International joined the chorus of voices denouncing the actions of Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri Al-Maliki with another Urgent Action appeal which was its 12th statement since the ordeal started.

The hunger strikers chanting: "This is a huge victory for the people of Iran, for democracy, for humanity”.

However, the return of the hostages is just one of the hunger strikers' demands. They vowed to resume their fast if UN and US forces did not agree to monitor the camp and provide security from Iraqi forces.

Time to Celebrate

Please come to celebrate this great victory with us and with the brave men and women of camp Ashraf who have peacefully withstood this aggression using their tolerance and their bodies to shield their rights.

We are holding a vigil at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday 10 October, in front of the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square.

Event includes; Music, videos, presentation and speeches by dignitaries and humanitarian personalities and the latest update on the situation at the camp. Refreshments will be available.

Date: Saturday 10 October, 2009
Time: 17:30
Place: Grosvenor Square, Opposite the US Embassy
Closest tube station: Bond Street - Central Line

Please attend and bring your friends along to share the joy of a successful grass root humanitarian act.

PS. This event is FREE TO ATEND

UN human rights office welcomes release of Iranian detainees in Iraq

United Nations human rights officials today welcomed the Iraqi Government’s decision to release 36 members of an Iranian dissident group who had been detained since July when security personnel used force to take control of the camp where they had been staying.

Rupert Colville, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told journalists in Geneva that the world body was grateful that the Government had responded to a request from High Commissioner Navi Pillay to release the detainees.

The 36 people are part of around 3,400 members of the People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mujahedin-e Khalq, who have been living in Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s Diyala province.

In a two-day operation in late July, Iraqi security personnel took control of Camp Ashraf. Eleven people were killed and dozens more were wounded in that operation, Mr. Colville said.

“All detainees in Iraq, including members of PMOI, are entitled to proper judicial procedures and – if there is evidence they may have committed a crime – a fair trial,” he said. “They should be granted all the rights guaranteed to them under international and domestic laws.

“The Iraqi court at al-Khalis, where the detainees were first held, twice ordered their release because of a lack of credible evidence, but for reasons which remain unclear they continued to be held in detention for a total of some two and a half months.”

Mr. Colville stressed that OHCHR considers it “a matter of paramount importance that a long-term solution be found for the residents of Camp Ashraf, inside Iraq or elsewhere. We recognize that the past history of several members of this group is a complicating factor. But the status quo is not tenable.

“In the meantime, the fundamental rights of the camp’s occupants should be respected, including the right not to be forcibly returned to their home country so long as there is a risk of torture.”

Mr. Colville said OHCHR and the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) would continue to monitor the situation in Camp Ashraf.

Source:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32484&Cr=iraq&Cr1=#

Camp Ashraf groups vow to fight on

By Sebastian Usher
BBC News

Supporters of the residents of a camp for Iranian dissidents in Iraq say they will continue their international protests demanding the US and the UN give them protection.

On Wednesday, dozens of supporters around the world ended a 72-day hunger strike after one of their main demands was met - the release of 36 Camp Ashraf inmates detained by the Iraqi authorities for the past two-and-a-half months.

They were seized during a raid on 28 and 29 July.

Video filmed by people in Camp Ashraf appears to show Iraqi police and soldiers shooting and beating camp residents.

Up to 11 are reported to have been killed and hundreds wounded.

Camp Ashraf was handed over to Iraqi government control at the start of 2009 by the Americans. US forces had taken control of the camp after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

It had long been one of the main bases of the Iranian dissident group, the People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI).


Health problems

Camp Ashraf is now home to more than 3,000 people. The Americans provided protection for them against outside threats from Iran and Iraq.

After the seizure of the 36 camp residents in July, an international campaign was mounted to to put pressure on Iraq to release them.

Hunger strikes were held in several major cities around the world to publicise the case. In London, 12 relatives and friends of people in the camp kept up their hunger strike outside the US embassy for 72 days.

Now the detainees have been released, they've ended their hunger strike, which consisted of taking only tea and sugar to keep them alive.

Their spokeswoman Laila Jayazeri says they now have serious health problems - and are under observation in hospital.

Ms Jayazeri says their action played a vital role in securing the detainees' freedom.

But she says the protests will continue, to demand that US forces resume control of the camp, that the UN supplies a monitoring team there - and that none of the inmates are sent to Iran.

Repatriation fear

Camp Ashraf presents the US with a difficult dilemma.

Its handover of control in January was part of its phased withdrawal from Iraq.

The Iraqi government gave assurances that the inmates would be treated humanely and not forcibly returned to Iran. The raid in July put this in question.

Camp residents say the Shia-led Iraqi government - which has close political ties with Tehran - is receptive to Iranian pressure to expel them. They fear that if they are repatriated, they could face torture, imprisonment or execution.

If the US allowed this to happen, it would not fit well with Washington's professed support for opposition activists in Iran.

The issue is further complicated by the fact that the PMOI is still designated a terrorist organisation in the US - a label the European Union lifted earlier this year.


(...Excerpts)
Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8297457.stm