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In this Issue:
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Camp Ashraf: Iraqi police blocks entry of workers,
basic needs,
NCRI Press Release,
June 9,
2009
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Credible Threats and Valid
Intelligence about Iran,
Human Events,
June 5, 2009
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Iraqi MPs write to UN Secretary General, call
for Camp Ashraf protection,
NCRI Website,
June 6, 2009
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Iranians hold demonstrations in front of
Iraqi embassies in various countries,
NCRI Website, June 5,
2009
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Arabs and the siege on Camp Ashraf,
NCRI Website, June 6,
2009
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France Libertes: Iraq must recognize rights
of Camp Ashraf residents,
NCRI Website, June
9,
2009
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"Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their
persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and
practices, and their manners and customs.”
Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention
“In no circumstances shall a protected person be transferred to a country where
he or she may have reason to fear persecution for his or her political opinions
or religious beliefs.”
Article 45 of the Fourth Geneva Convention
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Camp Ashraf: Iraqi police
blocks entry of workers, basic needs
NCRI Press Release
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
In the fourth month of siege of Ashraf, Iraqi police fully blocked entry of
workers and basic needs to Ashraf
International call to remove police from Ashraf and end inhuman blockade
NCRI - On Monday, June 8, 2009, Iraqi police prevented workers from entering
Camp Ashraf for the fourth consecutive day. They were threatened and sent back.
In the past five months about one third of workers in Ashraf who were about 750
at the end of 2008 were able to enter Ashraf after passing through various
controls and obstacles but in recent days not even one worker could get in...
Ashraf residents in their letters to international organizations and American
officials have highlighted that the entry of the police to Ashraf while Iraqi
military as well as American forces acting as observers are present, can only
serve the suppressive aims dictated by the Iranian regime. This is while there
has never been a security problem inside Ashraf since its inception 23 years
ago...
Moreover, in April, all residents of Ashraf were fingerprinted and interviewed
privately by the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights outside Ashraf one by one. They
all stressed on their legal rights. Thus, in these circumstances, the entry of
police to the Camp is totally unjustified, specially where some 1000 women
members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) stay in there.
Fourteen parliamentary committees in Europe and North America as well as the
International Committee of Jurists in Defense of Ashraf (ICJDA) and the
International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ) comprised of 8,500 jurists
and 2,000 Parliamentarians respectively from various countries, have reiterated
that the Iranian regime's goal is to cause a humanitarian catastrophe in
Ashraf...
Parliamentarians and jurists have stressed in their letters to President Obama
that due to the pressures by the Iranian regime on the Iraqi government to
suppress Ashraf residents (remarks by Khamenei on February 28, Ahmadinejad on
May 19 and Jalili, the regime's Supreme National Security Council secretary on
May 21, 2009), the only solution in present circumstances is for the American
forces to assume protection of Ashraf.
The jurists have advised their clients in Ashraf that in the absence of their
lawyers and while they are under siege and attacked by the police, not to sign
any document or engage in any negotiations until the Iraqi government declares
its compliance with the European Parliament resolution of April 24 on the
humanitarian situation of Ashraf residents...
Read
More
Back to the Top
Credible Threats and Valid Intelligence about Iran
Human Events
June 5, 2009
by Raymond Tanter
Professor Raymond Tanter is a former senior staffer of the National Security
Council in the Reagan-Bush Administration and is President of Iran Policy
Committee.
... The Iranian dissident group that revealed information about Natanz is the
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), parliament in exile of the main
Iranian opposition groups, the most prominent of which is the People’s Mojahedin
Organization of Iran (PMOI, aka the Mujahedeen-e Khalq or MEK). Its revelations
proved to be vital in bringing American foreign policy to a more up-to-date
assessment and formulation about the Iranian threat, thus contributing to
American security in the long term...
Receiving such valuable intelligence depends on the survival of the most crucial
member organization of the NCRI coalition, the PMOI, which is headquartered in
Ashraf, Iraq, and has a vast clandestine network of supporters inside Iran;
among other things, that network helped these Iranian dissidents expose Iran’s
nuclear program. Understandably, Tehran has launched an extensive campaign,
complete with a sophisticated propaganda machine and supplied with billions of
dollars in state funds, aimed at destroying or, at least, expelling the group
from Iraq. Some officials within the Iraqi government have bent to Tehran’s
will...
In accordance with its international obligations and 2004 status of “protected
persons” it granted to the PMOI in Ashraf, Washington has been working against
any displacement of Ashraf residents. At issue is whether the U.S. Government
has demanded the Iraqi government to ensure protection of the PMOI consistent
with the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The United States also could remove the PMOI from its list of Foreign Terrorist
Organizations. Doing so would be both consistent with the facts that the
organization does not meet the criteria for listing; but it would also diminish
the public rationale some in Baghdad continue to use for displacement of Ashraf
residents, which is a ruse to mask the fact that they are acquiescing to the
wishes of Tehran...
Set aside, for the moment, the issue of resolving the Iranian regime’s
sponsorship of terrorism and threat to the region, if not the world. The
supervening issue is whether and how the United States will assure the safety
and freedom of the PMOI members now in Camp Ashraf.
Let’s be blunt: We disarmed them, confined them, and then declared them
“protected persons” under the Geneva Conventions. It would be illegal and
immoral for America to allow them to be turned over to unelected clerics in
Tehran or their proxies in Iraq for what will certainly result in their torture,
imprisonment, and probably murder...
Read More
Back to the Top
Iraqi MPs write to UN
Secretary General, call for Camp Ashraf protection
NCRI Website
June 6, 2009
NCRI - Eleven members of the Iraqi Parliament have sent a letter to the UN
Secretary General, expressing concern about the tightening of a siege on Ashraf
City, home to 3,400 members of the main Iranian opposition, People’s Mojahedin
Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). They urged Ban Ki-Moon to personally intervene
in the matter to ensure the protection and safety of Ashraf residents.
“We consider your personal interference in the matter in the context of the
principle of RtoP [Responsibility to Protect] as a determining factor for the
upholding of international guarantees respecting these residents’ rights,” said
the Iraqi MPs from various parliamentary groups...
Read More
Back to the Top
Iranians hold demonstrations in front of Iraqi embassies
in various countries
NCRI Website
June 5, 2009
NCRI - Protests by Iranian exiles against a siege on Ashraf City continued this
week in Ottawa, London, and Washington in front of Iraqi embassies. Protestors
condemned the heightening of the siege on Ashraf as well as the sudden intrusion
of police there, demanding the rights of Ashraf residents to be guaranteed.
In Ottawa, a representative from the Iranian Youth Association of Resistance
Supporters in Canada said that the Iraqi police’s illegal actions are the
continuation of the dictated policies of the Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader
against Ashraf... Another participant at the rally in the Canadian capital said:
In order to show its independence, the Iraqi government must comply with the
European Parliament’s resolution on the rights of Ashraf residents as soon as
possible.
In Britain, Iranians gathering in front of the Iraqi embassy in London protested
against the implementation of the Iranian regime’s dictated plots. They urged
the lifting of restrictions and pressures against Ashraf residents.
Across the Atlantic, Iranians in Washington continued their 125th day of
protests in front of the White House. They noted that in accordance with
international law, the US government bears the responsibility to protect Ashraf
residents and to ensure respect for their rights. The demonstrators urged the US
President to personally intervene in the matter in order to prevent the
occurrence of a humanitarian catastrophe in Ashraf City...
Read
More
Back to the Top
Arabs and the siege on Camp Ashraf
Al-Arab al-Youm (Jordanian daily)
June 6, 2009
Excerpts of text translated from Arabic to English
We have readily seen the brave, positive, prudent, and consistent position of
European governments, institutions, people, and organizations when it comes to
humanitarian issues and politics of freedom. So was Europe’s stance on Ashraf
City, the bastion of members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran
(PMOI/MEK). This city has been placed under siege for more than a month now
after pressures from Tehran, in violation of international laws and principles,
and in contrast to the Iraqi government’s commitment to the American government
regarding the protection of Ashraf, its residents, and respect for its rights.
The European Parliament resolution calling for the Iraqi government’s support
for Ashraf residents, their rights, and their lives, is a clear signal and
highlights Europe’s moral stance.
A question arises here: Do Arab governments, organizations and people have a
similar responsibility when it comes to Ashraf and more broadly the PMOI?
This question has gained more prominence after Europe adopted its decision about
Ashraf. In its plenary session in Strasburg on Friday, April 24, 2009, the
European Parliament passed a very significant resolution about the ensuring of
protection of Ashraf City in Iraq...
What responsibility do Arabs, as Ashraf residents’ brothers, have in relation to
them? … Ashraf residents, one third of whom are women, are now experiencing the
most difficult conditions under siege. Is it not the case that Arab
organizations, institutions, non-government organizations, political figures,
parliamentarians, and finally governments, are responsible when it comes to
Ashraf? …
From a humanitarian perspective, who in this Arab land can truly claim to
respect Arab hospitality customs, while at the same time accepting that the
beautiful city of Ashraf residents, who are guests of genuine Arab customs and
values, has turned into a prison, imprisoning with it the aspirations and
prospects of Iraq and the region?
Even if we put aside the humanitarian aspect, there is a political one. What is
the role of Ashraf that has brought it this much exposure, and why has the
Iranian regime placed such heavy pressure on it? The reason for these pressures
is that if the Tehran regime were to be able to remove this obstacle from its
path or if it can sustain the siege on Ashraf, it would be able to export its
revolution to Iraq and other Arab countries in the region by asserting its
control on Ashraf...
It is now time for Arabs to responsibly come to the fore and demand the lifting
of all restrictions on Ashraf. They should lift the siege on Ashraf and remove
all that can restrict their freedom or rights. They should call on the Iraqi
government to respect their rights...
Read More
Back to the Top
France Libertes: Iraq must recognize rights of
Camp Ashraf residents
NCRI Website
June 9, 2009
NCRI- “France Libertés” Foundation chaired by former French first lady during
Francoise Mitterand’s presidency, Danielle Mitterand, issued a statement calling
on the Iraqi government to “recognize the rights of Ashraf residents” who have
been residing in Iraq “under the protection of international law and the Geneva
Conventions, particularly Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.”...
In its statement, issued on May 28, France Libertés said: “The Iraqi government
must recognize the rights of Ashraf residents who have been residing legally in
Iraq for 23 years under the protection of international law and the Geneva
Conventions, particularly Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.”
“Following the ban by Iraqi authorities on visits by families, lawyers and
parliamentarians from other countries, the Foundation France Libertés is deeply
concerned about the situation of the residents of Ashraf City in Iraq.”...
France Libertés also said, in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva
Conventions, the ban on visits by families, lawyers and parliamentarians should
be lifted without precondition. The Iraqi government, it said, must also respect
the principles of non-refoulement and the right to effective judicial protection
for Ashraf residents, and remove illegal restrictions against them...
Read More
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Back Issues of Ashraf Monitor
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Back Issues of Ashraf Monitor
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About Humanitarian Crisis for
Iranian Dissidents and their Families In Camp Ashraf
Nearly 3,500 members of Iran’s
main opposition, the People’s Mojahedin (PMOI/MEK), residing in Camp Ashraf in
Iraq, are faced with a humanitarian crisis.
Tehran has put the Iraqi
government under tremendous pressure to take over the protection of Camp Ashraf
from the US-led Multinational Force-Iraq. Under current circumstance in
Iraq, such action would be in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention and
International Humanitarian Law. Since 2004, Ashraf residents have been formally
recognized as “Protected Persons“ under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Ashraf Residents are expatriates
holding dual nationality or refugee status of various Western countries. Their
families and relatives are greatly worried for their loved ones in Ashraf.
International Humanitarian Law Obligate U.S. to Provide Continued Protection for
Camp Ashraf Residents in Iraq
On July 2, 2004, the United States formally
recognized members of the PMOI in Camp Ashraf as “protected persons” under the
Fourth Geneva Convention.
Both the U.S. and Iraq are parties to all four
1949 Geneva Conventions.
Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention specifies that:
“Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their
persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and
practices, and their manners and customs […]”.
Article 45 of the Fourth Geneva Convention specifies that:
“In no circumstances shall a protected person
be transferred to a country where he or she may have reason to fear persecution
for his or her political opinions or religious beliefs.“
Under the present circumstances in Iraq, the U.S.
is the only party qualified and capable of ensuring Camp Ashraf residents’
safety and security under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The U.S. forces must
continue to protect Ashraf residents as long as US forces are in Iraq.
About
the U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents:
The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf
Residents (USCCAR) was established in December of 2003 by families and relatives
of residents of Camp Ashraf. The purpose of the Committee is to ensure the
safety and security of those Iranians and others living in Camp Ashraf. The
Committee will defend the proposition that the protections of the Fourth Geneva
Convention, as well as of other treaties and customary international law, must
be applied to the Iranians in Iraq. For more information please visit:
www.usccar.org
About
Ashraf Monitor
Ashraf Monitor newsletter is a
compilation of news and commentaries about the developing humanitarian
crisis for nearly 3,500 members of Iran's main opposition, the People's
Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. Ashraf Monitor is
compiled and distributed by the US Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR).
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