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In this Issue:
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Iranian dissidents held in prison despite Iraqi court
ruling,
Agence France Presse,
September 29,
2009
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Amnesty International urges the
immediate release of 36 Iranian detainees,
Amnesty International,
September 29, 2009
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Lawyers, Human Rights Experts Urge President
Obama to Save the 36 Abducted Residents of Ashraf,
USCCAR,
September 28, 2009
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Church rallies to hunger strikers,
BBC News Service, September 25,
2009
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7,000 rally against Ahmadinejad in New York,
AIAIN, September 16,
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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Iranian dissidents held in
prison despite Iraqi court ruling
Agence France Presse
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
KHALES, September 29, 2009 (AFP) - Iraqi authorities have refused to allow 36
Iranian dissidents seized in a July raid to return to their base despite a court
ruling they must be released, a judicial official said on Tuesday.
The members of the People's Mujahedeen, an exiled opposition group, were
arrested by Iraqi police during a raid on Camp Ashraf, in Diyala province north
of Baghdad, which left 11 camp residents dead.
"I released them; I said that they should go back to Camp Ashraf," Judge Ali al-Timimi
told AFP, referring to a decision he delivered on Sunday.
A judicial official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Iraqi authorities
had refused to release the group because they considered them having illegally
infiltrated Iraq.
"It ... became clear that the allegations were unfounded from the start and were
meant for covering up the crimes against humanity that took place in Ashraf,"
People's Mujahedeen spokesman Shahriar Kia said in an e-mailed statement.
Earlier this month, US Ambassador Christopher Hill vowed to press the Iraqi
government, which the Mujahedeen say answers to Tehran, to live up to assurances
to treat the residents humanely and make sure they are not repatriated to Iran...
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Iraq: Amnesty International urges the immediate release
of 36 Iranian detainees
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement
29 September 2009
A group of 36 Camp Ashraf residents continue to be held at a police station in
the town of al-Khalis, in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, since they were
arrested by Iraqi security forces on 28-29 July 2009. The 36 men are in poor
health and continue to maintain a hunger strike.
According to latest information and after referral to a criminal court in Diyala
province, north of Baghdad, on 16 September the investigative judge in the town
of al-Khalis confirmed his previous ruling of 24 August 2009 ordering the
release of the 36 men on the grounds that they had no charges to answer. A
second charge of illegal residency in Iraq was said to have been dismissed by
the investigative judge. The public prosecutor, who had appealed the
investigative judge’s first ruling, is said to have had no objection to their
release without charge. However, despite the judge’s ruling and the men lawyers’
pleas, the local police at al-Khalis continue to refuse to release the detainees
yet have provided no reasons or legal justification for their continuing
detention.
Amnesty International now urges the Iraqi authorities to immediately and
unconditionally release the 36 Camp Ashraf residents. The organization calls on
the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, to personally intervene and order an
investigation into the failure of the police at al-Khalis to release the 36 men.
Amnesty International reiterates its opposition to any forcible return of
Iranians, including the 36 detainees or other Camp Ashraf residents, to Iran in
circumstances where they would be at risk of serious human rights violations,
including torture and execution...
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Lawyers, Human Rights
Experts Urge President Obama to Save the 36 Abducted Residents of Ashraf
Statement by U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents
Monday, September 28, 2009
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a press conference today,
international law and human rights experts urged President Obama to intervene
immediately to save the lives of 36 Ashraf residents taken hostage by the Iraqi
forces and end the humanitarian crisis in Camp Ashraf in Iraq.
The panelists expressed outrage that despite the third ruling by an Iraqi Court
to have the 36 individuals released, the Iraqi government has refused to abide
by the verdict of its own judiciary.
Steven Schneebaum, U.S. Counsel for the families of Camp Ashraf, said in his
remarks, "Principles of humanitarian and human rights law make it clear that no
state is allowed to hold individuals without charge when the person has not
committed a crime. Under international law it is obligatory that they be
released. The Iraqi Government is clearly violating international law and
President Obama must make it clear to the Iraqis that they should obey the same
set of legal principles that every other civilized country across globe is
required to obey."
Bruce McColm, President of Institute for Democratic Strategies and former
Executive Director of Freedom House, added, "The fact that the Iraqi government
has refused to implement the judgment of its own judiciary demonstrates that it
is doing Tehran's bidding. Let there be no doubt that the responsibility for the
safety and well being of these hostages and those on hunger strike around the
world rests squarely with the Iraqi Prime Minister."
Hamid Goudarzi, a senior engineering researcher from San Antonio, Texas, on a
hunger strike for 62 days outside the White House, emphasized, "The State
Department claims Iraq was exercising its sovereignty when it attacked Camp
Ashraf. What kind of sovereignty is this? The court has ruled three times to
release the 36 hostages, but the Prime Minister has intervened to prevent that.
I have been sitting in front of the White House for past 62 days and the
administration has done nothing. We will stand here as long as it takes."
The 36 hostages were abducted during the July 28-29 deadly assault on Camp
Ashraf by 2,200 Iraqi security forces, in which 11 residents were killed and
nearly 500 were wounded. Ashraf is home to 3,400 members of Iran's main
opposition the People's Mojahedin Organization (PMOI/MEK) and their families...
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Church rallies to hunger strikers
BBC News Service
September 25, 2009
Church of England clergy are to ask the United Nations to help secure the safety
of dissident Iranians living in an Iraqi refugee camp. Residents at Camp Ashraf
say that a recent raid by Iraqi security forces left several people dead.
In response, protesters have been on hunger strike outside the United States
embassy in London for several weeks. At a meeting on Thursday, several
Anglican priests joined the protesters to voice their support.
Relatives and friends of people living in Camp Ashraf have been demonstrating
outside the US Embassy for 60 days. Several of them are on hunger strike,
and some have needed hospital treatment.
More than 3,000 members of the exiled Iranian opposition group, the People's
Mujahadeen of Iran (PMOI), live in Camp Ashraf, which was under the control of
US forces until earlier this year. US forces then handed over control of
the camp to the Iraqi government, which wants to close it.
Last week the Archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement supporting moves to
lobby the US to act to help the residents. Dr Rowan Williams said he was
also in contact with the British government, but urged the hunger strikers to
end their protest.
Church of England clergy joined the group outside the US Embassy on Thursday to
call for American forces to take back control of Camp Ashraf. They say the
US has a legal obligation to guarantee the safety of the camp's inhabitants...
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7,000 rally against Ahmadinejad in New York
Association of Iranian Americans in New York
Thursday, September 24, 2009
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 7,000 Iranians staged a rally
outside the United Nations in New York on Wednesday, to protest against the
presence of the Iranian regime's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at the United
Nations. The participants declared their support for recent uprisings in Iran
and the residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq, home to members of Iran's main
opposition.
The protesters said Ahmadinejad and the regime lacked any legitimacy in the eyes
of the Iranian people, who through their uprisings during the past three months
showed that they want the mullahs out…
The Iranians emphasized that the U.S. must guarantee the rights of the Ashraf
residents in accordance with the International Humanitarian Law in order to
prevent violence against them and their forcible displacement. They also called
on the U.S. to take immediate measures to secure the release of the 36 residents
abducted by the Iraqi agents of the Iranian regime.
They called on the UN to make necessary arrangements for deployment of a UN
supervised monitoring team in Ashraf and to ensure that the fundamental rights,
safety and security of the residents of Ashraf are protected.
Several members of Congress, including Carolyn Meloney (D-NY), Ted Poe (R-TX),
and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) send messages of support for the rally's
objectives...
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About Humanitarian Crisis for
Iranian Dissidents and their Families in Camp Ashraf
More than 3,400 members of Iran’s
main opposition, the People’s Mojahedin (PMOI/MEK) and their families, among
them nearly 1,000 Muslim women, reside in Camp Ashraf in
Iraq. The PMOI was the source of ground breaking revelation in the United
States in 2002 about Iran’s two until-then secret nuclear sites at Natanz and
Arak.
On July 28-29, 2009, Iraqi forces
ordered directly by Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki acting at the behest
of Iran rulers, carried out a violent, unprovoked raid on Camp Ashraf, killing
11 residents, wounding 500, and abducting 36.
The brutal raid on Ashraf was a
blatant violation of the solemn commitment Iraq had given to the United States
that it would provide "humane treatment of the Camp Ashraf residents in
accordance with Iraq’s Constitution, laws, and international obligations."
The assault took place while U.S. service members on the scene were observing
the situation closely. Regrettably they took no action to prevent the
premeditated violence despite direct appeals by Ashraf residents at the outset
and during the attack.
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.“
United States had legal and moral
obligations and responsibilities under international humanitarian law to protect
these Iranian exiles.
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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