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In this Issue:
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Iraqi Committee in charge of Ashraf suppression
insists on relocation of residents,
NCRI Press Release,
December 15, 2009
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UNAMI calls for continued
consultations on Camp Ashraf,
UNAMI Press Release, December 14, 2009
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U.S. Lawmakers urge Obama to halt relocation
of Iran dissidents,
Agence France Presse, December 15, 2009
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French officials condemn PMOI relocation,
United Press International, December 16,
2009
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Iranian dissident group defies order to
Relocate from Ashraf,
McClatchy Newspapers, December 15,
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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Iraqi
Committee in charge of Ashraf suppression insists on relocation of residents
NCRI Press Release
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
NCRI - At 11:30 on Tuesday, December 15, 2009, 37 police vehicles entered Camp
Ashraf along with a number of Iraqi officials from the suppressive Iraqi
committee called Committee for Closing Ashraf. Some 50 journalists,
photographers, and videographers also entered Ashraf with the same contingent.
After a year-long ban on media, the Iraqi government’s spokesman last week
invited reporters to produce footage of those who refuse to stay in Ashraf and
are willing to leave after a call by the said Iraqi committee.
Ashraf residents did not preclude or resist the police’s entry in any way and
left all doors and buildings open for visits by the police, Iraqi officials and
reporters. (Watch video clips of CNN reports on tour
of Ashraf
here and
here.)
Police forces were stationed in the main streets and squares of Ashraf.
Officials from the Iraqi committee, sent from the Prime Minister’s Office,
demanded a meeting with representatives of the People’s Mojahedin Organization
of Iran (PMOI/MEK). PMOI representatives responded that they would only be
prepared to meet if it is agreed that there would be no discussion about
forcible displacement of residents. Iraqi authorities said in response that
there are no intentions of relocation using force…
Committee officials and Iraqi forces, accompanied by journalists, visited
various locations in Ashraf and spoke to the residents face-to-face, asking them
to leave Ashraf and take residence in luxurious hotels in Baghdad. But, contrary
to their expectations and multiple invitations, not even a single resident
bothered to acknowledge such theatrics and ultimately the minibuses which had
come to displace the residents returned empty…
At around 15:00 local time, Iraqi forces and officials left Ashraf, taking the
journalists with them, even as many of the residents in Ashraf still demanded
interviews with reporters.
The Iranian Resistance emphasizes that the illegal decision of the Iraqi
government for relocation is a prelude to another large humanitarian catastrophe
against Ashraf residents, and calls on the United Nations and the American
government to guarantee the protection of Ashraf residents and ensure prevention
of forcible relocation and a repeat of use of force and violence against them...
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UNAMI calls for continued consultations on Camp Ashraf
United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)
December 14, 2009
Baghdad-14 December 2009- At different meetings with representatives of the
Government of Iraq and with representatives of the diplomatic community in
Baghdad, UNAMI has continued to promote further consultations concerning the
future of the residents of Camp Ashraf.
In light of the Government’s announcement that initial steps will be undertaken
on 15 December, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG)
for Iraq, Ad Melkert, has reiterated the UN’s concern that any action should be
based on the principle that residents should be protected from forcible
deportation, expulsion or repatriation contrary to the non-refoulement
principle.
UNAMI calls on all stakeholders to intensify consultations to look for a
resolution that is consistent with Iraq’s legitimate sovereignty rights and
international law; that will be based on the free expression of personal
preference by individual residents; and that will seriously address options for
voluntary resettlement outside Iraq.
The UN remains committed in the weeks ahead to monitor the situation in the camp
on a daily basis, following the practice of regular monitoring over the past few
years by UNAMI and the High Commissioner on Human Rights...
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U.S. Lawmakers urge Obama to
halt relocation of Iran dissidents
Agence France Presse
December 15, 2009
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US lawmakers Tuesday urged President Barack Obama to stop the
Iraqi government's forced relocation of Iranian dissidents from a border camp
that has been closed down.
After 24 years at Camp Ashraf, the People's Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI), who were
expelled for opposing the Islamic regime of Tehran, on Tuesday began defying
government orders to evacuate the camp.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki wants the more than 3,000 former fighters to
move with their families to the new camp in the desert south of Baghdad as a
first stage towards leaving Iraq.
Democrat Bob Filner, who presented a resolution supporting the refugees at the
House of Representatives, drew attention to the PMOI's plight at a press
conference Tuesday. (See the Associated Press's
photos of the press conference
here and
here)
"We are here to call on whoever will listen, the Iraqi government the US
government, to halt the forcible relocation of the residents of Camp Ashraf," he
told reporters.
The PMOI have warned that the forced evacuation of Ashraf could lead to more
bloodshed as in July when 11 people were killed and 500 injured as Iraqi forces
tried to install a command post inside the camp.
Backed by 120 House members, Filner hopes the House will take up his resolution
before Congress goes into recess for the end-of-year holidays...
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French officials condemn PMOI relocation
United Press International
December 16, 2009
PARIS, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- French officials signed a declaration condemning the
Iraqi move to relocate Iranian dissidents from their enclave in Diyala province,
an opposition group said.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran, a Paris-based umbrella organization
representing Iranian dissident groups, said 2,172 mayors in France signed a
declaration in opposition to a decision in Baghdad to expel members of the
People's Mujahedin of Iran from their Camp Ashraf enclave.
Baghdad last week said the PMOI would be relocated from Camp Ashraf first to
Baghdad and then to a desert outpost in the Shiite south of the country...
The French opposition statement reminds Baghdad that PMOI residents are
considered "protected persons" under international law and calls on the Iraqi
government to abandon its relocation campaign.
Iraqi officials said they would not forcibly expel the residents of Camp Ashraf
but stressed the government would "find suitable solutions" for those who choose
to stay behind...
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Iranian dissident group
defies order to Relocate from Ashraf
McClatchy Newspapers
December 15, 2009
CAMP ASHRAF, Iraq — An Iranian dissident group vowed Tuesday not to abandon its
besieged camp north of Baghdad despite an Iraqi military ultimatum to pull up
stakes or face an eviction that could turn bloody.
Iraqi security forces led a group of international journalists on a tour of the
camp occupied by the Mujahedin-e Khalq, the first time authorities have allowed
media to visit since a deadly raid on the compound last July.
Since then, the 3,000 or so remaining MEK members have been in a standoff with
the Iraqi government, which has imposed a blockade on the camp and a ban on
visitors in an effort to force the former militant group's relocation.
"If the Iraqi government forces us to leave the camp, then we would prefer to
die here," said Hoshkand Dodgani, 49, an MEK member who's spent 23 years at the
camp in Iraq. "Our main sin is our refusal to submit to the Iranian regime."…
U.S. forces disarmed the MEK following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and until
recently the residents lived there in limbo under U.S. protection from the
hostile, new Iranian-supported Iraqi government. Shiite Muslim leaders, many of
whom lived for years in Iran, have been eager to return the dissidents to
Tehran, where they could face prosecution. The Iraqi government has promised to
move the group in accordance with international laws…
Rolling through Camp Ashraf in pickup trucks, Iraqi security forces tossed
pamphlets outlining the government's position, and one officer used a microphone
to read out the points in broken Farsi. Reporters were watched at all times and
allowed only briefly to interview MEK members…
The U.S. government has been criticized for failing to do more to protect the
MEK. During the Iraqi military's raid on Camp Ashraf in July, 11 MEK members
died and U.S. forces at the scene did not step in, according to news accounts of
the incident.
American officials said the formal end of the U.S. occupying authority in 2004
and the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that took effect earlier this year
absolves the U.S. from responsibility for the group.
"Our position is that we have no obligation, and no right under the security
agreement, to provide protection to the residents of Ashraf," U.S. embassy
spokesman Philip Frayne said in a statement Tuesday.
"We still expect the Iraqi government to treat them humanely, in accordance with
its laws and international obligations, and not to forcibly deport them to any
country where they have a fear of torture or persecution."...
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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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