USCCAR Deplores Iraq’s Plan for Forcible Deportation of 36 Iranian Dissidents

USCCAR Deplores Iraq’s Plan for Forcible Deportation of 36 Iranian Dissidents, Demands Immediate US Intervention

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 5, 2009

CONTACT: Majid Roshan
PHONE: (202) 640-1947
E-MAIL: info@usccar.org

Washington, DC - The US Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents deplores the decision by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to forcibly deport the 36 residents of Camp Ashraf abducted during the deadly attack on the Camp by Iraqi forces in July.

USCCAR also calls on the Obama administration to live up to its legal and moral obligations to the People of Ashraf, and to intervene to secure the immediate release of the 36 hostages. The administration’s continued silence toward the inhuman and unlawful treatment of these individuals has emboldened Mr. Maliki to pursue their expulsion in blatant violation of international law, Iraq’s own laws and constitution, and written assurances given to the United States.

On Sunday, the Associated Press reported that an official in al-Maliki's office said "Iraq is looking for a country to accept 36 detained members of an Iranian opposition group [PMOI/MEK].” Those men remain in detention despite three judicial decrees that they be released.

Mr. al-Maliki is preparing the ground for transferring the 36 to Iran or to a Tehran-friendly third country which ultimately would send them to Iran. Either would be in flagrant breach of customary and conventional international law, and the standards of international humanitarian law. If any transfer outside Iraq is contemplated, it must be to an EU country or to the United States, where these hostages have family members.

In an ominous development today, the 36 were transferred to a special prison near Al-Muthana Airport which is mainly operated by al-Maliki’s office and notorious for arbitrary and harsh treatment of people held there.

In March 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees also warned competent Iraqi authorities and the Multi-National Force-Iraq “to refrain from any action that could endanger the life or the security of these individuals, such as their forcible deportation from Iraq or their forced displacement inside Iraq.”

In a letter dated October 15, 2008, to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iraq, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged that Government to protect Ashraf residents from forcible deportation, expulsion, or repatriation in violation of the non-refoulement principle, and to refrain from any action that would endanger their life or security.

Mr. al-Maliki is responsible for any harm done to the 36 hostages, many of whom are on the brink of death after 69 days of hunger strike and severe beatings in the hands of security forces.

The United States is also responsible for safety and human rights of these individuals. According to Article 45 of Fourth Geneva Convention this responsibly remains in effect even while Ashraf residents are in the custody of the Government of Iraq, to whom they were transferred in exchange for specific assurances given to the United States. The appalling silence and inaction of the Obama administration, which has superficially lamented about the last July “avoidable tragedy” in Ashraf, could prove deadly for the 36 abductees.

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About Humanitarian Crisis for Residents of 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 Obligates 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