Families of Ashraf Residents Support Anti-government Uprisings in Iran, Denounce Brutal Crackdown

Families of Ashraf Residents Support Anti-government Uprisings in Iran, Denounce Brutal Crackdown

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DECEMBER 28, 2009

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

Washington, DC - The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents expresses its solidarity with the anti-government uprisings during Ashura across Iran. The Committee denounces the atrocities committed by the ruling religious fascism whose forces opened fire on unarmed protesters exercising their universal rights and ran them over with armored and security vehicles.

The U.S. families of residents of Ashraf pay their utmost respect to the martyrs of freedom killed by the security forces. Having lost many loved ones either by Iran’s tyrannical rulers or their Iraqi agents in the past 28 years, Ashraf families express their deepest sympathies with the families of the fallen for the cause of freedom in Iran.

Chants of “Down with Khamenei”, “Down with Dictator,” and calls across Iran for the overthrow of ruling theocracy and establishment of democracy is at the heart of the aspirations of the Iranian Resistance and members of Iran’s main opposition, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) residing in Camp Ashraf.

Indeed, the dramatic rise in efforts by Tehran and its proxies in the Iraqi government to “uproot” the PMOI in Ashraf is the flip side of the regime’s barbaric crackdown on the freedom uprisings at home.

As TIME magazine wrote following the Iraqi forces’ deadly assault on 3,400 defenseless residents of Ashraf last July, “The sudden escalation with Ashraf may have more to do with a bruised Iranian regime's bid to stamp out its opponents both at home and abroad than with any pressing Iraqi national interest.” Similarly in 2007, the French monthly Afrique Asie wrote that “the Iranian rulers are very concerned and alarmed” because of “peoples’ support for Mojahedin-e-Khalq. Today, MEK is highly capable of attracting the young people born and raised after the revolution.”

The US Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents cautions the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that bowing to Tehran’s demand to forcibly displace Ashraf residents as a prelude to turning them over to the Iranian rulers, in exchange for Tehran’s support in the upcoming elections, is betting on a losing horse. As the recent protests in Iraq and Iran show, acting at the behest of the falling Iranian regime is deplored by both Iranians and Iraqis who seek democracy, respect for human rights, and the rule of law in their homelands.

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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