On July 28, 2009, the Iraqi forces, directed by Nuri al-Maliki working at the behest of Iran tyrant rulers, launched a bloody assault on unarmed and defenseless residents of Camp Ashraf. The attack left 11 residents dead, hundreds wounded and 36 abducted. The American forces at the scene refrained from intervening and prevent the assault.       … [Read more...]

 THE HUFFINGTON POST This eyewitness account by a victim of Iraqi brutality against defenseless Iranian dissidents in Iraq is must reading -- on both humanitarian and national interest grounds.   Ashraf, Iraq - On October 7, as the sun came up and I sat in my little prison cell in a suburb of Baghdad, I realized this could be the last sunrise I would see. I always loved the sun. It is particularly gorgeous this time of year in Baghdad. But I was too frail to stand up to see it. I could have asked for help as I was surrounded by 35 friends. But none of them was in a position to help. It was the 72nd day of our hunger strike, the last seven a dry hunger strike, meaning that for … [Read more...]

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE BAGHDAD — Iraqi authorities have released 36 Iranian dissidents who had been imprisoned for months, were on hunger strike for weeks and also lately refused water, a spokesman for the prisoners said on Wednesday. The members of the People's Mujahedeen, an exiled opposition group, were seized during a raid on Camp Ashraf, a refugee base in Diyala province north of Baghdad in July that left 11 people dead, and are now mostly in ill-health. "On the 72nd day of their hunger strike and seventh day of a dry hunger strike, 36 ... hunger strikers who had been taken hostage in Iraq returned triumphantly to Camp Ashraf," said spokesman Shahriar Kia. "Upon their … [Read more...]

ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD - A group of 36 Iranian opposition members were returned Wednesday to an exile camp in northern Iraq after nearly three months in Iraqi custody and despite an ongoing effort to expel them, a government spokesman said. The men were returned to Camp Ashraf, where nearly 3,500 members of the People's Mujahedeen of Iran have been confined since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, while the Iraqi government works to find a country other than Iran that will take them, said spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. The opposition group claimed the 36 were on a hunger strike during their detention and were in a weakened state when they arrived back at Camp Ashraf. "We demand the … [Read more...]

 DPA Baghdad - Iraqi authorities on Wednesday freed 36 members of an Iranian opposition group detained during July clashes between Iraqi security forces and members of the group. The detainees were taken into custody during clashes between members of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI) and Iraqi security forces entering the group's base at Camp Ashraf in northern Iraq. Seven members of the group died in the clashes. A spokesman for the group, also known as the Mujahedin-e Khalq, said the freed detainees had been beaten in custody and that "most of them were on the verge of death." The PMOI was founded in 1965 to oppose the government of the shah. In 1981, after the Iranian … [Read more...]

Miami Herald - McClatchy News Service Despite a judge's order to free 36 Iranian dissidents, Iraqi security officials forcibly transferred them to a prison in southern Iraq. BAGHDAD -- Iraqi security officials beat and forcibly transferred 36 members of an Iranian dissident group to a remote southern prison despite an Iraqi judge's orders to free them, the judge and the group's leaders said Monday. International human rights groups have called for government intervention to protect the Iraq-based camp of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, a militant group that's committed to overthrowing the neighboring Iranian government. The Shiite Muslim-led Iraqi government, which has close ties to … [Read more...]

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE STRASBOURG, September 30, 2009 (AFP) - Council of Europe parliament members on Wednesday called on the United Nations and the United States to guarantee the safety of Iranian dissidents at a camp in Iraq following clashes in July. Iraqi forces launched a deadly raid on Camp Ashraf, in Diyala province near the Iranian border, in July, killing 11 people and raising concerns about residents' safety. Seventy-three Council of Europe parliamentarians called on US military forces in Iraq to guarantee the rights of camp residents and protect them against violence. The parliament members from about 15 countries also called for UN observers to be stationed at the camp … [Read more...]

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE 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 … [Read more...]

ASSOCIATED PRESS LONDON — The Archbishop of Canterbury said Sunday that the U.S. and Iraq must protect the residents of Camp Ashraf from violence and abuse.The situation in Camp Ashraf "constitutes a humanitarian and human rights issue of real magnitude and urgency," Archbishop Rowan Williams said in a statement on his Web site. "There is a strong argument in terms of international law that the Ashraf residents are "protected persons." he said. "Both the government of Iraq and the government of the United States - as the agency responsible for the transfer of the residents to another jurisdiction - have an obligation to secure the rights of these residents and to defend them from … [Read more...]

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE LONDON(AFP) – The head of the Church of England said Sunday that Iraqand the United Stateshave a duty to protect Iranian refugees in a camp in Iraq from violence or abuse. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said events at Camp Ashraf northeast of Baghdad "constitute a humanitarian and human rights issue of real magnitude and urgency". "There is a strong argument in terms of international law that the Ashraf residents are 'protected persons'," he said in a statement. Iraqi forces launched a deadly raid on the camp, in Diyala province, in July, killing 11 people, raising concerns about residents' safety. Iraq gained sovereignty over the camp on … [Read more...]