WASHINGTON: On Friday November 1st, as Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s will be visiting the White House, Iranian-Americans and human rights advocates will hold a rally to urge President Obama to shun al-Maliki and hold him accountable for the September 1 massacre of 52 defenseless residents of Camp Ashraf and abduction of seven more, including six women.
The protesters will join a bi-partisan group of Senators and House Members, to urge the President to cut off aid to Iraq until al-Maliki, becoming increasingly subservient to the Iranian regime, releases the seven hostages and hands over the perpetrators of the September 1 massacre.
Partial list of Speakers:
- Newt Gingrich, Fmr Speaker of the House of Representatives;
- Tom Ridge, Fmr Homeland Security Secretary;
- Patrick Kennedy, Fmr Member, U.S. House of Representatives;
- Robert G. Torricelli, Fmr Senator from New Jersey;
- Col. Wes Martin, Fmr Camp Ashraf Commandant
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
WHERE: Outside the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
CONTACT: Majid Roshan, US Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR)
PHONE: 202-640-1947
E-mail: info@usccar.org
BACKGROUND: On September 1, 2013 Iraqi Special Forces ambushed 101 defenseless and unarmed residents of Camp Ashraf, Iraq, members of Iran’s principal opposition group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK). They blew up buildings and property and went on a killing spree, murdering 52 residents, six of them women. “All the deceased have suffered gunshot wounds, the majority of them in the head and the upper body, and several with their hands tied,” the UN said in a statement. The residents of Camp Ashraf had been recognized as “Protected Persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention by the US Government in 2004. Since the U.S. handed over the protection of these dissidents to Iraq in 2009, as many as 112 have been murdered in five separate attacks.