WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The US Committee for
Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) deplores the August 24, 2010, assault
on and severe beating of two residents of Camp Ashraf by the Iraqi
forces. It urges the United States and the United Nations to
intervene immediately to halt the blatant violation of Iraq's
written assurances on humane treatment of Ashraf residents.
USSCAR also calls on the United Nations Secretary General, the
United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq and the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights to also intervene to lift all
restrictions placed on Camp Ashraf.
On August 24, 2010, Iraqi forces used armored vehicles to block one
of the Camp's main streets and obstructed the residents' free
movement. The following day, two Iraqi Intelligence officers in an
aggressive and hostile act dragged two residents of Ashraf, Rahman
Mohammadian and Hossein Kaghazian, from their vehicle at gun point
and beat them up severely. They threatened to arrest and expel the
residents... Read More
Statement by the U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents
USCCAR Welcomes
Secretary Clinton Condemnation of Imminent Executions in Iran
Friday, August 13,
2010
WASHINGTON, DC - The US Committee for
Camp Ashraf Residents welcomes the August 10, 2010 statement by
Secretary of States Hillary Clinton in which she
expressed deep concern over the imminent execution of several
political prisoners in Iran; Jafar Kazemi, Mohammad Haj Aghaei and
Javad Lari, the impending execution of Ebrahim Hamidi, and the
planned stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi.
In addition to the three prisoners of conscience mentioned above,
four other, Messrs. Ali Saremi, Abdolreza Ghanbari, Ahmad and Mohsen
Daneshpour Moghaddam are also on death row. All seven are
sympathizers of the main Iranian dissident group, the People’s
Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and a number of them have
relatives in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. Iran’s state-run media reported that
three other individuals were hanged in public last Wednesday...
Read More
Statement by the U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents
WASHINGTON - The US Committee for Camp
Ashraf Residents welcomes the unanimous judgment on July 16 by a
United States Federal Court of Appeals which said that the
then-Secretary of State, in refusing the petition filed in 2008 by
the main Iranian opposition group, the People's Mojahedin (PMOI/MEK),
to be removed from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO),
had violated the group's due process rights. The Appeals Court
remanded the case to the Secretary for reconsideration with specific
instructions.
The Committee urges the Secretary of State to promptly remove the
PMOI from the FTO list as the Court has recognized that "a strict
and immediate application of the principles of law which we have set
forth herein could be taken to require a revocation of the
designation."
The unjust and unnecessary continued blacklisting of the PMOI has
not only been a major impediment to democratic change in Iran but
has also been used by the governments of Iran and Iraq to subject
our loved ones in Camp Ashraf in Iraq, and inside Iran, to murder
and inhumane treatment... Read More
URGENT:
US Court rules
decision to maintain PMOI on FTO list lacked sufficient evidence
Statement by the
National Council of Resistance of Iran, July 16, 2010
US Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia rules that decision by the Secretary of
State to maintain the PMOI on the FTO list violated due process and
lacked sufficient evidence. Court remands the case to the Secretary
for a review.
NCRI
- The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
issued its judgment today, describing the decision by then-Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice, in refusing to remove the People’s
Mojahedin (PMOI) from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO),
as lacking sufficient evidence, violating the due process and
unlawful. It remanded the case to the Secretary of State and
instructed her to review her decision according to the procedures
specified by the court.
In its judgment, the court said, “[we] recognize that a strict and
immediate application of the principles of law which we have set
forth herein could be taken to require a revocation of the
designation before us[,but]… we also recognize the realities of the
foreign policy and national security concerns asserted by the
Secretary in support of the designation.” We thus… remand with
instructions to the Secretary to provide the PMOI the opportunity to
review and rebut the unclassified portions of the record on which
she relied.”
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, said
in this regard, while upholding justice and abiding the law made it
necessary that this oppressive and unjust designation should have
been completely annulled as was decided by judges in the United
Kingdom and the European Union, nevertheless, this very judgment and
the remand to the Secretary of State demonstrates that the terrorist
label against the PMOI, and the insistence to continue it, has been
merely a political decision in the framework of appeasing the
bloodthirsty mullahs and based on the illusion of changing the
behavior of the medieval regime ruling Iran...
Read More
URGENT: Tehran regime is
trying to set the stage for executing political prisoners and attack on Ashraf
NCRI Press Release
Sunday, 20 June 2010
NCRI - In a frightful reaction to the uprising of the Iranian people on June 20,
last night, the faltering clerical regime relayed a completely false accusation
from the head of Mazandaran province prosecutor’s office who announced that, “5
people have been arrested [in relation] to recent attempts by the PMOI to plant
bombs in several cities in Mazandaran.” He went on to make another absurd claim,
adding, “The Ramsar judiciary worked on behalf of the judiciary system to arrest
these individuals. There is no additional information at this point” (Fars news
agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, June 19, 2010).
The religious fascism ruling Iran has failed to confront public anger and rage
toward the absolute clerical system and has been unable to curb the rising
popularity of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) among the
Iranian people. Officials and media outlets of the clerical regime, which is
also grappling with intense internal fissures and crises, have in the past week
resorted to a series of attempts at hollow show of force in order to raise
morale among their forces, claiming that “a 60-mm mortal launcher as well as
military mortar shells have been discovered on Jomhouri Street” (Javan Online,
June 12, Tabnak website, June 13). They have also announced “the arrest of a
number of PMOI members in Tehran (Tehran Governor, Fars news agency, June 15),
“the arrest of two PMOI terrorist teams that were seeking to plant bombs in
several squares in Tehran” (Heydar Moslehi, Minister of Intelligence, June 15),
as well as “the confessions of two members of the terrorist PMOI grouplet” (Raja
News, June 18)... Read More
Statement by the U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents
-
Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA): "I have difficulty understanding
what has the MEK done, anything remotely, in recent times, that
causes the MEK to be on that [FTO] list."
- Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA): "as the United States begins its
withdrawal, we cannot permit that group of people who are enemies to
the mullah regime basically to be turned over to the mullahs."
WASHINGTON
- At a Congressional briefing on Thursday 10 June, 2010, several
members of the U.S. House of Representatives emphasized the need for
the continued U.S. protection of Camp Ashraf in Iraq. The
bi-partisan call was made in light of the announcement by the United
States military that the U.S. intends to evacuate Camp Grizzly in
Ashraf and turn it over to the Iraqi Security Forces by July 1st.
Many members at the briefing, which coincided with the anniversary
of the uprising in Iran, also called for the removal of Iran's main
opposition, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK),
from the State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations
(FTO).
At
the briefing, Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), Chairman of the House
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and
Trade, remarked that "The world would be better, and of course Iran
would be better, if the people of Iran were able to have a
government worthy of their great culture, worthy of their great
history. Until then, the folks at Camp Ashraf are in a difficult
circumstance and it is critically important that the United States
monitor that camp, both today and after July 1st. We cannot allow a
human rights catastrophe to occur in Iraq just because we are in the
process of leaving."
Referring to the State Department's FTO list and noting that it is
"questionable to list on that list entities which are not enemies of
the United States but are enemies of the enemies of the United
States," the Sherman Oaks lawmaker stated that "I have difficulty
understanding what has the MEK done, anything remotely, in recent
times, that causes the MEK to be on that list. I do know there is no
entity more feared, more hated by the mullahs who run Iran than the
MEK, which is perhaps the finest compliment that could be paid to
that organization." ...
Read More
UN
Secretary General's quarterly report to Security Council stresses on
Ashraf residents rights Friday, May 14, 2010
In his quarterly report to the Security Council, UN Secretary
General stressed the rights of residents of Camp Ashraf, Iraq, for
protection against arbitrary displacement in Iraq or forced
extradition to Iran. Here is an excerpt:
“UNAMI continues to monitor the situation in Camp Ashraf in Diyala
Governorate. … Although no significant outbreaks of violence have
occurred during the reporting period, distrust and tensions between
both sides remained, with limited cooperation regarding access to
services and supplies in the camp. UNAMI, while reiterating the
right of the Government of Iraq to exercise its authority over Camp
Ashraf and the obligation of the camp’s residents to fully respect
the law and the authority of the Government of Iraq, has continued
to advocate for the residents’ unhindered access to goods and
services of a humanitarian nature, as well as for their right to be
protected from arbitrary mass displacement or forced repatriation
against their will in violation of the universally accepted
principle of non-refoulement. UNAMI remains committed to assisting
both parties find an acceptable resolution to this problem.” ...
Read More
Statement by the U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents
WASHINGTON
– Around midnight Thursday, the Iraqi forces attacked residents of
Camp Ashraf, home to 3,400 members of Iran's main opposition, the
People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Threatening to
occupy a number of buildings by force, they used electric batons,
daggers and iron bars in beating up the residents, wounding five.
They also tried to abduct a female resident but were thwarted when
she resisted.
The US Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) deplores this
barbaric attack, clearly carried out at the behest of the Tehran
regime and with the approval of the Iraqi Prime Minister.
The residents of Camp Ashraf were recognized as “Protected Persons”
by the United States in 2004. Since the US transfer of Ashraf’s
protection to the Iraqi government in 2009, the human rights of
Ashraf residents have been systematically breached in violation of
international law and Iraq’s written assurances to the United
States.
Still dumbfounded by the strategic defeat during Iraq’s recent
parliamentary elections, Tehran and its Iraqi surrogates have been
bent on destroying Ashraf. USCCAR demands that the United Nations
must assume the protection of Ashraf residents before another
humanitarian tragedy occurs. The Committee also urges President
Obama to guarantee the protection of Ashraf residents consistent
with the US government's signed agreement to this effect with Ashraf
residents in 2004...
Read More
BREAKING NEWS
Iraqi forces attack Ashraf residents in
support of Iranian regime's agents
Statement by the National Council of Resistance of Iran
Friday, 16 April 2010
NCRI - On Thursday evening, at about 23:30 local time, in a failed
attempt, Iraqi forces attacked Ashraf residents. The assault took
place in support of the agents of the Iranian regime’s Ministry of
Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and the terrorist Quds Force
stationed at the entrance of Ashraf for the past 66 days.
The agents, with full support of the Iraqi army battalion and the
clerical regime’s embassy in Baghdad, have been psychologically
torturing the residents of Ashraf. Using high powered amplifiers and
loudspeakers they have been threatening to “set fire” and “close
down” Ashraf and “kill” PMOI members residing in the camp and to
“pull their tongues out of their throats.” The agents have been
disrupting peace for the camp residents. Video clips and pictures of
these agents have been regularly provided to the international
bodies as well as the American forces and relevant US authorities...
Read More
House resolution
calls upon President Obama to take all necessary and appropriate
steps to support the commitments of the United States to ensure
protection of Camp Ashraf residents
Statement by USCCAR
March 18, 2010
WASHINGTON
– U.S. Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the House
Committee on Veterans Affairs, and Representative Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, were joined yesterday by ten of their colleagues,
including three from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a press
conference to announce the support by a bi-partisan House majority
for the humanitarian rights and protection of residents of Camp
Ashraf in Iraq.
In his remarks, Rep.
Filner announced that following the last July deadly assault by the
Iraqi security forces against unarmed residents of Camp Ashraf, home
to 3,400 members of Iran’s main opposition, the People’s Mojahedin
Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), he introduced a resolution
(H.Res.704) which “deplores the ongoing violence by Iraqi security
forces against the residents of Camp Ashraf; calls upon the Iraqi
Government to live up to its commitment to the United States to
ensure the continued well-being of those living in Camp Ashraf; and
calls upon the President to take all necessary and appropriate steps
to support the commitments of the United States” to ensure
protection of Camp Ashraf residents.
The majority of the members of the House of Representatives who have
co-sponsored the resolution include 11 Committee Chairs; 13
Committee Ranking Members; 54 Sub-Committee Chairs; 49 Sub-Committee
Ranking Members; and 30 House Foreign Affairs Committee members.
Rep. Ros-Lehtinen stressed that in light of repeated breach of
guaranties provided by the Iraqi Government to the United States
that residents of Camp Ashraf would be treated humanely, “the U.S.
is obligated to take all necessary and appropriate steps to uphold
our commitments.” The Florida lawmaker added that “we must send a
clear message to the residents of Camp Ashraf that the U.S. Congress
stands with them.”...
Read More
U.S., UNAMI Must
Intervene to End Inhumane Siege of Ashraf
Statement by USCCAR
February 18, 2010
Images of the Iraqi Forces'
July 28-30 Barbaric Assault on Defenseless Camp Ashraf
Ashraf residents
are “Protected Persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention and
their forcible relocation is a violation of international laws.
U.S. and the United
Nations must prevent a forcible displacement and ensure camp
residents' safety and security.
According to
Article 45 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the United States is
still responsible for safety of Ashraf residents.
Residents of Ashraf
respect Iraq’s sovereignty but will not submit to an illegal
action at Tehran's demand.
Suppressive act
against Ashraf residents, a new criminal ploy by al-Maliki before elections
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Statement no. 6 Maryam Rajavi calls on UN and US to end siege on Ashraf, holding al-Maliki
accountable for any crisis and incident
NCRI - Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of
Resistance of Iran, described the preposterous and suppressive show by the
Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and dispatch
of a number of its agents under the cover of families of Ashraf residents to
Iraq and setting up the stage for media shows as new criminal acts by the
Iraqi committee responsible for suppression of Ashraf residents under Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s control to serve the religious fascism ruling
Iran in the run-up to the Iraqi parliamentary elections.
Al-Maliki and his partners who have been functioning as a branch of the
clerical regime’s Council of Guardians for the elections in Iraq by
disqualifying candidates opposed to the domination of Ali Khamenei, mullahs’
Supreme Leader, and the terrorist Qods force over Iraq, are now facing Iraqi
people’s outrage and hatred and international condemnation. In these
circumstances, they are now trying to create a crisis to prepare the grounds
for new suppressive measures on Ashraf at the behest of the Iranian regime.
This is indeed what the regime needs in the midst of the nationwide
uprising...
Read More
Saturday, 23
January 2010
NCRI - In fear of spread and deepening nationwide uprising, Iranian regime
has intensified pressure on relatives and members of families of Camp Ashraf
residents and continues to arrest many more of them.
The clerical regime recently arrested three other relatives of residents of
Camp Ashraf; Aliasghar Nabavi, Reza Gholizadeh, Hanif Hosseindoust. Three of
those previously detained were sentenced to heavy prison terms; Seyyed Zia
Nabavi, Monireh Rabi’i, Hassan Tarlani.
Aliasghar Nabavi, 25, resident of Ghaemshahr (northern Iran) was arrested on
January 7 only for having relatives in Camp Ashraf. Reza Gholizadeh, Mr.
Nabavi's brother-in-law, was arrested on January 8. Five other members of
this family are currently imprisoned in cities of Karaj (central Iran),
Semnan (northern Iran) and Tehran: Tayabeh Nabavi, Atefeh Nabavi, Fatemeh
Nabavi, Seyyed Jalal Nabavi, Alireza Nabavi. Mr. Seyyed Zia Nabavi, another
member of this family, has been charged with "association and collaboration
to disturb national security, propaganda against the system, disturbing
public order, creating anxiety in public," and cooperation with the People's
Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK)....
Read More
Families of
Ashraf Residents Support Anti-government Uprisings in Iran, Denounce
Brutal Crackdown Statement by the U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents
December 28, 2009
WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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 U.S. 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...
Full Story
Iraqi
Government, Bowing to Tehran, Plans to Forcibly Relocate Ashraf
Residents to a Remote Detention Camp in the Desert
USCCAR Urges President Obama to Intervene
Immediately and Stop Iraq's Displacement of Ashraf Residents
Statement by the U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents
December 10, 2009
WASHINGTON,
Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a move, which according to Ambassador
Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs,
"could lead to bloodshed," the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki,
announced plans for the "transfer of Camp Ashraf residents to Nuqrat al-Salman"
south of Iraq as a "step towards expelling them (from Iraq)."
The
U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) strongly condemns this
unlawful decision which blatantly violates international humanitarian law
and runs counter to the Iraqi Government's written assurances to the United
States about upholding the human rights of Ashraf residents.
USCCAR calls on President Obama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize earlier
today in Oslo, to fulfill the administration's responsibilities in the
framework of official agreements it has signed with the people of Ashraf and
Article 45 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Committee urges the
President to undertake immediate steps to avert another humanitarian
catastrophe....
Full Story
Amnesty blasts Iraq over treatment of Iran
exiles Associated Press, December 11, 2009 BAGHDAD
— Amnesty International on Friday warned that Iraq's plans to move an
Iranian opposition group to a former desert detention camp in the country's
remote south would put them at risk of arbitrary arrest and torture...
Amnesty International said it feared the "forced removals of the residents
of Camp Ashraf would put them at risk of arbitrary arrest, torture or other
forms of ill-treatment and unlawful killing." The Iraqi plan calls for
moving the exiles to a remote outpost in Neqrat al-Salman, about 200 miles
(120 kilometers) west of the southern city of Basra. It was used for decades
as a detention center where Saddam banished political opponents.
"Whatever measures the Iraqi authorities decide to take with regard to the
future of Camp Ashraf, the rights of all its residents must be protected and
guaranteed at all times," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, a deputy director with
Amnesty International...
"The expectation is not that they're going to expel the ... Camp Ashraf
residents, but that they would try to move them — forcibly move them to a
different location in Iraq, and that, too, could lead to bloodshed," Jeffrey
Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Middle Eastern affairs, told a
Foreign Affairs subcommittee in the House of Representatives on Oct. 28...
Full Story
Iraq seeks to shift Iranian group to desert camp Associated Press, December 10, 2009
BAGHDAD
— Iraq announced plans Thursday to move members of an Iranian opposition
group to a former desert detention camp in a sharp escalation of pressure on
a faction that poses complications for both Baghdad and Washington.
The group, the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, strongly denounced
the plans as "unlawful and disgraceful" and said they were part of efforts
to force its members to leave Iraq.
About 3,500 members of the group — which was hosted in Iraq for years by
Saddam Hussein — have been under watch at a camp in northeastern Iraq since
the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. But Iraqi authorities have increasingly taken
a hard line toward Camp Ashraf, including a raid by security forces in July
that touched off a melee in which 11 people were reportedly killed...
Full Story
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URGENT
APPEAL: 
NCRI
- The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
issued its judgment today, describing the decision by then-Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice, in refusing to remove the People’s
Mojahedin (PMOI) from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO),
as lacking sufficient evidence, violating the due process and
unlawful. It remanded the case to the Secretary of State and
instructed her to review her decision according to the procedures
specified by the court.
At
the briefing, Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), Chairman of the House
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and
Trade, remarked that "The world would be better, and of course Iran
would be better, if the people of Iran were able to have a
government worthy of their great culture, worthy of their great
history. Until then, the folks at Camp Ashraf are in a difficult
circumstance and it is critically important that the United States
monitor that camp, both today and after July 1st. We cannot allow a
human rights catastrophe to occur in Iraq just because we are in the
process of leaving."
WASHINGTON
– U.S. Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the House
Committee on Veterans Affairs, and Representative Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, were joined yesterday by ten of their colleagues,
including three from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a press
conference to announce the support by a bi-partisan House majority
for the humanitarian rights and protection of residents of Camp
Ashraf in Iraq.