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In this Issue:
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Mullahs' Supreme Leader's frustration over Ashraf
residents' perseverance ,
NCRI Press Release,
March 1, 2009
-
Iranians rally in front of the
White House,
NCRI Website,
March 2, 2009
-
MPs urge Iraq to respect rights of Ashraf
residents,
RightSideNews, February 26, 2009
-
Arabic Organization for Human Rights supports
Ashraf residents ,
NCRI Website, March 3, 2009
-
Iraqis protest visit of Rafsanjani,
AFP, March 4,
2009
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"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 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention
“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.”
Article 45 of the Fourth Geneva Convention
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Mullahs' Supreme Leader's
frustration over Ashraf residents' perseverance
NCRI Press Release
March 01, 2009
NCRI - The clerical regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, frustrated by
persistence of Ashraf residents, members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization
of Iran (PMOI), acknowledged for the first time that there was a mutual
agreement between the Iranian regime and the Iraqi government to expel the PMOI
members from Iraq. In a meeting with the Iraqi President in Tehran, Khamenei
said, “The mutual agreement regarding the expulsion of the Mojahedin from
Iraq…must be implemented and we are waiting for it.”...
The Iranian Resistance considers pressures on the Iraqi government to expel the
PMOI from Iraq as a flagrant and shameful interference in the affairs of this
country and a violation of international rules and conventions which requires
international condemnations.
It also calls on the President of the United States, the United Nations
Secretary General and the Security Council as well as all international human
rights organizations to take immediate measures to guarantee Ashraf residents’
protection and fundamental rights...
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Iranians rally in front of the White House
NCRI Press Release
March 02, 2009
NCRI – Iranians residing in Washington D.C. rallied in front of the White House
calling on the new U.S. government to protect the rights of the members of the
People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) residing in Ashraf City, Iraq.
The participants condemned the barbaric attacks on the houses of PMOI families
and suppression of the students in Iran.
Three prominent international figures Mr. Struan Stevenson, MEP and Vice
President EPP-ED Group, Mr. David Kilgour, former member of Canadian parliament
and a human right activist and Mr. David Matas, renowned Canadian jurists, spoke
at the rally.
Mr. Kilgour said that 3,500 political refugees reside in Ashraf City since 1981.
They have been the constant target of the mullahs' regime and have chosen to
seek refuge in the neighboring Iraq in the 1980s. He warned against the
restrictions imposed on Ashraf residents and said "the PMOI is the largest
opposition group in Iran." The Mojahedin call for separation of church and state
and advocate a nuclear free Iran...
Next speaker at the Washington rally was Mr. Stevenson. He said that Ashraf
residents' security and protection must be guaranteed. Ashraf is at the same
time a symbol of democracy and resistance against the mullahs' inhuman regime in
Iran. We have to exhaust all the remedies available to resist against the
Iranian regime...
Mr. Matas emphasized on the U.S. forces obligations to provide adequate
protection for the Ashraf City residents. He added that this is the
responsibility of the U.S. forces and as long as they remain in Iraq, they
should continue to monitor the situation...
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MPs urge Iraq to respect rights of Ashraf residents
RightSideNews
February 26, 2009
The Fourth Geneva Convention Should be Upheld in Iraq
Members of Parliament from all three major political parties in the UK on
Thursday urged the government of Iraq to resist pressures by the Iranian regime
to expel members of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) from
their base in Camp Ashraf in Iraq's Diyala Province
Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, Chairman of the British Parliamentary Committee for
Iran Freedom, said: "Following the 2003 war in Iraq, the American forces spent
16 months interviewing every resident of Ashraf to see if any one of them was
involved in terrorism. Not a single resident of Camp Ashraf was charged with
anything.
Lord Corbett said that the status of Ashraf residents as "protected persons"
under the Fourth Geneva Convention "lays an obligation on all those who have
signed up to that convention to respect what it laid out in that convention and
to ensure that it is respected and enforced, especially in the case of Ashraf
residents".
"We expect the Iraqi government to fulfil its obligation to the residents of
Ashraf. We expect them to resist any pressure from the Iranian government to
forcibly expel them", Lord Corbett added.
Former UK Home Secretary Rt. Hon. Lord Waddington QC said: "Much of what has now
occurred was foreseen by us. It was risky, indeed, for the American authorities
to hand over protection of Ashraf residents to the Iraqis...
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Arabic Organization for Human Rights supports Ashraf
residents
NCRI Website
March 03, 2009
NCRI - The Arabic Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) has issued a statement
demanding the rights of Ashraf residents be guaranteed on the basis of the
principle of non-refoulement, the International Humanitarian Law, and the Geneva
Conventions. It also requested the UN to verify and monitor that these rights
are respected.
The AOHR is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, and has a consultative status with
the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The organization’s
statement condemns the Iranian regime’s pressures and plots against Ashraf
residents, adding:
Ashraf residents are political refugees and are being protected on the basis of
the International Refugee Convention. Their return to Iran would expose them to
the threat of torture and would endanger their lives. This is especially serious
since the sentence of hanging has been implemented at the Evin prison with
respect to a number of arrested members of the [PMOI]. Moreover, exiled Iranian
opposition sources report that a number of their relatives have been arrested in
Iran.
The AOHR notes: Displacement of Ashraf residents violates the principle of non-refoulement,
the International Refugees Convention, the Convention Against Torture, and
International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
The AOHR calls on the governments of Iraq and the US to respect the rights of
Ashraf residents. It also urged the UN Secretary General and the Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General for Iraq to adopt necessary measures
to guarantee respect for the rights of Ashraf residents...
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Iraqis protest visit of Rafsanjani
Agence France Presse
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
RAMADI, Iraq (AFP) — Hundreds of Iraqis demonstrated in Ramadi, capital of the
Sunni Arab province of Anbar, on Wednesday to condemn former Iranian president
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's official visit to Iraq.
Waving Iraqi flags and banners that criticised the influential Iranian Shiite
cleric, Sunni tribal and religious leaders marched for an hour in the city, 100
kilometres (60 miles) west of Baghdad.
"The criminal Rafsanjani is a symbol of aggression and evil in Iraq," read one
banner. "Rafsanjani's visit is inauspicious, a humiliation and a stain on the
soil of Iraqi," said another.
The former president arrived in Baghdad on Monday on a three-day visit focused
on a series of issues between the former foes as well as world political and
economic developments...
Read More
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About Humanitarian Crisis for
Iranian Dissidents and their Families In Camp Ashraf
Nearly 3,500 members of Iran’s
main opposition, the People’s Mojahedin (PMOI/MEK), residing in Camp Ashraf in
Iraq, are faced with a humanitarian crisis.
Tehran has put the Iraqi
government under tremendous pressure to take over the protection of Camp Ashraf
from the US-led Multinational Force-Iraq. Under current circumstance in
Iraq, such action would be in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention and
International Humanitarian Law. Since 2004, Ashraf residents have been formally
recognized as “Protected Persons“ under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Ashraf Residents are expatriates
holding dual nationality or refugee status of various Western countries. Their
families and relatives are greatly worried for their loved ones in Ashraf.
International Humanitarian Law Obligate 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.“
Under the present circumstances in Iraq, the U.S.
is the only party qualified and capable of ensuring Camp Ashraf residents’
safety and security under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The U.S. forces must
continue to protect Ashraf residents as long as US forces are in Iraq.
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
About
Ashraf Monitor
Ashraf Monitor newsletter is a
compilation of news and commentaries about the developing humanitarian
crisis for nearly 3,500 members of Iran's main opposition, the People's
Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. Ashraf Monitor is
compiled and distributed by the US Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR).
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