Washington, DC – On Monday April 6, 2015 the DC-area Iranian-American families of Iranians residing in Camp Liberty in Iraq held a protest rally at the Embassy of Iraq. The protesters condemned the illegal detention of Mr. Safar Zakeri, a resident of Camp Liberty, by the Iraqi authorities and demanded his immediate release.
On March 16, 2015, Mr. Zakeri was detained by the Iraqi authorities after an Iraqi SWAT Forces’ Humvee rammed into the sewage truck he was driving. Police officers at the scene determined that the Humvee’s driver was at fault. However, in a highly questionable move, local policemen took Mr. Zakery into custody and despite UNHCR’s call for his release, he has become a virtual hostage at the hands of the Iraqi Government.
Mr. Zakery, 60, has been declared a ‘protected person’ under the Fourth Geneva Convention by the United States since 2004 and recognized as a ‘person of concern’ and ‘entitled to international protection’ by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) since 2011.
