NEWS))))))
Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe regards US forces accountable for the security of Camp Ashraf
Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe, consisting of 636 members of Senates and Parliaments from 47 countries across Europe and central Asia, regarded the U.S. forces accountable for the security of Camp Ashraf.The declaration of October 2, 2008 in support of the legal rights of Ashraf residents, signed by four leaders of different political groups of Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe and a number of most prominent members of the Assembly, was announced by Mr. Louise Maria de Pouch, chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe in the official session of the Council in Strasburg. Part of the declaration reads: Amnesty International (28 August 2008 statement), the European Parliament (4 September 2008 resolution), and the International Federation of Human Rights (8 September) have expressed concern regarding the threats posed to 3,500 Iranian political refugees in Camp Ashraf in Iraq, who are protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.Relevant international bodies and U.S. officials have confirmed that the principle of non-refoulement and protections under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Law apply to Ashraf residents.We are deeply concerned that the protection of Ashraf may be transferred from the U.S.-led Multi-National Force-Iraq to Iraqi forces resulting in greater pressure on the Iraqi government by the Iranian regime to crack down on or extradite PMOI members in Ashraf, and allowing the regime to increase its terrorist attacks on Ashraf. Transferring protection of Ashraf under the present circumstances violates the principle of non-refoulement, the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Refugee Convention, the Convention Against Torture, IHL and International Law and would result in a humanitarian catastrophe, thus we urge U.S. forces for as long as they remain in Iraq to continue to protect Ashraf residents and uphold their judicial protection under international law.
Orumieh hunger striker prisoners in critical condition after forty days
According to the last received news by the Iranian resistance sources from Orumieh Prison, a number of Kurdish political prisoners who have staged hunger strike are in critical condition. These prisoners who are numbered 17 have been transferred to solitary confinement after close to 40 days of their hunger strike. They ask for halt of torture and brutal treatment of the clerical regime’s executioners and dismissal of imprisonment and execution verdicts of political prisoners. The prison officials have pressed these prisoners to break their hunger strike but they have continued their resistance. The prisoners also demand visit of international organizations of human rights and ICRC from the Iranians’ jails.
Youths in northern Iranian city turn soccer match into a protest against the regime
The angry youths clashed with suppressive State Security Forces (SSF) agents and demolished some vehicles during a soccer match in the city of Gorgan (northern Iran).According to reports, about 2000 youths broke the windows of the Physical Education office of Gorgan and inflicted some damages to the building after the match. The SSF agents attacked the protesting youths but were faced with their resistance. The suppressive agents used tear gas and injured some people. During this clash a number of SSF agents were severely injured too.
Mullahs Interior Minister admits not holding Oxford University degree
National Council of Resistance of Iran: - After two months of controversy, the mullahs’ disgraced Interior Minister, Ali Kordan, admitted that he never held an Oxford University degree. In his letter to Ahmadinejad, he regretted that his degree was forged and he claimed that he has pressed charges against an unnamed individual who had given him the honorary degree in Iran. The controversy began last August following his appointment as the regime’s new Interior Minister and the release of a report by Britain’s Oxford University dismissing his claim that he held a doctorate degree from that University.In the meantime Iran’s Free University Dean also denied awarding Kordan any degrees in a letter to the chair of the mullahs’ parliamentary Committee on Education and Research.Looking into his background, it was reported that in 1977 he was jailed in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran, for attempted rape. After the anti-Monarchy revolution in 1979 he was released from jail and was soon recruited by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He rapidly climbed up the ladder in the notorious IRGC and has been a close associate of Ahmadinejad.When it was first revealed that his degree was no good, the Interior Ministry and the regime’s vice-president on judicial and parliamentary affairs insisted that his degree was genuine and threatened anyone trying to prove otherwise will face judicial prosecution. The affair has left Ahmadinejad’s government in yet another domestic crisis and increasing internal feuding among factions. This also comes amid lack of any legitimacy in the country with growing hatred for the regime among the people.
