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International Committee of Jurists in Defence of Ashraf calls sudden entrance of Iraqi police forces to Ashraf suppressive and illegal
The International Committee of Jurists in Defence of Ashraf (ICJDA) that enjoys support of 8500 jurists in Europe and North America, in separate letters to the Multi National Force-Iraq and the US Ambassador to Iraq, regarded the sudden entrance of the Iraqi police forces into Ashraf as a suppressive and unlawful action which prepares the ground for a humanitarian catastrophe in Ashraf and a violation of the Iraqi government’s obligation to the US government with regard to respect for the rights of Ashraf residents and emphasized on necessity of undertaking Ashraf protection by the US forces.ICJDA underscored: 'Today’s tremendously dangerous action takes place while despite all the pliability shown by the residents of Ashraf, the Iraqi government has refused to acknowledge their rights in accordance with the International Humanitarian Law and the Fourth Geneva Convention which have also been underscored by the European Parliament in its 24 April resolution.Iraqi police entrance into Ashraf is while the Iranian regime, at the brink of its presidential election, has launched a new battle against the residents of Ashraf and started exerting new pressures upon the Iraqi government in order to expel and extradite them. On one occasion, the regime’s President, Ahmadi-Nejad as well as its secretary for the Supreme Council of National Security, Said Jalili, called in their meeting with Iraq’s Foreign Minister for 'Implementation of the mutual agreements”.Recent developments and particularly today’s suppressive measure indicate that the Iraqi government posses neither the will nor the necessary independence of action to respect the rights of Ashraf residents and to implement the European Parliament’s resolution which determines the minimal rights of Ashraf residents. Therefore, as announced by the International Committee of In Search of Justice (encompassing 2,000 lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic), the only option remains is for the US government to ensure international protection for Ashraf and to take up the responsibility of protection in accordance with its international commitments and obligations.
Also Tthe Committee of Friends of Free Iran in the European Parliament, honorary chaired by Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Vice President of the European Parliament and co-chaired by Paulo Casaca and Straun Stevenson and consisting of a great number of the EP representatives from different political currents, in a letter addressing Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, wrote:’ We were shocked to hear that this morning a group of Diyala police force, including dozens of police vehicles, entered Camp Ashraf, home to 3400 Iranian democratic opposition PMOI members living in exile in Iraq… This storming into Ashraf Camp is an obvious breach of the Iraqi government’s agreement with the US government to respect the rights of Ashraf residents.’
The text of the letter is as follows:European Parliament
May 28; 2009
Hon. Hillary ClintonSecretary of State,
United States of AmericaU.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NWWashington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Clinton,
I am writing as the Co-Chair of Friends of a Free Iran intergroup which includes a large number of MEPs from different political group in the European Parliament. We were shocked to hear that this morning a group of Diyala police force, including dozens of police vehicles, entered Camp Ashraf, home to 3400 Iranian democratic opposition PMOI members living in exile in Iraq. This is in line with the declared policy of Mr Mowaffaq-al-Rubaie to make life ’intolerable’ for Ashraf residents.This unlawful act by the Iraqi government can prepare the grounds for a humanitarian catastrophe in Ashraf. This storming into Ashraf Camp is an obvious breach of the Iraqi government’s agreement with the US government to respect the rights of Ashraf residents.As you are aware the European Parliament adopted resolution on the ’Humanitarian Situation of Camp Ashraf Residents’ on 24 April 2009. It called for the guaranteeing of Ashraf’s protection, prohibition on any sort of displacement of Ashraf residents, and ensuring all of their rights in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.The adoption of the resolution showed that Europeans and their lawmakers are watching the situation of Ashraf residents and respect for their rights by the Iraqi government with grave concern and scrutiny.With today’s action by the Iraqi police, it is quite clear that the Iraqi government refrains from complying with the resolution and continues to violate the rights of Ashraf residents. There remain no other alternative but to seek an international guarantee for protection of Ashraf and the U.S. government to assume the responsibility of protection under its international obligations. This is particularly important as the residents of Ashraf are absolutely defenceless following the handover of all their arms to the U.S. forces and the U.S. commitment to protect them.Therefore we wish to call on you to intervene and prevent a disaster from taking place and ask the Iraqi police force to leave Camp Ashraf.

Yours SinCerely’
Paulo Casaca MEPCo-Chair, Friends of a Free intergroup in the European ParliamentCC: Secretary of Defence, Mr Robert GatesPaulo Casaca, ASP 15G154European Parliament, Rue WiertzB - 1047 Brusselsoau 10 .casaca(a)eu rooarl. eurooa .eu


Arrest, torture and pressure against families of Camp Ashraf residents
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of IranMay 24, 2009:
According to reports from Iran, on May 13, 2009, agents of the mullahs’ Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) raided the house of Mr. Shamsoddin Mehdizadeh, 60, father of three residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq. During the raid, MOIS agents confiscated his personal belongings and arrested him. Also arrested on that day during the attacks were Mr. Mehdizadeh’s daughter, Monir, her husband, Mr. Ali Afshani, and the couple’s 3-month-old baby, Amirhessam. They were all taken to an undisclosed location and the family’s attempts to discover their whereabouts have not been successful.It should be reminded that the fate of other relatives of Ashraf residents, who were arrested and taken to the notorious Ward 209 of Evin prison on February 20, 2009, after MOIS agents violently raided their houses in Tehran, also remains unknown. Despite the passing of three months since their arrest, a period marked by constant psychological and physical torture, the status of all those arrested, including Ms. Fatemeh (Houri) Ziai, Ms. Mahsa Naderi, and Messrs Hamed Yazarlou, Ehsan Erfani, and Mohsen Tarlani, remains unresolved. Mohsen Naderi, Ms. Mahsa Naderi’s father, is being interrogated in Ward 8 of Evin prison by one of the regime’s henchmen identified as Sheikhan.Mr. Hamed Yazarlou’s brother, Hood Yazarlou, a 21-year-old student who was sentenced to three years in prison for going to Ashraf to visit his relatives, was transferred on May 23 to a ward allocated to dangerous prisoners in the Gohardasht prison in Karaj (western Tehran). His mother, Ms. Nazila Dashti, 49, has also been imprisoned at Evin prison on similar charges.Separately, the mullahs’ Judiciary has issued unjust rulings against other arrested relatives of Ashraf residents, thereby placing more pressure on them. On May 11, Ms. Kobra Banazadeh Amirkhizi, a 56-year-old mother, was sentenced to 5 years in prison on charges of acting against national security and conducting activities in support of the the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Ms. Sedigheh Falahatnezhad, has also been sentenced to 8 years in prison on similar charges.Ms. Amirkhizi and Ms. Falahatnezhad are some of the Ashraf residents’ relatives, who despite having official passports and visas, planned to travel to Iraq to visit their families in Ashraf, but were arrested on January 16 along with 18 others at the Tehran airport after MOIS agents attacked and beat them, eventually transferring them to Ward 209 of Evin. These prisoners have been subjected to continuing psychological and physical torture. Ms. Amirkhizi is on the brink of losing sight in one of her eyes due to the imposed strains.In December 2008, the Iranian Resistance provided international authorities with the identities of the families of 87 members of Ashraf residents, who were arrested and imprisoned after visiting their relatives in Ashraf.The Iranian Resistance calls for global condemnation of the brutal suppression of families of PMOI members and Ashraf residents, and demands the immediate intervention of international authorities and human rights organizations for the release of the detained relatives.

Minor sentenced to death; Couple to be stoned
National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement on 25th May that the clerical regime has sentenced a young man in Shiraz to be hanged. Mohammad Reza Haddadi was 15 years old at the time of committing the alleged crime.The French news agency, AFP, reported on Wednesday that he is scheduled to be hanged in the Adelabad prison of Shiraz.The clerical regime’s judiciary has also sentenced another prisoner in Isfahan to death. Jamshid H. is 53 years old, and is charged with the killing of the regime’s deputy prosecutor in Isfahan, known as Toolai. Moreover, in Tabriz, the clerical regime’s Supreme Court has sentenced a young couple to be stoned to death. The couple, Rahim Mohammad and Kobra Babai, have a 12 year old daughter, according to reports.

Four hanged in Shiraz, including a woman
A woman and three men have been hanged in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, a state-run daily Etemad reported on Saturday.The report identified the woman only by her first name Afsaneh. The other prisoners hanged were an Afghan man and two Iranian men.

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Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement onMay 29 that in the run up to mullahs’ regime sham presidential election and in face of growing social uprisings and protests, mullahs’ Deputy Commander of the State Security Forces (SSF), Ahmad Reza Radan, threatened the opponents and critics with death and ‘breaking their neck’, the state-run News Agency Fars reported on May 27. On a visit to Bushehr, southern Iran, as part of his plan to expand suppressive measures, Radan said, “Those who stand against people and the police deserve to be dealt with decisively and killed.” He added, “No outlaw or offender should dare to roam freely in the society and the police will certainly break the neck of outlaws and offenders.” Radan reiterated, “Our expectation is to continue these measures with crushing firmness and decisiveness in a faster pace in order to raise the standards of the police operations in Bushehr province,” reported Fars and Mehr state-run news agencies on May 27. Remarks by Radan unveil new suppressive plans by the clerical regime. Tehran’s rulers can only continue with their shameful rule by stepping up executions, torture and murder in face of growing social protests and upheavals.

Iran: 410 anti-government protests in one month
Although the Iranian regime has hanged 47 prisoners and released the death sentence verdicts for 27 more prisoners and arrested thousands in Tehran and other cities and sent them to prisons during Iranian month of Ordibehesht (April 20-May 20), yet it couldn’t quell the protests. The records show that various sectors of the Iranian society staged more than 410 protest moves in different cities in the form of strikes, sit-ins, gatherings or clashes. The students held 114 anti-government strikes, gatherings, and sit-ins in universities. The slogans of the students were mainly 'Death to Dictator', ”death to fascist', ' Either Freedom or Death'. The Iranian workers held more than 90 strikes, sit-ins and gatherings during last month; their protests were aimed at taking back their rights form the mullahs. Despite banning demonstrations across Iran on May Day and suppressive measures to prevent any demonstration in that day, thousands of workers demonstrated across Iran such as the demonstration of 2,000 workers in Laleh Park in Tehran which was attacked by the State Security Force. In this attack more than 150 workers were arrested.The teachers have organized and held more than 100 protest moves. The widespread strike of teachers during the first week of May led to the closure of schools across Iran. The cross- country strike of the teachers took place at a time that the mullahs’ regime planned to prevent it by manipulating its security and intelligence agents extensively. Other sectors of the society also staged more than 100 anti-government moves across Iran during the same period.