Monday, October 12, 2009

NEWS))))))

The 36 PMOI detainees were finally released
Mr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras the Vice President of the European Parliament and the President of international committee In Search of Justice (ISJ) wrote on Friday: We were happy to hear of the release of 36 members of the Iranian democratic opposition, PMOI, after 72 days of imprisonment and hunger strike in Iraq.These 36 were arrested on 28 July 2009 when unarmed and defenceless residents of Camp Ashraf, home to 3400 members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran [PMOI/MEK], were brutally attacked by the Iraqi forces. 11 people of them were killed with over 500 wounded. During their arrest, these 36 Iranian dissidents were beaten and wounded and seven of them were unconscious at the time of their capture and abduction. They were held for several days in appalling conditions outside of Ashraf and then transferred to the local prison in the city of Khalis. Three consecutive court rulings in Khalis ordered their immediate release. But the Iraqi government refused to implement the order which led to an international campaign resulting finally to the release of these hostages on 7 October.We welcome that the Iraqi government finally accepted to respect the rule of law and the verdicts of its own court. Unfortunately the brutal treatment of the Iranian refugees in camp Ashraf by the Iraqi government has been against the most elementary humanitarian behaviour and we consider it unacceptable. We were hoping to see a democratic Iraq and our disappointment after this atrocity is beyond measure. Respect for international laws and human rights of these Iranian dissidents in Iraq is the minimum expectation for us in the European Parliament.To guarantee the future safety of Camp Ashraf, we call on the UN to immediately set up a permanent team inside Ashraf. We praise the work done by Mr Ad Melkert, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) and his colleagues who have worked tirelessly in the past 72 days for these 36 hostages. UNAMI should make sure that no member of PMOI in camp Ashraf is moved anywhere inside Iraq against his/her wish. The US government which signed a mutual agreement with every member of PMOI in Iraq to guarantee their protection must continue to provide security to Ashraf residents, as long as US forces are in Iraq. The hunger strikes in Ottawa, Washington D.C, London-England, Berlin, and the Hagen ended on Wednesday after the release and return of the 36 hostages. The Iranian-Canadians in Ottawa broke their hunger strikes after 71 days and had their celebration in front of the US embassy from morning till supper time. They were relived and excited to hear the release of the 36 hostages and were especially excited to learn that they return to Ashraf. They said it was a huge victory for them and a big loss for the Iranian regime who sought the extradition of the PMOI members to Iran.

Iran: Corpses of anti-regime protesters abandoned on streets
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement on October 11, 2009 that the criminal agents from the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) on Wednesday abandoned the bloodied corpse of Amin Zandi on a street located in the vicinity of the western city of Ilam. The coroner declared that he had died just 4 hours before his body was discovered.Mr. Amin Zandi, a student at the University of Ilam, was originally from Ahvaz and was arrested by MOIS agents in an anti-government protest in June. During his four months of detention he was subjected to harassment and torture. The Iranian regime refused to respond to his families enquiries regarding his condition and whereabouts during this time.In a similar crime, MOIS agents left the corpse of Mohamad-javad Parandakh, a fourth-year chemical engineering student at the Esfahan University of Technology, under one of the city’s bridges. The coroner in Esfahan declared that his death resulted from a skull fracture after he was hit by a heavy object.Mohamad-javad Parandakh, a 23-year-old male student from the western province of Gilan-gharb, had been summoned to Esfahan’s MOIS office after participating in anti-regime protests. He was killed under torture by MOIS henchmen on the third day of his detention. His family found his body among abandoned bodies at the city’s coroner’s office. MOIS agents forced the family to say that a car accident caused his death.The Iranian Resistance calls on international human rights organizations, particularly the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, to take immediate and binding measures to deal with the deterioration of prison conditions and to free political prisoners in Iran.

Amnesty speaks out on executions in Iran
United Press International reported on Oct. 5th that the Iranian authorities must order a stay of execution for a man accused of committing murder when he was a juvenile, Amnesty International said. Iranian authorities were scheduled Monday to execute Abbas Hosseini, an Afghan national convicted of murder when he was 17 years old. 'It is sickening that Iran continues to flout international law by arranging to kill an individual accused of committing a crime as a child,' said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Middle East program.
In other news Behnud Shojdaie was executed in Iran. The families of the political detainees gathered outside the notorious Evin prison today to halt his execution. International human rights organizations had call for his release repeatedly, but the Iranian regime did not pay any attention to them and executed this young man.