NEWS))))))
32nd day of hunger strike by 36 PMOI members taken hostage by Iraqi forces
National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement on Aug. 28, that the hunger strike by 36 members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) who have been taken hostage by Iraqi forces continued in its 32nd day on Friday. They are suffering from severe pains and other complications due to wounds inflicted by Iraqi forces during the attack against Camp Ashraf on July 28 and prolonged hunger strike.
A number of them are in much more agonizing situation due to serious injuries they received at the time of their abduction. In the meantime, hunger strikes by Ashraf residents and Iranian exiles in Washington, London, Ottawa, Berlin, The Hague and Stockholm continue for the second month while they are suffering from the effects of prolonged hunger strike. The NCRI added: during the past 24 hours a number of Ashraf residents have been hospitalized for extreme weakness, acute headaches, severe chest pains, faints, drop in blood pressure, eyesight and hearing defects and spasm and muscular pains.
Today is the 33rd day of the hunger strike for a number of Iranian-Canadians in Ottawa in front of the US embassy. The hunger strikers suffer from weakness, pain in the joints, headaches and eyesight defects. The US officials in the embassy have not responded to the demands of the protesters as yet. The Iranian- Canadians want the 36 hostages to return to Ashraf, the Iraqi forces to leave Camp Ashraf and the perpetrators of the attack to be brought to justice and for the US to take a temporarily protection of Ashraf Camp until a permanent protector from the UN takes over this responsibility. Yesterday in the cold weather and severe rain, the protesters gathered once again in front of the US embassy.
German lawmakers act on behalf of Camp Ashraf
UPI, Berlin, August 28, 2009
A group of German lawmakers has urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to act on behalf of Iranian dissidents exiled in Iraq. Seventeen lawmakers from Merkel’s conservatives in a letter urged the chancellor to help 36 Iranians jailed and, according to Amnesty International, possibly tortured by Iraqi military. The dissidents were seized last month when Iraqi forces stormed Camp Ashraf, a city in Iraq where some 3,500 Iranian dissidents have been living for the past two decades. In the melee, Iraqi forces killed nine people, injuring some 450 more. The dissidents have been brought to an unknown location and could be extradited to Iran, where they would face torture or death sentences. The lawmakers also urged Merkel to convince the United States to take over the protection of Camp Ashraf, and called for an international monitoring presence in the dissident camp. Its citizens belong to the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, an Iranian opposition group Tehran says is composed of terrorists. The United States also considers the PMOI a terror organization. After a long legal battle, it was removed from the European Union’s terrorist list in January. The PMOI says that it has long focused on peaceful resistance. U.S. forces disarmed Ashraf residents after the Iraq war and from 2003 until the end of 2008 provided security for them because of their status as ’protected persons’ under the Geneva Conventions. The Iraqi military took over protection of Ashraf on Jan. 1, giving the Americans guarantees to protect Ashraf citizens. However, Baghdad is determined to close the camp and expel its residents to Iran or a third country. Observers say the planned closure of Ashraf is a deal between Baghdad and the clerical regime in Iran.
Iran’s top dissident cleric warns against regime ’fall’
AFP, Tehran, 27 August 2009
Top dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri has renewed his criticism of Iranian authorities, warning their handling of the post-election unrest could lead to the fall of the regime. ’I hope the authorities wake up before it is too late and do not hurt the reputation of the Islamic republic further ... and cause their own fall and that of the system,’ Montazeri said in a statement carried on his website Wednesday. He called for an end to ’show trials’, which he said were a ’mockery of Islamic justice’ and urged the authorities ’not to continue down the wrong turn they are taking’. ’They should at least have the courage to declare that this government is neither a republic nor Islamic with nobody allowed to protest, comment or criticise,’ fumed Montazeri. The disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has plunged Iran into its worst crisis since the establishment of the Islamic republic in 1979.
Monday, August 24, 2009
NEWS))))))
Arrest and imprisonment of a political activist’s family in Semnan
On August 17, agents of the Intelligence Ministry (MOIS) arrested Ms. Tayebeh Nabavi, family of Ashraf residents, in a brutal raid to her residence in Semnan (West of Tehran) and took her to an unknown location. They left her 3-years-old child alone at home.The raid took place on Erfani’s orders, an interrogator of political prisoners in Semnan. During a several hour search the agents ransacked property and seized CDs, photo albums and books.In addition to Tayebeh, three other members of this family are currently in jail; Seyed Zohour Nabavi, who used to write articles for the Sar-Zamin Ariya’i magazine, has been sentenced to 4 years in prison and jailed in Ward 350 of Evin prison, Ms. Atefeh Nabavi, and Seyed Zia Nabavi, secretary of the Council in Defence of Right to Education, arrested during the uprisings and incarcerated in Ward 209 of Evin since June 14.Seyed Zohour’s wife, Khadijeh, was also sentenced to one year in prison, and another of his sisters Hamideh Nabavi, arrested last year for taking part in a ceremony marking the anniversary of the massacre of political prisoners in 1988, has been sentenced to one year imprisonment.
Iranian dissidents at Camp Ashraf abandoned by Americans, murdered by Iraqis
Source: Italian daily Liberation, August 22, 2009On July 28, a massacre took place quietly and away from international eye in northern Baghdad: 11 were killed, 500 injured and 36 were detained.It was an attack against Camp Ashraf where 3,500 political dissidents (including 1,000 women) reside. They are affiliated with the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a resistance movement which has for years struggled against the ayatollahs’ regime in Tehran. They were placed on the terrorist list by them.After Saddam Hussein’s downfall in 2003, Ashraf was controlled and protected by American forces. They handed over their weapons to the Americans in exchange for protection of Ashraf residents. They were protected by the Americans until February 28, 2009 when Ashraf’s protection was transferred to the al-Maliki government, which is increasingly cozying up to Iran (Khamenei and Ahmadinejad). The attack was carried out by al-Maliki’s armed forces and at the behest of his masters in Tehran. In a series of videos posted on YouTube the brutality of the attack comes to life.More than 3,000 soldiers and police forces from Baghdad, aided by agents dispatched by the Iranian regime who were likely part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (the videos show many agents speaking in Farsi), used bulldozers to raid Camp Ashraf.Tear gas, sound grenades, iron bars and guns were used in the bloody killings. Ashraf residents, equipped with just a few stones, were not able to do much in the face of the pre-planned attack. Sensitive audience must avoid viewing the graphic pictures: There are military personnel who violently beat unarmed residents, there are bloodied and broken heads, women and men are covered in blood, cars zigzag up and down, and women scream and cry.This was a pre-planned tragedy in all aspects. The Iranian parliamentary speaker Larijani (a moderate voice in the Shiite regime) praised the action and added that it was delayed. American forces were present on the scene and watched the murders but did not even lift a finger.With the deafening silence of global media and political circles, only a number of human rights organizations like Amnesty International have condemned the violent attacks.Ashraf residents who were abandoned by American forces on realpolitik grounds are worried about the potential of a more extensive attack since the Iraqi armed forces are still present in Ashraf and are awaiting new orders.Ashraf residents have not abandoned their legal struggle and in addition to various protest actions and sit-ins in countries around the world (from Washington to Paris to London and Sydney), they are demanding from the international community to immediately work to force the Iraqi forces out of Camp Ashraf and return the protection of the 3,500 residents to its previous status.According to the international committee of jurists in defense of human rights in Chicago, in accordance with Article 45 of the Geneva Conventions with regards to political refugees, the protection of Camp Ashraf must immediately be reassumed by the US. In a letter written to the US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, the jurists have asked for the security of Ashraf residents to be transferred to American forces, because in addition to the fact that Baghdad has been unable to shoulder this responsibility it has also proven to be imposing pressure on the residents.
The hunger strike and the demonstrations continue in Ottawa for the 27th day
The Iranian-Canadians gather in front of the US embassy here in Ottawa to protest the attack on Camp Ashraf where 3400 Iranians about 70 of them Canadians reside. They are demanding the immediate release of the 36 hostages taken by the Iraqi forces after their raid on camp Ashraf on July 28th. The Iranian-Canadins are also asking president Obama to once again take responsibility of Ashraf protection. It’s worth noting that the Unites States made a written agreement with each resident of Ashraf camp to protect them under international laws. But as the Iraqi forces were killing unarmed residents of Ashraf, there are reports that the Americans were watching and filming the massacre. Today on the 27th day of the hunger strike, one of the female hunger strikers, was taken to the hospital by an ambulence. She was very weak and was shaking as a result of her hunger strike. As she was taken by the peremedics, she was crying. When asked why she was crying, she told Radio Irava that she was thinking of the Iranian dissidents in camp Ashraf who do not have the same facility availiable to them and she felt guilty because of that.
Political prisoner’s condition deteriorates in Gohardasht
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement on Aug. 23rd that; According to obtained reports from Ward 4 of Gohardasht prison in Karaj, the physical condition of Ali Moezzi, a 57year-old father and political prisoner, has been deteriorating since three weeks ago. Although even the prison’s medical office has asked to transfer him to a hospital outside the prison, the clerical regime’s henchmen refuse to do so. Mr. Ali Moezzi was among the political prisoners in the 1980s. His kidneys, which have been badly injured after enduring torture at that time, are in a worse condition now, so much so that he is not capable of eating and can only drink water.Ali Moezzi was arrested on November 11, 2008, after a violent raid of his home by the clerical regime’s agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). The reason for his arrest was visiting his child and relatives in Ashraf City. After his arrest, Moezzi was transferred to solitary confinement in Ward 8, known as the Sepah (Revolutionary Guards) Ward, and was subjected to interrogation by MOIS interrogators. He spent seven months in solitary confinement at Sepah Ward and endured physical and psychological torture by the henchmen. The clerical regime’s so-called court in the city of Karaj has sentenced Moezzi to five years in prison.
Boy who defied Tehran hardliners tells of prison rape ordeal
By Homa Homayoun
Times, Aug 22, 2009 - The 15-year-old boy sits weeping in a safehouse in central Iran, broken in body and spirit. Reza will not go outside - he is terrified of being left alone. He says he wants to end his life and it is not hard to understand why: for daring to wear the green wristband of Iran’s opposition he was locked up for 20 days, beaten, raped repeatedly and subjected to the Abu Ghraib-style sexual humiliations and abuse for which the Iranian regime denounced the United States. “My life is over. I don’t think I can ever recover,” he said, as he recounted his experiences to The Times - on condition that his identity not be revealed. A doctor who is treating him, at great risk to herself, confirmed that he is suicidal, and bears the appalling injuries consistent with his story. The family is desperate, and is exploring ways of fleeing Iran. Reza is living proof of the charges levelled by Mehdi Karoubi, one of the opposition’s leaders, that prison officials are systematically raping both male and female detainees to break their wills. The regime has accused Mr Karoubi of helping Iran’s enemies by spreading lies and has threatened to arrest him. The boy’s treatment also shows just how far a regime that claims to champion Islamic values is prepared to go to suppress millions of its own citizens who claim that President Ahmadinejad’s re-election was rigged. Reza’s ordeal began in mid-July when he was arrested with about 40 other teenagers during an opposition demonstration in a large provincial city. Most were too young even to have voted. They were taken to what he believes was a Basiji militia base where they were blindfolded, stripped to their underwear, whipped with cables and then locked in a steel shipping container. That first night Reza was singled out by three men in plain clothes who had masqueraded as prisoners. As the other boys watched, they pushed him to the ground. One held his head down, another sat on his back and the third urinated on him before raping him. “They were telling us they were doing this for God, and who did we think we were that we could demonstrate,” Reza said. The men told the other boys they would receive the same treatment if they did not co-operate when interrogated the next day. Reza was then taken outside, tied to a metal pole and left there all night. The next morning one of the men returned. He asked whether Reza had learnt his lesson. “I was angry. I spat in his face and began cursing him. He elbowed me in the face a couple of times and slapped me.” Twenty minutes later, he says, the man returned with a bag full of excrement, shoved it in Reza’s face and threatened to make him eat it. Reza was later taken to an interrogation room where he told his questioner he had been raped. “I made a mistake. He sounded kind, but my eyes were blindfolded. He said he would go look into it and I was hopeful,” Reza said. Instead, the interrogator ordered Reza to be tied up and raped him again, saying: “This time I’ll do it, so you’ll learn not to tell these tales anywhere else. You deserve what’s coming to you. You guys should be raped until you die.” He was subjected to further brutal sexual abuse - and locked up for three days of solitary confinement. Reza was then forced to sign a “confession” in which he said that foreign forces had told him and his friends to burn banks and state media buildings. He was told to identify as the ringleader a 16-year-old friend who had been so badly beaten that he was in hospital. “I was shaking so much I couldn’t even hear what they were saying,” said Reza. “I just signed whatever they put in front of me without looking at it. I was scared they would rape me again.” The next day Reza and other detainees were transferred to a police detention centre, where he was held for a further week. On the third day, police officers entered the cell in the middle of the night, blindfolded him and led him to the toilet, where he was again raped. “My hands began shaking, my legs were weak and I couldn’t stand up properly. I fell down and smashed my head hard on the ground to try and kill myself. I started screaming and shouting for them to kill me. I just couldn’t bear it anymore. I hated myself,” he said, weeping at the memory. The following morning he was summoned by a police commander, who asked why he had been screaming the previous night. When he explained, he was asked to identify his rapist. The boy said he had been blindfolded, so the chief commander hit him and accused him of lying. He was forced to sign a letter admitting he had made baseless accusations against the security forces. Reza’s ordeal was far from over. He was taken with about 130 other prisoners to the city’s Revolutionary Court, where they were herded into a yard. The judge told them that he would hang those who had violently resisted the Islamic revolution and read out the names of ten teenagers, including Reza. The message was clear: if they continued to say they had been raped they would be executed. The judge sent them to the city’s central prison, where Reza was handcuffed and held in a small cell with six other boys for ten more days. In the evenings officers beat the boys and taunted them with the words: “You want to cause a revolution?. Periodically, the most senior officer would take the boys away, three at a time. “When they returned they would be very quiet and uneasy,” Reza said. When his turn came he and the others were led into a small room and ordered to strip and have sex with each other. “He told us that with this we would be cleansed - we would be so shattered that we would no longer be able to look at each other. This would help calm us down.” After 20 days Reza’s family finally secured his release on bail of about £45,000 - and with a final warning that he should say nothing about his treatment. His brother said: “A friend of mine who is a guard in the prison where Reza was being held had told me he was ill. The night he was released he was crying uncontrollably; then he broke down and told my mother everything.” The family persuaded a hospital doctor they knew to treat him, despite the danger to herself. She has treated his physical injuries and given him antibiotics and sedatives but cannot perform an internal examination. Reza is deeply traumatised, terrified of being returned to prison and barely sleeps. The doctor told The Times that other detainees had suffered a similiar fate. “We have many cases in the hospital but we can’t report on them. They won’t let us open a file. They don’t want any paperwork,” she said. Drewery Dyke, an Amnesty International Iran researcher, said that Reza’s case was “consistent with other reports we have received in terms of the severity of disregard for human dignity, the unrestricted abuse without any recourse to justice, the involvement even of judicial persons in rape abuse and the denial of the basic right to healthcare”. Reza, at least, survived to tell the world his story. The 16-year-old friend he had to name as the ringleader has since died in hospital from his injuries. • The identities of all people mentioned in the article have been withheld.
Arrest and imprisonment of a political activist’s family in Semnan
On August 17, agents of the Intelligence Ministry (MOIS) arrested Ms. Tayebeh Nabavi, family of Ashraf residents, in a brutal raid to her residence in Semnan (West of Tehran) and took her to an unknown location. They left her 3-years-old child alone at home.The raid took place on Erfani’s orders, an interrogator of political prisoners in Semnan. During a several hour search the agents ransacked property and seized CDs, photo albums and books.In addition to Tayebeh, three other members of this family are currently in jail; Seyed Zohour Nabavi, who used to write articles for the Sar-Zamin Ariya’i magazine, has been sentenced to 4 years in prison and jailed in Ward 350 of Evin prison, Ms. Atefeh Nabavi, and Seyed Zia Nabavi, secretary of the Council in Defence of Right to Education, arrested during the uprisings and incarcerated in Ward 209 of Evin since June 14.Seyed Zohour’s wife, Khadijeh, was also sentenced to one year in prison, and another of his sisters Hamideh Nabavi, arrested last year for taking part in a ceremony marking the anniversary of the massacre of political prisoners in 1988, has been sentenced to one year imprisonment.
Iranian dissidents at Camp Ashraf abandoned by Americans, murdered by Iraqis
Source: Italian daily Liberation, August 22, 2009On July 28, a massacre took place quietly and away from international eye in northern Baghdad: 11 were killed, 500 injured and 36 were detained.It was an attack against Camp Ashraf where 3,500 political dissidents (including 1,000 women) reside. They are affiliated with the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a resistance movement which has for years struggled against the ayatollahs’ regime in Tehran. They were placed on the terrorist list by them.After Saddam Hussein’s downfall in 2003, Ashraf was controlled and protected by American forces. They handed over their weapons to the Americans in exchange for protection of Ashraf residents. They were protected by the Americans until February 28, 2009 when Ashraf’s protection was transferred to the al-Maliki government, which is increasingly cozying up to Iran (Khamenei and Ahmadinejad). The attack was carried out by al-Maliki’s armed forces and at the behest of his masters in Tehran. In a series of videos posted on YouTube the brutality of the attack comes to life.More than 3,000 soldiers and police forces from Baghdad, aided by agents dispatched by the Iranian regime who were likely part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (the videos show many agents speaking in Farsi), used bulldozers to raid Camp Ashraf.Tear gas, sound grenades, iron bars and guns were used in the bloody killings. Ashraf residents, equipped with just a few stones, were not able to do much in the face of the pre-planned attack. Sensitive audience must avoid viewing the graphic pictures: There are military personnel who violently beat unarmed residents, there are bloodied and broken heads, women and men are covered in blood, cars zigzag up and down, and women scream and cry.This was a pre-planned tragedy in all aspects. The Iranian parliamentary speaker Larijani (a moderate voice in the Shiite regime) praised the action and added that it was delayed. American forces were present on the scene and watched the murders but did not even lift a finger.With the deafening silence of global media and political circles, only a number of human rights organizations like Amnesty International have condemned the violent attacks.Ashraf residents who were abandoned by American forces on realpolitik grounds are worried about the potential of a more extensive attack since the Iraqi armed forces are still present in Ashraf and are awaiting new orders.Ashraf residents have not abandoned their legal struggle and in addition to various protest actions and sit-ins in countries around the world (from Washington to Paris to London and Sydney), they are demanding from the international community to immediately work to force the Iraqi forces out of Camp Ashraf and return the protection of the 3,500 residents to its previous status.According to the international committee of jurists in defense of human rights in Chicago, in accordance with Article 45 of the Geneva Conventions with regards to political refugees, the protection of Camp Ashraf must immediately be reassumed by the US. In a letter written to the US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, the jurists have asked for the security of Ashraf residents to be transferred to American forces, because in addition to the fact that Baghdad has been unable to shoulder this responsibility it has also proven to be imposing pressure on the residents.
The hunger strike and the demonstrations continue in Ottawa for the 27th day
The Iranian-Canadians gather in front of the US embassy here in Ottawa to protest the attack on Camp Ashraf where 3400 Iranians about 70 of them Canadians reside. They are demanding the immediate release of the 36 hostages taken by the Iraqi forces after their raid on camp Ashraf on July 28th. The Iranian-Canadins are also asking president Obama to once again take responsibility of Ashraf protection. It’s worth noting that the Unites States made a written agreement with each resident of Ashraf camp to protect them under international laws. But as the Iraqi forces were killing unarmed residents of Ashraf, there are reports that the Americans were watching and filming the massacre. Today on the 27th day of the hunger strike, one of the female hunger strikers, was taken to the hospital by an ambulence. She was very weak and was shaking as a result of her hunger strike. As she was taken by the peremedics, she was crying. When asked why she was crying, she told Radio Irava that she was thinking of the Iranian dissidents in camp Ashraf who do not have the same facility availiable to them and she felt guilty because of that.
Political prisoner’s condition deteriorates in Gohardasht
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement on Aug. 23rd that; According to obtained reports from Ward 4 of Gohardasht prison in Karaj, the physical condition of Ali Moezzi, a 57year-old father and political prisoner, has been deteriorating since three weeks ago. Although even the prison’s medical office has asked to transfer him to a hospital outside the prison, the clerical regime’s henchmen refuse to do so. Mr. Ali Moezzi was among the political prisoners in the 1980s. His kidneys, which have been badly injured after enduring torture at that time, are in a worse condition now, so much so that he is not capable of eating and can only drink water.Ali Moezzi was arrested on November 11, 2008, after a violent raid of his home by the clerical regime’s agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). The reason for his arrest was visiting his child and relatives in Ashraf City. After his arrest, Moezzi was transferred to solitary confinement in Ward 8, known as the Sepah (Revolutionary Guards) Ward, and was subjected to interrogation by MOIS interrogators. He spent seven months in solitary confinement at Sepah Ward and endured physical and psychological torture by the henchmen. The clerical regime’s so-called court in the city of Karaj has sentenced Moezzi to five years in prison.
Boy who defied Tehran hardliners tells of prison rape ordeal
By Homa Homayoun
Times, Aug 22, 2009 - The 15-year-old boy sits weeping in a safehouse in central Iran, broken in body and spirit. Reza will not go outside - he is terrified of being left alone. He says he wants to end his life and it is not hard to understand why: for daring to wear the green wristband of Iran’s opposition he was locked up for 20 days, beaten, raped repeatedly and subjected to the Abu Ghraib-style sexual humiliations and abuse for which the Iranian regime denounced the United States. “My life is over. I don’t think I can ever recover,” he said, as he recounted his experiences to The Times - on condition that his identity not be revealed. A doctor who is treating him, at great risk to herself, confirmed that he is suicidal, and bears the appalling injuries consistent with his story. The family is desperate, and is exploring ways of fleeing Iran. Reza is living proof of the charges levelled by Mehdi Karoubi, one of the opposition’s leaders, that prison officials are systematically raping both male and female detainees to break their wills. The regime has accused Mr Karoubi of helping Iran’s enemies by spreading lies and has threatened to arrest him. The boy’s treatment also shows just how far a regime that claims to champion Islamic values is prepared to go to suppress millions of its own citizens who claim that President Ahmadinejad’s re-election was rigged. Reza’s ordeal began in mid-July when he was arrested with about 40 other teenagers during an opposition demonstration in a large provincial city. Most were too young even to have voted. They were taken to what he believes was a Basiji militia base where they were blindfolded, stripped to their underwear, whipped with cables and then locked in a steel shipping container. That first night Reza was singled out by three men in plain clothes who had masqueraded as prisoners. As the other boys watched, they pushed him to the ground. One held his head down, another sat on his back and the third urinated on him before raping him. “They were telling us they were doing this for God, and who did we think we were that we could demonstrate,” Reza said. The men told the other boys they would receive the same treatment if they did not co-operate when interrogated the next day. Reza was then taken outside, tied to a metal pole and left there all night. The next morning one of the men returned. He asked whether Reza had learnt his lesson. “I was angry. I spat in his face and began cursing him. He elbowed me in the face a couple of times and slapped me.” Twenty minutes later, he says, the man returned with a bag full of excrement, shoved it in Reza’s face and threatened to make him eat it. Reza was later taken to an interrogation room where he told his questioner he had been raped. “I made a mistake. He sounded kind, but my eyes were blindfolded. He said he would go look into it and I was hopeful,” Reza said. Instead, the interrogator ordered Reza to be tied up and raped him again, saying: “This time I’ll do it, so you’ll learn not to tell these tales anywhere else. You deserve what’s coming to you. You guys should be raped until you die.” He was subjected to further brutal sexual abuse - and locked up for three days of solitary confinement. Reza was then forced to sign a “confession” in which he said that foreign forces had told him and his friends to burn banks and state media buildings. He was told to identify as the ringleader a 16-year-old friend who had been so badly beaten that he was in hospital. “I was shaking so much I couldn’t even hear what they were saying,” said Reza. “I just signed whatever they put in front of me without looking at it. I was scared they would rape me again.” The next day Reza and other detainees were transferred to a police detention centre, where he was held for a further week. On the third day, police officers entered the cell in the middle of the night, blindfolded him and led him to the toilet, where he was again raped. “My hands began shaking, my legs were weak and I couldn’t stand up properly. I fell down and smashed my head hard on the ground to try and kill myself. I started screaming and shouting for them to kill me. I just couldn’t bear it anymore. I hated myself,” he said, weeping at the memory. The following morning he was summoned by a police commander, who asked why he had been screaming the previous night. When he explained, he was asked to identify his rapist. The boy said he had been blindfolded, so the chief commander hit him and accused him of lying. He was forced to sign a letter admitting he had made baseless accusations against the security forces. Reza’s ordeal was far from over. He was taken with about 130 other prisoners to the city’s Revolutionary Court, where they were herded into a yard. The judge told them that he would hang those who had violently resisted the Islamic revolution and read out the names of ten teenagers, including Reza. The message was clear: if they continued to say they had been raped they would be executed. The judge sent them to the city’s central prison, where Reza was handcuffed and held in a small cell with six other boys for ten more days. In the evenings officers beat the boys and taunted them with the words: “You want to cause a revolution?. Periodically, the most senior officer would take the boys away, three at a time. “When they returned they would be very quiet and uneasy,” Reza said. When his turn came he and the others were led into a small room and ordered to strip and have sex with each other. “He told us that with this we would be cleansed - we would be so shattered that we would no longer be able to look at each other. This would help calm us down.” After 20 days Reza’s family finally secured his release on bail of about £45,000 - and with a final warning that he should say nothing about his treatment. His brother said: “A friend of mine who is a guard in the prison where Reza was being held had told me he was ill. The night he was released he was crying uncontrollably; then he broke down and told my mother everything.” The family persuaded a hospital doctor they knew to treat him, despite the danger to herself. She has treated his physical injuries and given him antibiotics and sedatives but cannot perform an internal examination. Reza is deeply traumatised, terrified of being returned to prison and barely sleeps. The doctor told The Times that other detainees had suffered a similiar fate. “We have many cases in the hospital but we can’t report on them. They won’t let us open a file. They don’t want any paperwork,” she said. Drewery Dyke, an Amnesty International Iran researcher, said that Reza’s case was “consistent with other reports we have received in terms of the severity of disregard for human dignity, the unrestricted abuse without any recourse to justice, the involvement even of judicial persons in rape abuse and the denial of the basic right to healthcare”. Reza, at least, survived to tell the world his story. The 16-year-old friend he had to name as the ringleader has since died in hospital from his injuries. • The identities of all people mentioned in the article have been withheld.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
NEWS))))))
Amnesty International: Iraq authorities must investigate excessive use of force in Camp Ashraf
Amnesty international in its take action on its website has asked the people to sign and demand that the Iraqi authorities, investigate excessive use of force in Camp Ashraf. On Aug. 13 the Amnesty said: Since 1986, Camp Ashraf in Iraq has been home to around 3,500 members or supporters of the People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), an Iranian opposition group.Over the last year or so, several Iraqi government officials have publicly stated that Camp Ashraf residents must evacuate the camp and leave the country.Nine Camp Ashraf residents were killed and hundreds more were injured when Iraqi security forces stormed the camp on 28 July. Another 36 were detained and subjected to beatings and torture. Iraqi security forces used tear gas, water cannon and batons against camp residents who were trying to stop them. In video footage of the raid, Iraqi security forces can be seen beating people repeatedly on different parts of the body and, it would appear, deliberately driving military vehicles into crowds or protesting camp residents. Live ammunition is also said to have been used, resulting in some residents being shot dead or sustaining serious injuries.The 36 detainees are currently being held at a police station in the town of al-Khalis, about 25km south of Camp Ashraf. Some are in need of medical treatment due to injuries, including as a result of torture and gunshot wounds. The detainees are reported to have been told to sign documents in Arabic but to have refused. They have been denied access to lawyers of their choice and have launched a hunger strike in protest against their detention and ill-treatment. One of the 36 who had been shot in the legs and arm has been admitted to a hospital in the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad. He has undergone three surgical operations. Amnesty International is concerned that the 36 Camp Ashraf residents are at risk of being forcibly returned to Iran where they could face torture and execution. It is calling for the detainees to be released unless they are to be tried promptly and fairly on recognizable criminal charges.The organization has called on the Iraqi authorities to investigate the apparent use of excessive force by Iraqi security forces as well as all allegations of torture and beatings, and to bring perpetrators to justice.Click here to join the Appeal for Action
http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/iraq-authorities-must-investigate-excessive-use-force-camp-ashraf
Amnesty international in its take action on its website has asked the people to sign and demand that the Iraqi authorities, investigate excessive use of force in Camp Ashraf. On Aug. 13 the Amnesty said: Since 1986, Camp Ashraf in Iraq has been home to around 3,500 members or supporters of the People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), an Iranian opposition group.Over the last year or so, several Iraqi government officials have publicly stated that Camp Ashraf residents must evacuate the camp and leave the country.Nine Camp Ashraf residents were killed and hundreds more were injured when Iraqi security forces stormed the camp on 28 July. Another 36 were detained and subjected to beatings and torture. Iraqi security forces used tear gas, water cannon and batons against camp residents who were trying to stop them. In video footage of the raid, Iraqi security forces can be seen beating people repeatedly on different parts of the body and, it would appear, deliberately driving military vehicles into crowds or protesting camp residents. Live ammunition is also said to have been used, resulting in some residents being shot dead or sustaining serious injuries.The 36 detainees are currently being held at a police station in the town of al-Khalis, about 25km south of Camp Ashraf. Some are in need of medical treatment due to injuries, including as a result of torture and gunshot wounds. The detainees are reported to have been told to sign documents in Arabic but to have refused. They have been denied access to lawyers of their choice and have launched a hunger strike in protest against their detention and ill-treatment. One of the 36 who had been shot in the legs and arm has been admitted to a hospital in the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad. He has undergone three surgical operations. Amnesty International is concerned that the 36 Camp Ashraf residents are at risk of being forcibly returned to Iran where they could face torture and execution. It is calling for the detainees to be released unless they are to be tried promptly and fairly on recognizable criminal charges.The organization has called on the Iraqi authorities to investigate the apparent use of excessive force by Iraqi security forces as well as all allegations of torture and beatings, and to bring perpetrators to justice.Click here to join the Appeal for Action
http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/iraq-authorities-must-investigate-excessive-use-force-camp-ashraf
Camp Ashraf resident dies of wounds inflicted by Iraqi forces
Shaaban Souri, 44, wounded during the attack of the Iraqi forces on Camp Ashraf, died last night at 21:30 as he was being transferred to Balad hospital of the American forces. He spent 20 years of his life in struggle for freedom of Iranian people against the religious tyranny ruling Iran. He was badly beaten with batons and truncheons, especially on his head, by the Iraqi forces on July 28. He had been suffering from headaches following the attack. At 14:15 Thursday, he was in the state of convulsion and consequently went into coma. Considering his critical state, Ashraf residents informed the American forces of his state. At 20:20 an American doctor attended the patient and at 21:00, while he was on oxygen to help him with breathing he was taken to Balad hospital. He died on the way on the helicopter.
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Yesterday (Aug.15) at the Parliament Hill, hundreds of Iranian-Canadians gathered for “Solidarity with 1000 brave women in Ashraf and women in Iran. Floralove Katz preformed “where all the flowers have gone?” for the crowed. Raymonde Folco MP from the Liberal Party spoke for the protection of the Ashraf residents especially of women of Ashraf. She said that with other members of parliament she would continue this political and civil fight. Homa Alizadeh, Iranian-Canadian activist shook the Parliament Hill as well as the heart of the people with her voice. A lot of Iranians were crying. Minoo Homaily, a women rights activist and defender of the rights of the refugees, in her speech condemned the attack on Ashraf residents by the Iraqi forces and said that the world’s responsibility is to protect the women of Ashraf. Honourable David Kilgour the defender of human rights 
and also the co-chair of the Canadian committee of the friends of Iran-democratic said that because of the lack of competence of the Iraqi government, the Americans must take the responsibility of Ashraf. The Iraqi forces must leave the camp immediately. The lawyers must be allowed to go to Ashraf. And the perpetrators of the attack must be brought to justice. Sara Hassani presented bouquets of flowers to the female guest of the event but Minoo Homaily offered the flowers to the people who’ve been on hunger strike for 18 days.
The protest of the Iranian-Canadians goes on every day in front of the US embassy in Ottawa. Today was the 19th day of the Hunger strike and the 20th day of hundreds of Iranian-Canadians who are protesting against the attack of Iraqi forces on unarmed residents of Ashraf camp. They are demanding an end to the siege of Ashraf Camp, the safe return of 36 hostages taken by the Iraqi forces and for American government to take temporary security of the camp and its residents.
Euro MPs calls on the UN to have a permanent representation inside Camp Ashraf
Source: Friends of a Free Iran in the European Parliament (FOFI)To prevent more atrocities by the Iraqi government, the Friends of a Free Iran intergroup in the European Parliament, consisting of many MEPs from different political tendencies, calls on the United Nations to set up a permanent representation inside Camp Ashraf in Iraq, home to 3500 Iranian refugees from the democratic opposition movement of the PMOI (MEK). On 28 and 29 July 2009, the Iraqi police and army brutally attacked defenceless residents of Ashraf Camp in Iraq who were protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. 9 PMOI members were killed whose bodies have not yet been allowed by the Iraqis to be buried. Around 500 were wounded including women and 36 others were taken hostage by Iraqi forces.These atrocities were carried out at the behest of the Iranian regime and its supreme leader Ali Khamenei by the direct orders of the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who must be held responsible for crimes against humanity.Residents of Camp Ashraf are on day 15 of a hunger strike. In addition to Ashraf residents, supporters of the PMOI have gone on hunger strike in Washington DC outside the White House and opposite US embassies in London, Berlin and Ottawa. Many of the hunger-strikers, in particular the women, are in a poor state of health and some have been hospitalized.As far as the Iranian regime-sponsored government of Iraq is concerned, attacking Ashraf means that this Iraqi government has tied its political fate to that of a regime which in the midst of the Iranian people’s uprising has no future.In the months before transferring the protection of Ashraf we in the European Parliament repeatedly warned senior American officials about the consequences of such a transfer. This matter became so urgent that the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Ashraf on 24 April 2009 which should be the basis to solve the humanitarian case of Ashraf residents. Ashraf residents, their families and hundreds of Iranians who are on hunger strike in different countries have called on the United Nations Secretary General to set up a permanent mission in Ashraf. Hoisting the flag of the United Nations in Ashraf is the only recognized international scheme to protect its residents under the international law.Struan Stevenson MEPChair, Friends of a Free Iran in the European ParliamentAugust 13, 2009Friends of a Free Iran intergroup in the European Parliament (FoFI)Chair: Struan Stevenson (ECR)Vice Chairs: Steven Hughes (PSE Vice-President); Soren Sondergaard (GUE); Jan Zahradil (ECR); Tunne Kelam (EPP)
Shaaban Souri, 44, wounded during the attack of the Iraqi forces on Camp Ashraf, died last night at 21:30 as he was being transferred to Balad hospital of the American forces. He spent 20 years of his life in struggle for freedom of Iranian people against the religious tyranny ruling Iran. He was badly beaten with batons and truncheons, especially on his head, by the Iraqi forces on July 28. He had been suffering from headaches following the attack. At 14:15 Thursday, he was in the state of convulsion and consequently went into coma. Considering his critical state, Ashraf residents informed the American forces of his state. At 20:20 an American doctor attended the patient and at 21:00, while he was on oxygen to help him with breathing he was taken to Balad hospital. He died on the way on the helicopter.
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Yesterday (Aug.15) at the Parliament Hill, hundreds of Iranian-Canadians gathered for “Solidarity with 1000 brave women in Ashraf and women in Iran. Floralove Katz preformed “where all the flowers have gone?” for the crowed. Raymonde Folco MP from the Liberal Party spoke for the protection of the Ashraf residents especially of women of Ashraf. She said that with other members of parliament she would continue this political and civil fight. Homa Alizadeh, Iranian-Canadian activist shook the Parliament Hill as well as the heart of the people with her voice. A lot of Iranians were crying. Minoo Homaily, a women rights activist and defender of the rights of the refugees, in her speech condemned the attack on Ashraf residents by the Iraqi forces and said that the world’s responsibility is to protect the women of Ashraf. Honourable David Kilgour the defender of human rights 
and also the co-chair of the Canadian committee of the friends of Iran-democratic said that because of the lack of competence of the Iraqi government, the Americans must take the responsibility of Ashraf. The Iraqi forces must leave the camp immediately. The lawyers must be allowed to go to Ashraf. And the perpetrators of the attack must be brought to justice. Sara Hassani presented bouquets of flowers to the female guest of the event but Minoo Homaily offered the flowers to the people who’ve been on hunger strike for 18 days.The protest of the Iranian-Canadians goes on every day in front of the US embassy in Ottawa. Today was the 19th day of the Hunger strike and the 20th day of hundreds of Iranian-Canadians who are protesting against the attack of Iraqi forces on unarmed residents of Ashraf camp. They are demanding an end to the siege of Ashraf Camp, the safe return of 36 hostages taken by the Iraqi forces and for American government to take temporary security of the camp and its residents.
Euro MPs calls on the UN to have a permanent representation inside Camp Ashraf
Source: Friends of a Free Iran in the European Parliament (FOFI)To prevent more atrocities by the Iraqi government, the Friends of a Free Iran intergroup in the European Parliament, consisting of many MEPs from different political tendencies, calls on the United Nations to set up a permanent representation inside Camp Ashraf in Iraq, home to 3500 Iranian refugees from the democratic opposition movement of the PMOI (MEK). On 28 and 29 July 2009, the Iraqi police and army brutally attacked defenceless residents of Ashraf Camp in Iraq who were protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. 9 PMOI members were killed whose bodies have not yet been allowed by the Iraqis to be buried. Around 500 were wounded including women and 36 others were taken hostage by Iraqi forces.These atrocities were carried out at the behest of the Iranian regime and its supreme leader Ali Khamenei by the direct orders of the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who must be held responsible for crimes against humanity.Residents of Camp Ashraf are on day 15 of a hunger strike. In addition to Ashraf residents, supporters of the PMOI have gone on hunger strike in Washington DC outside the White House and opposite US embassies in London, Berlin and Ottawa. Many of the hunger-strikers, in particular the women, are in a poor state of health and some have been hospitalized.As far as the Iranian regime-sponsored government of Iraq is concerned, attacking Ashraf means that this Iraqi government has tied its political fate to that of a regime which in the midst of the Iranian people’s uprising has no future.In the months before transferring the protection of Ashraf we in the European Parliament repeatedly warned senior American officials about the consequences of such a transfer. This matter became so urgent that the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Ashraf on 24 April 2009 which should be the basis to solve the humanitarian case of Ashraf residents. Ashraf residents, their families and hundreds of Iranians who are on hunger strike in different countries have called on the United Nations Secretary General to set up a permanent mission in Ashraf. Hoisting the flag of the United Nations in Ashraf is the only recognized international scheme to protect its residents under the international law.Struan Stevenson MEPChair, Friends of a Free Iran in the European ParliamentAugust 13, 2009Friends of a Free Iran intergroup in the European Parliament (FoFI)Chair: Struan Stevenson (ECR)Vice Chairs: Steven Hughes (PSE Vice-President); Soren Sondergaard (GUE); Jan Zahradil (ECR); Tunne Kelam (EPP)
Sunday, August 09, 2009
NEWS))))))
Camp Residents Beaten and Tortured: Amnesty International
Amnesty International released a statement condemning detaining, beating and torturing 36 members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran who were detained in the brutal attack of the Iraqi security forces on July 28 and called on its members worldwide to write letters to the Iraqi President and Prime Minister and Minister of Human Rights, urging them to release the detainees and provide medical care for the injured detainees.
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The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement on August 6th, 2009 that while the brutal crimes committed by Iraqi forces against residents of Camp Ashraf have sparked outrage and hatred among the people of Iran and Iraq and the world public opinion, and have been condemned extensively by the governments, organizations and authorities advocating human rights, the Iraqi officials have resorted to ridiculous excuses and sheer lies to ignore the “ responsibility to protect” (RtoP) and trample international conventions and cover up the suppression and massacre of Ashraf residents by invoking Iraq’s right to sovereignty. They never say anything about the instructions in the “bilateral agreement” between Khamenei and Mr. Maliki for suppression of the main Iranian opposition force in Iraq, and about the naked terrorism of the mullahs’ regime and the terrorist Qods force against the PMOI in Iraq; instead, they claim that the Ashraf residents do not respect Iraq’s right to sovereignty. They also claim that intention behind the brutal assault of Iraqi forces on Camp Ashraf was merely the generalization of Iraq’s sovereignty and setting up a police station just like other locations in Iraq. The NCRI said: such claims, in general and in particular, are invalid and phony and cannot save the parties who ordered or perpetrated the crime against humanity from judicial and international consequences of their deeds. The International Committee of Jurists in Defence of Ashraf (ICJDA), comprised of 8,500 jurists, the International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ), comprised of 2,000 Parliamentarians in the U.S. and Europe, and successive resolutions of the European Parliament( 12July 2007, 4 September 2008, and 24 April 2009) testify to this fact.
1 - The Ashraf residents and their lawyers have continuously announced that they respect Iraq’s right to sovereignty, but it is absolutely unacceptable that someone seeks, in the name of Iraq’s sovereignty, to implement the orders of clerical regime’s supreme leader for suppression and massacre of the Iranian Opposition members in Ashraf and violate the international obligations as happened on 28and 29 July, 2009.
Amnesty International released a statement condemning detaining, beating and torturing 36 members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran who were detained in the brutal attack of the Iraqi security forces on July 28 and called on its members worldwide to write letters to the Iraqi President and Prime Minister and Minister of Human Rights, urging them to release the detainees and provide medical care for the injured detainees.
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The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement on August 6th, 2009 that while the brutal crimes committed by Iraqi forces against residents of Camp Ashraf have sparked outrage and hatred among the people of Iran and Iraq and the world public opinion, and have been condemned extensively by the governments, organizations and authorities advocating human rights, the Iraqi officials have resorted to ridiculous excuses and sheer lies to ignore the “ responsibility to protect” (RtoP) and trample international conventions and cover up the suppression and massacre of Ashraf residents by invoking Iraq’s right to sovereignty. They never say anything about the instructions in the “bilateral agreement” between Khamenei and Mr. Maliki for suppression of the main Iranian opposition force in Iraq, and about the naked terrorism of the mullahs’ regime and the terrorist Qods force against the PMOI in Iraq; instead, they claim that the Ashraf residents do not respect Iraq’s right to sovereignty. They also claim that intention behind the brutal assault of Iraqi forces on Camp Ashraf was merely the generalization of Iraq’s sovereignty and setting up a police station just like other locations in Iraq. The NCRI said: such claims, in general and in particular, are invalid and phony and cannot save the parties who ordered or perpetrated the crime against humanity from judicial and international consequences of their deeds. The International Committee of Jurists in Defence of Ashraf (ICJDA), comprised of 8,500 jurists, the International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ), comprised of 2,000 Parliamentarians in the U.S. and Europe, and successive resolutions of the European Parliament( 12July 2007, 4 September 2008, and 24 April 2009) testify to this fact.
1 - The Ashraf residents and their lawyers have continuously announced that they respect Iraq’s right to sovereignty, but it is absolutely unacceptable that someone seeks, in the name of Iraq’s sovereignty, to implement the orders of clerical regime’s supreme leader for suppression and massacre of the Iranian Opposition members in Ashraf and violate the international obligations as happened on 28and 29 July, 2009.
2 - Ashraf residents, respecting Iraq’s right to sovereignty, negotiated with Iraqi officials for one year (since August 2008 till 29 July, 2009) and displayed extraordinary flexibilities despite international recommendations including the International Committee of Jurists in Defense of Ashraf.
3 - The issue of setting up a police station inside Ashraf and the way it was put forward was merely an absurd excuse for attacking and suppressing Ashraf residents at the behest of the mullahs’ shaky regime. Ashraf residents have had the maximum cooperation with the Iraqi forces stationed at Ashraf since the beginning of 2009 and have provided them with too many facilities.
4 - The Ashraf residents delivered to the Iraqi forces the buildings at camp’s entrance including dozens of rooms and halls and the appended trailers that were working places, residence and meeting place of lawyers, jurists, parliamentarians and international delegations; all of them were constructed by Ashraf residents and all the expenses were spent by them.
5- The Ashraf residents spent huge amount of money to build 4 protection towers with a set of installations as well as road construction at four points outside the camp perimeter for the Iraqi forces and delivered them.
6 - As a sign of goodwill to the Iraqi forces, the Ashraf residents removed 10 watch towers inside Ashraf’s perimeter having been used by the Organization members for guarding the camp aimed at showing the Iraqi forces that their presence is recognized and there is no interference in their duties.
7- The Ashraf residents accepted to go through the census, fingerprinting, identification and registration process by Iraqi Interior Ministry representatives that lasted for 5 days and was completed on April 9, 2009.
8- The Ashraf residents accepted private and individual interviews with Iraqi officials that lasted for 19 days at a place outside Ashraf, next to the Iraqi forces location. The interviews were completed on April 22, 2009. During the interviews, carried out with the presence of the U.S. forces, the Ashraf residents announced their selection of remaining in Ashraf and had it recorded legally vis-à-vis the options suggested by the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry. Eleven persons left Ashraf on their will.
9 - On Ashraf suggestion, for three days, all buildings, sites, gardens, farms and installations in Ashraf were searched by Iraq’s Ministry of Interior that with complete equipments including trained police dogs. The search was completed on April 20, 2009. According to the document that was signed in this regard, no explosives or weapons were found except for 23 boxes of firework squibs while some of them were rotten and some were empty.
10 - Therefore, no ambiguity is left that the brutal crackdown and massacre for setting up a police station inside Camp Ashraf under the pretext of implementing sovereignty is an absurd claim for fulfilling the clerical regime’s demands. On Thursday morning of May 28, 2009, the police forces surprisingly raided the Ashraf entrance and increased pressures and siege and all kinds of threats and restrictions and prohibitions for two months. Ultimately on July 28, 2009, along with other suppressive forces, they started their brutal crackdown and savage massacre at the behest of Khamenei who is being drowned in the waves of the Iranian people’s nationwide uprising.
11-It is worth noting that on the day of attack and massacre (28 July 2009), the representatives of Ashraf residents were negotiating with the Iraqi forces’ commanders and Iraq’s prime minister’s envoys at 12 o’clock noon on how to station the police. In this two-hour negotiation, the residents of Ashraf reiterated once again that they had no problem with the police forces taking position at the Camp’s entrance, and if the police needed more facilities at the camp’s entrance, they would provide them and would pay all necessary expenses and provide full facilities. However, the Iraqi side turned a deaf ear to these words, having resolved to attack and massacre on behalf of the mullahs’ regime. In the course of negotiations, the prime minister’s representative was called from Baghdad three times and was ordered finally to cut off the negotiations and launch the attack. The severity of attack, the number of Iraqi forces, the type of forces, and their brutal behavior are indications of devastating goals of the operation and clearly show that the problem is not implementation of sovereignty, rather the issue is the destruction of Ashraf at the behest of the Iranian regime.
12-Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, who was in charge of Ashraf’s dossier in the Iraqi government till May, had said one year ago on 13 July 2008: “this dossier will be wrapped up soon. …the only solution is that the Iraqi armed forces take the responsibility of Camp Ashraf; they are the ones who should hold the administration of the camp; only Iraqis should have control over it. Those who have committed crimes against the people of Iraq should be tried here. Any other country that supports them can take them, and majority of them should return to their country. Except for 56 of them, the others are probably granted amnesty. They can return to their country.”
13- Therefore, the Ashraf residents had no objection to stationing Iraqi police forces at Ashraf’s entrance, and their representatives underscored in their several meetings with both the Iraqi forces and the U.S. forces that they had no problem and objection with stationing the police at the camp’s entrance, but stationing the police in the Ashraf residents’ residing area in the middle of the camp, where 1,000 Muslim women including young girls with Islamic culture and traditions live, pursues other known goals that the Iraqi officials have announced and repeated time and again. On 1 April 2009, Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said on Al-Forat TV, “Iraqi security forces will enter the camp gradually and will set up control posts and will run patrols and will start searching, and then they will launch attacks…”
14- On 29 July 2009 in the midst of the attack and massacre in Ashraf, Ali Larijani, Iranian regime’s parliament speaker, followed by all Friday prayer leaders, “thanked and expressed gratitude” to Mr. Maliki and lauded him for his “brave measure” in “annihilating the Monafeqin[the regime’s derogatory term to describe the PMOI] ”.
15- On 31 July 2009, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said: “ the goal of setting up a police center is that some of those who are in the camp want to go to Iran or any other country in the world, but this organization prevents them and does not permit them to do so. Some seek to return Iran by taking advantage of amnesty, but they do not allow. Some of them, meaning 55 of them, are under prosecution by the Interpol, because they are guilty and there are judicial complaints against them. The camp officials refrain from delivering these individuals, and therefore we planned to set up a police center there.” (ALHURRA TV, 31 July 2009)
16- Therefore, the Ashraf residents’ problem is neither Iraq’s sovereignty, nor the presence of the police and its station and command at Ashraf’s entrance (specifically at Lord Slynn’s building). The problem is to use “the right to sovereignty “ and “police station” as an excuse to implement the “ bilateral agreement” between Khamenei and Mr. Maliki for suppression and massacre of Iranian Opposition or forcing it to bow down and surrender. This is where the crime against humanity tramples international laws, conventions and resolutions, and rejects “responsibility to protection” (RtoP).
17- The UN Secretary General said about “responsibility to protection”: “RtoP is an ally of sovereignty, not an adversary. Strong States protect their people, while weak ones are either unwilling or unable to do so. …. RtoP seeks to strengthen sovereignty, not weaken it.” (Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General- New York, 15 July 2008)
18- In the 2005 Summit, the UN Secretary General specified based on the signed document in the Summit that in today’s world obligations of States to protect from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity is not “in contradiction to sovereignty”, and as the 2005 Summit recognized in its official document, “when “national authorities are manifestly failing to protect their populations” from the four crimes and violations, Governments “are prepared to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council, in accordance with the Charter, including Chapter VII, on a case-by-case basis and in cooperation with relevant regional and sub-regional organizations as appropriate.” (New York, 15 July 2008)
19- In light of the one year experience and since it was proved that the current Iraqi government has neither capacity nor competence to assume the protection of Ashraf residents, and regretfully implements the wants of the dictatorship ruling Iran in suppression of the Iranian Opposition in Iraq based on the “bilateral agreement”, as Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, wrote to the U.S. President on 2 August 2009, the solution is now that the U.S. forces temporarily undertake the protection of the Camp Ashraf until an international force under United Nations monitoring takes their place. In this regard, the Iranian Resistance calls on the United Nations, European Union, and the Arab League.
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The demonstration of the Iranian-Canadians continues in Ottawa
As the Iraqi's attack on Iranian residents of Ashraf Camp started, hundreds of Iranian-Canadians began their protest. Today was the 12 day of their hunger strike and the 13 day of the demonstraions. They gather in front of the foriegn affairs on Sussex Drive from Monday to Friday every morning and in the afternoon they move to the front of the U.S. embassy. On Sat. and Sundays they are at the U.S. embassy all day long.
They want the United States to end the siege of Ashraf Camp where the Iraqi forces attacked its residents and killed 13, wounded more than 500 and took 36 people as hostages.
The Iranian-Canadians's hunger strike is to support the Ashraf residents hunger strikee.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
NEWS))))))
Iraqi police beat and wounded Camp Ashraf residents
At 17:30 local time on Tuesday July 28, 2009, camp Ashraf was raided by the Iraqi forces. The unarmed residents were attacked with machine guns, betton, tear gas, pepper spray and manmade clubs, chains and stones by the Iraqi forces. They attacked the camp Ashraf where close to 4000 members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) have been residing for more than 20 years. So far 12 people have been killed by the Iraqi forces either by bullets, boldoser, or sever beating to the head, more than 400 are wounded and 30 taken by the police to an unknown location. The residents of Ashraf are unarmed and are protected persons under the 4th Geneva Convention. The U.S signed an agreement with the Ashraf residents in early 2000 to ensure their safety in Iraq. Camp Ashraf is located close to the Iran-Iraq border in Diale province. The residents of Ashraf announced on Tuesday that except the wounded and the ill, everyone else is going on a hunger strike until their demands are met. Retreat of the Iraqi forces from the Camp and return of the missing is among the demands of residents of Ashraf including the U.S to take control of the security of the Iranian residents in Ashraf. In solidarity with the Camp residents, the Iranian political organizations, political and artists, and human rights defenders, condemned Iraqi attack on the Iranian residents of Ashraf. In 14 countries and 15 cities people are staging demonstrations and hunger strikes to support their countrymen and women. In Ottawa the Iranian protesters gather every day in front of the American Embassy from 9 Am to 9Pm. A few people have started their hunger strike since Wednesday.
The president elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, called the attack on Ashraf residents, a crime against humanity. In a press conference in Rome, lawyers and jurists from Italy, France, Belgem, Sweden, Germany with members of the “Comettee of the Italian parliamenters and citizens” for free Iran, Maryam rajavi asked the lawyers to help the victim’s families to take this matter to and international court. She added that the resistance of Iran will do all it can to help. The siege of Ashraf began in early March after the order of Ali Khamieni supreme leader of Iranian regime reached Nouri Almaliki in Feb. of 2009.
Iraqi Deputy President, Tariq al-Hashemi, demands explanation from Nouri al-Maliki On Thursday evening at 21:00 local time, the al-Arabiya TV channel reported that Mr. Tariq al-Hashemi, the Iraqi Deputy President, wrote a letter to members of the country’s presidential council and highlighted the need to demand sufficient explanations from Nouri al-Maliki about the military operation carried out recently in Camp Ashraf.He also demanded to know the reason for performing the operation as well the political objectives to be pursued by the government in the future with regards to dealing with the refugees of the camp.In his letter, al-Hashemi emphasized that from this point on it would be unacceptable for Iraq’s presidential council to be surprised every time political or security measures are taken without prior consultation with the council.
Ashraf women residents attacked with tear gas, shots fired into the air, and 5 residents wounded
PMOI women prevent the theft of a truck owned by residentsIraqi suppressive forces, which have surrounded and occupied Camp Ashraf, have been looting and stealing resident-owned vehicles.At about 18:00 local time today, Iraqi forces attacked women residents of Ashraf who sought to prevent them from stealing a truck. The forces used tear gas, fired bullets into the air, threw sonic and smoke grenades, and beat the women with sticks and stones. However, the brave women overcame the agents’ attacks and took possession of the vehicle, thus preventing it to fall into the hands of the clerical regime’s cronies.One of the women, Fatemeh Jafari, was injured after being hit in her chest by a stone thrown by the Iraqi agents. Moreover, Mohammad Kangi, Faraj Afshar, Bahman Abedi, and Abdolreza Kalantar, who had come to the aid of these women under fire, were wounded as a result of the sonic and smoke grenades hurled by the killers of the Iranian people’s sons and daughters.In the first two days of the agents’ attack, dozens of vehicles belonging to Ashraf residents, including 12 IFA trucks, 9 Jeep Land Cruisers, 2 Mitsubishi minibuses, 1 Land Cruiser, 1 Nissan Sedan, 2 water and fuel tankers, 1 crane, 1 truck, 1 bulldozer, and 3 loaders were stolen by the suppressive thieves.Thus far, close to one hundred vehicles and various kinds of ambulances, IFA vehicles, cranes, and cars have been damaged by the agents and are no longer operational.
Camp Ashraf resident Alireza Ahmadkhah has died
Alireza Ahmadkhah, who was shot in the leg on Tuesday by Iraqi suppressive forces, died at around 22:00 local time on Thursday. He was 51 and was born in the northern city of Rasht. He had 20 years of professional political experience struggling for freedom of the Iranian people from the clutches of the religious tyranny ruling Iran.Ahmadkhah died in Balad hospital of the American forces, 20 km from Ashraf. On Thursday afternoon, after a two-day delay, 12 of the severely wounded Ashraf residents, 8 of whom were shot by the Iraqi agents, including Asghar Yaghoubpour, were transferred by American forces to Balad hospital. At noon on Thursday, the American military’s spokesman in Iraq declared the US forces’ readiness to provide medical treatment upon request.
Iraqi police beat and wounded Camp Ashraf residents
At 17:30 local time on Tuesday July 28, 2009, camp Ashraf was raided by the Iraqi forces. The unarmed residents were attacked with machine guns, betton, tear gas, pepper spray and manmade clubs, chains and stones by the Iraqi forces. They attacked the camp Ashraf where close to 4000 members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) have been residing for more than 20 years. So far 12 people have been killed by the Iraqi forces either by bullets, boldoser, or sever beating to the head, more than 400 are wounded and 30 taken by the police to an unknown location. The residents of Ashraf are unarmed and are protected persons under the 4th Geneva Convention. The U.S signed an agreement with the Ashraf residents in early 2000 to ensure their safety in Iraq. Camp Ashraf is located close to the Iran-Iraq border in Diale province. The residents of Ashraf announced on Tuesday that except the wounded and the ill, everyone else is going on a hunger strike until their demands are met. Retreat of the Iraqi forces from the Camp and return of the missing is among the demands of residents of Ashraf including the U.S to take control of the security of the Iranian residents in Ashraf. In solidarity with the Camp residents, the Iranian political organizations, political and artists, and human rights defenders, condemned Iraqi attack on the Iranian residents of Ashraf. In 14 countries and 15 cities people are staging demonstrations and hunger strikes to support their countrymen and women. In Ottawa the Iranian protesters gather every day in front of the American Embassy from 9 Am to 9Pm. A few people have started their hunger strike since Wednesday.
The president elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, called the attack on Ashraf residents, a crime against humanity. In a press conference in Rome, lawyers and jurists from Italy, France, Belgem, Sweden, Germany with members of the “Comettee of the Italian parliamenters and citizens” for free Iran, Maryam rajavi asked the lawyers to help the victim’s families to take this matter to and international court. She added that the resistance of Iran will do all it can to help. The siege of Ashraf began in early March after the order of Ali Khamieni supreme leader of Iranian regime reached Nouri Almaliki in Feb. of 2009.
Iraqi Deputy President, Tariq al-Hashemi, demands explanation from Nouri al-Maliki On Thursday evening at 21:00 local time, the al-Arabiya TV channel reported that Mr. Tariq al-Hashemi, the Iraqi Deputy President, wrote a letter to members of the country’s presidential council and highlighted the need to demand sufficient explanations from Nouri al-Maliki about the military operation carried out recently in Camp Ashraf.He also demanded to know the reason for performing the operation as well the political objectives to be pursued by the government in the future with regards to dealing with the refugees of the camp.In his letter, al-Hashemi emphasized that from this point on it would be unacceptable for Iraq’s presidential council to be surprised every time political or security measures are taken without prior consultation with the council.
Ashraf women residents attacked with tear gas, shots fired into the air, and 5 residents wounded
PMOI women prevent the theft of a truck owned by residentsIraqi suppressive forces, which have surrounded and occupied Camp Ashraf, have been looting and stealing resident-owned vehicles.At about 18:00 local time today, Iraqi forces attacked women residents of Ashraf who sought to prevent them from stealing a truck. The forces used tear gas, fired bullets into the air, threw sonic and smoke grenades, and beat the women with sticks and stones. However, the brave women overcame the agents’ attacks and took possession of the vehicle, thus preventing it to fall into the hands of the clerical regime’s cronies.One of the women, Fatemeh Jafari, was injured after being hit in her chest by a stone thrown by the Iraqi agents. Moreover, Mohammad Kangi, Faraj Afshar, Bahman Abedi, and Abdolreza Kalantar, who had come to the aid of these women under fire, were wounded as a result of the sonic and smoke grenades hurled by the killers of the Iranian people’s sons and daughters.In the first two days of the agents’ attack, dozens of vehicles belonging to Ashraf residents, including 12 IFA trucks, 9 Jeep Land Cruisers, 2 Mitsubishi minibuses, 1 Land Cruiser, 1 Nissan Sedan, 2 water and fuel tankers, 1 crane, 1 truck, 1 bulldozer, and 3 loaders were stolen by the suppressive thieves.Thus far, close to one hundred vehicles and various kinds of ambulances, IFA vehicles, cranes, and cars have been damaged by the agents and are no longer operational.
Camp Ashraf resident Alireza Ahmadkhah has died
Alireza Ahmadkhah, who was shot in the leg on Tuesday by Iraqi suppressive forces, died at around 22:00 local time on Thursday. He was 51 and was born in the northern city of Rasht. He had 20 years of professional political experience struggling for freedom of the Iranian people from the clutches of the religious tyranny ruling Iran.Ahmadkhah died in Balad hospital of the American forces, 20 km from Ashraf. On Thursday afternoon, after a two-day delay, 12 of the severely wounded Ashraf residents, 8 of whom were shot by the Iraqi agents, including Asghar Yaghoubpour, were transferred by American forces to Balad hospital. At noon on Thursday, the American military’s spokesman in Iraq declared the US forces’ readiness to provide medical treatment upon request.
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