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Miliband accused over Iran exiles
Saturday,26 of September 2009

Source: BBC News

A Labour peer has accused Foreign Secretary David Miliband of maintaining 'a shameful silence' on attacks on Iranian dissidents at a camp in Iraq.British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom chairman Lord Corbett hit out in a strongly-worded open letter. More than 3,000 people live in the Camp Ashraf, and supporters say several died in a raid by Iraqi security forces. The Foreign Office says officials will visit the camp soon and have written to Iraq’s government over the matter. Those at the camp, which was previously under US control, are members of an exiled Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mujahadeen of Iran (PMOI). Their relatives and friends have been demonstrating outside the US Embassy in London for 60 days. Several are on hunger strike. Their case has won the backing of senior Church of England clergy, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.Lord Corbett wrote: 'At Labour’s conference you will rightly join the chorus of condemnation at Iran’s menacing nuclear deception. 'Then, why your shameful silence over the vicious assault Iran orchestrated Iraq to make two months ago on 3,500 Iranian dissidents at Camp Ashraf?' He described it as 'a brutal assault on refugees who offered no more than passive resistance against ’security forces’ armed with hand-held chains, axes, iron bars and wooden clubs embedded with nails as well as live ammunition'. Lord Corbett claimed this raid, on 28 July, had left 11 dead and more than 500 injured. 'Some 36 were arrested and remain detained despite court orders for their release. Is this the kind of democracy for which our government sent troops to die and be injured?' He said the UK had a responsibility to help ensure the safety and security of the refugees and called on Mr Miliband to try to ensure a UN monitoring force could go to the camp. Lord Corbett said a Foreign Office promise to send diplomats from the British Embassy to Ashraf had not materialised. 'Speak out this week, David, please,' he added.

Iranian exiles cite signs of Iran nuclear activity
Associated Press reported on September 24, 2009 that an Iranian exile group in France on Thursday released satellite images and details about what it claims are two sites used to research and build nuclear weapons in Iran. AF added the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a political arm of the Iranian Opposition People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, said the sites are evidence that Iran is continuing and expanding nuclear activity despite international demands to halt it.The International Atomic Energy Agency says it is investigating them. The Iranian Embassy in France would not comment.The United States and its allies fear Iran is building nuclear weapons, while Tehran insists it is seeking only nuclear energy.The Iranian exile group released material in 2002 that helped confirm a hidden Iranian uranium enrichment program and other covert activity that eventually led to three rounds of U.N. sanctions.At a Paris news conference, Mehdi Abrishamchi showed images of two sites and gave their precise locations. The first was in eastern Tehran, where he said nuclear weapons research was being carried out by an Iranian agency Metfaz. He claimed that components of nuclear weapons are being manufactured at a second site, southeast of Tehran in the village Sanjarian, accessed by a metal bridge.
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Hunger strike entered its 3rd month in Ottawa
Hundreds of Iranians in Camp Ashraf and 5 other cities around the world including Ottawa have started a hunger strike in protest to the Iraqi raid on the Iranian camp in Iraq on July 28 and 29, 2009. The number one demand of the hunger strikers is the release of 36 residents of Camp Ashraf in the hands of the Iraqis. They also want to see the U.S. to retake the protection of the camp until a UN body would replace the US permanently.

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Maryam Rajavi: People’s uprising continues until establishment of democracy and freedom in Iran
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement on September 18, that: Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, lauded people in Tehran and other cities for turning the mullahs’ so-called ‘Quds Day’ show into a major uprising for freedom. To the Iranian people in Iran She said: Your uprising today is a major victory against Khamenei and Ahmadinejad. They failed to stop you despite mobilizing all their forces and using the most barbaric tortures, raping boys and girls in jails and savagely attacking Camp Ashraf in Iraq.She reiterated: The powerful uprising today in Tehran, Shiraz, Tabriz, Mashhad, Esfahan and other cities echoes the glaring fact that the Iranian people’s uprising for freedom will continue until complete change of the entire clerical regime and establishment of freedom and democracy in our enchained homeland. Indeed, it is an uprising until victory.People’s slogans such as “we will fight, we will die, but we’ll take our country back” and their angry cries against Khamenei highlight the courageous morale of the Iranian people whose voice has not been silenced by all the killings, tortures and brutal suppressions, noted Mrs. Rajavi.The President-elect of the Iranian Resistance emphasized that people’s slogan “Torture and rape are no longer effective,” which could be heard from the streets of central Tehran today, disgraced Khamenei and exposed his shameful failure to hold on to power by resorting to sexual assaults against male and female prisoners. This has brought for him nothing but greater dishonour, embarrassment and even more instability for his regime.She added: Today’s widespread uprising is also a big defeat for Khamenei’s suppressive plans. For weeks he had placed the plan to contain today’s uprising on top of the political and security priorities of his regime and was personally commanding the suppressive operation through Sarallah Base.All the suppressive apparatus of the regime including the Revolutionary Guards Corps, the paramilitary Bassij force, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, State Security Forces and the Anti Riot units, were used but today the people’s uprising surpassed all of them. She reminded the world powers still bidding on negotiating with the falling regime and insist on continuing with the appeasement policy to receive the message of Iranian people from across the country. Those countries must no longer pin their hopes on a regime which is on the verge of collapse. The disgraceful policy of appeasement should be replaced with comprehensive sanctions to stop the Iranian regime from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Anglican Church leader concerned about Iraq's Camp Ashraf
Reuters reported that the spiritual head of the Anglican Church expressed concern Sunday about Iranian exiles living in a camp in Iraq, saying they faced "human rights violations" that needed to be addressed urgently. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said both the United States and the Iraqi government had a duty to protect the residents of Camp Ashraf, home to the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI) dissident group. "The continuing situation in Camp Ashraf, together with the fact that the 36 people taken from the camp in July have not been released, constitutes a humanitarian and human rights issue of real magnitude and urgency," Williams said in a statement. The camp's 3,500 residents had been under the protection of the U.S. military until the facility was handed over to Iraqi jurisdiction last January.In late July, Iraqi forces took control of the camp, northwest of Baghdad, sparking clashes in which at least seven exiles were killed. Some of the residents have been on hunger strike since, demanding that the 36 people seized during the riot are freed and the Iraqi forces who took control of the camp leave. "Both the government of Iraq and the government of the United States -- as the agency responsible for the transfer of the residents to another jurisdiction -- have an obligation to secure the rights of these residents and to defend them from violence or abuse," Williams said on his Website. "I hope that all concerned will listen to what those across the world who are deeply anxious about these human rights violations are saying, and respond as a matter of urgency." Some members of the U.S. Congress have criticized President Barack Obama's administration for ignoring the situation and giving an inadequate response to the July clashes. U.S. officials say the camp is a matter for Baghdad since it took control of its own security matters, but have stated that the residents should be treated humanely and not forcibly repatriated to Iran. However, human rights lawyers accuse Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of ignoring assurances given to Washington about the treatment of those in the camp, an irritant for the Iraqi government which has close ties to Iran. Williams said there was a strong argument in giving Ashraf residents "protected persons" status under international law, and also urged the hunger strikers to end their protest. "Further loss of life would only compound recent tragic events," he said.

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Hunger strike continues in Ottawa

Today (Sep. 21,09) was the 55th day of the hunger strike in Ottawa in front of the U.S. embassy. The hunger strikers want the release of 36 Iranian hostages taken by the Iraqi forces after their raid on camp Ashraf in Diala Province by the order of the Iranian regime’s supreme leader. The hostages are the members of the opposition group (PMOI) who have vowed to over thrown the clerical regime in Iran. On Sat. two of the people on hunger strike were rushed to the hospital because of heart pain and panic attack but both are refusing to break their hunger strikes. They say they will continue until the 36 hostages are released.

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36 PMOI members are in critical condition in 7th week of their hunger strike
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran reported on Sep. 14th that the 36 members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) who were taken hostage by the Iraqi forces in the late July attack against Camp Ashraf are in critical condition. In the seventh week of their hunger strike to protest their illegal abduction, they are about to reach unrecoverable points. All the captives are suffering from severe weakness and impairment of vision and hearing, and digestive system. Although three weeks have passed since Khalis city court ruled their release, the Iraqi forces continue holding them captive. Habib Ghorab, is suffering from severe leg swelling and vascular lesions caused by torture and beatings he was subjected to during the arrest. He must be urgently examined and treated by specialists. Mohammad Reza Hooshmand, is transferred to Khalis hospital and put under oxygen tent due to critical complications caused by asthma attacks. Mehdi Zare who is on the threshold of losing his vision due to nerve inflammation of his eyes has never been visited by a specialist. Aziz Gholami while suffering from hypothyroidism does not have access to the required vital drug. Ibrahim Komary, Jalil Gholam Zadeh and Homayoon Dayhim have been transferred to emergency room in Khalis hospital for the treatment of severe chest pain. Ibrahim Komary is in need of special medical care. On Sunday, the officials at Khalis court expressed their helplessness in implementation of the court order because of political interferences. They stressed that ridiculous charges such as illegal entry dating back to 25 years ago, are clearly a pretext for keeping the hostages in captivity. The Iranian Resistance had previously revealed that, following the visit to Iraq by the regime’s Foreign Minister, the mullahs’ regime embassy in Baghdad with a brazen intervention in Iraqi Judiciary system, prevented the implementation of court ruling on the release of the hostages. Making excuses such as illegal presence in Iraq is made up by the terrorist Quds Force and the agents of mullahs’ Ministry of Intelligence and Security who are pulling the strings. It is already evident that continued captivity of the 36 Ashraf residents, is simply giving in to inhumane demands of the mullahs’ regime that insists on their killing. On the Forty-ninth day of hunger strike by the 36 hostages, the Iranian Resistance once again calls on the U.S. government, U.S. embassy Baghdad, the Mult-National Force-Iraq, Secretary General of the United Nations, the UN Security Council, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and all international human rights organizations to act immediately to save their lives. U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and American Forces must fulfill their obligations towards the Protected Persons, including the 36 hostages, according to the individual agreements they signed with all Camp Ashraf residents. The Iranian Resistance warns the Iraqi Government that hostage taking and beating and injuring Protected Persons and preventing their release in violations of the court order, are considered as crime against humanity and will be pursued in the international courts.
Today(Monday sep. 14) was the 48th day of hunger strike by the Iranian-Canadians in Ottawa in front of the US embassy. They want to see the return of the 36 Iranian hostages taken by the Iraqi forces. Their state of health is not good and they all suffer from low blood pressure to low suger level. Yet they refuse to break their hunger strike.

Senior House Members Press U.S. Envoy over Protection of Camp Ashraf, Demand Release of 36 Iranian dissidents
PRNewswire-USNewswire, Washington, reported on Sept. 12 that at a hearing on September 10, senior members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, voiced outrage over a July attack by Iraqi forces against Camp Ashraf, where 3,400 Iranian refugees reside. Christopher Hill, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq was testifying. Committee Chair Howard Berman (D-CA) had already expressed deep concerns over the assault in a July 29 joint statement with the Committee Ranking Republican, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). Congresswomen Ros-Lehtinen told Ambassador Hill: ’I’m concerned about Iraqi actions being undertaken at the behest of the Iranian regime with respect to Ashraf.’ She then asked about specific measures to ensure rights of Ashraf residents and to prevent their forcible return to Iran. Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) pointed out that the 36 abducted residents of Ashraf are still in captivity ’even though an Iraqi judge has ordered these individuals to be released.’Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) referred to the 1,000 women in Ashraf and said that there is no excuse for attacking the residents. Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) asked Ambassador Hill to ’take back with you to the Iraqi government that there are senior members of the United States Congress that are watching what they’re doing. Representative Bob Inglis (R-SC) called the attack a violation of the Geneva Conventions and called for ’pressure on the Iraqis to act in a humane way and consistent with the conventions.’ Ambassador Hill told the lawmakers, ’We have made it very clear to the Iraqi government... that we are interested in the well being of these people, we’re interested in the preservation of their human rights, we’re interested in the fact that they should not be forcibly repatriated to Iran.’ The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents welcomes Ambassador Hill’s acknowledgement that exercise of ’sovereignty of should not come at the expense of human rights or repatriation.’ However, echoing the demands raised in an open letter to President Obama by two dozen Iranian-American communities, the Committee calls on the United States, in particular the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, to undertake practical measures to secure the release of 36 abducted residents. It also urges the U.S. to take the lead in facilitating the stationing of a permanent United Nations monitoring post at Ashraf.
SOURCE U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents

The Iranian Resistance warns against torture of political prisoners and possible arrest of Karoubi
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran reported on Sep. 13 that the Iranian Resistance warns against torture, rape, intimidation of political prisoners and possible arrest of KaroubiNCRI - On Saturday, the three-man committee of the mullahs’ judiciary, Ibrahim Ra’isi, Mohseni Eje’i and Ali Khalafi, investigating reports on torture, in particular sexual abuse of political prisoners said in their report to Sadeq Larijani, head of the regime’s judiciary, that the documents submitted by Mehdi Karoubi about torture and rape of those detained during the post election uprising were ”completely fake and politically motivated” and they asked for a “fair and decisive measure against him.” According to a report by Fars news agency affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards Corps Larijani has agreed with the recommendations of the committee. The regime, in a new phase of internal purge and suppression, is preparing the grounds for the arrest of Mehdi Karoubi, who had held top posts within the regime for the past 30 years and for eight years as the speaker of Majlis (mullahs’ Parliament). Members of this committee have been involved in the massacre, torture and sexual abuse of political prisoners over the years and should be put on trial for committing crimes against humanity. Ibrahim Ra’isi was a key member of the “Death Committee” responsible for the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988. Mohseni Eje’i as the representative of the Revolutionary Prosecutor in the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), head of the Third District of the Revolutionary Court, the prosecutor of the Special Court for Clergy and the MOIS Minister has been one of the main elements of the regime in suppression and conducting atrocities in the past 30 years.On Friday, the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei described reports about murders, barbaric tortures and sexual abuses of political prisoners, which has turned into a major scandal for the regime, as “lies and rumors” and warned the clergy belonged to the defeated faction that they will “fall” for the “mistakes” they have made. Prior to this, some members of Majlis affiliated to Khamenei and various bodies of the Revolutionary Guards Corps had called for Mehdi Karoubi’s arrest.Over three decades of the mullahs’ rule, the Iranian Resistance has continuously exposed barbaric tortures, rape and murder of political prisoners under torture that were all carried out on the order of Khomeini and other clergy. In these circumstances, the Resistance once again warns against medieval tortures and intimidations against political prisoners and recent widespread arrests and particularly the possible arrest of Mr. Mehdi Karoubi.The Iranian Resistance calls on the United Nations Security Council and all international human rights organizations to adopt effective measures to stop unbridled barbarism by mullahs’ regime in the 21st century.

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Iran: Death sentence sought for political prisoner for waging war on God?
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement on September 5, 2009 that the mullahs’ regime judiciary on Sunday, August30, sought a death sentence for Mr. Hamed Yazarloo, 28, a Air and Space expert who is currently a political prisoner, for “waging war on God.” During the mock-trial, which was presided by Mohammad Moghise, Hamed Yazarloo was accused of taking part in mountain climbing, indoor football games, and family gatherings, and gathering news and information about political prisoners, including about his brother Hood Yazarloo, attending events in Hosseinieh Ershad religious institute in Tehran, establishing email contacts with his relatives in Camp Ashraf, taking part in student gatherings and protests, gathering a collection of speeches and events of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran and promoting the goals of the PMOI, and thus a death sentence was sought for him. Even Hamed’s father was not allowed to attend the mock-trial. Mohammad Moghise, with a pseudonym of Nasserian, was the head of Evin prison at the time of the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988. He is one of the most brutal and despicable torturers of the regime and one of the main figures responsible for suppression of political prisoners. Hamed Yazarloo was arrested on February 20, 2009 by agents of the notorious Ministry of Intelligence and Security. He was put in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. He was subjected to physical and psychological torture there for 120 days. He continues to languish in Ward 209. His mother, Ms. Nazila Dashti, is being held in the women’s ward of Evin Prison. Hamed’s brother Hood, 21, is imprisoned in Ward 4 of Gohardasht Prison. Ms. Dashti and Hood were both sentenced to three years in prison for visiting their relatives in Ashraf. The Iranian Resistance warns about the death sentence for Mr. Hamed Yazarloo and calls on all international bodies and human rights organizations, in particular the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to urgently intervene to save the life of this political prisoner.

US dishonours its promise to Iranian refugees
By Christopher Booker
The Sunday Telegraph, 06 September 2009
Why are world leaders ignoring the fate of exiles belonging to the People’s Mujahideen of Iran, asks Christopher Booker. In recent weeks, widely reported in the US but virtually unnoticed here, an extraordinary drama has been unfolding over the ruthless attack by Iraqi government forces on Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad, which for years has been home to exiles belonging to the People’s Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI), the leading group opposed to the murderous tyranny in Tehran. In July, despite the fact that each of the 3,500 residents had been given a personal guarantee of safety by the US government, Iraqi troops, supported by Iranian special forces, stormed into Ashraf, bulldozing homes and civic buildings, killing 11 unarmed refugees, injuring 500 and taking 36 people hostage (an action which has since been ruled illegal by Iraq’s criminal court). For six weeks in London, backed by Amnesty International, the Law Society and an all-party group of MPs and peers, Iranians have been camped outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, pleading with the US government to honour its pledge. Six protesters, related to Ashraf residents, have been on hunger strike for 40 days, three now so seriously ill that they were last week removed to hospital. Similar scenes have taken place outside the White House. Yesterday, hundreds of Iranians staged protest rallies in London, Washington and Stockholm, outside a meeting of EU foreign ministers, calling on the EU, the US, the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to take action on this continuing outrage. The remaining Ashraf residents, denied proper medical or food supplies, fear that unless the US and international bodies intervene, they face forcible deportation to Iran, where most would be imprisoned or executed. The EU is compromised because only last year it was forced by both British and EU courts to lift the ban it imposed on the PMOI as a “terrorist” organisation, to appease the Tehran regime. But the real onus to stop this horror lies with the UN, the Red Cross and above all the US government, which should honour the pledge it gave, in writing, to each of those refugees it has since betrayed.

Kouchner Says IAEA Withheld Iran Nuclear Evidence
Bloomberg - World News, Sep 3, 2009 - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner accused the United Nations nuclear watchdog of witholding information about Iran’s nuclear program. Kouchner accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of putting key information about Iran’s program in annexes of a report published last week. The IAEA has already said the report, which concluded the threat of Iran producing an atomic weapon has been exaggerated, was published in its entirety. The Israeli Foreign Ministry Aug. 30 accused the IAEA of omitting information in the report. “Reading this report, none of our questions have been answered,” Kouchner said today at the inauguration of an archive center. “I think that in the annexes there are elements that would make us question the military aspect of Iran’s nuclear program. I want to see the annexes. I want them to be released as soon as possible.” France has been pushing for stronger sanctions against Iran over its refusal to stop enriching uranium. Iran says its program is aimed at producing electricity. France, the U.S., and Israel say Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons. “There are articles claiming that the Secretariat is hiding information, and that there are sharp disagreements among staff members involved about the contents of the report,” IAEA spokesman Marc Vidricaire said in a statement Aug. 28. “Needless to say, such allegations have no basis in fact.”

The Hunger strike in Ottawa sur passed its 40th day
The Iranian-Canadians in Ottawa have been on a hunger strike to protest the brutal attack of the Iraqi forces on an unarmed camp Ashraf where was under the protection of the USA until recently. The Iraqi forces killed 11, wounded more than 500 and took 36 hostages. The Iranian-Canadians have been on a hunger strike for 40 days now and demand that the hostages are freed immediately. Since Thursday 3 women who have been on hunger strike were rushed to the hospital. For 2 of them it was their second visit to the hospital. The rest of hunger strikers don’t have good situations either. They suffer from chest pain to dizziness, low blood sugar...