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Iranians rally outside Red Cross demanding protection of PMOI's rights in Ashraf city in Iraq

Nasser Razy - 8/26/2008

Hundreds of Iranians gathered outside the UK office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) urging the world humanitarian body to take action to ensure that Coalition forces continue to protect the members of Iran's main opposition force, the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), in Camp Ashraf in Iraq's Diyala Province.

On June 17, 2008, the Iraqi Council of Ministers issued a six-point directive, demanding to take control of Ashraf emphasizing that the PMOI will be expelled from Iraq and that some of its members will be prosecuted. A subsequent directive prohibited the provision of any form of support to the residents of Ashraf by Iraqis and non-Iraqis alike.

"We have gathered here in protest to worrying news that the Coalition in Iraq is contemplating transferring the protection of some 3,500 members of the main democratic Iranian opposition movement, the People's Mojahedin, residing in Camp Ashraf, to the Iraqi government", said Lord King of West Bromwich from the ruling Labour Party. "The forcible expulsion of the residents of Ashraf would be a grave breach of international humanitarian law and the principle of non-refoulement. The directive by the government of Iraq therefore flagrantly violates International Humanitarian Law and its provisions", he said.

"Transfer of the protection of the residents of Ashraf to Iraqi security forces, who are known to have been infiltrated by the Iranian regime's agents, would invite a humanitarian disaster. There is little doubt that the demands by the Iraqi government to take control of Ashraf are the result of pressures put on it by Tehran, which views the PMOI as the major threat and impediment to its ominous objectives in Iraq", Lord King added.

Elizabeth Sidney OBE, chairwoman of the International Federation of Women Against Fundamentalism and for Equality, who along with Lord King met ICRC officials simultaneous with the protest, said afterwards that the Red Cross is urgently following up the matter.

"The Red Cross must ensure that the residents of Ashraf continue to be protected by the Coalition. Anything short of this would be inviting a humanitarian disaster", said Prof. Assiter, a prominent British human rights activist.

Relevant provisions of international law, international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions prohibit the transfer of Camp Ashraf 's protection. In a letter on March 20, 2007, the ICRC underscored "the residents of Camp Ashraf must not be deported, expelled or repatriated in violation of the [principle of non-refoulement] or displaced inside Iraq in violation of the relevant provisions of International Humanitarian Law (IHL)." Similarly, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees urged "the Multinational Forces (MNF-I) from any action that could endanger the life or the security of these individuals ( Camp Ashraf residents), such as their forcible deportation from Iraq or their forced displacement inside Iraq ."

Lord King and others handed the ICRC officials a letter which read in part: "Handing over the security of those in Ashraf, who are disarmed and have no means of protecting themselves against any hostile action, to a government which has already stated its intention to expel them to Iran would itself constitute a grave breach of international law and the Principle of Non-Refoulement".

" Iraq 's security apparatus is known to have been infiltrated by the Iranian regime's agents. As such transferring the protection of Ashraf to it would create a humanitarian disaster, which the ICRC cannot allow to happen".

"We urge the ICRC – as the trustee of the Geneva Conventions - to take an urgent stance on this pressing matter to prevent the handover of Ashraf to the Iraqi forces", it added.