USCCAR Condemns Violent Attack on Camp Ashraf
Urges U.S. Government to Protect the Residents
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) condemns in strongest terms the assault on Camp Ashraf, Iraq, earlier today, in which 175 residents, including 83 women, have so far been injured.
Camp Ashraf is home to 3,400 members of Iran's principal opposition, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, (PMOI/MEK), who have been all formally granted “Protected Persons” status under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The assault today was organized by the Committee for the Closure of Ashraf in the Iraqi Prime Minister's office in coordination with the Iranian embassy in Baghdad. The assailants were bussed from Basra, Amara, Nasiriya and Baghdad to the gates of the Camp, which has been subjected to a year-long propaganda barrage by 180 loudspeakers and increasing restrictions on the entry of medical supplies, food and other essential items. Around noon, the assailants, with the full backing of the Iraqi Security Forces, began attacking Ashraf residents, hurling petrol bombs, rocks, bricks, and metal bars. The injured, including Ms. Fatemeh Noori who sustained damage to her eye, have been denied urgent medical care. The Iraqi government also deployed a rapid deployment battalion and the police force in the city of Khalis around Camp Ashraf, a possible preparation for further and more violent assaults on the Camp.
The latest attack comes after the hastily-arranged January 5 visit to Baghdad by the Iranian regime's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi following the Spain's National Court decision earlier in the week to open a probe into the deadly July 2009 raid on Ashraf by the Iraqi forces. The court said the assault, which left 11 residents dead and 500 wounded, amounted to a crime against humanity. According to news reports, in his meetings with Iraqi government officials, including Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, Salehi demanded that further action be taken against Ashraf. USCCAR reminds the U.S. government of its continuing responsibility to protect the residents of Ashraf under its treaty and international law obligations, including Article 45 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. It also urges the Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, to intervene immediately and, in line with a call by a bi-partisan majority in the House of Representatives (H.Res. 704), undertake whatever steps necessary to end the inhumane treatment of the residents and prevent another humanitarian catastrophe at Ashraf. SOURCE U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR)
About USCCAR – The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) strives to defend the humanitarian and internationally recognized rights of Camp Ashraf residents under the Fourth Geneva Convention and ensure their safety and security.
Who We Are – The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents was established in December of 2003 by the U.S. families and relatives of Ashraf residents in response to the decision by the Iraqi Governing Council to expel the members of the People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) who have lived peaceably in Iraq for decades. The purpose of the Committee is to ensure the safety and security of these Iranian dissidents, whose lives would be in jeopardy where they to be deported to Iran or forcibly displaced inside Iraq. Residents of Camp Ashraf are entitled to protection and assistance based on the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as customary and conventional international law norms that forbid the expulsion of civilians to places where they would be in harm's way.
What We Do – Monitor the status of Camp Ashraf Residents from a humanitarian and international law aspect; Document and report any abuses in Iraq of the rights of Camp Ashraf Residents; Support efforts to work toward an enduring solution regarding the current and future situation of Camp Ashraf Residents.; and Educate policy makers, international organizations and individuals about the historical causes and probable effects of the crisis of the Camp Ashraf Residents in Iraq.
To Contact Us:
U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #195
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (202) 640-1947
E-mail: info@usccar.org
