Camp Ashraf military occupation – Number 109
NCRI – On Sunday, 29 May 2011, Iraqi forces prevented the entrance of a tanker to Camp Ashraf, carrying fuel purchased at Ashraf residents’ own expense. Despite continuous efforts, the suppressive Iraqi forces returned this fuel tanker today, April 11th. This is part of the policy practiced by Maliki and the Ashraf Suppression Committee to escalate pressure on the camp’s residents, especially following the April 8th attack.
Preventing delivery of fuel is taking place while due to the summer season and continuous power outages, the need for diesel and other fuel increases and numerous vital services depend on power generators for electricity. Furthermore, this issue causes serious problems for the residents in general, and the patients and those wounded during the Iraqi forces’ April 8th attack in particular.
In yet another inhumane act, Iraqi forces are preventing residents from dumping the camp’s sewage, causing the spread of contamination and increasing hygiene problems that endanger the residents’ health. Ashraf’s sewage dumping area has been occupied by Iraqi forces since April 8th.
These repressive measures are taking place while the Iraqi Foreign Minister claimed on 19 May 2011 during a meeting with European Union ambassadors: “Iraqi officials have initiated a series of measures to guarantee and provide humanitarian services, medical treatment and food supplies in Ashraf.” 10 days after these remarks, an Ashraf resident by the name of Kazem Nematollahi lost his life due to obstructions by the Ashraf Suppression Committee – affiliated to the Iraqi Prime Ministry – in preventing free access to medical services.
The inhumane siege on Ashraf, continuing for over two and half years now, is a flagrant and serious violation of numerous international covenants, including the Geneva Conventions, the International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights. Furthermore, based on the Rome Statute the International Criminal Court and the Spanish National Court ruling, these measures are considered ‘war crimes’ and ‘crimes against the International Community’, and the perpetrators of these actions must be prosecuted and punished.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
June 1, 2011
