Leman Bleu TV (Switzerland), The Journal, August 10 – Today, Resistance to Iranian clerical regime received heavy support. Figures such as former president of US Democratic party, Howard Dean, rallied in favor of Camp Ashraf, a landlocked city in eastern Iraq. Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt was also present in Geneva.
It is now over one hundred days that supporters of Ashraf are a sit-in protest in front of the UN headquarters, determined to mobilize the UN and public opinion. They can now count on the support of Ingrid Betancourt who spent months as hostage to the FARC in the Colombian jungle. A painful experience that led her to champion the cause.
Ingrid Betancourt: these are 3500 people who are kidnapped by a State, in this case kidnapping by state officials is legal. These are people who are not allowed to leave, and are not allowed to move, with no protection, with no medical access. These are situations that I know and we need to mobilize all of them. So I think there are humanitarian reasons, there are political reasons, there are reasons of principles. I also believe that there are reasons of solidarity in a world that knows no solidarity. A world in which we are stuck against each other to feel different for reasons of race, religion, cultural backgrounds, and I think it’s also a way to say that our ethnic and cultural diferences are of no importance due to the fact that we are all human beings and we need to show solidarity. “
Ashraf supporters argue that this has caused thousands of deaths and injuries in recent years.
