NCRI – Eva Selin Lindgren, a member of Parliament from the Centrist Party, in an article published in the Swedish Fokus magazine on Friday, calling on the country’s Foreign Minister to condemn the violence perpetrated against Iranian citizens in Iran and Iraq.
Ms. Lindgren said: “Where is the Swedish voice? The voice of Sweden has never been so needed at a time when civilized innocent human beings are being killed and imprisoned in Iran and at time when the Iraqi Prime Minister sends his military to Camp Ashraf to kill Iranian exiles who have for years taken refuge there in search of security. Some have been taken hostage and taken to undisclosed locations. All this happens in accordance with orders coming from Iran.”
On July 28, Iraqi security forces attacked unarmed refugees at Camp Ashraf. Using guns, axes, clubs, and American-made Humvee armoured vehicles, they killed nine people and injured 500. Thirty-six refugees were taken hostage.
The camp, located 100 km northeast of Baghdad, is home to 3,400 members of the main Iranian opposition, the People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), including about 1,100 women. The residents surrendered their weapons to U.S. forces in 2003 after signing an agreement that stipulated in part that the Americans accepted the responsibility to protect them until the determination of their final status.
In February 2009, Ashraf's protection was transferred to Iraqi forces, despite the warning by parliamentarians, jurists, and human rights organizations that strongly opposed the transfer. Ashraf residents pleaded with American forces in August 2008 that they would have no security if their protection was transferred to Iraq. These warnings were not heeded.
