NCRI – 25 Jordanian jurists and lawyers have written a letter to the UN Secretary General’s special representative to Iraq asking him to enact urgent measures to lift a siege on Camp Ashraf, Iraq, and dismount more than 140 loudspeakers set up around the camp for psychological torture of the residents.
Writing to Ad Melkert, the legal experts and lawyers said, “For the past two years, Ashraf has been unjustly besieged and subjected to the most severe psychological tortures by the Iranian regime and Iraqi government forces. The Iranian regime’s intelligence services have camped out in front of Ashraf using 140 loudspeakers to threaten the residents with death and attacks.”
The lawyers expressed deep worries over the situation in the camp, where 3,400 members of the main Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) reside in Iraq.
“Since the Iraqi government took control of Ashraf, it has systematically violated its obligations in the context of international law as well as the assurances it gave to the US government before the transfer of protection,” the letter said.
The Jordanian legal experts pointed to the April 24, 2009 resolution of the European Parliament calling on Baghdad to end the unlawful siege on Ashraf and to respect the residents’ legal status. They said the European Parliament reaffirmed these demands again in its November 25, 2010 resolution passed by an overwhelming majority.
“We strongly believe,” the letter added, “that the Iraqi government does not have the intention or the competence to protect the camp.”
They urged Mr. Melkert “for the resumption of protection of the camp by the US and UN forces immediately in accordance with Article 45 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
“The Iraqi forces must also be expelled from the camp’s premises,” the letter said.
