NCRI – On Sunday, August 16, 2009, on the second day of “International Solidarity with the Women of Ashraf and Women of the Uprising,” a gathering was held with the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, in attendance, at the NCRI headquarters in Auvers-Sur-Oise near Paris.
NCRI – On Sunday, August 16, 2009, on the second day of “International Solidarity with the Women of Ashraf and Women of the Uprising,” a gathering was held with the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, in attendance, at the NCRI headquarters in Auvers-Sur-Oise near Paris.
Women’s rights activists, human rights advocates and political figures attended and spoke at the gathering.
Mrs. Rajavi stated in her speech that: In the course of the attack against Ashraf, Iraqi forces threatened women with humiliation and sexual abuse. They even threatened that they will massacre all the men in Ashraf so that later they could invade the residence of women. Such threats were made by criminals who were dispatched to Ashraf either directly by the regime or were otherwise affiliated with the ruling mullahs in Tehran. Their accomplices have for years resorted to such reprehensible violence against women across Iran. Recently, the regime’s former Majlis (parliament) speaker revealed that detained boys and girls are subjected to violent rape in prisons such that they no longer have the ability to lead normal lives.
Mrs. Rajavi added: Today, the women of Ashraf are threatened with the repeat of violent attacks. The armed attackers have taken an aggressive formation with the same weapons and instruments of death in Ashraf, and plan to once again shed blood in Ashraf at the behest of the ruling mullahs in Iran and kill more women and men. At the same time, American forces, which violated the Fourth Geneva Convention and contrary to international commitments transferred the protection of Ashraf to Iraqi forces, are ignoring even their monitoring role. Since the first minutes of the attack against Ashraf American forces witnessed the horrendous scenes first hand and produced video footage. But, they failed to act.
Mrs. Rajavi called on the UN Commission on the Status of Women, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women as well as women and human rights committees in various parliaments, to take measures to protect women in Ashraf against the threats of belligerent criminals.
To prevent the continuation of violent suppression against women in Iran and to prevent further catastrophe in Ashraf, Mrs. Rajavi invited the international community and especially the US, EU and the UN to attempt to fulfill the following demands:
1. Release of political prisoners in Iran, especially female prisoners;
2. Release of the 36residents of Ashraf who have been taken hostage by the Iraqi forces and the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Ashraf;
3. Overtaking of protection of Ashraf temporarily by the US. In the current circumstances, Article45 of the Fourth Geneva Convention requires the US to do so.
4. Establishment of an international force for Ashraf’s protection and a UN observer team in Ashraf.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
August 16, 2009