The lives of a number of patients with terminal illnesses are in danger due to restrictions imposed by the Iraqi committee in charge of suppressing Ashraf
NCRI – The Iranian Resistance warns about the restrictions placed on access to medical treatment when it comes to residents of Camp Ashraf, Iraq, which have seriously endangered the lives of a number of patients. The Iranian Resistance considers the Iraqi government responsible for their lives and calls on the United Nations to enact urgent measures to lift the unjust restrictions and save the lives of these patients.
The Iraqi committee in charge of suppressing Ashraf at the Prime Minister’s Office is obstructing the process of providing access for the urgent and specialized medical treatment of terminal patients in Camp Ashraf. Specifically, Iraqi suppressive forces have for some time prevented the transfer of four patients in critical condition to hospitals which have the appropriate resources to treat them.
One of the patients is diagnosed with kidney cancer. He lost one of his kidneys after the Iraqi suppressive committee put constraints on his transfer to a specialized hospital and delayed his surgery. He now needs another surgical operation as soon as possible by specialist doctors. The committee in charge of suppressing Ashraf is preventing his transfer to well equipped hospitals under various pretexts.
Surgery on another patient who was seriously wounded during the July 28 and 29, 2009 raid against the camp when vehicles of the assailing Iraqi forces rolled over his body has been delayed for months due to hindrances caused by the said committee and nothing has been done so far.
It is worth reminding that the conditions of many Ashraf residents have deteriorated due to lack of access to hospitals and timely medical treatment. They could have been expediently treated and cured at the outset. Ashraf residents shoulder themselves the costs of all the medical treatments that are provided to them.
The Iranian Resistance calls on the United Nations Secretary General, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Iraq, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN special rapporteur on the right to health and other relevant international bodies to urgently intervene to lift all restrictions on Ashraf residents’ access to specialized hospital facilities and to other medical services.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
August 20, 2010