• Shameful collaboration with the religious fascism ruling in Iran and clear violation of Iraqi laws, Geneva Conventions, MOU, SRSG letters, UNHCR statements and court rulings in Iraq, Europe and the United States
• Bakoos: The PMOI/MEK is the Iranian opposition that is designated by the United States as a terrorist organization and the U.S. has considered them a terrorist organization since 1997
• The Iranian Resistance urges immediate public positions by the U.S. Secretary of State, U.N. Secretary General, High Commissioner for Human Rights and the SRSG
George Yacoub Bakoos, Deputy to the oppression committee for Ashraf, introduced by the Iraqi government-run television on June 27 as Nouri al-Maliki’s Political Advisor, denied any legal status for the residents of Camps Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq, in a press conference in Baghdad on the same day.
According to Fars news agency affiliated with IRGC on June 27, reporting from AFP, Bakoos said, “The presence of the Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq was illegal and illegitimate from the beginning. There is a misconception among some western parties and also groups in Iraq thinking that they have political asylum in Iraq. But in reality they have no legitimacy in Iraq… The reason behind it is that the UNHCR has confessed to the refugee status of 261 of them from among 2000 who have been transferred from Ashraf to Liberty near Baghdad up until now. ”
Bakoos, referring to the State Department’s terrorist designation of PMOI in 1997 and also accordingly the ratification number 117 of the al-Maliki’s Ministerial Council on April 13, 2011 (5 days before April 8 massacre), and referring to fabricated arrest warrants for 100 members of PMOI said that these rulings will be executed by the government of Iraq in an appropriate time and after the UNHCR finished its work. He also made this obscured remark that Iraq has provided the maximum possible humanitarian necessities to Liberty.
1- Bakoos’s claim that residents of Ashraf and Liberty have no legal status and their presence in Iraq is illegal, is definitely a lie fabricated by the mullahs’ regime and its puppet government installed in Iraq to oppress and massacre the Iranian opposition. Ashraf and Liberty residents, all entered Iraq legally during the 1980s and their stay in Iraq has been according to Iraqi laws providing them the right to asylum (article 34 of the provisional constitution 1970, paragraph ‘B’ of the article 12 of alien residency number 118 in 1978, paragraph 5 of the second article number 210 ratified on December 5, 2000 that was approved on January 25, 2002). Their right to residency and asylum has been researched and confirmed in 45 legal opinions and 5 international reports by international and Iraqi law experts and also by the International Lawyers Union, UK Bar Association, the International Committee of Lawyers in Defense of Ashraf and the international committee ‘In Search of Justice’.
2- Multi-National forces and the government of United States admitted the status of Ashraf residents as Protected Persons under 4th Geneva Convention since 2004 and the U.S., according to an agreement it signed with each and every one of the residents in Ashraf, accepted the responsibility to protect them in exchange for their disarmament.
3- The European Parliament, in two separate declarations in April 24, 2009 declaration and also in November 25, 2010, recognized that Ashraf residents continue to be protected by the Fourth Geneva Conventions.
4- International Lawyers, have announced since the current situation of Ashraf comes from the war and the occupation of Iraq by the United States, protections and rights, stated in the Fourth Geneva Conventions continue.
Professor Geoffrey Robertson QC, a highly recognized lawyer from United Kingdom, with regards to the legal status of the residents of Ashraf announced on the International Day for Human Rights (December 10, 2011) that their protected status, while they need it, continues. Professor Robertson said in his speech, “Once you are defined and listed as a protected person under the Geneva Conventions, how long does that last? It lasts until you no longer need protection. And they need protection today.”
5- Iraqi courts, directly and indirectly, have repeatedly ruled confirming the legal status of the PMOI and its members in Iraq including:
• Ruling by Karadeh Court in Baghdad dated June 19, 2005 on case number 1673 (B/2004) signed by Judge Fattah Kamel
• Ruling by Karadeh Court presided by Judge Saad Al-Jabouri dated August 14, 2005 that emphasized “PMOI is an organization as a legal person and is financially independent.”
• Baghdad Appeals Court Ruling in Rassafeh Federal dated October 17, 2006 (presided by Judge Suleiman Abollah) that emphasized the legal personality of the PMOI.
6- In July 2009, twenty-six resident of Ashraf were taken hostage during the infamous attack on the camp. al-al-Maliki government intended to prosecute them for residing illegally in Iraq. But the Khalis province Judge, in his ruling of September 28, 2009 about the 26 residents stated that, “The court believes that the presence of defendants in the country is derived from the presence of the PMOI that has kept its presence in Iraq according to resolutions and current agreements. Thus no criminal acts that the alleged would have committed exist, so I decided to end the investigations about the defendants and release them immediately.”
7- The Spanish National Court, in its rulings in 2010 and 2011, emphasized on the status of the residents of Ashraf as Protected Persons under Fourth Geneva Conventions, and started investigations on and summoned a number of Iraqi officials for committing crimes against international community. The court emphasized that Nouri al-Maliki, will also be summoned after he leaves the Prime Minister’s office and when his political immunity expires. This ruling also states that the presence of the PMOI in Iraq has always been legal from the beginning as an extra territorial status.
8- Martin Kobler, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Iraq, confirmed the rights of the residents of Camp Ashraf according to international humanitarian laws during the UN Security Council meeting of December 6, 2011. He stated that “Any workable solution must be acceptable to both the government of Iraq and to the residents of Camp Ashraf. The solution must respect the Iraqi government on the one hand and applicable International humanitarian, human rights and refugee law on the other hand”.
9- In his letter of December 28, 2011 to Ashraf residents, Mr. Kobler, according to an MOU signed between him and al-Maliki’s Security Advisor, Faleh Fayaz, wrote, “As asylum seekers, you will be eligible under international law to enjoy basic protections and well-being”.
10- In its statements released on September 13, 2011, and on February 1 and March 1, 2012, the UNHCR described the status of the residents in camps Liberty and Ashraf as “Asylum seekers under international law” and “people of concerned” and declared that “They must be able to benefit from basic protection of their security and well-being”.
11- The fabricated arrest warrants that George Bakoos mentions, all have been perpetrated by the mullahs regime and all names provided to the government of Iraq by the Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, Hussein Danaifar, who is a member of IRGC. The issuing of warrants has been so unprofessional and in a rush that they do not even have the issuing judge’s name and signature. These warrants include names of some who have passed away such as Mr. Ebrahim Zakery who died in Paris in 2003 and Sohrab Hamidi who died in 1991 defending Ashraf. The names also included some members of the Iranian Resistance living in Europe and the United States or in Iran. There are also names included of persons who have never been with the PMOI or the Liberation Army.
12- Al-Maliki Advisor’s threats regarding return of Ashraf land to farmers and bogus original owners, and arrest and punishment of the Iranian opposition members under pretext of “returning the right to the owner” related to bogus law suites and rulings, all come from the same scenario that led to previous massacres in 2009 and 2011. They are in clear violation of guarantees provided by the “Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Iraq and the United Nations” that was signed on December 25, 2011. It is stated clearly in the MOU that “The security of those accommodated at the transit locations and of United Nations personnel carrying out their duties at or near those locations, to be ensured through officers trained for this purpose with the assistance of the United Nations” (Third/A/2).
In this respect, Mr. Kobler in his December 28 letter to Ashraf residents had stipulated: “Upon arrival of the residents at Camp Liberty, the United Nations will conduct 24/7 monitoring at the Camp until the last of the residents leaves Iraq”.
13- The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General once again in his February 15 letter reiterated: “The Government of Iraq shall ensure the safety and security of the residents in Camp Liberty until their resettlement in third countries”.
14- The preposterous claim of al-Maliki’s political adviser that the GOI implements the highest human rights standards in Liberty fools no one. The daily reports of Ashraf and Liberty and death of three of the residents in the past two weeks as a direct consequence of criminal medical blockades, are self- explanatory. This inhumane condition is in obvious violation of the MOU that stated: “The transit locations meet humanitarian and human rights standards” (Third/A/1).”
The criminal claims of al-Maleki’s political adviser, is the de facto abandoning of the MOU by the GOI and is setting the stage for massacre and growing suppression of the members of the Iranian opposition, based on the U.S. terror list. Transfer of two-thirds of Ashraf residents to Liberty prison has not changed anything. This vividly shows that the TTL project has failed and serving the religious fascism ruling Iran unscrupulously, in direct violation of the Iraqi laws, the Geneva Conventions, the MOU, the letters of Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (SRSG), the UNHCR statements, and rulings by the courts in Iraq, Europe, and the U.S. is continuing. The Iranian Resistance calls for immediate position of the U.S. Secretary of State, the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the SRSG in this regard.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
June 29, 2012
