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Amnesty International issues Urgent Action on seven Iranian exiles held by Iraqi forces

NCRI – Amnesty International has issued an Urgent Action declaring: “The seven Iranian exiles abducted on 1 September are now known to be held by the Iraqi security forces at an unofficial detention facility in central Baghdad. They are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment and could be forcibly returned to Iran.”

The statement said: “According to reliable sources, the seven were transferred under tight security to an unofficial detention facility in the former al-Muthanna airport in central Baghdad at the end of September. The seven remain under investigation.”

“The seven Iranian exiles were abducted on 1 September 2013 from Camp Ashraf, about 60km north-east of Baghdad in Diyala governorate, when armed men raided the camp and shot and killed 52 residents. Video footage and photographs showed that many of the 52 had been shot in the head, some while handcuffed. Eyewitnesses from the camp said they had seen the seven people in handcuffs, being beaten, thrown to the ground and then taken away in a white minibus.”

The residents of Camp Ashraf are members and supporters of Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) or MEK. They are now in Camp Liberty, Iraq.

Amnesty International’s Urgent Action urges calling on the Iraqi authorities to release the seven Camp Ashraf residents and to immediately disclose their whereabouts and ensure that the seven people are protected from torture and other ill-treatment and have access to a lawyer of their own choosing.

To read the Urgent Action issued by Amnesty International click here.