NCRI – A number of associations and organizations from a number of Iraqi cities have sent separate letters and statements to American and international authorities, detesting inhumane pressures imposed on Ashraf City residents and urging immediate intervention to halt the restrictions, the Iraqi daily Azzaman reported on Sunday, April 12, 2009.
Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad in Iraq, is home to approximately 3,500 residents who are members of the main Iranian democratic opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). They are regarded as ‘protected persons’ under the Fourth Geneva Convention, but have come under appalling pressures at the behest of the Iranian regime, which seeks to expel them from neighboring Iraq.
The Iraqi daily Azzaman quoted a PMOI citing a number of the organizations expressing support for Ashraf residents. Some of them include: The Association of Nurses in Tehran, Shiraz Society of Medical Doctors, Teachers in Western Tehran, the Bazaari Society of Tehran, Association of Workers in Southern Tehran, the Youth Association of Southern Tehran, the Youth Association of Eastern Tehran, Young Sympathizers of the PMOI in Zanjan Province, and a number of associations of PMOI sympathizers in the cities of Sari, Ghaemshahr, Babol (northern Iran).
The Iraqi daily also said: “The Committee of Friendship between Iraqi Kurds and the Iranian People has expressed its deepest worries about the pressures imposed on Iranian residents in Camp Ashraf, north of Baaghouba in Iraq.”
The Azzaman report mentioned a number of Iraqi tribal leaders and non-government organizations expressing solidarity with Ashraf residents and urging an immediate intervention by international and Iraqi bodies.
Sheikh Adnan Mohammad Bandar, leader of the al-Someidi tribe in Iraq said: On behalf of the entire al-Someidi tribe in Iraq, I announce our full support and solidarity with the residents of Ashraf City.
Sheikh Feysal Houm, leader of the Neda tribe in Iraq, sent a letter to the commander of the Multi-National Force-Iraq, saying: We request that the protection of Ashraf City be transferred back to American forces.
Azzaman added: “The Union of Free Women Communities, the Association of Democratic Women, the Association of Free Women in Diyala, and the Association of Meghdadieh Women for Peace, have all issued statements condemning the pressures imposed against Ashraf. They, too, have demanded immediate intervention by international authorities to prevent the occurrence of a human catastrophe in Ashraf, and have also underscored the need to guarantee the safety and security of Ashraf residents in accordance with international law.”
