They specifically denounced the psychological torture of the residents using 180 powerful loudspeakers, restrictions on access to medical care and an unjust siege against the camp.
The statement, which has been supported by the Northern Iraq Bar, backed European Parliament resolutions on Ashraf, passed on April 24, 2009 and November 25, 2010, and pointed to the Washington symposium on December 17 and the international conference in Paris on December 22, which called for the lifting of the siege on Ashraf.
The statement says, “In our legal view, Article 45 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, obligates the US to reassume the protection of Ashraf residents in the current circumstances.”
Several hundred Iraqi jurists signed the statement entitled “Call to Action to Lift the Siege on Ashraf.”
The statement said US forces and a UNAMI team should establish permanent presence in Ashraf, and institute the same standards that were in place prior to the transfer of protection to Iraqi forces in 2009.
It also said Ashraf residents are protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention and must enjoy the protections and fundamental rights offered in that convention. “The unlawful siege on Ashraf, laid over 22 months ago, must be lifted, and medical access along with commercial activities and traffic must be reinstituted in Ashraf,” the statement added.
In addition to having their property rights protected, Ashraf residents must also see an end to the psychological torture they have been subjected to by the Iranian regime’s intelligence agents using 180 powerful loudspeakers.
The lawyers also said that a committee in charge of suppressing Ashraf at the Prime Minister’s Office must be disbanded as it is illegal after the creation of a new coalition government in Iraq.