The English translation of statement by the Society of Independent Iraqi Jurists in Defense of Human Rights in Iraq:
The Society of Independent Iraqi Jurists in Defense of Human Rights in Iraq condemns Larijani’s visit and remarks in Iraq
Instead of responding to the unresolved cases of Iranian meddling in Iraq, Larijani started his trip to our country by shamelessly demanding the extradition of the Iranian regime’s opposition in Iraq, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
The Society of Independent Iraqi Jurists, which represents 12,000 Iraqi lawyers and jurists, considers the forced displacement of Ashraf residents in Iraq as a humanitarian catastrophe and calls on the Iraqi government to avoid violations of the most well-known human rights.
While Iraq is in pain more than ever before as a result of the long history of the negative meddling of the Iranian regime in its internal affairs, Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly, has come to Iraq as the head of a delegation. This trip takes place after the Iraqi Parliament Speaker visited Iran as the chair of a parliamentary delegation at the end of September. In that trip, the Iraqi delegation had discussed with their Iranian interlocutors a number of important issues and dossiers, the most significant of which included the issue of water and the infiltration of terrorists, arms, and drugs from Iran into Iraq.
However, instead of responding to these unresolved dossiers about Iranian meddling in Iraq, Larijani started his trip to country by shamelessly demanding the extradition of the Iranian regime’s opposition in Iraq, the PMOI.
One of the Iranian regime’s official news outlets, Fars News, quoted Larijani on November 4, 2009, as saying, “Any delay in handing over the Monafeqin terrorists (an expression the Iranian regime uses to refer to the PMOI) would not be appropriate for Iraq.”
Larijani is the same person who after the illegal attack of Iraqi forces on Camp Ashraf, which resulted in 11 dead, 500 injured, and 36 Ashraf residents taken hostage, said, “The Iraqi government’s attack against the Ashraf base is courageous and praiseworthy. Although the action by the Iraqi government was delayed it was nonetheless praiseworthy” (State-run Iranian TV, July 29, 2009).
The best response by Iraq and the people of Iraq to Ali Larijani was the stance adopted by several honorable and patriotic Iraqi parliamentarians who protested Larijani’s presence in Iraq and said that there are many dossiers regarding Iran which are still open and unresolved. Iran has blocked the water flow of rivers which pour into Iraq, has violated Iraq’s territorial integrity, and sends arms and explosives to Iraq in order to destabilize its security.
Larijani’s illegal and shameless remarks about the extradition of PMOI to the clerical dictatorship (Velayat-e Faqih regime) are uttered while any forcible displacement of a population from one region to another would constitute crimes against humanity under Common Articles of the Geneva Conventions, International Humanitarian Law and other customary and established international legal instruments, as well as Iraq’s High Criminal Court.
These remarks are a clear interference in our country’s internal affairs especially in circumstances where according to press reports during Larijani’s trip to Iraq millions of Iranians in various cities protested against the ruling regime in Iran and chanted “death to dictator.’ The protestors pulled down posters of the Iranian regime’s leader, Ali Khamenei, and Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in front of cameras, and walked on them.
The Society of Independent Iraqi Jurists, which represents 12,000 Iraqi lawyers and jurists, considers the forced displacement of Ashraf residents in Iraq as a humanitarian catastrophe and warns the Iraqi government about the grave consequences of displacing the residents of Ashraf. We strongly invite the Iraqi government to prevent the forcible displacement of Ashraf residents and avoid violations of the most well-known human rights.
The Society of Independent Iraqi Jurists in Defense of Human Rights in Iraq
November 5, 2009