Status of Iranian Mojahedin in Iraq should be respected – Swiss Jurist

NCRI, September 6 – Prominent Swiss jurist and lawyer, Professor Marc Hanzelin, representing members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran based in Camp Ashraf in Iraq called on the Iraqi President, Prime Minister, Parliamentary Speaker, Justice Minister and Foreign Minister and US Ambassador to Iraq, to safeguard the status of the PMOI under the Forth Geneva Convention. In his letter on September 2 he said:

As the legal Counsel of the members of the PMOI in Iraq, my worry concerns Art. 21 of the draft Constitution referring to asylum. My clients have dedicated their lives to fight a dictatorial, bloody and unjust regime which is simply not accessible to reason and to legal arguments. Moreover, my clients have all renounced the use of violence. Even the United States of America… has not found any evidence which would substantiate the unfounded allegation that members of the PMOI have committed any international crime. This has been confirmed in a public announcement made on 2 July 2004 by General Casey. The US Army has also considered the members of the PMOI "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention, and therefore as non-combatants.

With this context in mind, the wording of Art. 21, para. 3… could lead to a misunderstanding. I therefore suggest that the wording of Art. 21 para. 3 of the Draft Constitution be more precise and respectful of human rights.