The participants condemned the barbaric attacks on the houses of PMOI families and suppression of the students in Iran.
The participants condemned the barbaric attacks on the houses of PMOI families and suppression of the students in Iran.
Three prominent international figures Mr. Struan Stevenson, MEP and Vice President EPP-ED Group, Mr. David Kilgour, former member of Canadian parliament and a human right activist and Mr. David Matas, renowned Canadian jurists, spoke at the rally.
Mr. Kilgour said that 3,500 political refugees reside in Ashraf City since 1981. They have been the constant target of the mullahs' regime and have chosen to seek refuge in the neighboring Iraq in the 1980s. He warned against the restrictions imposed on Ashraf residents and said "the PMOI is the largest opposition group in Iran." The Mojahedin call for separation of church and state and advocate a nuclear free Iran.
Kilgour stressed on the rights of the Ashraf resident in accordance with the international laws and especially that of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Next speaker at the Washington rally was Mr. Stevenson. He said that Ashraf residents' security and protection must be guaranteed. Ashraf is at the same time a symbol of democracy and resistance against the mullahs' inhuman regime in Iran. We have to exhaust all the remedies available to resist against the Iranian regime.
A common and firm stance by the U.S. and Europe would send the strongest message to the regime in Tehran, Stevenson said. The errors polices of the past toward the Iranian regime must be set aside. It has paid no heed to international demands for abandoning its nuclear project and improving its human rights record.
Mr. Matas emphasized on the U.S. forces obligations to provide adequate protection for the Ashraf City residents. He added that this is the responsibility of the U.S. forces and as long as they remain in Iraq, they should continue to monitor the situation.