"The mullahs in Iran have resorted to the dirty weapon of rape to drive women away from active opposition, since women have an active role in the uprisings.
In the attack on Ashraf also, the mullahs and their Iraqi proxies intend to forcefully displace, attack, and murder the residents of Ashraf, in particular women, since women in Ashraf have a leadership role in the resistance. "
Message of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi to the conference of International Committee of Lawyers in Support of 1000 Women in Ashraf –Paris October 8 2009
Dear Friends,
I am grateful for the convening of this conference and your attention to the issue of women in Iran and in particular the status of Iranian women in Camp Ashraf.
A thousand women in Ashraf are in immediate danger of forced displacement, murder and attack. I want to appeal to all of you dear friends and the world on their behalf.
The formation of the International Committee of Jurists in Defense of 1000 Women in Ashraf is a significant and welcome step. This is a campaign against the crimes of the religious fascism ruling Iran. The regime has been profoundly destabilized due to the uprisings of the Iranian people during the past three months. The regime is therefore greatly desperate for suppressing its opposition.
The killing of at least 300 protesters, torture of thousands of detained persons during the uprising inside Iran, and the attack on Ashraf are all aimed to contain the uprising.
The mullahs in Iran have resorted to the dirty weapon of rape to drive women away from active opposition, since women have an active role in the uprisings.
In the attack on Ashraf also, the mullahs and their Iraqi proxies intend to forcefully displace, attack, and murder the residents of Ashraf, in particular women, since women in Ashraf have a leadership role in the resistance.
Many of these women in Ashraf are highly-educated graduates and students of European, Canadian, American and Iranian universities.
Over 200 of them are former political prisoners in the current regime with five years average imprisonment under the mullahs.
Their struggle and activism during the past three decades serves as a model for women and youth in Iran today who struggle for freedom and equality. Women and girls in Iran have gained inspiration from them and their sacrifices in the recent uprisings.
The women of Ashraf are in danger ever since the attack on July 28 and 29.
There are several important points that I would like to bring to your attention about the critical situation in Ashraf:
1. The attack on Ashraf was organized and directed by the Iranian regime of the mullahs. The regime's supreme leader revealed on February 28 that a bilateral agreement existed for the destruction of Ashraf between his regime and Iraq. The mullahs' regime in Iran is determined to repeat the attack on Ashraf or displacement and massacre of Ashraf residents.
2. The attackers are currently stationed in Ashraf and the intent of attack still exists. Yet not the Americans, nor the UN, nor any other international body has provided any guarantees for the protection of Ashraf residents in the face of crimes and abductions.
3. In the attack on Ashraf, women were repeatedly threatened with rape.
4. The treatment of the 36 abducted residents of Ashraf is of special concern. The attackers abducted them from Ashraf forcefully and tortured them while they are protected persons under international conventions. Although they were freed yesterday after a long hunger strike, this incident, however, has seriously increased concerns about forceful displacement.
The criminal displacement of Ashraf residents should not be allowed in the same manner. If this were to happen it would have no meaning other than giving the Iranian regime an open hand to murder the residents of Ashraf.
Any attempt to forcefully displace the members of the PMOI in Ashraf is according to the Geneva Conventions prohibited and considered to be a crime against humanity. As the Iraqi courts stressed in their rulings for the release of the 36 residents, the residence of Ashraf residents in Iraq is legal.
I call on the United States of America and the European Union and world bodies to create guarantees that the human rights of the residents of Ashraf will be honored and they will be safe from any attack, violence or displacement.
I call on the United Nations and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to work to establish a UN delegation for monitoring the situation in Ashraf to prevent further attacks or displacement of the residents.
I call on them to declare that the residents of Ashraf must enjoy the fundamental rights and protections granted to them under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Dear Friends,
In two days we will be observing the World Day against the Death Penalty. This day exposes the tragedy of continuous executions and hangings in Iran, a country which has the highest number of executions relative to population.
The Iranian people, in their quest to change the regime of executions and tortures, need international solidarity.
The women of Iran and Ashraf hope to see their sisters throughout the world beside them in this struggle.
There is no doubt that international sisterhood and solidarity has the power to overcome this criminal violence.
The campaign to defend Ashraf happens to be the first line of defense of all women in Iran.
Victory in this struggle is not merely victory over a dictatorial regime, but also the shattering of a fundamentalist front.
Indeed, change in Iran and the demise of the mullahs' regime in Iran is a great triumph for the global movement for freedom and equality.
Thank you all.
