In a press release, The International Committee of Jurists in Defence of Ashraf (ICJDA), which enjoys the support of 8,500 jurists in Europe and the United States, urged the United Nations, the United States government and all human rights organizations to take steps to facilitate trips to Iraq by families of Ashraf residents and grant them permission to enter Ashraf.
The text of ICJDA press release is as follows:
PRESS RELEASE
30 April 2010
End the 16-month ban on travel to Iraq by families of Ashraf residents and remove restrictions on their entry to the Camp
The International Committee of Jurists in Defence of Ashraf (ICJDA) calls on the United Nations, the United States government and all human rights organizations to take urgent measures to end the siege on Camp Ashraf, home to members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) in Iraq. It particularly urges them to take steps to facilitate trips to Iraq by families of Ashraf residents and grant them permission to enter Ashraf.
Since early 2009, hundreds of families of Ashraf residents have applied for visas through Iraqi embassies in different countries, including the United States, Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Sweden and Italy, etc, in order to go to Ashraf, but these embassies have refused to reply despite repeated enquiries.
A number of families, who had managed to go to Ashraf enduring great hardship and facing high risks, were prevented by the Iraqi forces from entering the Camp and were forced to leave Iraq. Between 2003 and 2008, the families could travel to Iraq from Iran and other countries and stay in Ashraf with their loved ones for as long as they wished.
The ICJDA, which enjoys the support of 8,500 jurists in Europe and the United States, considers the siege on Ashraf as an inhumane measure that violates many international laws and standards, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law.
These cruel restrictions are imposed on Ashraf while a number of agents of the Iranian regime, posing as families of Ashraf residents, have assembled outside the Camp’s main gate for more than 80 days. They enjoy the full support and logistical backing of the Iraqi government and the committee within the Prime Minister’s office tasked to suppress Ashraf residents. They have been torturing the residents psychologically during this period using powerful amplifiers and loudspeakers to air deafening chants and to threaten the residents with murder and setting fire to the Camp.
By reminding the US government and the United Nations of their obligations and commitments to safeguard the rights of Ashraf residents, the ICJDA urges them to take immediate measures to end the siege on Ashraf and particularly facilitate the families’ journey to Iraq and to enter the Camp.
International Committee of Jurists in Defence of Ashraf (ICJDA)
