Following the failure of the policy for expulsion and displacement of the residents of Ashraf, on Thursday morning the Iraqi police force in a sudden and surprising move came to the entrance of Camp Ashraf and laid a siege to the camp.
The Iranian Resistance President-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi strongly protested suppressive siege of Ashraf on Thursday and in a letter to the United Nations’ Secretary General, the United States’ President, and the U.S. Secretaries of State and Defense, underscored: ” As social protests inside Iran continue to mount, the mullahs ruling Iran are in dire need of suppressing their opposition on the eve of the presidential elections.”

Mr. Rajavi added: ” On April 24, 2009, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the “humanitarian situation of Ashraf residents” in which it “urges the Iraqi Prime Minister to ensure that no action is taken by the Iraqi authorities which violates the human rights of the Camp Ashraf residents and to clarify the government’s intentions towards them; calls on the Iraqi authorities to protect the lives, and the physical and moral integrity of the Camp Ashraf residents and to treat them in accordance with the obligations under the Geneva Conventions, notably not to forcibly displace, deport, expel or repatriate them in violation of the principle of non-refoulement.” The European Parliament resolution also called “on the Iraqi government to end its blockade of the camp and respect the legal status of the Camp Ashraf residents as ’protected persons’ under the Geneva Conventions.”

“Subsequently, on April 30 and May 4, 2009, the International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ), comprised of 2,000 Parliamentarians and the International Committee of Jurists in Defense of Ashraf (ICJDA), comprised of 8,500 jurists in Europe and North America, respectively called on the Iraqi government to formally affirm this resolution. They underscored, “If the government of Iraq were to refrain from to complying with the EP resolution and continue to violate the rights of Ashraf residents, the only option would be to refer the matter to the United Nations for the implementation of international guarantees and to ensure that US forces resume the protection of Ashraf… In addition to international obligations regarding the protection of Ashraf, all its residents handed over their weapons to the US forces and in return the US took responsibility for their protection. As such, the task of protecting Ashraf residents is a mandate that results from a bilateral agreement to which the US side must remain committee”.

Mrs. Rajavi called for prevention of the Iraqi police from entering Ashraf which would be a prelude to a humanitarian catastrophe as desired by the mullahs ruling Iran and pointed out: “To date, the Iraqi government has not acknowledged any of Camp Ashraf residents’ fundamental rights. The Iraqi Army is currently protecting Camp Ashraf and there is no need for the Iraqi police to be involved.”