Monday, December 22, 2008

Twelve representatives of the Swiss Federal Parliament and Canton Parliament of Geneva, by sending a letter to the UN Secretary General, asked for his intervention for guarantee of Ashraf city residents’ protection as protected persons by Fourth Geneva Convention.

These representatives including Francine John-Calame and Luc Bartassa, member of Foreign Relation Commission of Federal Parliament, John-Charles Rielle, member of Federal Parliament, Guy Mettan, Vice-President of Canton Parliament of Geneva, and Loly Bollay, member of Canton Parliament of Geneva and former Speaker of that Parliament, wrote in their letter to the UN Secretary General: ” The status of 3,500 Camp Ashraf residents in Iraq, members of the PMOI that one thousand women are among them, have been recognized as the protected persons and are protected by the International Humanitarian Law and the non-Refoulement Principle. The current situation of Camp Ashraf is an outcome of war 2003 in Iraq; consequently, they are under the American Forces protection and are considered “protected persons by the Fourth Geneva Convention and common article 3 of Geneva Conventions.”

The letter added: “The PMOI members have been sentenced to death in absentia since 27 years ago according to a Khomeini’s decree. In 1988, at least 30,000 of the PMOI members and supporters were massacred in prison; a tragedy that Amnesty International called it “crime against humanity”.

Addressing the UN Secretary General, the Swiss Federal Parliament and Geneva Canton members asked for his intervention to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. They asked him to announce that protection of Ashraf residents, as “protected persons” under the Geneva Convention and their judicial security is part of the duties of MNF-I led by US. This protection must be provided by this forces as long as the US forces are in Iraq according to the International law, International Humanitarian Law and non-refoulement principle.