French mayors in solidarity with the Iranian Resistance
5,000 French mayors call for saving the lives of Ashraf residents
On November 24, a press conference was held at the Paris District 1 City Hall, where a statement by 5,000 mayors across France was delivered calling for an end to the siege on Ashraf, Iraq, recognizing the rights of its residents and urging immediate action to save the lives of patients whose condition has deteriorated due to the restrictions imposed by the Iraqi government and the Iranian regime’s proxies. Dozens of mayors attended the press conference.
The mayors urged the French government and particularly the new foreign minister to play a more active and serious role with regards to the humanitarian crisis and to call on the Iraqi government to comply with its international obligations on respecting the rights of Ashraf residents as well as lifting the imposed restrictions against them.
The mayors also called on the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) to post a permanent monitoring team in Ashraf with the protection of American forces to ensure respect for the rights of residents as well as the lifting of the siege.
Camp Ashraf is home to 3,400 members of the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). They are considered “protected persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention but have been subjected to an inhumane siege by Iraqi forces commanded by the office of Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, for the past two years. The Iraqi forces act at the behest of the Iranian regime and are imposing severe restrictions on the people of Ashraf, including their access to urgent medical treatment and medicine. On July 28 and 29, 2009, Iraqi forces attacked the camp on the orders of the Iranian regime, murdering 11 residents and injuring 500 more in the process. At the time, some of the victims lost their lives after they were prevented access to medical care.
Cancer patients in Ashraf are currently in critical condition. The case of Ms. Elham Fardipour was specifically raised at Wednesday’s press conference. Ms. Fardipour, 44, is suffering from thyroid cancer. Iraqi forces are obstructing attempts to transfer her to a hospital in Baghdad where she could receive the urgent care she requires. Another case, among dozens of others, concerns Mr. Mehdi Fathi, who suffers from kidney cancer. He has gone into coma after being deprived of medical care, and as a result it is thought that his life cannot be saved.
Mayors attending the conference also supported a call by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), to end the siege on Ashraf. Addressing the conference, Mrs. Rajavi said: For the past ten months, the agents of the Iranian regime dispatched to Iraq have been threatening the residents of Ashraf day and night with attack, death, and setting on fire their homes using over one hundred powerful loudspeakers. This is intended to put them under constant psychological torture. Some of the loudspeakers are installed as close as 10 meters from the residential quarters and the clinic in Ashraf. She concluded by reiterating that the brave residents of Ashraf, who had paid the highest price in the fight against religious fundamentalism and are at the forefront of this campaign, must be protected.
The mayors announced that they view Ashraf as a sister city to their own and urged all their colleagues to post banners at city halls in solidarity with the suffering patients at Ashraf.
Mayors in solidarity with the Iranian Resistance;
Jean-François LEGARET – Mayor of Paris 1st district (UMP)
Emile BLESSIG – Member of National Assembly and Mayor of Saverne (UMP)
Jean-Pierre BEQUET – Mayor of Auvers-sur-Oise (PS)
Maurice BOSCAVERT – Mayor of Taverny (PS)