INTERNATIONAL CALL ON PRESIDENT OBAMA TO HELP RELEASE OF 36 IRANIAN DISSIDENTS HELD HOSTAGE BY IRAQI FORCES AND FACING DEATH

An Iraqi court has ordered the release of hostages three times,
yet the Iraqi Government refuses to implement the rulings to mollify Tehran

Dear Mr. President
We learned with utter disbelief and horror that 36 residents of Camp Ashraf, who were abducted on July 28 by Iraqi forces and have been held since then as hostages, were attacked, beaten and then transferred by force to an undisclosed location on Thursday. According to reports from the scene, the abductees who were dragged on the ground and thrown into police vehicles while some were unconscious. The attack on the hostages took place after an Iraqi court ordered their release in a definitive verdict on September 27 finding no charges against them. The same court had previously ordered their release twice, after hearings on August 23 and September 17. The continued detention of the 36 after the most recent ruling of is clearly unlawful. Iraq’s chief prosecutor, Ghadanfar Hamoud, told the Associated Press on September 30 that the detainees “should have been released by now … We have issued orders to all police stations to release them wherever they are.” The hostages, who were designated as “Protected Persons” in 2004, were detained arbitrarily on no grounds and are held illegally only to blackmail the Ashraf residents. They have no means of defending themselves. Their lawyers are not permitted to travel to Iraq to meet them. They have been on hunger strike for 66 days in protest against their illegal detention. They could face death at any moment. The Iraqi Government and its Prime Minister will be held fully accountable for such a tragedy. The Iraqi authorities have not fulfilled their written pledge to the U.S. Government that they will treat Ashraf residents humanely, in accordance with international law. The Iraqi Government is violating international treaties, its own laws, and Iraqi court rulings, just to please the Iranian regime. This is an additional reason to deploy a UN monitoring team to Ashraf, and to enforce guarantees by the American forces for protection of Ashraf residents. There is no doubt about the anti-democratic nature of the majority of those who rule Iraq, but silence and inaction on the part of our government regarding the current campaign against the Iranian opposition in Iraq is shocking. This is unacceptable to all of us. We cannot avoid blaming ourselves. This is a catastrophe for American forces and all the members of the coalition. The U.S. has disarmed all Ashraf residents including the 36 hostages, and has signed agreements with every one of them pledging to protect them until final determination of their status. But now they are being left defenseless in the face of violence.
We know the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran very well. Many of us have visited Camp Ashraf. We have experienced their commitment to democracy and have full confidence that they will stand by their democratic aspirations and pay the price for it.
We are daunted with the fear of imagining such a tragedy taking place in a country that thousands of people died for its freedom in the past six years. Thus, we call on the US President and the Government to stand by their commitments toward the 36 hostages and work for their release. Freedom seeking Iranians should not be allowed to die in Iraqi jails of injustice.
If such atrocities take place in Iraq while 130,000 American soldiers are present, what will happen to the Iraqi people when these forces leave the country? We call on the European Union, all its Member States and parliaments, and NGOs to support Ashraf residents and the release of 36 hostages. Supporting Ashraf means supporting human rights, the rule of law, and democratic values.

Respectfully,

International Committee In Search of Justice (ISJ)
Dr Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Vice President of the European Parliament

1. The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom, Lord Robin Corbett
2. Comité Français pour un Iran Démocratique, Sen. Jean Pierre Michel
3. Comitato Italiano di parlamentari e cittadini Iran Libero,
Presidente: On. Carlo Ciccioli, Co-presidente :On. Elisabetta Zamparutti
4. Deutsches Solidaritätskomitee für einen freien Iran, Hermann- Joseph Scharf
5. Friends of a Free Iran intergroup in the European Parliament, Stephen Hughes
6. The Swedish Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom (SPCIF), Kent Olsson
7. Belgian Committee of Parliamentarians for a Democratic Iran, Sen. Dirk Claes
8. Committee of Friends of Free Iran in Danish parliament, Jens Christian Lund
9. Friends of a Free Iran – Swedish branch, Lennart Friden
10. Friends of a Free Iran – Norway, Lars Rise
11. Canadian Friends of a Democratic Iran, David Kilgour
12. The Dutch Group of Friends of a Free Iran, Hank de Haan
13. Luxembourg Parliamentary Committee for a Free and Democratic Iran, Jean Huss
14. The Swiss Committee in Defence of Ashraf, Co-presidente: Nils de Dardel,
Francine John-Calame
15. Australian Supporters of Democracy in Iran