The office of Iraqi Prime Minister yesterday prevented the implementation of the court verdict on release of 36 members of the PMOI who had been taken hostage during the criminal attacks by the Iraqi forces. On Monday the judge in Khalis, (Diyala province of Iraq), ordered the immediate release of all of them. The 36 were abducted by the Iraqi forces on 28 July during their criminal attack on Ashraf. Seven of the hostages were seriously injured and the rest were all beaten badly. All of them are on the 30th day of their hunger strike. We, the families of the Camp residents and Iranian dissidents, announce the start of a week of global action for the release of the hostages starting, Wednesday, August 26. The global action will include hundreds of events organized by various Iranian communities with extensive help and participation of jurists, lawyers, parliamentarians, organizations and human rights advocates from the United States, Europe, Australia and Asia. Following the issuing of the court verdict in Khalis, the Iranian regime through Kazemi Ghomi, its ambassador to Iraq, who is a member of the terrorist Qods Force, urged the Iraqi government and its Prime Minister to prevent the release of the hostages. It is more evident than before that the abduction and imprisonment of the hostages from the onset was done solely at the behest of the Iranian regime and in order to implement the bilateral agreement between the Iraqi government and the clerical regime. This agreement was made public by Khamenei on February 28. We reiterate that taking hostage and torturing of protected persons by the Iraqi government is a clear case of crime against humanity and is prosecutable in international courts. We urge the US government, the US Embassy in Baghdad, and the command of the US forces in Iraq to act for the immediate release of the hostages, according to their responsibility towards the camp residents as protected persons.

 

Families of Residents of Ashraf

26 August 2009