Press Statement
410,000 more people of Iraq join the call by 1,050,000 Iraqis
More than 1,460,000 people of Iraq emphasize UN protection and monitoring for Ashraf residents, end of siege, the need to respect dignity of 1,000 Muslim women, and finding solution acceptable to Ashraf residents
The regime ruling Iran and its proxies in Iraq are the only party seeking relocation of Ashraf refugees or their expulsion from Iraq
December 2011

Excerpts
In view of the deep of the deep concern of people of Iraq who consider Ashraf residents as their dear guests and deem themselves as responsible for their fate and security until they return back to a free and democratic Iran, we emphasize imposition of binding guarantees acceptable to Ashraf residents by the United Nations and also the United States that has legal responsibility towards them.
Considering Iraqi government’s record regarding the residents of Ashraf, including the massacres of July 2009 and April 2011 that resulted in 47 residents killed and 1,071 wounded together with 12 patients who died due to the medical siege, and given the fact that harassments and the three-year siege continue to this day, signatories of this declaration, including 482,944 noble Iraqi women, 2,679 Tribal Sheikhs, 9,958 lawyers and jurists, 7,179 physicians, 13,959 engineers, 1,368 university professors, 3,106 writers and journalists, 684 clergymen and mosque orators, 48 human rights and social associations and institutions, and 119 local officials from various provinces, call for implementation of the following measures to guarantee minimal human and legal rights for Ashraf residents:
1. Guarantee of security and safety of all Ashraf residents without any exceptions by the UN and international community, particularly the U.S. government, honoring their right to property, and gaining their consent for any given solution that has also been approved by UN Secretary-General;
2. We reject any form of relocation that is not acceptable to the Ashraf residents. In our view, insisting on such relocation is in conformity with the Iranian regime’s desire for massacre of Ashraf residents;
3. Providing protection and monitoring by United Nations for all Ashraf residents and respecting the honor, dignity and rights of 1,000 women of Ashraf;
4. Reaffirmation of refugee status of Ashraf residents by the UNHCR and initiation of work by this organ without further delay and obstruction;
5. Ending the illegal and inhumane siege, especially the medical siege, that is being imposed against Ashraf residents since the beginning of 2009 and termination of psychological torture of residents by 300 loudspeakers;