Noble Iraqis in provincial capital of Ziqar, Mansouriya in Diyala Province and Faluja in al-Anbar Province held ceremonies remembering and praying for the spirits of the two Iranian heroes Ali Saremi and Mehdi Fathi. The participants also expressed their hatred on the pressures enforced on Ashraf residents, calling for the lifting of all cruel limitations imposed on Ashraf. They issued a declaration holding Nouri Maliki’s government responsible for the death of Mehdi Fathi.

A number of other Iraqi NGOs in the provinces of Karbala and Najaf, including the Center in Support of Human Rights and Democracy in Najaf; Center of Progress and Support for Iraqi Women; Center in Defense of Human Rights; Center in Defense of Family Rights; Organization in Defense of the Retarded; Center of University of Medicine and Humanity for Charity; Human Donations Organization; Charity Center of Rafidain’s Children and the Student Organization in Defense of Human Rights issued a declaration announcing: “We the undersigned from the Najaf and Karbala Province condemn the brutal measures of Iraqi forces against Ashraf residents. The Ashraf residents have lived among the Iraqi people during the past 7 years with dignity and struggle for life, and we have seen nothing but prosperity and goodness. We demand for them international protection based on Geneva international laws.”