February 26, 2009
The Fourth Geneva Convention Should be Upheld in Iraq
Members of Parliament from all three major political parties in the UK on Thursday urged the government of Iraq to resist pressures by the Iranian regime to expel members of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) from their base in Camp Ashraf in Iraq's Diyala Province
Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, Chairman of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom, said: "Following the 2003 war in Iraq, the American forces spent 16 months interviewing every resident of Ashraf to see if any one of them was involved in terrorism. Not a single resident of Camp Ashraf was charged with anything.
Lord Corbett said that the status of Ashraf residents as "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention "lays an obligation on all those who have signed up to that convention to respect what it laid out in that convention and to ensure that it is respected and enforced, especially in the case of Ashraf residents".
"We expect the Iraqi government to fulfil its obligation to the residents of Ashraf. We expect them to resist any pressure from the Iranian government to forcibly expel them", Lord Corbett added.
Former UK Home Secretary Rt. Hon. Lord Waddington QC said: "Much of what has now occurred was foreseen by us. It was risky, indeed, for the American authorities to hand over protection of Ashraf residents to the Iraqis.
"I call upon the international community to recognise what it going on and bring to bear their influence on the Iraqi government and on the US authorities to see that the people of Ashraf have their rights respected under international law", Lord Waddington said.
Lord Dholakia, deputy leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, said: "When international giants play with politics, they often forget that there are innocent people whose rights would be violated".
"We will not compromise on the rights and liberties of the people living in Ashraf", he said.
Former Scottish Lord Advocate Rt. Hon. Lord Fraser of Carmyllie QC urged the U.S. government to guarantee the protection of Camp Ashraf and its residents.
The most important measurement of Iraq's independence and democratic foundations is respecting and recognising the rights of Ashraf residents who have lived there lawfully for the past 23 years and have been recognised by the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) as "protected persons".
The speakers urged the Iraqi government to recognise the rights of Ashraf residents as "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention in the framework of International Humanitarian Law and international law and uphold their judicial protection.
They also called on the US government to guarantee the physical and judicial protection of the residents of Ashraf.
Note to editors:
Under pressure from Tehran, senior Iraqi officials including the National Security Advisor announced in January that Camp Ashraf will be closed down soon and its residents extradited to Iran or to a third country. These announcements are in violation of the rights of Ashraf residents as "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention. They also violate the Principle of Non-Refoulement, International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and international law in general.
Iraqi forces stationed at the front gates of Ashraf are refusing entry to relatives of its residents.
Dozens of relatives of Ashraf residents hoping to visit their loved ones in Iraq were arrested at the airport in Tehran on 16 January 2009, and on 19 February 2009 the regime carried out a widespread swoop on the homes of relatives of Ashraf residents in Tehran, making many arrests.
5.2 million Iraqis and 3 million Iraqi Shias have called on the Iraqi government to denounce Iranian meddling and recognise the rights of Ashraf residents as "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention and international law.
