Saturday 26 September 2009

British barrister joins London hunger strike

A British barrister and activist has joined Iranian hunger strikers protesting in London about the savage attack on Iranian refugees in Iraq. Seventy seven-year-old Margaret Owen, (left) Director of Widows for Peace through Democracy, started a fast of her own two days ago when it became apparent that neither the British Government nor mainstream media were interested in the fact that 12 men and women were starving themselves to death on the steps of the US Embassy. This is a shortened version of her appeal which will appear in full on the Open Democracy site:

"I too have started a (short) hunger strike on behalf of the people of Ashraf and the Iranian hunger strikers now into their 62nd day. Answer the following questions and we will all stop.

- What is the real reason for the ominous blanket of silence in the UK media about the brutal “pogrom” at Camp Ashraf on the 28th and 29th July?


- Why has there been no reference to these atrocities, perpetrated in flagrant breach of humanitarian law, clearly orchestrated by Iran in collusion with Iraq, even when every day now the iniquities of the Teheran regime are making front page news and generating a mass of comments?


We and the US are physically still there – in Iraq –and our governments are well aware of what occurred and what may yet happen any time now in the following days. How can we wash our hands of responsibility as if, to misquote Neville Chamberlain “ this is happening in a far-away country of which we know nothing”

(Fuller accounts of the background to these events, and the statements of Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Chartered Institute of Jornalists etc appear on their respective websites)

3, 400 Iranian refugees (including 1,000 women), members of the PMOI (People’s Mujahadeen of Iran), who oppose the fundamentalist regime in Teheran, have lived in Ashraf for the last 20 years. In a desert area some 60 km north of Baghdad, they built themselves a city where equal rights, justice and democracy flourished, and where the excellent health and education services were made also available to the surrounding Iraqi population. When the US invaded Iraq in 2003, the PMOI disarmed, and, following an investigation by the UN in which every single resident was individually interrogated, the people of Ashraf were accorded “protected person” status under Geneva Convention IV.

In the meantime, PMOI members in Iran have been systematically hunted down, tortured and killed although there is ample evidence that as a body, the PMOI have renounced violence, so there are well-grounded fears that if anyone in Ashraf was forced to return, his or her fate would be sealed.

The “terror-tag” was formerly lifted from the PMOI last year, the ruling of the POAC (Proscribed Organisation Appeal Commission) confirmed by the Court of Appeal throwing out our Home Secretary's appeal against their verdict as “capricious and speculative”. But do David Miliband and Barak Obama still want to regard the PMOI as terrorists in order to “appease” Iran?

Built into the January 2009 agreement that the US would withdraw from its occupation role in Iraq and release sovereignty to the Iraqi government, was a guarantee that the Iraqis would respect the Geneva Convention and continue to protect the people of Ashraf.
Alas, in June of this year, Iraq, in a bilateral treaty with Teheran, undertook to deport the 3,400 refugees back Iran. In the meantime, the Iraqi Foreign Minister assured Teheran, “we will make their life intolerable”.

And so they did, obstructing the delivery of food and medicines into the city – so that people began to fall sick and die, and refusing to allow either relatives or journalists into Ashraf.


From the moment that the US released responsibility for Iraq, the fears of the Ashraf people grew, terrified each day of a massive Nazi-like forced deportation, although such acts would be contrary to the principle of “defoulement”, which prohibits deporting people to where they are likely to be tortured or killed.

Then on July 28th the inevitable happened, but more brutally than anyone could possibly imagine. The BADR (Iraqi Security Forces who are thought to be under the direct orders of Iran and actually were heard speaking farsi) stormed the camp with bulldozers, and, armed with guns, axes, chains, ropes, and wooden planks, set about to cause maximum suffering to the residents.

Women who linked arms peacefully, carrying white flags, bravely attempting to protect their men, their houses, their possessions were brutally beaten. The videos from mobile phone pictures are shocking as they show the bleeding heads, and beaten bodies, the shattered houses, the horror like a sort of Kristalnacht. Worse still, the BADR seized, at random, 38 hostages, capturing them by lassoing them with ropes used to tether animals. Several of these men had been shot.


On July 28th they were taken away and kept in detention in a police station in Al-Khallas, some 30 km away from Ashraf. In spite of three rulings by the Iraqi Criminal Court in Al-Khallas – the last only last week - that the detentions are unlawful as there were no grounds for the arrest, and the men should be immediately released and returned to their homes, they remain captive, and, reports say, are on hunger strike, many with untended gunshot wounds. All this some 60 days since the day of the invasion.

It is quite clear that the US remains responsible Article 45 of the Geneva Convention IV for ensuring that these Iranian refugees remain “Protected Persons” in international law. The UK is also responsible and it is bitterly shameful that both governments have sought to shift their responsibility on to the government of the pro-Iran Shia government of Maliki.

There is now not another moment to lose. The people in Ashraf, wounded, without food or medicine, are living in terror, fearful that any day the BADR will be back and they will be thrown into the living hell of torture followed by agonising death.

But if the press will not cover events in Iraq, they should surely be reporting on what is taking place on the streets of London.

Every day, for the last 62 days since the attack on Ashraf many Iranians have been on hunger strike, rallying outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, as the NRI (National Resistance of Iran) calls for the immediate release of the hostages, for the UNAMI (UN Mission in Iran) to enter Ashraf as a monitoring force, and for the US to fulfil its obligations under international law by formerly taking back responsibility for Ashraf since Iraq has broken its guarantees. As in the other 25 countries around the world where Iranian émigrés are on hunger strike, a further humanitarian tragedy is waiting to happen. The London hunger strikers are weak; several already have organ failure. A young woman had a heart attack and another is going blind and some have been hospitalised

Yet while people are risking death through voluntary starvation on a fashionable square in London’s Mayfair, our political leaders – Tory, Labour and Lib Deems – and our media remain silent. Even when distinguished lawyers have clearly set out the legal obligations of both the US and the UK governments. (By contrast the German press has been following the story in some detail)

On Thursday, the 24th September, again outside the US Embassy, a press conference was called to hear members of the Church of England Clergy adding their voices to the protests, endorsed also by a statement from Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Inside the tent, prone on camp beds and covered with blankets, lay those among the hunger strikers who were still j able to make it to the press conference. But when the priest from St James Church Piccadilly asked those who were press to raise their hands, it was clear that not a single journalist had turned up.

It was at that point that I decided I would start my “short” hunger strike, hoping that by so doing others would follow suit and in this way we could persuade those already so ill to cease their strike, take food, recover and find other ways to express their protests.

I am only on to my 2nd day, taking tea and water, and hoping and praying that someone from the BBC, or from the press will think it worthwhile to write about why I am doing this, and so finally break through the conspiracy of silence and get the action now urgently needed.
Our newspapers fully covered the breaches of humanitarian law in Burma, on the streets of Teheran – even in Sri Lanka. But about this, not a word.

Born of Jewish parents, whose own parents fled “pogroms” in Eastern Europe in over a hundred years ago, I don’t need to be told what the word means. And as the Jewish Fast Day of Yom Kippur approaches on Monday, the 28th September I am hoping that Sir Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, might join the Catholic and the Church of England Clergy in pleading with the UN and our government to take action. Is the real truth that both Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton, Gordon Brown and David Miliband still, on this issue, need to “appease” Iran for the sake of oil and the nuclear energy negotiations? Shame on them!

Margaret Owen Director Widows for Peace through Democracy


Footnote: Despite warnings by British parliamentarians such as Lord Corbett, who have kept closely in touch with the situation in Camp Ashraf, that the complete withdrawal of the US and Britain would place the residents in mortal danger, the handover to the Iraqis was allowed to proceed. Even if the occupying powers accepted Iraqi assurances in good faith, they were cynically and culpably deceived, as the tragic outcome makes only too evident.

This is a desperate human crisis. There is no time to lose. The US and British governments must now urgently implement Article 45 of the Fourth Geneva Convention to protect the Camp Ashraf residents from further violence and from eviction. They must enlist the assistance of the United Nations and in particular the
United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) to establish a full-time protective presence within the camp.

Pictures by Glyn Strong (c) 2009.

See also: http://www.ukprogressive.co.uk/hungry-for-justice-–-dying-to-tell/article6223.html

Thursday 17 September 2009

When a planning application is more newsworthy than a hunger strike . .



This morning BBC Breakfast news ran an item about the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square getting planning permission for new premises. They showed a picture of the roof and the flag. They didn't mention that only feet from the steps of the Embassy 12 people were entering the 50th day of a hunger strike aimed at drawing attention to the Iraqi assault on Camp Ashraf.



It's hardly a secret - but someone made the judgement call that the planning application was more newsworthy than the hunger strike.




Some media outlets have covered the protest - the mainstream broadcasters and publications have ignored it.




Whatever the history or politics of the PMOI may have been, 12 men and women care enough about the safety of their friends, relatives and fellow countrymen in Iraq's Camp Ashraf to put their lives at risk.


Maybe as far as the UK and US is concerned Iraq is a case of 'job done' - but not for those trapped in Ashraf. The deaths, injuries and arrests that took place between 28-30 July are a legacy of coalition involvement. Are we so morally bankrupt that we would rather give airtime to a planning application than the fact that 12 people are prepared to starve to death for what they believe in?

See: PMOI The attack on Camp Ashraf






http://www.mojahedin.org/pagesEn/detailsNews.aspx?newsid=5889




SPECTATOR UK.


8th September 2009 - I wrote here about the attack at the end of July by Iraqi forces against the Iranian Opposition group the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) ...

Friday 11 September 2009

Ashraf protestors starve outside US Embassy



Fatemeh Khazeri, 44, holds a picture of her son and sister. Her sister is in Camp Ashraf.
Fatemeh had not eaten for 45 days when this picture was taken.
Photographer: Glyn Strong

A few yards away from the steps of the US Embassy 12 men and women are on hunger strike. Police keep a distant eye on them, passers-by and people queueing for visas cast curious glances at the makeshift shelter that has been their home for more than six weeks. Their mute appeal is a desperate attempt to get help for their friends and relatives in the refugee enclave of Camp Ashraf.

Laila, who has been battling furiously to attract media attention to their plight told me: "The people in Ashraf are the cream of Iranian society. They are intellectuals, enlightened and secular - the antithesis of Islamic fundamentalism. Their leaders are women, they believe in equality and freedom."

Their suffering is documented in a book that makes sobering reading. It lists the thousands who have died or disappeared, picturing many of them and the tortures they endured. Some of the hunger strikers point to the names or pictures of family members. Laila's husband is one of them. This chilling book of the dead is called "Fallen for Freedom. 20,000 PMOI Martyrs".


At the end of July Iraqi security forces launched an assault on Iranian refugees under their protection in Camp Ashraf, a relatively unknown enclave situated in Diyala province, 120 km west of the Iranian border and 60 km north of the Baghdad.

Eleven were killed, 500 hundred wounded and 36 taken into custody. Since then no international journalists have been allowed access to interview eye witnesses or victims.

Fears of a second, even bloodier massacre, are mounting unless the International community intervenes.

Ashraf is a ‘safe haven’ where residents were recognised in 2004 as protected persons under the 4th Geneva Convention. They are members of the People’s Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), a group politically opposed to the current regime and, for their own safety, living in exile.
The camp’s uniformed attackers used live ammunition, truncheons, axes, sickles, tear gas, hot water cannons, and bulldozers against the defenceless residents. US forces allegedly stood back and filmed the carnage but no media were present. Despite protests from Journalists Without Borders no unaligned reporters have been allowed into the camp since the assault. Only Iranian TV, the Arabic channel of Al-Alam and the Press TV have been given access and all reported in favour of the Iraqi police.

Extensive video evidence of the attack was captured on mobile phones and widely posted on the internet.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqC61sddaFs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJwiK5S_W1s - Iraqi police beat unarmed civilians in Camp Ashraf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMnPSqesQlg - Civilians shot and killed by Iraqi police in Camp Ashraf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPhD1wotzzQ - Iraqi police with gun aiming at people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1thwPuuRoQ - Head injuries in Camp Ashraf medical centre
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1bKngVzLO8 - Seriously injured civilians in Camp Ashraf medical centre
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVmdFDvShpc - Civilians shot by Iraqi police in Camp Ashraf http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6DKL3-f4aQ - More attacks on Ashraf residents http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdGH_Ic88Xc - The second half of this short clip shows Iraqi armoured vehicles trying to run over the residents
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi_dc3rJ82c - Female residents of Ashraf attacked by Iraqi police
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02cx4X6Lyzk


The lack of international response and paucity of media coverage sparked worldwide protest among outraged relatives of the Ashraf victims and other Iranians and in London 12 are on hunger strike. For some their fast is entering its seventh week.

They are beginning to experience acute symptoms- internal bleeding, loss of vision and multiple organ failure. One woman has suffered a heart attack. The youngest is a 19 year old girl.

In a statement issued on 11 September 2009 Amnesty International expressed its deep concern to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki about the killings and other abuses committed by Iraqi security forces and the continuing detention without charge or trial of the 36 camp residents.
In its letter to Prime Minister al-Maliki, Amnesty International urged him to establish immediately a full and independent investigation into the methods used by Iraqi security forces when taking control of Camp Ashraf, and to make its findings public as soon as possible, The organisation urged him also to ensure that members of the security forces and other officials found responsible for using excessive force and committing serious human rights violations were immediately suspended from duty and promptly brought to justice.

The US disarmed Ashraf residents and signed an agreement with each of them to guarantee their protection until final determination of their status, but it handed over protection of Ashraf to the Iraqi government at the start of 2009.

Article 45 of the 4th Geneva Convention says “If a government fails to carry out the provisions of the Convention in any important respect, the government by which the protected persons were transferred (in this case the US) shall, upon being so notified by the protecting government, take effective measures to correct the situation or shall request the return of the protected persons. Such request must be complied with.” After the massacre in Ashraf, the US has a duty to request that Iraq hand back protection of the camp.

UN Security Council resolution 1883, adopted in August 2009, gives the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) a mandate and responsibility for the case of Ashraf.
Prominent UK lawyers have produced a legal report, supported by international colleagues, that outlines the legal requirements for UN and US intervention – as well as the criminal ramifications of the action of the Iraqi forces.

The hunger strikers demands are:

1. Iraqi police withdraw from Ashraf and release the 36 people taken hostage and allow the residents access to lawyers, doctors, journalists and their relatives.
2. US forces temporarily assume protection of Ashraf under Article 45 of the 4th GC until an international force can take over.
3. An international force takes over protection of Ashraf and the UNAMI immediately stations an international monitoring team inside the camp to prevent further attacks.
4. UN bodies reiterate clearly that the “principle of non-refoulement” forbids forced displacement of Ashraf residents within Iraq.

Monday 7 September 2009

Freedom for one - a prison for millions


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/free-at-last-student-in-hiding-after-karzais-intervention-1782909.html

Suspended Afghan MP Malalai Joya was one of the first to react to the release of journalism student Parvez Kambaksh. She said “My first thought when I heard of his release was relief that his months of detention and pain were over.

“Karzai kept him in prison to gain the support of fundamentalists and keep them happy until the voting was over. Now, he has freed Kambaksh in a bid to present the rigged and fraudulent elections as free and fair – to throw dust in the eyes of the world and fool people into thinking that freedom of speech is not dead in Afghanistan. But this does not mean that the Afghan people enjoy democracy.

“Journalists continue to be threatened, murdered and forced to flee the country. They are constantly under pressure from the fundamentalists and cannot publish a single word against any of them. Censorship is rampant. The only newspapers allowed to be published are those that do not target foreign occupiers, fundamentalist criminals and druglords.

“I hope that while benefiting from the situation in the West, Kambaksh never forgets that Afghanistan, dominated by Northern Alliance, National Front, Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists, is still a huge prison for millions of his oppressed people.

“Thousands of his supporters, within and outside the country, are looking to him to continue his struggle for independence, freedom and democracy against the fundamentalists and their masters.”