Senior House Members Press U.S. Envoy over Protection of Camp Ashraf, Demand Release...

Senior House Members Press U.S. Envoy over Protection of Camp Ashraf, Demand
Release of 36 Iranian Dissidents

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At a hearing on September 10,
senior members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of
Representatives, voiced outrage over a July attack by Iraqi forces against
Camp Ashraf, where 3,400 Iranian refugees reside. Christopher Hill, U.S.
Ambassador to Iraq was testifying.

Committee Chair Howard Berman (D-CA) had already expressed deep concerns over
the assault in a July 29 joint statement with the Committee Ranking
Republican, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL).

Congresswomen Ros-Lehtinen told Ambassador Hill: "I'm concerned about Iraqi
actions being undertaken at the behest of the Iranian regime with respect to
Ashraf." She then asked about specific measures to ensure rights of Ashraf
residents and to prevent their forcible return to Iran.

Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) pointed out that the 36 abducted residents of
Ashraf are still in captivity "even though an Iraqi judge has ordered these
individuals to be released."

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) referred to the 1,000 women in Ashraf
and said that there is no excuse for attacking the residents.

Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) asked Ambassador Hill to "take back
with you to the Iraqi government that there are senior members of the United
States Congress that are watching what they're doing."

Representative Bob Inglis (R-SC) called the attack a violation of the Geneva
Conventions and called for "pressure on the Iraqis to act in a humane way and
consistent with the conventions."

Ambassador Hill told the lawmakers, "We have made it very clear to the Iraqi
government . . . that we are interested in the well being of these people,
we're interested in the preservation of their human rights, we're interested
in the fact that they should not be forcibly repatriated to Iran."

The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents welcomes Ambassador Hill's
acknowledgement that exercise of "sovereignty of should not come at the
expense of human rights or repatriation."

However, echoing the demands raised in an open letter to President Obama by
two dozen Iranian-American communities, the Committee calls on the United
States, in particular the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, to undertake practical
measures to secure the release of 36 abducted residents.

It also urges the U.S. to take the lead in facilitating the stationing of a
permanent United Nations monitoring post at Ashraf.

SOURCE U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents

US Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents, Majid Roshan, +1-202-640-1947