USCCAR Condemns Forcible Displacement of 36 Ashraf Residents, Urges President Obama to Secure Their Release

USCCAR Condemns Forcible Displacement of 36 Ashraf Residents, Urges President
Obama to Secure Their Release

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Committee for Camp
Ashraf Residents urges President Obama to intervene immediately to save the
lives and to regain the freedom of the 36 residents of Ashraf abducted in late
July during a deadly attack on the Camp by Iraqi forces.

It is past time for the United States to uphold the pledges it has made to
residents of Camp Ashraf and hold the Iraqi government accountable for breach
of its commitments to treat Ashraf residents humanely.

On Thursday, October 1, 2009, in defiance of three court rulings and a
definitive opinion from the Chief Prosecutor, Iraqi forces raided the prison
in Al-Khalis to take the 36 Iranians - on hunger strike for 65 days - to an
unknown location in Baghdad. There is hardly any doubt that the September 14
remarks by a U.S. embassy spokesman in Baghdad that Iraq had the right to
relocate the residents of Ashraf served as a green light for this move, which
is a blatant violation of international law, and a mockery of Iraq's
judiciary. It confirms that the Al-Maliki's government prefers doing Tehran's
bidding to honoring its obligations to the laws and judiciary of Iraq itself.

The transfer puts the lives of the 36 in serious jeopardy. They are already
in poor health after a hunger strike of 66 days, and they will be at greater
risk now that they are refusing to take liquids. The Iraqi Government may be
planning to repatriate them to Iran, in further violation of international
norms.

USCCAR deplores the fact that neither the White House nor the Department of
State has taken any position regarding these blatant breaches of international
humanitarian law, the law of human rights, and Iraq's written assurances to
the United States.

In 2004, U.S. forces signed an agreement with everyone in Ashraf including the
36 abductees, recognizing them as "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva
Convention. The agreement states that, until "viable disposition options"
become available and final decisions are made, each person shall remain under
U.S. protection.

The Obama administration should take action and fulfill these promises. Under
international law, the hand-over of "sovereignty" to the Iraqi Government did
not end the responsibility of the United States for the protection of Ashraf
residents. Article 45 of the Fourth Convention provides that if the transferee
state fails to honor its obligations, the transferring party -- here the
United States -- must "take effective measures to correct the situation, or
shall request the return of the protected persons."

The State Department's milquetoast assurances that the Iraqis will do the
right thing have done little to allay the profound concerns of families of
Ashraf residents, on hunger strike outside the White House for the past 66
days.

Iraq must honor its solemn and enforceable commitments to the U.S. that Ashraf
residents would be treated humanely and release the 36 hostages.

SOURCE U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents

Majid Roshan of the U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents, +1-202-640-1947