International Pressure On Iraq Ends 72 Day Hunger Strike

international | crime and justice | news report Thursday October 15, 2009 09:31 by Rose Kelleher rose_kelleher at hotmail dot com

How international solidarity and a 73 day hunger strike brought the Iraqi government to release illegally held Iranian opposition members

Family and supporters of Camp Ashraf detainees outside Iraqi Embassy in London

Facing international pressure, the Iraqi government this week released 36 members of the Iranian opposition group 'the People's Mujahedin of Iran' (PMOI), who have been held since July this year.

The men were released from detention following a 73 day hunger strike, and brought to a hospital in Ashraf City, Iraq. President-elect of the resistance group, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi has called on hunger strikers in Ashraf and around the world to end their strike.

Their detention follwed a raid by the Iraqi police on Camp Ashraf on July 28th. According to different reports, between 7 and 11 people were shot and killed during the raid and up to 500 more were injured. 36 men were taken to an undisclosed location for “questioning”.

Immediately following the attack, the stated that those detained had been “inciting trouble” and that they would be dealt with “according to Iraqi law”. There are calls from human rights groups to investigate alleged torture of the detainees while in custody.

The camp, just inside the border of Iraqi on the Iranian border, has been home to more than 3400 members of the Iranian resistance for over 20 years.

The camp was established in 1986 during the Iran-Iraq war as a refuge for Iranian political opposition. The camp's residents were immune from arrest, removal or deportation according to article 45 of the 4th Geneva Convention.

The raid sparked outcry among International humanitarian groups and lawmakers. It led to protests in major international cities against the allegedly unprovoked and according to Amnesty International, “inhumane” treatment of the residents of the camp, and violation of international law.

“The PMOI is the biggest opposition group, inside or outside Iran, and we must support them, in humanitarian terms and also politically” says Nobari Mehdi, Iranian human rights campaigner and secretary general of the 'ASBL Iranienne Culture, l'Art et les Droits de l'Homme' in Belgium. “They are brothers in a struggle”.

Mr Mehdi staged a noisy protest outside the European Parliament for 53 days, demanding justice and accountability for the alleged crimes. “ it was very huge case and we had a one victory, and that was after 73 days. But the release of these gentlemen was not all of our demand” he says, referring to the fact that there will be no further investigation into the events of July 28th.

He claims that some responsililty lies with the US security forces in Iraq for not upholding their end of the bargain to protect the residents of camp Ashraf. He suggests murkier backstage dealings between Iran and the new Iraqi administration as the motive behind the attack. “Al Khameini wants this camp destroyed. This is clearly a pro-Iranian administration”.

The PMOI is currently blacklisted by the US as an official 'Foreign Terrorist Organization'. The European Union removed the group from list after its exiled members undertook a lengthy court case in Brussels to officially distance themselves from perceived links to terrorism.