Iran: Press conference in Geneva on Ashraf City

Iran: Press conference in Geneva on Ashraf City
Tuesday, 08 August 2006

NCRI - On August 8, on the initiative of the UN Press Association in Geneva, representatives and lawyers of the Iranian Resistance organized a press conference in the United Nations about the situation of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI) based in Ashraf City in Iraq and the pressures exerted on them by the Tehran regime.

The speakers gave an outline of the political and legal situation. Marc Henzelin, a Swiss lawyer who has travelled several times to Ashraf City in the past three years, said that after an assessment of the various meetings he had with American officials, Iraqi authorities and representatives of international organizations, he believed that the right to political asylum in Iraq of the PMOI, who have resided there for twenty years, must be reaffirmed by the current Iraqi government under international law.


Christian Grobet, another prominent lawyer and former president of the Geneva Council of State, who has been defending the rights of the PMOI since the time of the Shah’s regime, pointed out that the PMOI were under the protection of the Fourth Geneva Convention and that this status had been obtained after a vast campaign by jurists worldwide. The movement created at that time in defence of the PMOI’s rights is still effective, he asserted, adding that he supported the PMOI’s right to political of asylum in Iraq.

Kenneth Lewis, a Swedish lawyer, outlined the actions pursued until now and concluded by saying that the PMOI in Iraq fit completely the criteria of political refugees, a status which they had been enjoying for twenty years.

Mohammad Mohaddessin, chairman of the NCRI’s Foreign Affairs Committee, recalled: “Last year, the Iranian Resistance announced that with the coming to power of Ahmadinejad, the Tehran regime declared war upon the world. Today, a year after, the mullahs are pursuing this war with strength in Iraq, Lebanon and the Middle East. But, in their eyes Iraq has absolute priority, because domination of this country would be used as a springboard to create a global Islamic empire, something which they have been dreaming about from day one. ”

Therefore, he added, pressures exerted on the PMOI in Iraq are very important for the regime for two reasons: firstly, to get rid of its principal opposition and secondly, to remove all obstacles barring its complete domination of Iraq. Although the PMOI in Iraq do not have any weapons, the religious dictatorship always regards it as its greatest danger, because by advocating a tolerant and democratic Islam, the PMOI are gathering vast support in Iraq.

Referring to a declaration signed by 5.2 million Iraqis in support of the PMOI, Mr. Mohaddessin stated that the text, supporting the PMOI’s presence in Iraq and calling for the reaffirmation of their status as political refugees, had infuriated the mullahs’ regime. Mr. Mohaddessin urged once again international authorities to reaffirm this status and to call on the Iraqi government to respect the status of the PMOI as political refugees, a status they have been enjoying in Iraq for the past 20 years.