Al-Maliki’s remarks against People’s Mojahedin Organization sets the stage for perpetration of war crimes

August 07, 2007
Iranian Resistance takes case before international bodies

NCRI - On the eve of his trip to Tehran, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al- Maliki, again talked about expelling the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) from Iraq. Speaking to Al-Iraqiya television on 6 August 2007, he said, “The presence of the PMOI in Iraq is detrimental to Iran’s security. This organization is in the list of terrorist organizations and its presence in our territory is tantamount to ignoring rules, regulations and the constitution.”

These remarks come amid growing public and mass hangings in Iran and serve no other purpose than mollifying the religious dictatorship ruling Iran.

There is hardly any doubt that Mr. Al-Maliki and other officials in his government are the main sources of the problems in Iraq as they endeavor to realize the sinister objectives of the Iranian regime. For this reason, a majority of Iraqis view the removal of the Al-Maliki government as the first step in improving the situation in Iraq. Currently, 17 cabinet ministers have boycotted the cabinet.

It is surprising that Mr. Al-Maliki described the presence of PMOI in Iraq as being detrimental to the security of the Iranian regime. It is not clear as to whether Mr. Al-Maliki's first priority is to safeguard the security of the Iranian regime or that of the Iraqi people, who are being massacred and mutilated ruthlessly on a daily basis by the mercenaries of the religious fascism ruling Iran.

Twenty-four hours before Al-Maliki’s remarks against the PMOI, the Associated Press quoted General Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, as saying, “militia fighters said to be armed and trained by Iran were responsible for nearly three-quarters of attacks that killed or wounded Americans in Baghdad last month.”

The presence of the PMOI in Iraq is consistent with international laws and conventions and supported by a majority of Iraqi people. It falls outside the mandate of Al-Maliki and his government.

All members of the PMOI reside in Ashraf City, Iraq, and are protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) stated on March 6 and March 9, 2007, “There will be bodies of international law, particularly international humanitarian and human rights law,” and therefore, “the UNHCR has repeatedly appealed to the competent Iraqi authorities and to the Multinational Forces to refrain from any action that could endanger the life or the security of these individuals, such as their forcible deportation from Iraq or their forced displacement inside Iraq.”

The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) on several occasions, including on March 20, 2007, reiterated the principle of non-refoulement (prohibition on expulsion or forced repatriation) of the residents of Ashraf City. The ICRC emphasized, “The residents of Camp Ashraf must not be deported, expelled or repatriated in violation of International Humanitarian Law.” The ICRC also reminded all the relevant parties of their obligation to respect international laws (in particular common article 3 of the Geneva Conventions) and added, “Principles of International Law have to be respected with regard to the residents of Camp Ashraf.”

In a resolution adopted on July 12, 2007, the European Parliament stated that it “strongly rejects the threats of expulsion and cutting off supplies of fuel and drinking water made by some senior officials in the Iraqi Government against 4000 members of the Iranian opposition who have been political refugees in Iraq for the past 20 years and have the legal status of 'Protected persons under the Forth Geneva Convention' and calls on the Iraqi Government to respect their rights under international law."

On several occasions in the past four years, the people of Iraq have reiterated their support for presence of the PMOI in Iraq. The statements signed by 5.2 million Iraqis, 3,000 tribal leaders, 12,000 Iraqi lawyers and jurists and 450,000 residents of Diyala province have underscored the need for the presence of the PMOI in Iraq as a bulwark against the expansion of fundamentalism and render as unwarranted the remarks of the clerical regime’s proxies in Iraq.

Invoking the terrorist label and the terror lists in order to violate the Fourth Geneva Convention and infringe the rights of refugees is unlawful and has been rejected by judicial authorities and European courts on several occasions. Attempting to stick the terror label on the on the residents of Ashraf is ludicrous and without credibility. Members of the PMOI in Ashraf no longer belong to the terrorist list because on July 2, 2004, the U.S. government and the Multi-National Force-Iraq acknowledged their legal status as Protected Persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Subsequent to 16 months of investigation into all members of the PMOI in Iraq, senior US officials stated that there was no basis to bring charges against any member of the PMOI in Iraq and that they had found no link between these individuals and terrorism. (The New York Times, July 27, 2004 and the Washington Post, March 14, 2007).

In light of the obligations and commitments of the Iraqi government to international laws, in particular International Humanitarian Law, the sacred right to asylum and the Geneva Conventions (specifically the common article 3 of the Conventions), any violation of these obligations as they relate to the residents of Ashraf City, and as suggested by Mr. Al-Maliki, is tantamount to encouraging the perpetration of war crimes. The National Council of Resistance will, therefore, take this case to international bodies.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
August 7, 2007