Warning on Handing Over of Iranian Dissidents Who Were Taken Hostage by Government of Iraq to Iranian Regime

PARIS, September 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

According to reliable information, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri-al- Maliki, has been negotiating with the Iranian regime's ambassador in Baghdad through his National Security Advisor, Falleh Fayaz, regarding the fate of seven residents of Ashraf. The hostages were abducted during the September 1, 2013 raid to Camp Ashraf by Iraqi forces.  

According to this information, the Iranian regime's ambassador in Baghdad is in direct contact with the office of Ali Khamenei, the clerical regime's leader on this issue. The clerical regime has offered Maliki three options to rid himself from this crisis. For that reason, any coming and going to the location where the hostages were kept was prevented, including a visit by the UN representatives from that site.

The three options are the following:

In the meantime, on his official website, Maliki denied holding the seven hostages or having carried out any action on September 1st in Ashraf. It is despite the fact that the UN, U.S., and EU are completely informed of the presence of the seven hostages in Iraq and know that they are on hunger strike in a prison near Baghdad airport.  

It is common knowledge that the mass executions at Ashraf were implemented by special SWAT forces and the "Dirty Division" affiliated to the Prime Minster's Office at the behest of the Iranian regime.

Ambassador György Busztin, Deputy Special Representative of Secretary-General in Iraq, counted 52 bodies in Ashraf on September 2 - mostly mass-executed with their hands tied, in a crime against humanity. All the victims and the hostages were protected persons under the Geneva Convention. The most senior Iranian officials, particularly the commanders of the IRGC by welcoming the mass execution, revealed their complicity in this atrocity.

On September 19, Madame Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief, wrote to the European Parliament Vice-President: "We have reason to believe that up to seven camp residents are being held in captivity near Baghdad, and there is a significant risk that they could be sent to Iran.

"I fully share your concerns about the fate of these individuals. I have spoken with Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari to urge the authorities to ensure the release of the hostages and to impress on them the need to avoid any further violence when the remaining residents leave Camp Ashraf."

Previously, the High Commissioner for Refugees had declared on September 13: "According to reports reaching UNHCR, seven individuals formerly residing in Camp New Iraq disappeared from the Camp on 1 September, are being held somewhere in Iraq and may be at risk of being returned involuntarily to Iran. These seven are all known by UNHCR to be asylum-seekers, and the agency hopes to have an opportunity to interview them. In light of the numerous and persistent reports over the past week that these individuals may be at risk of forced return to Iran, UNHCR calls upon the Government of Iraq to locate them, to ensure their physical security, and to safeguard them against return to Iran against their will."

Following Maliki's denial, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of Iranian Resistance, called on President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Under-Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ms. Beth Jones, and the US Ambassador to Iraq  Robert Beecroft to act immediately to prevent transgression of the non-refoulement principle and extradition of the hostages to the Iranian regime.