PMOI hostages dumped in Baghdad, say Barnet hunger strikers (From Times Series)

PMOI hostages dumped in Baghdad, say Barnet hunger strikers

3:00pm Thursday 1st October 2009 in News By Rebecca Lowe

PMOI hostages dumped in Baghdad, say Barnet hunger strikers

HUNGER strikers from Barnet who have fasted for 64 days claim family and friends in an Iraqi refugee camp have been forcibly removed to Baghdad.

There are currently 20 Anglo-Iranians refusing food outside the US Embassy, in Grosvenor Square, in a show of support for fellow Iranians taken hostage from Camp Ashraf in July.

The camp is home to around 3,500 supporters of the People's Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI), who have lived there since the 1980s in fear of repression if they return to Iran.

According to the strikers - also members of the PMOI - the 36 hostages have now been transferred to unknown locations in Baghdad, despite an Iraqi court ordering their release.

Laila Jazayeri, spokeswoman for the group, said: "The worst has finally happened. We have received reports that these 36 brave people were dumped into trucks and transferred away.

"This is a crime against humanity."

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Cotter yesterday visited the protesters to show his support. He was one of 47 cross-party MPs and peers to write to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri Al-Maliki, on Tuesday to demand the release of the refugees.

Speaking at the protest, Lord Cotter said: “I am here as a representative of many, many parliamentarians in the UK Parliament and throughout the world.

“I have come here to join you to speak out against the despicable and outrageous decision of the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to order his police forces to not release the 36 Camp Ashraf residents despite three court rulings.

“This is an outrageous blatant dismissal of the rule of law. I cannot understand why the US Government, our Government and the UN are not taking action immediately."

Mark Stephens, of the London law firm Finers Stephens Innocent, said he was "deeply troubled" by the situation in Iraq.

He added: "There have been intergovernmental documents exchanged to ensure the protection of the residents. Those international documents have been flouted by the Iraqi government.

"The UK and the American Governments have been totally derelict in their response."

Amnesty International on Tuesday called for the immediate and unconditional release of the 36 detainees, who are now on day 66 of a hunger strike.

According to the PMOI, more than 1,000 letters have now been sent to heads of states and the UN, urging backing for the camp residents.

Hunger striker Jahanshah Jahanshahi, 50, from Barnet, said: “These are people to whom the international community through the UN owes duties under international law.

"The US authorities must protect these 36 detained residents from further harm and to immediately facilitate their return to Camp Ashraf.

“Only a full-time monitoring presence by the UN within Camp Ashraf can guarantee the safety of the residents."

Zohreh Zanjani, 47, from Mill Hill, said: “Today I see my friends sitting beside me. They are like candles burning slowly.

"They are nonetheless the light that shines and shows the world the plight of the people in Ashraf."