The
case of nearly 4000 Mojahedin in Iraq is at a very crucial juncture. Although
well known legal experts on international law have published legal opinion
clearly stating that Mojahedin are civilian and must be protected by the Geneva
Conventions, the US has not yet officially defined their status. At the moment
they are being screened by the US. But the interviews are being conducted
without the presence of the lawyers.
Therefore we are trying to create an international consensus on this issue.
Thus we are trying to ask lawyers, jurists, professors of laws to sign the
declaration of Paris which has already been supported by many well known
experts and lawyers. Our target is to get the support of 2000 lawyers. The
declaration is based on the legal opinions prepared by Lord Slynn a former Law
Lord in Britain and president of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg,
and Professor Cherif Bassiouni the well know expert on international law and
the author of International Criminal Cod .
IDHAE, once again thanks you for your understanding and kindness in helping us
in this very humanitarian issue to save the lives of some 4000 people who are
have sacrificed a lot to bring freedom and democracy to Iran.
The European Bar Human Rights Institute (IDHAE) launches an appeal inviting
all the lawyer to sign the declaration of Paris which is in an
attached file and to invite all lawyers in their area to sign also
the declaration.
Please
return at :
idhae@idhae.org
or
au Secretariat Général
6, rue Paul Valéry
F 75116 PARIS
or by Fax IDHAE
at
+ 33 5 56 52 38 17
Declaration of Paris in PDF Format
You can download here and sign before sending to
IDHAE
The Paris Declaration
10 March 2004
International Committee of Lawyers in
Defense of the Iranian Mojahedin in Iraq
We, the undersigned lawyers and
jurists,
-
Having reviewed the legal status of members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of
Iran (PMOI) currently in Iraq;
-
Taking note of the comprehensive legal briefs prepared on this issue by Prof.
Cherif Bassiouni, the Rt. Hon. Lord Slynn of Hadley, Prof. Jean-Yves de Cara
and other eminent scholars and specialists of international law;
-
Underscoring the views of our colleagues in the seminars in Geneva (22 January 2004)
and in Berlin (10 February 2004);
-
Having reviewed the reports by lawyers and jurists who have visited Camp Ashraf in
recent months and observed the situation in
situ;
-
Bearing in mind that the present situation in Iraq is one of military occupation,
falling under the Hague Regulations as well as under the Geneva Conventions;
-
Recalling
- Art. 46 of the Hague
Regulations, which prohibits confiscation of private property ;
- Art. 27 of the Fourth
Geneva Convention, which emphasizes that “protected persons are entitled, in
all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honor, their family
rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and
customs”;
- Articles 35 and 132 of
the Fourth Geneva Convention, which guarantees the right of protected persons
to leave the territory of the belligerent powers;
- Art. 45 of the Fourth
Geneva Convention, which prohibits to the transfer of a protected person “to a
country where he or she may have reason to fear persecution for his or her
political opinions or religious beliefs”;
- Art. 49 of the Fourth
Geneva Convention, which prohibits “individual or mass forcible transfers as
well as deportation of protected persons from occupied territory to the
territory […] of any other country, regardless of their motive”;
-
Art. 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which criminalizes the
violation of the previous prohibitions;
-
Recalling United Nations Security Council Resolutions 452 (1979), 465 (1980), 497
(1981), 799 (1992), inter alia,
concerning Israel, and 787 (1992) on Yugoslavia, and also Security Council
resolutions on the Iraq-Kuwait conflict, according to which the Occupying Power is “prohibited from deporting elements
of the population of the occupied territory outside this territory”;
-
Noting the official position of U.S. authorities, the Occupying Power in Iraq,
as expressed in such statements as the communiqué of the U.S. Central Command
of May 13, 2003, that PMOI persons in Iraq will be treated in accordance with
the Geneva Conventions,
-
Noting that the International Committee of the Red Cross has stated that
“members of the Mojahedin currently in Iraq are under the responsibility of the
occupying forces and are therefore under the protections of the Geneva
Conventions”;
-
Noting that United States officials have acknowledged that the PMOI was not a party
to the recent war in Iraq, and that its members are therefore civilians
entitled to the protections stipulated in the Fourth Geneva Convention;
-
Taking note that 10 months ago, the PMOI voluntarily handed over all its heavy and
light weapons, as well as sidearms, to U.S. forces;
-
Considering that during this period, Mojahedin members at Camp Ashraf have been
detained by U.S. forces and all their travel is carried out under U.S. escort;
-
Mindful that during this period, travel under escort by the Mojahedin has
become consistently more restricted;
-
Observing that U.S. forces - the Occupying Authority responsible for the safety
of Mojahedin members resident at Camp Ashraf - have consistently refused to
disclose to them or to their legal representatives plans relating to their
status determination;
-
Noting that U.S. forces in Iraq have begun to screen residents of Camp Ashraf,
possibly to initiate legal proceedings against persons linked to terrorism or
to criminal activity;
-
Noting that U.S. agents have not allowed the presence of counsel in interviews
with residents of Camp Ashraf and that there are major restrictions for counsel
to represent Mojahedin resident there;
-
Taking into consideration the 23 December 2003 UN General Assembly resolution,
the 15 January and 12 February 2004 European Parliament resolutions, the 2003
Annual Human Rights Report by the U.S. State Department, the January 2004
report by the UN Human Rights Commission’s rapporteur on Freedom of Speech, the
June 2003 report by the Working Group on Arbitrary Arrests, and reports by
credible international human rights organizations, all of which have
underscored the deterioration of human rights and the suppression of free
speech in Iran, particularly reports on the systematic torture of political
prisoners in that country;
-
Taking note of the fact that the Iranian parliamentary election was not free
and fair and that even internal government factions were not allowed to
participate and that the new parliament only represents the most extremist
faction of the ruling elite;
-
Express our profound concern over the Iranian regime’s extensive campaign to
secure the forcible extradition and expulsion of the Mojahedin;
-
Reject as arbitrary and unlawful the 9 December 2003 statement by the Iraqi
Governing Council calling for the expulsion of the Mojahedin from Iraq;
-
Join international human rights organizations in emphasizing that PMOI
members would face torture and execution if sent back to Iran;
-
Affirm that the transfer of PMOI members against their will, especially to
countries with policies not compatible with applicable international human
rights standards, and which may be transit points for returning PMOI members to
Iran, would violate the 1907 Hague Regulations, the Fourth 1949 Geneva Convention,
and more generally, international humanitarian law and international human
rights law;
-
Denounce threats against European countries by Iranian officials, such as the
statement by the Iranian Minister of Intelligence and Security that countries
would face dire repercussion if they were to accept PMOI members;
-
Call upon the United States and other governments to recognize the PMOI as a
political organization whose members shall enjoy asylum in Iraq or in other
countries;
-
Observe that the inclusion of the PMOI in the terrorist lists of the U.S., the
EU and some other countries is not the outcome of a judicial process and cannot
be the basis for the treatment of the Mojahedin in Iraq otherwise than under
proper legal standards;
-
Urges the United States government to treat the Mojahedin based in Iraq in
the framework of international law, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention and
the Convention Against Torture, and to respect all of their rights and provide
particularly for their protection and safety;
-
Requests the United States government to respect the ownership of the Mojahedin
over their fixed and mobile assets according to the Hague Regulations and
Geneva Conventions;
-
Invites Coalition forces to respect the right to free speech of Camp Ashraf
residents and to end unlawful restrictions and the ban on free access to the
media by the Mojahedin;
-
Draw the attention of the U.S. government to the fact that, on the basis of Art. 45 of the
Fourth Geneva Convention, U.S. forces
will continue to be responsible for the security of those residing in Camp
Ashraf and that handing over this responsibility for some or all the residents
of Camp Ashraf to a local Iraqi authority after 1 July 2004 or any such date,
until such time that the will and the power of the local government to
implement international human rights standards are confirmed, would be a
blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions, the Convention Against Torture and
International Humanitarian Law;
-
Call on the U.S. government to provide Camp Ashraf residents with the right
to counsel during formal interviews;
-
Emphasize that remarks by Camp Ashraf residents in interviews without the
presence of counsel cannot be used against them or third parties in subsequent
judicial proceedings;
-
Underscore that initiating any legal proceedings against Camp Ashraf residents,
unless in courts in countries which respect internationally recognized
standards, in particular the European Union and North America, would be in
violation of International Humanitarian Law;
-
Call on the International Committee of the Red Cross to discharge its
mandate as the custodian of International Humanitarian Law in this case and to
become actively involved, including through the presence of representatives in
Camp Ashraf to directly supervise the current process and to report any
violation of rights;
-
Urge the United Nations Secretary General and all UN member states to take
unequivocal and decisive positions against the pressures by the Iranian regime
to expel or extradite Mojahedin members so as to avert a humanitarian
catastrophe.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Please sign the declaration of Paris
supporting
Iranian Mojahedin Refugees in Iraq
Please sign here :
NAME QUALITY
ADDRESS
Please Return after signing to
President GEORGE W.
BUSH
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW
Washington, DC 20500
idhae@idhae.org
ou
au Secretariat Général
6, rue Paul Valéry
F 75116 PARIS
Ou par Fax IDHAE
au
+ 33 5 56 52 38 17
