NCRI – The Iranian Resistance has during the past few weeks obtained further documents and information from inside the Iranian regime on the seven Ashrafi hostages, leaving no doubt that they were abducted by Iraqi forces and currently held by Maliki’s special forces in Baghdad.
They are under Maliki’s watch in prisons and ‘safe houses’ in Baghdad International Airport, the al-Mothana airport and Baghdad’s Green Zone.
In addition to documents and information that can be presented and defended before any international authority, a number of witnesses are ready to testify in any fair court in Europe or the United States, if their security is guaranteed.
1. In a top secret letter in the second half of October 2013, Maliki’s national security advisor issued orders on the hostages’ detention to General Faruq al-A’raji, chief of staff of the Iraqi armed forces commander in chief.
2. In yet another top secret letter, Maliki ordered “the arrested individuals of the Khalq organization should be immediately transferred to the Golden Division headquarters in the next 24 hours and investigations be conducted on their use of force against Iraqi forces”!
3. Prior to this, another secret document reveals that in a session with his security apparatus commanders Maliki personally issued orders on the detention and location of the 7 Ashrafi hostages. This document states, “The guards that arrested and currently hold the 7 PMOI (MEK) members must be rotated and the arrested PMOI (MEK) members and their prison guards must be transferred to the airport prison under full protection”.
4. Many Iraqi dignitaries and politicians on the national and local levels privately stress this point that the Iraqi forces’ September 1st attack was an organized measure and the hostages are in Iraqi forces’ custody.
5. According to reports obtained from inside the mullahs’ regime, in the first week of the hostage taking Maliki used his influence on the Iraqi judicial apparatus and used judges that are his agents to fabricate orders against the 7 hostages to have them handed over to the Iranian regime. However, the Resistance’s widespread campaign for their release forced Maliki to set back this criminal plan.
6. One of the locations where the imprisoned hostages are held is in Maliki’s Golden (Dirty) Division base in the Baghdad International Airport. This prison is run by the Prime Ministry’s intelligence apparatus and is located between the Rezvaniya and Abu Ghoreib neighborhoods in west Baghdad. A report recently issued by the Quds Force to Khamenei’s office and the mullahs’ Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) stipulates the seven hostages were held in the Golden Division base in Baghdad airport until September 22nd.
7. In Baghdad’s Green Zone there are various prisons and safe houses that belong to the Intelligence service, Prime Ministry’s Intelligence, National Security and other Iraqi repressive apparatuses. Some of these prisons are known to the Americans and others have been allocated for this cause in recent years, and thus remain unknown for the Americans. Therefore, many of these individuals are taken to these new safe houses.
8. According to a report from the Iranian regime’s embassy in Baghdad, a group of Maliki’s henchmen along with a number of Quds Force torturers are in charge of interrogating the hostages. One of these interrogators is Brigadier General Adnan Auda. According to recent reports the hostages remain under interrogation. The interrogators are Iraqi and at times they are accompanied by members of the Quds Forces and the mullahs’ MOIS. The results of their interrogations are analyzed by the ‘Monafeqin experts’ in the Quds Force and MOIS (the term Monafeqin is used by the mullahs’ regime in reference to the PMOI). The results of these investigations are held in a special place to keep them out of reach.
9. On September 19th, Lady Ashton wrote to Members of the European Parliament, “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”. Prior to this, the EU Ambassador in Baghdad informed a number of MEPs that she has reached this conclusion that the hostages are in Baghdad.
10. Kamel Amin, spokesman of the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry, announced on September 12th: “Security forces arrested these individuals [seven hostages] for attacking them [security forces].” (Radio Free Iraq – 12 September 2013). Biladi TV, belonging to the ruling coalition in Iraq, announced on September 13th: “Iraqi security forces are interrogating a number of PMOI members based on accusations of being involved in terrorist activities. A senior security source said authorities have arrested seven members of this organization due to judicial reasons.”
11. The UNHCR announced in its 13 September statement that “According to reports reaching UNHCR”, these seven individuals “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”.
12. On 19 September, Tahar Boumedra, UNAMI Human Rights Office Chief and advisor on Ashraf (2009 – 2012) testified in UN Headquarters in Geneva and stated that no one can enter Ashraf without the active cooperation of Iraqi forces and “There is no way for UNAMI not to know. There is no way for the American embassy not to know where they are……….. When the 36 in 2011 were taken from Al Khalis they disappeared and I followed them where they were. They were in Baghdad in the Green Zone 50 meters away from UNAMI headquarters also 50 meters from Iraqi Presidency in a building with a label on it ‘High Council of National Education’ and the National Education was used as a secret prison. They kept them there. I went to visit them in the presence of the Iraqi security officers. I told them now you are my neighbors and I will visit you every day. Next day I went to visit them they were removed.”
While the abovementioned evidences and information leave no doubt about the role of Iraqi forces and government in the September 1 attack and in holding the hostages, any attempt to downplay the Iraqi Government’s role is only an incentive to the Iranian regime and Iraqi Government for further attacks, especially since the Resistance’s repeated calls for a UN independent, transparent and comprehensive investigation have been left unheeded.
The Iranian Resistance, in light of their repeated commitments regarding the residents’ safety and security, calls on the US Government, President Obama, UN and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to take urgent action for the release of the hostages. The Iraqi Government, taking advantage of the silence and inaction of the international community, particularly the US and UN, is continuing its crimes against Iranian refugees.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
November 12, 2013
