Ashraf Residents Show Blood To Ban Ki Moon

The residents of Ashraf agreed to be moved to peacefully to Camp Liberty, the sixth group to be transferred.

In Move number 6, Iraqi soldiers attacked Ashraf residents. This is the attack that UN monitors said did not happen. It is the attack the U.S. State department ignores. It is the attack that UN monitors saw, but later said was just pushing and jostling, and that Iraqi soldiers were injured.

The attack actually happened. No Iraqi soldiers were injured in any way, unless they injured themselves while throwing objects at the unarmed residents.

The following is a letter and photographs and video sent to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, asking him to issue a true statement about the incident.

H.E. Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General of the United Nations

Aug 30, 2012

United Nations

Dear Secretary-General,

We are a number of Ashraf residents who have been attacked and injured by the Iraqi forces during the inspection of the people in move 6.

When we peacefully and with dialogue protested the insulating and provocative acts of Iraqi forces, all of a sudden they brutally attacked us, in the presence of UN monitors, using different types of wooden sticks, iron bars, rocks, flower pots and pieces of tables. 20 residents were injured and 6 were hospitalized. Some of us have fractures in arm and nose and some broken teeth.

ashraf residents injured by iraq
Some of the Ashraf residents who were attacked and injured by Iraqi forces during an inspection of the people in move 6.

We have attached some photos and URL of a short clip of the attack for you. The reason we are writing to you is not only the violent and inhumane act of Iraqi forces with the residents, because this is not something new for us and Iraqi forces in two massacres have killed over 47 and wounded over 1000 residents.

But the reason is the reaction of your spokesman with its biased statement and UNAMI monitors in Ashraf which has disappointed us. Your spokesman, responding to questions about the attack said: “UNAMI’s preliminary reports confirmed that yesterday, an incident between residents and Iraqi police led to some light injuries on both sides.”

This is absolutely false and UNAMI monitors witnessed that none of the Iraqi forces had the slightest injuries, because the residents did not retaliate their aggression. Unfortunately this stance by UN, in one hand will legitimize the crime of Iraqi government, and on the other hand it will encourage and embolden the Iranian regime and Maliki government to take more suppressive measures against the residents both in Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty.

It is worth noting that even the Iraqi government did not claim that there were injuries on their side and Bakos, Iraqi government representative, in a talk with the Associated Press denied any violence and anyone getting injured. Now the question is why your spokesman made such an allegation against the residents?

Dear Secretary-General,

In such incidents the expectation of everyone from UN is to stand with the innocents and the minimum is to be impartial and not to side with the suppressors and legitimize their acts and our expectation was that after the attack of Iraqi forces against the defenseless residents, the UN will publish a statement condemning the attack and not to encourage it.

We would like to ask you to release a statement and emphasis that only the residents were injured in the incident and also ask the Iraqi government to refrain from any violent act against the residents.

Respectfully,

Hossein Isfahani

Farzad Rajizadeh

Mohsen Seif

Ali Reza Rahmat

Mustafa Moussavj

Hossein Kazempour

Ahmad Tabaei

Fereshteh Shogaie

Mohammad Reza Azinfar

Ali Asghar Torabi

Saeed Khabiry

Rahim Tabari

Manijeh Farmany

Khosro Gilani

Mohammad Reza Zabeti

Amin Abdoli

Omid Saeedi Sakha

Majed Karim

Mohammad Mehdi Nazifi

Kamyar Farkhondi

ashraf signatures
Signatures of the Ashraf residents on the Ban Ki Moon letter

Shahriar Kia is a member of the Iranian opposition (PMOI /MEK). He is a human rights activist and political analyst on Iran and the Middle East.