ADME Condemns Recent Political Executions
in Iran
by
Rabbi Dr. Daniel M. Zucker
ADME
Press Release, 28 December
2010 :
American
Chronicle, 4
January 2011.
Mr. Saremi, 63, was arrested following his 2007 visit to a son in
Mr. Siadat, arrested in 2008, was convicted on charges that included "spreading corruption on earth," "supporting the Zionist regime" and "opposing the Islamic republic." Earlier this year, Siadat was among 192 detainees named by opposition Web sites as political prisoners in
Prior to his execution, Mr. Saremi had spent a total of 24 years in prison from various incarcerations under the shah and clerical rule. Though arrested in 2007 after visiting his son, his death sentence came in December 2009, after mass opposition protests were held.
ADME calls on the international human rights community to denounce this inhuman and illegal killing of a man who had spent his life promoting freedom and civil liberties in his homeland. We also call for immediate international action to save the life of his daughter, wife and sister, as well as the others who were arrested for their relations to him. ADME further calls for an end to executions in
We urge the U.S. Government to bring immediate pressure upon the Iraqi Government to end its psychological torture of the residents of
Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East is a grassroots organization dedicated to teaching our elected officials and the public of the dangers posed by Islamic fundamentalism and the need to establish genuine democratic institutions in the Middle-East as an antidote to the venom of fundamentalism.
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Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East The
basis of a democratic state is liberty. Aristotle
January 3, 2011
Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary
of State
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Madam Secretary:
We are contacting you because of an issue of
great concern. We wish to call your attention to the ongoing human rights
abuses and steadily deteriorating conditions in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. Ashraf is
home to 3,400 members of the Iranian opposition group, the Peoples’ Mojahedin
Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) to whom we gave a pledge of protection in 2004.
About a year and a half ago, on July 28-29, 2009, at the behest of the Iranian
regime of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad, Ashraf was attacked by the Iraqi police and
Special Forces—in violation of Iraq’s December 2008 pledge to the United States
to protect the camp and its residents. Following its attack on Ashraf, the
Iraqi government re-imposed an embargo on the camp, denying its residents
water, food, oil and medical supplies, something that has been going on for the
last two years. So too, upon Nouri al-Maliki’s orders, physicians have been
denied access to the camp; its residents have been prevented from seeking
medical treatment in Baghdad. Recently, on December 10, 2010, a cancer patient,
Medhi Fathi, a long-time resident of Ashraf, died due to being prevented by the
Iraqis from receiving necessary treatments. In addition, the Iraqi police—in a
tactic of psychological warfare—have installed 140 loudspeakers throughout the
camp which they use to broadcast Iranian propaganda at very high volume around
the clock.
Now, over this past weekend, the Iraqis have
once again invaded the camp and are threatening to expel its residents and
return them to Iran in violation of their rights to non-refoulment,
where they would face imprisonment, torture, and execution.
Madame Secretary, there are several reasons why
we appeal to you to aid the residents of Ashraf. First is the universal concern
for the human rights of all. But, beyond our concern for human rights must be a
concern with the image of our nation. In 2004, our government made a pledge to
protect the residents of Ashraf. If we turn a blind eye to the abuses that the
al-Maliki government is perpetrating against the unarmed residents of Ashraf
and abandon our pledge, we will be demonstrating most vividly that America is
not a reliable partner. Our enemies in the region are watching our behavior
very carefully and looking for any and all signs of weakness. In the Middle
East, nothing could be more self-defeating to the long-term interests of this
nation than for us to be perceived as unreliable and weak.
Because of these concerns, we ask you to urge
President Obama immediately to speak forcefully to these issues and ask you to
do likewise.
God bless America.
Thanking you in advance for your assistance in this
vitally important matter, we remain,
Sincerely yours,
Rabbi Dr. Daniel M. Zucker Reverend Dr. James
Lee Collins
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