Amnesty International: The seven Iranian exiles abducted on 1 September are now known to be held by the Iraqi security forces at an unofficial detention facility in central Baghdad. They are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment and could be forcibly returned to Iran.
Amnesty International
The seven Iranian exiles abducted on 1 September are now known to be held by the Iraqi security forces at an unofficial detention facility in central Baghdad. They are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment and could be forcibly returned to Iran.
According to reliable sources, the seven were transferred under tight security to an unofficial detention facility in the former al-Muthanna airport in central Baghdad at the end of September. The seven remain under investigation. They are six women, Fatemeh Tahoori, Vajihe Karbalaey (aka Vajihe Karbalaey Fatah), Mahnaz Azizi (aka Mahbobeh Lashkari), Lila Nabahat, Zahra Ramezani (aka Sedegh Ebrahimpour), Fatema Sakhie and a man, Mohammad Ratebi (aka Mohsen Nicknamei). They are all members of the Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI).
The seven Iranian exiles were abducted on 1 September 2013 from Camp Ashraf, about 60km north-east of Baghdad in Diyala governorate, when armed men raided the camp and shot and killed 52 residents. Video footage and photographs showed that many of the 52 had been shot in the head, some while handcuffed. Eyewitnesses from the camp said they had seen the seven people in handcuffs, being beaten, thrown to the ground and then taken away in a white minibus.
The Iraqi government has denied responsibility for the attack although Iraqi forces have been responsible for previous attacks on the camp that left dozens of residents dead. On 1 September Iraq’s Prime Minister ordered that a committee be set up to investigate the killings. However he gave no details of the committee’s terms of reference and composition. The results of the investigation have not been published.
