The Unthinkable Happened on July 28th

This eyewitness account by a victim of Iraqi brutality against defenseless Iranian dissidents in Iraq is must reading -- on both humanitarian and national interest grounds.

By Mostafa Sanaie

Ashraf, Iraq

On October 7, as the sun came up and I sat in my little prison cell in a suburb of Baghdad, I realized this could be the last sunrise I would see.

I always loved the sun. It is particularly gorgeous this time of year in Baghdad. But I was too frail to stand up to see it. I could have asked for help as I was surrounded by 35 friends. But none of them was in a position to help.

It was the 72nd day of our hunger strike, the last seven a dry hunger strike, meaning that for the past seven days we had refused to even take water. There was a deafening silence in the room. Each minute I and my friends knew our lives were ebbing.

Though I was in an Iraqi jail, I am not Iraqi. I am Iranian who has lived in Iraq for the past 23 years. All 36 of us are Iranian dissidents. all 3,400 of us live in a place called Camp Ashraf, a self-sustained community about 60 miles north of Baghdad. It was built by my relatives and friends, all members of the opposition People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI).

Residents of Ashraf lived in peace side-by-side with their Iraqi neighbors until the 2003 invasion by the U.S. and its Coalition allies. Then, we handed over our arms to the U.S. voluntarily and signed agreements with the U.S. to remain where we were as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

We were content to remain in Ashraf, live our lives in peace and strive to achieve our goals. But, when the U.S. signed an agreement with the Malaki government in Baghdad to withdraw its forces over the next two years, the rulers in Tehran saw an opportunity to try to remove a thorn (the PMOI) from its side.

Given the tumultuous state of affairs in Iran after the rigged elections, it was more imperative for the clerical regime to destroy its arch enemies. The mullahs prevailed on their friends within the Iraqi government to move on defenseless and civilian Ashraf residents.

The unthinkable happened on July 28: Iraqi forces, trained by the U.S. and using American grenades and humvees, raided Ashraf and started using fire arms three hours after the raid. Eleven people were killed, 500 wounded, and 36 - my friends and I - were taken away.

We were severely beaten. We were severely wounded as the result of the beatings and being run over by Iraqi humvees, with some suffering broken limbs. We all staged a hunger strike to protest our illegal arrest and the physical and psychological torture during detention. Our journey to an unknown future began.

After days in a makeshift cell outside Ashraf, we were taken to a prison in the city of Khalis. The judge, after reviewing all the evidence, issued three consecutive verdicts for our immediate release. But the Iraqi government ignored them.

Instead of being released, on October 1, we were beaten in our cells and taken ultimately to al-Muthana Prison in a Baghdad suburb. That's when we decided not to take in water, even though we knew we were fighting the clock.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human Rights, World Organization Against Torture, Human Rights Watch, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, and hundreds of parliamentarians, Members of U.S. Congress and international figures, emarked a campaign for our release.

On that sunny morning, as my life ebbed, my mind was on all the years that had gone by. One thought kept coming back: My ultimate dream of a free and democratic Iran; this was the goal that first had taken me to Ashraf as a young man and had given me the impetus throughout this saga.

I had lost the sense of time when the door to our cell was opened. I saw more troops. What did they want on our last day? What is left to be said? They knew we would not cave in to their demands.

But they said we were released and were going back to Ashraf. Our hunger strike and the international pressures compelled Iraqis to release us. We arrived there, on the verge of death, and were taken immediately to receive urgent medical care.

Now, I am hardly back on my feet and can enjoy the beautiful sun again - and I have a story to tell. But why should anyone listen?

The reason is simple: what happened to us can happen to others unless something is done to protect the defenseless residents of Ashraf. The mullahs want them eliminated, and regrettably they have the ear of Baghdad now that the U.S. is leaving.

It is essential that a permanent UN monitoring team be deployed in Ashraf to prevent further attacks and our forced displacement as well as to ensure the safeguarding of our fundamental rights and protections under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Also, the U.S. government must keep its agreement with the people of Ashraf that U.S. forces will protect them at least until the end of 2011, when the American withdrawal is completed.

And the world must watch what happens because it will be an indicator of which way Iraq is going - further into Tehran's camp or into a new future as a true democracy in the Middle East.

Mostafa Sanaie is a flight engineer. He studied in Northrop University, California. He is an expert in flight engineering of Boeing 727. He has been living in Ashraf, Iraq for the past 20 years.

 

 

Comments

[sarah288]

Newsflash for you: the MEK has fought for a democratic Iran since its inception, and the "cult" accusation label is so old and tired.

Let's overthrow this hated regime, allow free election to take place under UN supervision and see what happens. People need to accept that the MEK does have support and is the best opposition group to the regime, particularly in terms of organisation and ability... That is why the regime does its best to crush it.

[FrankCornish]

How can an organization that fought with Saddam Hussein against their own country in a war for survival ever be considered valid by their own people? Are you kidding? MEK has less credibility than Ahmed Chalabi.

[BiBiJan]

The report "The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq, A Policy Conundrum" produced by the Rand Corporation's National Defense Research Institute is a good source of information. At a minimum, you should read Appendix A, page 55: "A Brief History of the MeK Prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom"

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG871.pdf

[FrankCornish]

Iranian dissidents?

MEK has been in open rebellion against the Islamic Republic since the early 80s. They fought for Saddam Hussein in the Iran/Iraq war. They assassinated themselves some 2000 people who who part of or supporters of the Islamic Republic. See this article here: http://merip.org/mer/mer250/abrahamian.html

"In 1981–1982, the Mojahedin assassinated some 2,000 members of the regime, including a president, a prime minister and Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, eminence grise of the clerical leadership, as well as a number of cabinet ministers, parliamentary deputies, judges, Friday prayer leaders and officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. " From the above cited article.

They are hardly innocent bystanders or mere "dissidents" as you label them. They are considered a terrorist organization by even the US. Ironically, their members (outside of this sad little camp in Iraq) are the source of much of the bogus intelligence that so many in the US take at face value about Iran and issues like their nuclear program.

That being said. The US should insure that they are removed from Iraq to somewhere safer. What is left of the MEK enclave in Iraq will only more likely become the target of violence as the US withdraws from Iraq.

[sarah288]

The PMOI is a recognised legitimate resistance group in the UK and the European Union, The highest UK courts ruled that their terror listing previously was "illegal and perverse". Go figure! The US retains its on its blacklist illegally and perversely also, for its own covert and perverse reasons!

It is a human right to resist oppression and tyranny. The PMOI have done that for FOUR decades against the dictatorship of the Shah and the Mullahs.

Mostafa Sanaie and the other 35 men were illegally abducted and tortured, at the orders of the Iranian regime. Thanks Huffington Post for giving us this article and an insight in to what actually happened to this individual, and this man in particular, for those 72 shameful days where they were illegally detained. The Iraqi court ruled they should be released and Maleki went against this.

I hope this man and all Iranians achieve their aims, and have a free and democratic Iran one day soon! With their continued protests and resistance, I am sure they will succeed in the near future.

[FrankCornish]

Newsflash: the MEK is no more interested in a democratic Iran than the current regime.

Since the late days of the Shah, their organization has functioned more like a cult, and mired itself in deeply personal politics while co-opting young idealistic followers.