|
London, Aug. 26 – The cold-blooded murder of
three Iranian Kurds in a refugee camp west of the
Iraqi capital and the abduction of two Iranian
dissidents in recent days have led to speculations
that the new hard-line government in Tehran is
taking advantage of the worsening security situation
in Iraq to liquidate its opponents who have taken
refuge in the neighbouring country.
Iranians in Al-Tash camp near the city of Ramadi
reported this week that three Kurdish refugees from
Iran living in the camp were gunned down by
unidentified assailants. Their families’ repeated
pleas to the Iraqi authorities have not led to any
investigation into the murders, camp residents said.
On Tuesday, gunmen entered the camp and abducted
Adel Rassoul Maref, an Iranian Kurd, in broad
daylight. There has been no word on his fate since
the abduction.
On Friday, August 19, eight gunmen raided the home
of Galavij Mohammad, a refugee from Iranian
Kurdistan living in Al-Tash. He was taken away at
gunpoint, together with his daughter, Zana. Their
bullet-riddled bodies were discovered by camp
residents about two kilometres away.
On Thursday, August 4, two Iranian dissidents from
the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MeK) opposition group were
abducted by gunmen in Iraqi Interior Ministry police
uniform and patrol cars.
“There is clearly a pattern in this”, said Ahmed
Shaikhli, a political scientist and university
lecturer in the Iraqi capital, in a telephone
interview. “For two years since the U.S. invasion,
there were no major attacks on Iranian refugees in
Iraq. Now we are seeing a significant number of
abductions and killings. The obvious question is,
why now?”
Analysts believe the new violence against Iranian
dissidents in war-torn Iraq reflects a fresh
assessment by Tehran’s hard-line leaders of the
situation in their neighbouring state.
“Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have loyal protégés in
powerful positions in some of the ministries and
para-military organisations in Iraq”, said Tim
Hawkins, a political analyst who covers Iraqi
developments from his base in Kuwait. “What deterred
the Iranians from a more violent approach in the
past was their fear of possible American reprisals.
Now, the Iranian leadership thinks it has a window
of opportunity to act against its opponents in Iraq,
because the Americans are deeply entangled in their
own problems”.
The Islamic government’s officials have consistently
demanded that Iranian dissidents in Iraq,
particularly some 4,000 members of the MeK living
under U.S. guard in Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad,
be handed over to Tehran or expelled from Iraq. In a
meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Iran’s
top diplomat in Baghdad again raised the issue,
according to the official Iranian press.
Marc Henzelin, a prominent Geneva lawyer and a
recognised expert on the law of armed conflict, said
the coalition forces in Iraq have a duty, under
international law, to protect Iranian dissidents and
refugees in that country, as they fall under
international safeguards offered by the Fourth
Geneva Convention.
“The law is quite clear on this: these persons must
be protected against violence, abduction, and forced
expulsion, including being sent back to Iran, where
they would face severe consequences”, Henzelin, who
is a professor of international humanitarian law at
Geneva University, said.
Ahmed Shaikhli thinks Iraqi political figures must
not accommodate what he calls Iran’s “unacceptable
demands”, including actions against Iranian refugees
in Iraq. He warns that Iraqi politicians who are
perceived as serving Iran’s interests risk doing
badly in the next elections in December.
“There is a deep sense of resentment among ordinary
Iraqis about those who are doing Iran’s bidding”,
Shaikhli said. “Most Iraqis want a democratic,
secular, and decent government that would defend
Iraq’s national interests, not Iran’s. You will see
this resentment translate into votes in the next
elections”.
For now, at least, the dangers facing Iranian
dissidents and political refugees in Iraq are
worrying both the Multi-national Force in Iraq (MNF-I)
and international organisations. The U.S.-led MNF-I
strongly condemned the abduction of two MeK members
earlier this month and said it was working with the
Iraqi authorities to find the missing men.
“MNF-I units have checked with numerous police and
Ministry of Interior units and stations, and have
notified the MNF-I hostage working group”, the
multinational force said in a press release.
The Geneva-based office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights and the International
Committee of the Red Cross have also conveyed their
concern over the abduction to Iraqi and coalition
authorities, according to the victims’ families.
As the world watches the chilling scenes of mindless
violence in Iraq, families and friends of murdered
Iranian refugees in that country mourn their loss in
silence.
www.iranfocus.com
Top |
® 