HAMBASTEGI 85
October to November 1999
Editorial
By
Maryam Namazie, IFIR Director
October
28, 1999
While
thirteen Jews languish in prison on “spying” charges, while four protesters
involved in the July revolt await the implementation of their death sentences,
while Manuchehr Mohammadi, a graduate student, begins his 13 years sentence in
prison, and while Masoomeh Sadegian awaits death by stoning, the French ruling
class was busy defending its interests.
For
Khatami’s visit to the country, French police arrested Iranian exiles in
pre-dawn raids, re-introduced border controls in order to prohibit Iranians from
entering the country, and riot police swooped down on protesters. Terrified
after the recent protests in Iran, the French government is scrambling to save
the regime. In continuation of “Operation Turquoise” in Southwestern Rwanda
in 1994 which protected members of the deposed Rwandan government and architects
of the genocide, the French government protected genocidaire Khatami and his
murderous Islamic regime.
Interior
Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement stated that the French government was entitled
to demand that foreign residents respect its interests which include oil and gas
contracts awarded to two French companies and an order from Iran for 100 train
locomotives worth $204.2 million. Speculation that Tehran may secure a $1.5
billion loan from France reveals the extent of its interests.
Nonetheless,
the French government is betting on a losing horse. The fate of the regime will be determined in the streets of
Iran.
SAFE HAVENS ARE UNSAFE
FOR REFUGEES
By
Maryam Namazie, IFIR Director
October
31, 1999
With
the end of the Cold War, Western governments have been attempting to create
alternative refugee practices and laws which violate the fundamentals of
international refugee protection. One
such attempt is the development of “safe
havens” which keep countless individuals inside their countries of origin and
within reach of their persecutors. No longer having to portray themselves as
concerned with human rights vis-à-vis an Eastern Bloc, Western governments,
with the collusion of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), are
increasingly preventing millions of would be refugees from crossing
international borders (a precondition to being recognized as a refugee).
By doing so, they prevent refugee flows and violate the right of people
fleeing persecution to seek asylum outside their countries of origin.
Furthermore, they make internal a previously
international matter. In
1991, while more than a quarter million Iraqi refugees clung to mountains at the
Turkish border, Western governments and the UN forcibly returned them to the
“safe haven” of Northern Iraq, rather than pressuring Turkey to adhere to
internationally recognized principles.
While
Western governments have provided “humanitarian” reasons for developing such
“havens” in Iraq, Rwanda, Bosnia, and elsewhere, clear political and
economic interests have been the impetus for these [un]safe areas.
The “safe haven” in Northern Iraq has been advantageous to Western
governments, the Iranian and Iraqi governments, as well as the UNHCR.
The existence of a “safe” place has meant that Iraqi refugees are
often denied asylum in the West because they could have sought safety in a
region in their own country of origin. Keeping
refugees so close to their persecutors also allows the Iranian and Iraqi central
governments easy access to their opponents.
It also permits the UNHCR to ignore Iranian refugees for years without a
final determination of their status or resettlement in the hopes that they will
return home (if not voluntarily than at least through abductions by the Iranian
government).
By
all human standards, Northern Iraq is unsafe. The Turkish government often
attacks the area killing countless individuals. In 1996, the Iraqi central government attacked as well
killing and kidnapping political opponents.
At least three hundred Iranian political opponents and refugees have been
assassinated by the Islamic Republic of Iran which has an extensive security
apparatus there. Furthermore fighting between the two ruling factions, Massoud
Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK), have resulted in tens of thousands killed and one out
of three million internally displaced. The
KDP and PUK are also serious violators of human rights, often playing with the
lives of Iraqis and Iranian refugees.
Women in that region live under constant threat of violence and honor
killings. Islamic groups, supported
by the governments of Iran and Saudi Arabia, carry out terrorist acts against
cultural centers, cinemas, and libraries and assassinate, and issue fatwas
against, political activists. In less than two months, Shawbo Salih, Imad Tawfik,
Kameran Mohammed, and Kinaan Abdulkhalik have been killed in Erbil.
In Suleimaniyeh, Bakhtiyar Zangana was kidnapped, a member of the Kurdish
Democratic Party of Iran was assassinated, the Worker Communist Party of
Iraq’s radio station set on fire and Ardalan Jamal, its member killed. Farhad
Faraj, a cadre of the Communist League of the Revolutionaries was also murdered
in front of his home. An Iranian
refugee, Abdullah Moshirpanahi, a member of Komala, was kidnapped, shot in the
head and killed by agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
IFIR activists have been also arrested by the KDP and have recently been
threatened with assassination.
Under
these perilous conditions, Iranian refugees, approximately 3,700 of them, spend
years in Northern Iraq awaiting a protection that never arrives, with rations
barely enough to keep them alive. Though
the UNHCR deems those who attempt to go to Turkey as “Irregular Movers”
stating that they can receive protection and resettlement in Northern Iraq, such
protection and resettlement are largely fictitious.
No countries have diplomatic missions in Northern Iraq to interview
refugee resettlement applicants directly. While Scandinavian countries have
resettled some, the numbers are small. Most
importantly, though the UNHCR had promised to resettle 2,000 Iranians in 1999,
those plans were canceled, using the war in Kosovo and later the non-issuance of
exit visas by the Iraqi central government as excuses.
This
situation is unacceptable! Western governments and the UNHCR have confined
Iranian refugees in Northern Iraq’s “safe haven” and ignored their
international responsibilities towards the persecuted for far too long.
We must defend the refugees in Northern Iraq.
We must not allow the UNHCR and Western governments to continue playing
with their lives.
JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO DEFEND IRANIAN REFUGEES IN NORTHERN IRAQ
On
November 1, 1999, the International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR) is
initiating a campaign against the policies of the UNHCR and Western governments
and in defense of Iranian refugees in Northern Iraq. IFIR calls upon groups and
individuals to demand protection and resettlement for Iranian refugees.
Demand that the UNHCR:
 |
guarantee
the safety of IFIR activists |
|
provide
protection to all those fleeing the Islamic Republic of Iran |
|
expedite
refugee determination procedures |
|
actively and
immediately develop viable resettlement options |
|
pressure the
Iraqi and Turkish governments to issue exist visas |
Demand that
resettlement countries:
|
provide
protection to all those fleeing the Islamic Republic of Iran |
|
increase
resettlement quotas and resettle refugees from Northern Iraq |
|
pressure the
Iraqi and Turkish governments to issue exist visas |
Demand that the ruling
parties in Northern Iraq:
|
respect
refugee rights |
|
ensure the
safety of refugees and IFIR activists |
|
allow IFIR
to carry out its activities overtly |
Send your protest
e-mails or faxes to KDP of Iraq and Kurdish Regional Government (KRG): KDP Washington, e-mail: Kdpusa@aol.com, fax:
(202) 331 9506. KDP London, e-mail:
KdpEurope@aol.com, fax: +44 171 931 7765. KRG
United States, e-mail: usrep@krg.org, fax: 301-946-1383.
KRG United Kingdom, e-mail: krguk@aol.com, fax: +44 171 808 7513.
Also send letters and
faxes to the UNHCR: UNHCR Erbil
and Baghdad e-mails: unhcr-erbil@un.org, irqba@unhcr.ch, fax: +873-175-4271.
UNHCR Geneva, fax: +41-22-739-7353.
As
in the past, international solidarity will defend refugee and human rights.
INTERVIEW WITH YEDI MAHMOUDI ON IRAQI KURDISTAN
By Keyvan Javid, IFIR Deputy
Director
Yedi Mahmoudi, responsible for IFIR’s North American Branches,
recently returned after a four month mission to Iraq.
Following is segments of an interview conducted by Keyvan Javid and
printed in Persian Hambastegi 84, September 1999.
What’s the economic and political situation in
Iraqi Kurdistan? Iraqi
Kurdistan is divided into several sections controlled by different parties.
Kirkuk city is still controlled by the Iraqi Ba’ath regime, cities like Erbil
and Dohuk are under the control of the KDP and Suleimaniyeh and surrounding
cities are under the control of the PUK. Since
1991, as a result of fighting among nationalist parties or with the Iraqi
central government, hundreds of thousands have been killed or became displaced
and areas have changed hands several times. After nine years, the nationalist parties have clearly shown
that they have no relevance to people’s lives and needs. Whenever possible, they have repressed the people’s
progressive struggle through the use of prisons, force, and assassinations.
Economically, people’s lives worsen daily.
Poverty, unemployment, child labor, and inflation as well as the ruling
parties’ corruption, mismanagement and war mongering are prominent.
In the two large cities of Suleimaniyeh and Erbil, there is electricity
for only five hours a day and water for only two.
In July, during the hot summer, an attack of Barzani’s forces on people
trying to get ice resulted in 11 dead and thousands wounded. Violence against women, including assassinations, has become
commonplace.
Given the situation,
what is the condition of Iranian refugees in Northern Iraq and what problems do
IFIR branches in that region face? The
living conditions of people in Northern Iraq are indicative of the severe
situation for Iranians in that region, especially once one adds refugee
conditions as well as the surveillance and assassination activities of the
Islamic Republic of Iran. The
Islamic regime and its reactionary lackeys are constantly entrapping, kidnapping
and assassinating Iranian refugees and political opponents. Hundreds have
already been assassinated by the regime and tens more have been handed over to
their persecutors. Under these
conditions, IFIR has begun its organized activities in Erbil and Suleimaniyeh
since mid-1998. Despite limited
resources and the harassment of nationalist
parties, IFIR has made advances for refugee rights.
The KDP had even detained our representatives in order to obstruct our
activities but was forced to back down due to international pressure.
IFIR has organized a large segment of the refugees around their rights.
Furthermore, we have met with UNHCR representatives in Erbil and
Suleimaniyeh several times and have been able to secure certain demands,
including regular meetings with the UNHCR and special attention to those
refugees who are not associated with any political party or group.
Given the perilous situation, IFIR must soon initiate an international
campaign in defense of Iranian refugees in Northern Iraq.
The successful campaign to free our representatives in Iraq reveals that
many individuals and organizations seriously support IFIR.
Our current priority must be to place pressure on the UNHCR, the Iraqi
and Turkish governments as well as Western countries to resettle refugees in
safe third countries.
IFIR’s
campaign to obtain the release of all political prisoners in Iran, including
those arrested during the July 1999 uprising, continues unabated. Four of those
involved in the protests have been sentenced to death. Manuchehr Mohammadi, a
graduate student, has been sentenced to thirteen years in prison, and Mehdi
Fakharzadeh has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
The fate of many others is unknown.
If you haven’t already done so, join IFIR’s Urgent Action Campaign.
l Condemn the Islamic Republic of Iran for its repression and denial of
basic human rights l Demand the immediate and unconditional release of all
political prisoners, including those arrested during the July 1999 protests l
Demand unconditional freedom of assembly, association and expression. Send your protest letters, resolutions and petitions to Ali
Khamenei and Mohammad Khatami, at the Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan
Intersection, Tehran, Iran; Iranemb@salamiran.org; khatami@president.ir. Send a
copy of your letters to IFIR (e-mail: ifiric@aol.com; fax: 212-425-7260).
Partial
listing of organizations and individuals, representing tens of thousands of
individuals, that have joined IFIR’s campaign:
Ramona Africa, Move Organization; BC Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union;
BC Government and Service Employees’ Union; Canadian Federation of Students
(BC Component); Canadian Union of Postal Workers; Canadian Union of Public
Employees, Local 947; CAW 333; Center for Immigrant Families; Center for
Women’s Global Leadership; Coalition of Immokalee Workers; Committee for
Humanitarian Assistance to Iranian Refugee (CHAIR); Committee for Workers
Self-Defense; Communist Party of Finland (District Organization for Southern and
Middle Ostrobothnia); CUPE; Green Party; Freedom Socialist Party; HEU; Hospital
Employees’ Union; Hotel, Restaurant, Culinary Employees and Bartenders Union
Local 40; International Campaign in Defense of Women’s Rights in Iran;
International Socialists; IWA Canada Local 80; Mumia Coalition; News Source;
Public Works; Radical Women; Refuse and Resist; Resistance in Brooklyn;
Sisterhood and Struggle; South Asians Against Police Brutality and Racism; Stop
the Hate News; Teamsters Local 213; Telecommunication Workers Union Local 11;
TWU; the Unity Party; UVIC; UVSS Local 44; Victoria Labor Council; Laura
Whitehorn, Ex US political prisoner; Women for Justice; Worker-communist Party
of Iran.
UPDATE ON IRANIAN REFUGEE IN PAKISTAN WHO HAD BEEN ON HUNGER STRIKE FOR
50 DAYS
IFIR Secretariat
October 29, 1999
Ali
Bordbar (Case I. 16264), a 54 year old Iranian refugee claimant who had been on
hunger strike for 50 days in protest to the UNHCR’s outright indifference to
his fate was granted an interview two days after IFIR’s press release and
urgent action on his fate.