Amnesty urges Maliki to protect PMOI

NEW YORK, April 21 (UPI) -- Amnesty International appealed directly to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to ensure the safety of Iranian dissidents living in Iraq's Diyala province.

Amnesty expressed concern over the safety and humanitarian situation facing members of the People's Mujahedin of Iran residing in their Camp Ashraf enclave near the city of Baquba.

The international human-rights group calls special attention to reports in the Iraqi media that Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie referred to the group as an "intolerable" presence in Iraq.

Members of the PMOI also raised concerns over continued refusal by Iraqi authorities to allow medical doctors access to Camp Ashraf, though Rubaie later acquiesced, allowing Ashraf residents health treatment at area hospitals.

Amnesty called on Maliki to ensure that the rights of the Ashraf members were protected in the light of the continued belligerence against the group from Rubaie. Amnesty in the past has called on the Iraqi government to guarantee the PMOI members in Iraq would not be forced to return to Iran.

The PMOI is considered a terrorist organization by several nations because of its past violent opposition to the Iranian regime. It surrendered to U.S. forces in 2003, vowing to abstain from militancy in favor of peaceful dissent.

The group won a delisting campaign in Europe and the United Kingdom recently, and it is expected to challenge its U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization listing in Washington courts later this year.