Declaration of 2.8 million Iraqis in support of PMOI

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Declaration of 2.8 Million People of Iraq
On Iranian Regime's Meddling,
Solution for Fundamentalism and Status of People's Mojahedin of Iran
January – April 2005


The world is crying out against the interferences of the religious tyranny ruling Iran. In addition to the President, Prime Minister, deputy Prime Ministers, prominent government ministers and large number of Iraqi officials and personalities, Arab and non-Arab leaders have also removed the dark veil over this meddling.
Our country has been subjected to a hidden war and an undeclared occupation by the Iranian regime that speaks even of separation of the southern provinces. Those whose motto was to conquer Qods (Jerusalem) via Karbala, took advantage of the American occupation as an opportune moment to set up a backward regime in Velayat-e Faqih style, something that the supreme Shiite leadership (marja'iyat) in Najaf and the Sunni scholars have both rejected. The security and existence of the people of Iraq, our demands for independence and liberty of our country and the test of democracy we had been promised, have all become targeted.
Dispatching hundreds of thousands of mercenaries to Iraq under various pretexts, sending huge caches of arms and ammunition, setting up dozens of radio and television transmitters, various publications, magazines and newspapers, spending exorbitant sums of money in Iraq to buy a large number of institutes and factories, terrorizing citizens, suppressing women, intimidating and enticing the clergy, tribe sheikhs, politicians and inviting them to Iran, assassination of medical doctors, university professors and government employees, intimidation of intellectuals and journalists, distribution of narcotic drugs, massacre of dissidents, harassment of followers of other religions, fomenting discord among various religions and ethnic groups, registration for terrorist operations and calls for rebellion and slaughter issued by Khamenei, etc. have engulfed our political life and comprise only a portion of the catastrophe of the Iranian regime's meddling in Iraq. This regime speaks of free elections for the people and Shiites of Iraq, but deprives the people and Shiites of Iran from it. This regime seeks to procure nuclear weapons and eventually not only the people of Iran but the people of Iraq and region will pay the price for it.
The people and democratic forces of Iraq, however, in their serious endeavors to neutralize the danger of fundamentalism and terrorism, find a natural ally and partner in the geopolitics of this region of the world in the People's Mojahedin of Iran that believes in a democratic and tolerant Islam. During their two-decade long stay in Iraq, they have built humanitarian and fraternal relationships with Iraqi society and are considered a strategic and prolific guarantee for good neighborly relations, lasting peace, and common interests of the two nations.
With their genuine Islamic beliefs and deep roots in Iranian society, the People's Mojahedin are the anti-thesis and an important cultural and political barrier against fundamentalist infiltration and the most effective counter weight against the Iranian regime's expansionist ambitions. For this reason, they are the first target of the Iranian rulers' massive misinformation campaign.
In the past one-and-a-half years, a number of Iraqi writers, journalists, intellectuals, lawyers and prominent jurists have probed the Iranian regime's misinformation campaign and allegations against the People's Mojahedin, eventually attesting to the their falsity. In December 2003, a former judge testified:
"In the process of my job as a judge in the cities of Baladrouz, Mandali, Khaneqin, Jalawla, Saadiya, Qara Tappa and Kefri from 1979 to 1994, I have lived in this region filled with various incidents and during the Iran-Iraq war. After that, too, I have continued to supervise the incidents. The base camps of the People's Mojahedin in Iraq were within my legal jurisdiction in the above said areas….
"In the past years, rumors had been propagated against this organization that it had been involved in the suppression of Kurds. Regardless of the fact that all these rumors have been propagated by Iran's ruling regime, I would like to testify as a judge before my own conscience, before history and before the people of Iraq that this organization was absolutely not involved in the internal affairs of Iraq. They were absolutely not involved in the incidents of 1991 and in clashes with the Kurds. What the organization practically did was to prevent entry of seven divisions and brigades of Iran's ruling regime into Iraq via Khaneqin that sought to annihilate the Mojahedin…
"At the same time and upon the request of the People's Mojahedin, a delegation representing the United Nations in Iraq visited the site of the clashes as well as the existing documents and evidence. They saw that all the people who had infiltrated Iraq had come from Iran. All the equipment they used were also made in Iran."
In July 2004, the Multi-National Force-Iraq confirmed the status of the PMOI as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention, acknowledging that all of them are exonerated from the allegations raised by Iran's rulers. A member of the Iraqi Parliament addressed the International Conference of Jurists in Paris (November 10, 2004) in this regard and said, "In all the documents of the government of Iraq we did not find any document which showed that the PMOI had committed any wrongdoing on Iraqi soil."
We, the Iraqis signing this declaration, including Arabs, Kurds, Turkomans, Shiites, Sunnis, Christians, and followers of other religions --who have in previous declarations, letters and gatherings described the presence of the PMOI in Iraq as a national necessity against interferences of the Iranian regime-- attest today that the Iranian Mojahedin have endeavored with sacrifice, honor and political dignity in the past 19 years and have done nothing but resorting to legitimate resistance for liberation of their country.
We hail the 120,000 martyrs of Iran's freedom, Mr. Massoud Rajavi, leader of the Iranian Resistance, and Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, and back their endeavors for freedom, peace, democracy and fraternity and support their righteous ways and methods.

- the declaration by 500,000 people of Iraq in June 2004 which emphasizes the need for the presence of the People's Mojahedin in Iraq;
- the declaration by 1,200 Iraqi jurists and lawyers in July 2004 which endorses the legal rights and political independence of the Mojahedin and their right to continue their 18-year political asylum as a legitimate Resistance movement;
- the statement by 500 of the most prominent international jurists in Paris in November 2004, also signed later by over 3,230 Iraqi jurists and lawyers, which underlines the legal status of the PMOI as a legitimate Resistance movement, respects the property rights of PMOI members in Iraq in accordance with Articles 52 and 53 of the Hague Conventions and on the basis of Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and declares that the terrorist designation of this organization is not the outcome of a judicial process and, as a result, violates the international law;
- Declaration by over 200,000 people of Iraq in November 2004, which describes the three European countries' deal with the Iranian regime as encouraging the regime in terrorism and in stepping up insecurity in Iraq;
- The declaration issued by the seminar of the National Front of Iraq in December 2004, which recognizes the PMOI as an important partner for the people of Iraq and the region for regional cooperation for peace, stability and democracy;

Taking note of:
- the ten legal opinions drafted by some of the world's most prominent jurists on the PMOI status as a Resistance movement;
- the 51 censures of Iran's oppressive regime by various agencies of the United Nations for its flagrant violations of human rights;
- the legal definition by scholars of law of the situation existing between the government of Iran and the PMOI in the framework of "a non-international armed conflict" governed by Common Article 3 to the four Geneva Conventions which prove the legitimacy and non-terrorist nature of this organization;
- The testimony of a prominent Iraqi jurist in the International Conference of Jurists indicating that "The People's Mojahedin of Iran have acted in complete accordance with international laws and Geneva Conventions";

Emphasizing that:
- the terrorist designation of the PMOI is a political concession to the Iranian regime and a justification for domestic repression and suppression;
- the bombardment and disarming of the PMOI have upset the strategic balance with the Iranian regime in this sensitive part of the world;
- locking the largest Iranian opposition force is the best gift to Iran's religious tyranny and will further open the hands of the Iranian regime for more meddling in Iraq;

Convinced that:
- fundamentalism and dictatorship in Iran comprise a barrier to democracy and stability in Iraq;
- the real solution to fundamentalism and dictatorship under the banner of Islam is indeed a genuine tolerant and democratic Islam, not engagement nor giving maneuvering room to the despotic and fundamentalist rulers;

We call for the following:
1. the government of Iraq to start a dialogue with the People's Mojahedin and the coalition of the National Council of Resistance of Iran;
2. the legal status of this organization as a legitimate movement and the political asylum rights of its individuals continue to be underlined based on Article 19 of the Iraq's Interim Constitution (in the chapter on basic and unalterable rights of this law);
3. The PMOI's right to ownership of all their properties and buildings in Iraq be respected and the damages they suffered during the war be compensated for by the Multi-National Forces according to the rules;
4. The United States and the European Union to cancel the terrorist designation of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran that is the biggest victim of state-sponsored terrorism.

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