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Press conference in Washington DC |
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Friday, 24 June 2005 |
 Washington DC
In a press briefing at the National Press Club on May 26, attorneys for
Camp Ashraf residents, their relatives and some former PMOI activists
who now live in the West refuted the allegations against the PMOI in
Human Rights Watch’s report.
Professor Steven Schneebaum and Ronald Precup rejected the HRW report
on the PMOI, calling it "procedurally flawed and substantively
incorrect."
Mr. Schneebaum, who visited Ashraf in January 2004, called it Ashraf
City, because it was no longer a military encampment. He concluded that
"Human Rights Watch has made a mistake in this case." Among other
reasons that he cited is that Ashraf residents, having been thoroughly
investigated by agencies of the United States Government, have been
recognized by the U.S. Government as "protected persons" under the
Fourth Geneva Convention. This determination alone would seem to
undermine the entire basis of the Human Rights Watch allegations
against the PMOI members who live in Ashraf.
Mr. Precup, U.S. counsel for the PMOI said, “Flawed procedures have
produced false facts against the PMOI. Twelve hours of telephone
interviews with 12 individuals are simply insufficient to produce a
properly substantiated report. Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani, a key
"witness" in the HRW report, was a team-leader and veteran agent of
Iranian intelligence. In fact, most of those interviewed by Human
Rights Watch were sent from Iran to Europe for the purpose of
demonizing the PMOI."
In addition, several relatives of Ashraf residents called upon Human
Rights Watch to seek the truth and "not to serve Tehran's political
campaign against its opposition." Former residents of Ashraf spoke as
witnesses, presenting a letter signed by nearly 500 former residents
calling on Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of HRW, to "retract the
flawed report."
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