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PMOI members abducted by Iranian agents in Baghdad

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran

Two members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), Messrs. Hossein Pouyan and Mohammad-Ali Zahedi, were abducted by Iraq’s Interior Ministry Special Forces at 12:30 pm, Thursday, August 4, 2005, in Baghdad’s Karradah Street, according to a report by the PMOI.

Both individuals are “protected persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Witnesses on the scene, local residents and shop owners in the area said the abductors were riding in two Iraqi police vehicles (white & blue color, with two yellow stripes from the roof to the hood). According to the local police precinct, both cars belonged to the Ninth Badr Brigade and the Interior Ministry’s Special Forces. Reports indicated the two PMOI members were first taken to a floor at the Interior Ministry.

So far, all inquiries to the police and Iraqi government officials have been futile and no one in the Interior Ministry is accepting responsibility. There is no information available on the fate of those abducted. There is also no possibility of an error or mistaken identity as the situation has developed in the past four days.

The PMOI announced that Iraqi Interior Ministry and its special forces were responsible for the safety of the two abducted persons and demanded decisive and immediate action on the part of the Multinational Force to ensure the security and safety of the two “protected persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The Iranian Resistance called on the United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner, the Human Rights Commission, the Sub-commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, the Working Group on Involuntary Disappearances, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, the High Commissioner for Refugees and all human rights organizations to condemn the abductions which constitute a blatant violation of several international conventions. It also urged immediate action to save the lives of the two abducted PMOI members.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
August 8, 2005

Copies of the statement were sent to:
United Nations Secretary General,
President, UN Human Rights Commission,
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
President of the Sub-commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights,
President of the Working Group on Involuntary Disappearances,
President of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions,
UNHRC Special Rapporteur on Torture,
High Commissioner for Refugees,
President of the International Committee of the Red Cross
Secretary General of Amnesty International