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Nejat Society, January 09 2020:… Mr. Mohammad Aq Atabai, whose brother Hamid Mohammad Aq Atabai is being held in the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) camp in Albania, has lodged a complaint against the Albanian government to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances under the UN Convention against the Protection of All Persons against Forced disappearance. While explaining his brother’s story, he asked the committee to find him and provide the possibility to connect him.. Mohammad Aq Atabay Complaint to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances
Appealing To Human Rights Organizations
Mohammad Aq Atabay Complaint to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances
Mr. Mohammad Aq Atabai, whose brother Hamid Mohammad Aq Atabai is being held in the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) camp in Albania, has lodged a complaint against the Albanian government to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances under the UN Convention against the Protection of All Persons against Forced disappearance. While explaining his brother’s story, he asked the committee to find him and provide the possibility to connect him.
Mr. Mohammad Atabay
The text of the complaint is as follows:
Greetings and Regards,
I am Mohammad Aq Atabay, a resident of Gonbad kavoos city, Golestan Province in northern Iran. My brother Hamid Mohammad Aq Atabay was captured by the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO) more than 35 years ago during the Iran-Iraq War and was forcibly transferred to the organization’s camp in Iraq.
I went to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2013 to find and contact him along with a number of families whose loved ones had also been disappeared in Iraq. An official of the committee told me that they could not do anything for us because Iraq is not a signatory to the UN International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and is not accountable to the committee.
It has been 4 years since the presence of the MEK in Albania, and most certainly my brother has been forcibly transferred to Albania with this organization. Albania is one of the signatories of the relevant convention and, according to the provisions of this convention, is responsible and accountable for the actions of organizations and groups such as the MEK, which are based in that country and are fully supported by it.
During all these years, I have sent letters and messages to all the executive and relevant officials of the Albanian government requesting that my brother be found and that he be given the opportunity to meet or at least call me. But my efforts were completely fruitless and I did not receive any response from the Albanian authorities. It should be noted that the Albanian government does not grant visas to Iranian citizens at the request of the MEK, so it is impossible for me to travel to that country and pursue the matter with the judicial authorities there.
With the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus and the deaths of dozens of people trapped in the MEK camp in Albania in recent weeks, my concerns about my brother’s condition have doubled.
My request is that my complaint against the Albanian government, which should be held accountable for the actions of the MEK in its own country under the UN International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, be taken into account. My brother has involuntarily disappeared in Albania and I want him found so that I can connect with him and make sure he is safe.
Thank you in advance,
Mohammad Aq Atabay, brother of Hamid Mohammad Aq Atabay, captured in the MEK camp in Albania
Gonbad kaoos – Golestan – Iran
cc:
United Nations Work Group of the Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID)
United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mohammad Aq Atabay Complaint to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances
***
Also read:
https://iran-interlink.org/wordpress/corona-crisis-in-mek-camp-in-albania/
Corona Crisis In MEK Camp In Albania
Ebrahim Khodabandeh, Nejat Society, December 13 2020:… On behalf of the suffering families of members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO, NCR, NLA), I would like to draw your attention to an emerging humanitarian catastrophe due to the spread of Covid-19 in the MEK’s closed and isolated Camp Ashraf 3 in Manez, Albania. The alarming news coming from inside the camp indicates that many, estimated to be half the population, have contracted the disease and some are in a critical condition. Corona Crisis In MEK Camp In Albania
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Letter from the CEO of the Iranian Nejat Society to the representative of the WHO in Albania
Ebrahim Khodabandeh – CEO of Nejatngo
Representation of the World Health Organization in Albania
Greetings and best regards
On behalf of the suffering families of members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO, NCR, NLA), I would like to draw your attention to an emerging humanitarian catastrophe due to the spread of Covid-19 in the MEK’s closed and isolated Camp Ashraf 3 in Manez, Albania.
The alarming news coming from inside the camp indicates that many, estimated to be half the population, have contracted the disease and some are in a critical condition. According to these internal reports, prominent members such as Mahmoud Atai, Ahmad Hanifnejad, Javad Khorasan, Shahin Haeri, Ensieh Goldoust, Farzaneh Maidanshahi, Marzieh Hosseini, and many others who are elderly, are being kept in inappropriate conditions.
MEK Graves Tirana Albania
Reports emphasize that a very high level of fear and anxiety prevails in the camp. It goes without saying that after the defeat of US President Donald Trump in the U.S. elections and the bleak outlook for the future of the organization confronting the members, an atmosphere of panic and stress has developed, which intensifies the progress of the disease. The members’ lack of access to the outside world has greatly worried their families who are prevented from contacting them.
We also learned that some medicine had been sent from Germany specifically to the camp, which apparently was not enough and much more care was needed. Families are eager to find a way to help and send aid to members inside the camp.
Another issue is the MEK’s withholding of news about what is happening inside the camp, which adds to the concerns of families. It should be noted that between 2016, when the MEK transfer to Albania was completed, until 2019, an average of one person died in the camp every two months. But recent images of the MEK cemetery in Albania show that at least 10 people have died in the past five weeks.
According to information we have obtained, people such as Hassan Zarei, Hassan Salahandish, Gholamreza Pourhashem, Afsaneh Pichgah, Ruhollah Ramvaz, Khalil Hagh Hosseini, Mehdi Hagh Hosseini, Mohammad Qoli Ehsani, and a number of others have died in recent weeks from coronavirus.
A number of MEK members who have died in recent weeks from coronavirus.
A serious problem regarding the MEK camp is the crowded and intensive life and non-observance of health regulations, which greatly increases the speed of disease transmission. Also, the lack of monitoring inside the camp has further caused and accelerated the spread of the disease.
In this regard, it is necessary for the Albanian government and the World Health Organization to enter into the matter and investigate the issue and implement the necessary monitoring. It is also necessary to allow families to communicate with people inside the camp, which has been blocked by the MEK with the support of the Albanian government, so that families can be aware of the health and wellbeing of their loved ones.
Ebrahim Khodabandeh
CEO of the Iranian Nejat Society
Tehran
Copy to:
President of the WHO
Representation of the WHO in Iran
Corona Crisis In MEK Camp In Albania
Complaint to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances
***
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Also read:
https://iran-interlink.org/wordpress/the-committee-on-enforced-disappearances-ced/
Second Letter to The Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
Ebrahim Khodabandeh, Nejat Society, December 02 2020:… “The Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) is the body of independent experts which monitors implementation of the Convention by the State Parties.” The Republic of Albania is a State Party and has signed the Convention. So, the Convention does apply to Albania. It has been noted that all State Parties are obliged to submit reports to the Committee on how the rights are being implemented. Second Letter to The Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
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Second Letter to The Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
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Second letter of the CEO of the Iranian Nejat Society to CED
MEK members in Albania have forcibly been disappeared, and the suffering families have no means of access to their loved ones
MEK members in Albania have forcibly been disappeared, and the suffering families have no means of access to their loved ones
December 2, 2020
UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
Petitions and Inquiries Section
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Greetings and respects,
In your communications about the complaints of the families of the members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO, NCR, NLA) against the Albanian government you have responded that:
“The Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) is the body of independent experts which monitors implementation of the Convention by the State Parties.”
The Republic of Albania is a State Party and has signed the Convention. So, the Convention does apply to Albania. It has been noted that all State Parties are obliged to submit reports to the Committee on how the rights are being implemented.
Ebrahim Khodabandeh – CEO of Nejatngo
Ebrahim Khodabande – CEO of Nejatngo
It should be noted that in accordance with article 31, a State Party may declare that it recognizes the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications from or on behalf of individuals subject to its jurisdiction claiming to be victims of a violation by this State Party of provisions of this Convention.
The families who wrote to you and complained against Albania are doing so on behalf of individual victims of a violation by the MEK based in Albania which is hiding their loved ones and has disconnected their contact with the outside world, particularly their families.
You also suggested that “in addition to the reporting procedure, article 32 of the Convention provides for the Committee to consider inter-state complaints”.
Hundreds of complaining families preferably desired that the Islamic Republic of Iran would file their complaints collectively on their behalf, and they demanded so by writing to various authorities. But unfortunately it seems that the Iranian government is not so eager to spend time and effort on this subject.
You also demanded “information regarding exhaustion of available domestic remedies”. In all cases the families have written to various Albanian authorities and demanded any form of communication with their loved ones. Unfortunately all these letters and emails are left unanswered.
You might be aware that the Albanian government does not grant visas to Iranian citizens by demand of the MEK. Therefore, the families cannot travel to Albania in order to further try domestic remedies.
Once again I, on behalf of hundreds of suffering families who have sent their complaints along with relevant photos and documents individually, urge you to speed up the process of dealing with the files and find a means of communication with their loved ones who are forcibly disappeared in Albania.
Kind Regards,
Ebrahim Khodabandeh
Iranian Nejat Society CEO
Second Letter to The Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
Complaint to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances
***
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Request to expedite the processing of hundreds of complaints by families
Ebrahim Khodabandeh, Nejat Society, November 05 2020:… On behalf of the suffering families of the members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO), whose loved ones joined this organization, and now have no information about their status, I would like to inform you that more than six months ago these families sent hundreds of complaints, with detailed documents and explanations. They demanded that the situation of their loved ones who became members of the MEK be investigated. Request to expedite the processing of hundreds of complaints by families
A Step Further Than Saddam Hussein!
Request to expedite the processing of hundreds of complaints by families
Corona Crisis In MEK Camp In Albania
Complaint to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances
United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office in Geneva
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
November 3, 2020
On behalf of the suffering families of the members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO), whose loved ones joined this organization, and now have no information about their status, I would like to inform you that more than six months ago these families sent hundreds of complaints, with detailed documents and explanations. They demanded that the situation of their loved ones who became members of the MEK be investigated.
The MEK was stationed at Camp Ashraf in Iraq under Saddam Hussein and was fighting against Iran alongside the Iraqis. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Camp came under US protection and was then handed over to Iraqi forces as ‘the last stronghold of Saddam Hussein’.
At the urging of successive Iraqi governments and with the efforts of the United Nations, the process of MEK expulsion began, and the names of each group leaving Iraq and entering Albania were announced. The process was slow and in very small numbers. But suddenly, in the late summer of 2016, the organization announced that the rest of the people (nearly 3,000), who were supposed to be only several hundreds, had also been transferred to Albania. The names of these people were never published.
MEK members are housed in a remote, isolated camp in Albania where the residents are inaccessible and uncontactable. The families of hundreds of MEK members have no information about the condition of their loved ones.
Also, many of these families have faced various economic and legal problems, including issues related to inheritance, due to the disappearance of these people, and the lack of access to these people has caused them many difficulties for years. MEK members do not have the opportunity to do legal work or appoint a lawyer.
Recently, the MEK reacted to the complaints of these families to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances in its media and tried to make public a few out of their thousands of members and pretend that they have not disappeared but could be found in a certain place. However, their families still have no communication with or access to them.
Hundreds of letters have been sent by these families to the Committee on Enforced Disappearances. A small number of respondents have requested the completion of explanations and documents, which has been done immediately, but it seems that the process is very slow.
It should be noted that on February 6, 2007, Albania signed the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted in New York on December 20, 2006, which entered into force on November 8, 2007.
According to Article 31 of the Convention, a State Party must cooperate in the case of the enforced disappearance of any particular person in its own country. Article 32 also emphasizes this issue and the responsibilities of the member states.
These families have sent a great many letters to the Albanian government with the necessary explanations and specifications and have raised a petition signed by more than 11,000 people. The original signatures have been delivered to the Albanian embassy in Paris on 550 pages, but unfortunately there has not been any response from the Albanian government up to now. Therefore, the UN Committee needs to clarify its undertakings on the complaints it has received, and to take legal action to resolve this issue.
On behalf of the families, I would like to thank the Committee on Enforced Disappearances in advance and look forward to learning from you.
Ebrahim Khodabandeh
Nejat Society CEO
Tehran, Iran
Request to expedite the processing of hundreds of complaints by families
Complaint to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances
***
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