THE Government has failed to put enough pressure on the Iraqi
Prime Minister to answer the charge that Iraqi military forces are
responsible for the deaths of 52 people at Camp Ashraf in
September, the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd John Pritchard has
said this week.
In a letter sent to the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, on
Monday, the Bishop, writing on behalf of a "considerable number of
bishops", expresses "deep concern" about the response to the
massacre (News, 13 September) and
disappearance of seven former residents of the camp (News,
11 October).
"The UK Government shares responsibility under the Geneva
Convention for ensuring that Iranian dissidents are properly
protected," he writes.
The official Foreign and Commonwealth Office line it cannot be
confirmed that it was Iraqi forces that carried out the attack and
abductions, and that it is leaders in Camp Liberty who are
preventing access to proper outside help, does not bear
scrutiny.
Nor can it be denied that it is Iran that is calling many of the
shots, and that there must be a real fear that the seven detainees
will be transferred to Iran and there tortured and
killed."
Last week, Bishop Pritchard (above) visited hunger
strikers outside the US Embassy, who were "weak but resilient".
Each had a story to tell of people killed in Iran or trapped in
Camp Liberty.