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Hunger strike girl back at US embassy after hospital scare
Emma Rowley13 Aug 2009
A teenage girl on hunger strike outside the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square returned to begin a third week without food after being rushed to hospital.
Soudabeh Heidari, 19, is the youngest of 10 people refusing to eat in a call for action to help Iranian dissidents housed in a camp in Iraq.
The student, from Mill Hill, was taken to University College Hospital this week after her blood pressure plummeted. She has also had kidney problems. But after eight hours in hospital she ignored doctors' warnings that they can do nothing for her unless she eats again and rejoined the protest.
About 3,500 people live at Camp Ashraf, which was set up north-east of Baghdad in the Eighties to house opponents of the Iranian regime.
Iraqi security forces entered the camp to take control on 28 July, leaving at least eight dead and hundreds injured since the violence began, according to Amnesty International.
"We don't want to get sick and go to hospital but we have to, to get attention from the US and this government and the UN," Ms Heidari said last night.
"If I want to walk a few metres, people have to help. In hospital the doctor told me: 'I cannot do anything for you. You need food immediately.'
"But the people in Ashraf are not just your ordinary people, they are the hope of the Iranian people to bring about change in Iran."
Ms Heidari came to England from Iran two years ago when her father decided they could no longer live under its oppressive authorities, which she claimed executed her uncle.
Some of the hunger strikers - six men and four women - are on their 17th day consuming only water and have no energy to do anything but lie motionless under blankets.
Azadeh Hosseini, also from Mill Hill and spokeswoman for the protesters, said video footage showed people in the camp being beaten to death and run over by forklift trucks.
"So far we've had absolutely no response from the Embassy," she said. "The US needs to take some sort of action and to recognise the fact that we are here."
Reader views (7)
I do not know how the US and other Western governments, organisations and media can ignore the current situation in Camp Ashraf, Iraq, and on their doorsteps in locations such as Mayfair, London. It is shameful that it has taken almost a dozen people in London to put their lives at risk in order to highlight the genocide that has happened in Camp Ashraf, and for these parties to ignore it is almost beyond belief.
It is vital that the media continues to report the progress, or lack of progress, on the situation so as to pressure things to change. Obama, the US government and the UN have much to answer for. Their silence has allowed this massacre to take place, and they still have not acted to try and curtail the damage that may yet take place. The abducted people are at certain risk of execution if handed illegally over to Iran. The West must stop this from happening, it has the power to do this.
Camp Ashraf must have security guaranteed by the UN, and the US has a role in the interim period, to provide Camp Ashraf security.
I have to repeat how shameful it really is that these people, including this young teenager, have had to take such drastic measures in order to get the US to do something. None of us must ignore the situation. It is time for the US to act now. I pray they don't continue to ignore what is happening.
- Hoda, London, UK, 14/08/2009 12:51
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Great article - its good to know about things like this that are unfortunately never reported.
Please keep us updated on the issue.
- Azita, Wood Green, London, 13/08/2009 17:09
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What a brave girl!
I applaud you. There are so many people in the world who are wrapped up in their lives and it is great to see some people who are still striving for the liberty of others, liberty that we so often take for granted.
Well done!
- Mary Warding, London, 13/08/2009 16:23
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As someone with eight family members in Camp Ashraf, I am grateful to Emma Rowley for giving our loved ones a voice. The situation in Camp Ashraf is upsetting beyond words. We gather outside the US Embassy day and night, huddled together around the television, watching for news of Camp Ashraf. We are grieving the death of nine residents murdered at Ashraf by Iraqi security forces, we are desperate for news of the 36 people kidnapped from the Camp by Iraqi forces, we are anxious for news of the 500 injured and doubly concerned for our friends on hunger strike. This story demands a voice. I implore you to continue reporting on this human story. Your words have the power to save lives.
- Azadeh Z, London, 13/08/2009 15:41
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The Evening Standard and its journalist, Emma Rowley, deserve praise for true reporting about real issues. I cannot begin to imagine what the British families of those in Camp Ashraf are going through, after watching footage being beamed around the world of their relatives literally being clubbed to death by Iraqi forces and agents of the Iranian regime. They deserve the support of the British public and media. These savages used planks of wood, metal bars, axes and even opened fire on the unarmed refugees in Camp Ashraf. The slaughter of these people is very much reminiscent of the slaughter of pro-democracy Iranians being clubbed and shot to death by the Iranian regime’s Bassij militia and Revolutionary Guards. It seems to me that what has taken place in Iran over the past couple of months and Camp Ashraf in the past couple of weeks are the last desperate attempts of a vile and illegitimate regime in Iran to wipe out its opponents. It did not succeed in Iran and will certainly not succeed in Camp Ashraf! Freedom and democracy are the inalienable right of every human being. No amount of beating and killings will prevent Iranians from demanding their rights.
- Masoud, London, 13/08/2009 15:15
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Emma Rowley you are to be commended for picking up on this story. I live locally and walk past the sit-in practically everyday. I have been anxiously waiting for someone to draw well deserved attention to the fact that 10 people are literally wasting away on the doorsteps of the US Embassy. What they are demanding is perfectly reasonable. The US and UK governments must intervene to prevent further tragedy at this camp. Coalition forces did not die in Iraq for a democratic republic where agents of the state butcher civilians. What an appalling mess.
- Naomi Z, Mayfair, London, 13/08/2009 15:14
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Thank you for covering this story. Unfortunately there has not been any press coverage about this major issue. It's great that the Standard has written about it and please continue informing the public about the condition of hunger strikers. It's so sad that the Foreign Office and the US embassy are blind and deaf and do not care about Ashraf residents brutally attacked or about 5 men and 4 women who could die any moment in central London. When does Gordon Brown want to wake up to the realities in Iran, hear the slogans of millions of Iranians chanting 'death to dictators'? Is it not the time for the British government to side with million of Iranians who want democratic change in Iran? Is it not time for the Foreign Office to stand behind unarmed civilians in Ashraf who were brutally attacked by machineguns, axes, electric batons, metal bars, planks of wood, daggers, axes, sound grenades, boiling water cannons, and live ammunition and even running some of them over with armoured vehicles. The Iraqi army even opened fire on ambulances carrying the wounded to the camp's medical centre. Shame on our government here to continue its silence over this humanitarian crisis.
- Laila, LONDON, 13/08/2009 14:35
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