United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland
I am (Saeid Paydar) brother of Ahmad Paydar . I have not seen my brother for almost 37 years and now I want to file my complaint against the Albanian government under the UN International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, of which the Albanian government is a signatory.
Ahmad Paydar was captured in 1984 on the Iranian Defense Front against the invasion of Iraq. Until 1988, he was in various prisoner-of-war camps in Iraq and communicated with his family through letters during his captivity. Until in August of the same year, we learned through the International Committee of the Red Cross that he had left the POW camp and joined the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO) and had gone to Camp Ashraf, the headquarters of the MEK in Iraq.
Once in 2003, my other brother managed to meet him at Camp Ashraf in Iraq
I do not know anything about him from that date until today, and I am not even sure whether he was transferred to Albania after the transfer of MEK members.
I wrote many letters to the Prime Minister and other Albanian officials, as well as European officials, asking for information about our brother situation and wellbeing. We also signed a petition with other families addressed the Albanian government and asked to contact our relatives in the MEK camp in Albania. This petition had more than 11,000 signatures. Unfortunately, there was no reaction from the Albanian government.
It should be noted that the Albanian government does not issue visas to Iranian citizens at the request of the MEK, and therefore we are not able to travel to Albania and pursue the matter through the judicial authorities of this country.
I request the relevant international body to address this issue. I want to get into this issue and find our brother Ahmad Paydar, who has been forcibly away from me for nearly four decades, to enable him to communicate with his only brother.
Saeid Paydar
Iran – Yazd