We are writing to you before the December 31 announced closure of Camp Ashraf (also known as Camp New Iraq) to urge the government of Sweden to take proactive steps to help prevent the stand-off between the Iraqi government and the leadership of the Mohjahedin-e Khalq (MEK) from deteriorating further at a critical moment in Iraq’s precarious transition to democratic rule.

Human Rights Watch writes to Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South African minister of international relations and cooperation, and Fredrik Reinfeldt, Swedish foreign minister, concerning the September 11, 2009 European Union-South Africa summit.

A group of nongovernmental organizations write in support of the application of Adel Abdul Hakim for a residence permit on humanitarian grounds in Sweden. The organizations respectfully request that the Swedish Migration Board evaluate the totality of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Hakim’s claim for resettlement and consider that the rights of recognized refugees, the right to family reunification, and the prohibition against torture so clearly implicated in his case strongly favor a positive decision on his application.

The United Nations’ ruling that Sweden violated the global torture ban in its involvement in the CIA transfer of an asylum seeker to Egypt is an important step toward establishing accountability for European governments complicit in illegal US renditions, Human Rights Watch said today.