ASSOCIATED PRESS

Gorguis Yacoub, left, representative of Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks to journalists during a joint press conference with Martin Kobler, right, top U.N. envoy to Iraq, in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011. The top U.N. envoy to Iraq is offering to broker the peaceful closing of a camp of Iranian exiles before the government in Baghdad forces its residents out at the end of the year. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

BAGHDAD (AP) — In a last-ditch attempt to head off a confrontation, the top U.N. envoy to Iraq on Thursday offered to broker the peaceful closing of a camp of Iranian exiles before the government in Baghdad forces its residents out at the end of the year.

An aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Iraq’s Cabinet would consider easing its deadline if a solution can be agreed on quickly.

At issue is a group of about 3,300 exiles at the remote Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s eastern Diyala province who seek the overthrow of Tehran’s clerical rulers. Members of the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, they won refuge at Ashraf decades ago during the regime of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni who saw them as a convenient ally against Tehran’s theocracy.

Since Saddam’s fall in 2003, the exiles have become an irritant to Iraq’s Shiite-led government, which is trying to bolster ties with Iran.

A deadly April raid on the camp by Iraqi forces drew international criticism of Baghdad’s treatment of the group. Al-Maliki responded by pledging to deport the Ashraf residents by the end of the year. The Ashraf residents fear they will be sent back to Iran and imprisoned or persecuted.

“There is a number of problems that still have to be solved,” U.N. envoy Martin Kobler said at a news conference in Baghdad. “This needs time, this needs space.”

He added: “The situation, as it is, is not satisfactory, neither to Camp Ashraf residents nor to the government nor to the international community.”

Kobler said he would seek to start talks after weeklong Muslim Eid al-Adha observance, which begins Sunday.

Ashraf residents are trying to win asylum in the United States, Canada and countries in the European Union but have not been widely successful. The U.S. considers the People’s Mujahedeen a terrorist organization, although the European Union removed it from its terror list several years ago.

Also at the news conference was al-Maliki aide Gorguis Yacoub who, in a turnabout for the government, opened the possibility that the deportation deadline could be extended. He said that decision would be up to the Cabinet, repeating the government’s stance that it wants the Ashraf residents out of Iraq by the end of the year.

Asked if the Cabinet would grant an extension, Yacoub said it would be a possibility “if there to be quick measures in order to achieve” a resolution.

In a statement, Ashraf spokesman Shahriar Kia said the deadline should be canceled outright to give all sides enough time to resolve the years-long dispute. He noted that legislators across the world — including some in Congress and the European Parliament — have demanded that the residents be granted refugee status, which would protect them.

Kia said Ashraf residents have been especially fearful in the last few days after additional Iraqi troops began gathering outside the camp’s gate and waking them up with taunts broadcast through loudspeakers during early morning hours. Iraqi troops took similar actions just before the deadly April 8 raid that left dozens dead.

Journalists are barred from entering Camp Ashraf, and U.N. monitors have been given only limited access. Kia called on the government to withdraw its troops and allow a U.N. monitor to be stationed at the camp.

“Anything less than this is a prelude to the massacre of the residents and a worst repeat of previous bloodbath,” he said.

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Associated Press Writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.

 THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Obama’s abandoning of Camp Ashraf to its fate would breach U.S. honor

MEP Struan Stevenson Warns about Looming Massacre at Camp Ashraf in Iraq.

It was the “mission accomplished” moment that millions of Americans had been waiting for and many of us considered long overdue: the official end to the war in Iraq and the return of all U.S. troops. Whether you believe the operation in Iraq was a noble cause or pure folly, President Obama’s announcement last month that fighting men and women would be coming home to their families in time for the holidays was cause for celebration.

It also should raise an alarm. The withdrawal is widely perceived throughout the region as a victory for Iran. Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, called it a “serious mistake” that would encourage a deeper and more dangerous alliance between Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki and Tehran – fears implicitly validated by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta’s stern warnings that Iran should not “take advantage” of the situation.

The question that haunts us now is: What will happen in the new Iraq when the U.S. military leaves?

Recent events on the ground suggest an answer: Men, women and children numbering 3,400 – each and every one of whom is covered by a written guarantee of protection by the U.S. government – will be exterminated by Mr. al-Maliki’s forces, at Tehran’s bidding. These residents of Camp Ashraf, in Diyala province close to the Iranian border, belong to Iran’s best-organized resistance movement, the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq. Committed to nonviolent regime change and a democratic, nuclear-free Iranian future with equal rights for women, minorities and religions, they are, understandably, the mullahs’ worst nightmare. Tehran has vowed to eliminate them at all costs. And they are unarmed. In other words, once U.S. troops leave, they are sitting ducks.

In April, the Iraqi military attacked the camp, leaving 36 dead and at least 300 wounded – the second unprovoked assault in two years – and that was with American troops in country. To think that the wholesale slaughter of those within Ashraf’s easily penetrable borders will not happen the moment the United States pulls out would be to tacitly condone that slaughter.

It doesn’t have to happen.

What stands in the way of the safe relocation of Camp Ashraf’s residents is one of the very few things the United States government shares in common with the tyrannical Iranian regime: the designation of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq as a terrorist organization. As long as the residents of Ashraf remain on the list of foreign terrorist organizations, they cannot be reasonably assured of the asylum they so desperately need. While a recent demand by British members of Parliament for United Nations protection for the camp is welcome, it falls far short of the American defense that was promised and that the U.S. government is honor-bound to uphold.

The international community owes the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq a huge debt of gratitude for providing valuable information on the location of Iranian nuclear facilities. Yet it is common knowledge in the U.S. national security establishment that Mujahedeen-e-Khalq was placed and maintained on the State Department’s blacklist as part of a failed strategy to appease Iran.

Since then, Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress have demanded direct American action and delisting of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq. An impressive array of the highest-level U.S. national security officials and counterterrorism analysts have publicly confirmed that the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq poses no threat whatsoever to America.

After independent and exhaustive investigations, the United Kingdom and European Union delisted the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq with the British High Court calling the listing a “perverse” decision. The EU has repeatedly urged the immediate protection of Ashraf residents and recently appointed an ambassador to ensure their safety, but the baseless U.S. designation continues to hamper our good efforts.

Most recently, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees qualified Ashraf residents as “asylum seekers under international law,” legally entitling them to physical protection while seeking relocation. But Mr. al-Maliki refuses to cooperate with the U.N. agency, citing the unjustified U.S. terrorist designation as his “license to kill.”

Despite the rosy assessment of the U.S ambassador to Iraq, James Jeffrey, who claims that what the United States leaves behind is the model of new Middle Eastern democracy, Iraq has proved that it is willing to align itself with one of the most brutal regimes on the planet. If the United States does not keep its word and honor its unfinished business with the men, women and children of Camp Ashraf, rest assured that Iran will settle its own unfinished business with them.

Time is of the essence. Only eight weeks are left until the last American soldier leaves Iraq. The lives of 3,400 Iranian dissidents are at stake – and so is American credibility in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Make no mistake about it: A Srebrenica-style massacre will happen at Camp Ashraf. When it does, no Americans will be able to say they weren’t warned.

Struan Stevenson is a Conservative member of the European Parliament representing Scotland. He is president of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/2/iraqs-looming-massacre/

THE WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

More than 5 months have passed since Iraqi forces last carried out a brutal attack against a refugee camp in Iraq housing 3,400 Iranian dissidents – 1,000 of which are women. That attack left 36 people dead, including 8 women, and 375 other men and women were left injured. The residents of this camp are Iranian exiles, members of the resistance movement struggling against the theocratic dictatorship ruling Iran.

A female resident of Camp Ashraf is killed by the Iraqi forces' direct fire during the April 8, 2011 massacre at Camp Ashraf.

For the past 2 years they have been living under siege. Iraqi forces, stationed in and around the camp, have exposed the residents to all sorts of restrictions and psychological pressures. At behest of the mullahs in Tehran, the Iraqi Prime Minister has announced he is going to shut down the camp by year’s end; which could only mean that another massacre is in the making.

Based on requests submitted by the residents – for reconfirmation of their status – UNHCR has announced that under international law, Camp Ashraf residents are protected persons; urging the Iraqi Prime Minister postpone his deadline, giving the legal process a chance to take its due course which might lead to a long-standing resolution of the crisis. The Iranian regime and the Iraqi PM, however, are hurling stones in the way of this process and have begun preparations for an upcoming assault.

Is the world going to stand idly by and watch another massacre perpetrated against defenseless residents in Camp Ashraf who have no means of protecting themselves?

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi leads the Iranian resistance. While attending an international conference in Brussels last Wednesday October 19 she reproached EU governments and the U.S. for their negligence in addressing the deadline set by the Iraqi government for closure of Camp Ashraf which may very well lead to another massacre. She warned that should Iraq’s disobedience and its evasion of international laws – in its effort to obliterate camp Ashraf residents – not be contained today, tomorrow would be too late. She also revealed that based on information obtained by the Iranian resistance, the government of Iraq, having received orders from the Iranian supreme leader, Khamenei, using the ultimatum for closure of Camp Ashraf as a pretext, is making preparations for another attack. As such, the Iraqi government hinders efforts by UN organs aimed at finding a solution for Camp Ashraf; including pressure exerted on UNHCR and its efforts in affording the residents legal status.

For nearly 2 years, the 300 loudspeakers, erected by notorious Qods force and the Iranian intelligence agency around the camp, have been used to blare insults and threats at the residents – specially targeting female residents – around the clock and every day of the week. The Qods force is the same organization implicated, recently, by the U.S. Department of Justice for its role in the plot to kill the Saudi ambassador as well as Americans.

The negligence and indifference exhibited by western governments towards an atrocity that looms ahead of us cannot be overlooked. The extensive political, military, and economic ties which exist between Iraq and western governments, gives them great leverage which could be used in obliging Iraq into respecting international laws. The time has come for the UN secretary general and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to expedite efforts for stationing a UN monitoring team in Camp Ashraf to help save the lives of 3,400 Iranian immigrants. They must call for annulment of the unjust ultimatum set with the sole aim of obliterating opponents of the main state sponsor of terrorism in the world.

The policy of appeasing the mullahs and turning a blind eye on terrorist activities by the Qods in Iraq, resulting in the death of many American soldiers, has only emboldened the terrorists to extend their operations to Washington D.C. It’s high time President Obama listen to calls from across the globe and warnings from Camp Ashraf’s defenseless residents. If not, what is bound to happen in Camp Ashraf will never be forgiven.

Asefeh Immami was only 6 months old when, due to her parents’ opposition to the mullahs and because her father was on the death row, she had to leave Iran, along with her family, and come to Camp Ashraf – now home to 3,400 Iranian dissidents in Iraq.

http://thewip.net/talk/2011/11/one_thousand_women_on_the_verg.html

Amnesty International is concerned that some 3,250 Iranian long term residents of Iraq who reside at Camp New Iraq, 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, are at serious risk of severe human rights violations if the Iraqi government goes ahead with its plans to force the closure of the camp by the end of December 2011.

The Camp, formerly known as Camp Ashraf, has previously been attacked several times by Iraqi security forces causing the deaths of dozens of residents and injuries to others. Most recently, Iraqi troops stormed into the camp on 8 April using grossly excessive force and live fire against residents who tried to resist them. Some 36 residents, including eight women, were killed and more than 300 others were wounded. At least nine camp residents were killed and others injured in an earlier attack by Iraqi security forces on 28-29 July 2009. Some 36 camp residents who were detained were held for more than two months and reportedly tortured before being released on 7 October 2009.

Camp Ashraf, as it then was, was formerly under the protection of the United States Force-Iraq (USF-I) until June 2009, when it was transferred to the control of the Iraqi government. Since then, the camp and its residents have been virtually besieged by Iraqi troops as the government intensifies pressure on the residents, many of whom belong to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), to leave Iraq. The PMOI is an Iranian opposition organization that formerly engaged in armed attacks on Iran before deciding several years ago to cease espousing violence. Supporters of the PMOI were allowed to reside as exiles in Iraq by the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussain, overthrown in 2003.

The Iraqi government has repeatedly stated its opposition to the continued existence of the camp. While on a visit to Iran last June, Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani announced that Camp Ashraf would be closed by the end of this year and the Iraqi government subsequently confirmed this to the United Nations Secretary-General in early October.

Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – UNHCR, (the UN Refugee Agency), has reported receiving a large number of individual asylum requests from camp residents and has called on the Iraqi government “to consider extending the deadline for the closure of the Camp” and to provide “necessary facilities” to allow asylum interviews to be held in a “safe, neutral and confidential location” rather than at the camp.”

By 31 October, however, negotiations were still continuing between UNHCR, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Iraqi government to identify a location at which to conduct such asylum interviews. Camp residents, for their part, contend that these interviews should be held at or close to the camp because they fear that their security and safety otherwise might not be guaranteed and that they would be at risk of arrest by Iraqi security forces and forcible return to Iran, where many of them would be at serious risk of gross human rights violations.

Amnesty International is also urging the Iraqi government to allow adequate time for the asylum applications of Camp New Iraq residents to be properly scrutinised by UNHCR in order to make its determinations relating to the refugee status of camp residents confidentially, on neutral ground and in a timely and safe manner. Throughout this process the safety and security of the camp residents must be of paramount importance. If the interviews are held outside Camp New Iraq the residents’ safety and security, including their travel back to the camp, must be guaranteed.

Amnesty International urges the Iraqi government to fully respect the human rights of the residents of Camp New Iraq and to end all harassment of the residents by its security forces surrounding the Camp.

Amnesty International also calls on the international community, in particular European and North American countries, to come forward and agree to resettle the residents of Camp New Iraq who have been accepted as refugees in a timely manner.

Background

Notwithstanding the fact that the camp residents have been living in Iraq for 25 years, the Iraqi government has made clear its wish that they leave the country. In 2009 the government told the residents that they should leave Iraq by 15 December 2009 or else face forcible relocation within Iraq, but did not enforce this due apparently to international pressure, including from USA and the UN.

Since the April 2011 assault, however, the Iraqi authorities have tightened controls on the camp residents to the extent that some of those injured and other residents suffering from chronic ailments were prevented or obstructed from leaving the camp to obtain more specialised medical treatment than that available there. As well, the security forces have also reportedly sought to impede the flow of phone and other communications between the camp residents and the outside world and have installed loudspeakers, prompting fears among residents that the Iraqi security forces are preparing to carry out a further violent incursion into the camp.

In the face of international pressure, following the April 2011 assault on the camp, the Iraqi government said it had set up a committee to investigate the attack and the killings; however, as in other cases where such investigations have been announced, no outcome has been reported and it remains unclear whether any serious investigation was ever conducted.

UNHCR, Camp New Iraq (formerly Camp Ashraf) residents and the determination of their refugee status claim, 13 September 2011. (http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendocPDFViewer.html?docid=4e7064e26&query=camp%20ashraf )

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE14/042/2011/en/8f6d56f5-73d5-4b77-8814-7d7fe4625ec2/mde140422011en.html