Mr. War Criminal Is Coming for a White House Handshake
December 6, 2011 by
SCOOP INDEPENDENT NEWS
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, under investigation by a Spanish court for war crimes against Iranian dissidents in Camp Ashraf, Iraq, is coming to Washington for a hand hake with President Obama at the White House.
As his December 5 op-ed piece in the Washington Post shows, Maliki is visiting Washington to try to defuse the well-placed fears about Iraq, under his leadership, becoming a proxy state for Iran. And, again judging by his commentary in the Post, he feels behooved to justify, albeit ineffectively, his made-in-Tehran plans to either forcibly relocate Camp Ashraf residents to multiple detention centers in Iraq before extraditing them to Iran, or kill them all at Camp Ashraf if the residents resist the forcible relocation.
So, in either case, President Obama may be shaking hands with a war criminal responsible for massacre of the unarmed and defenseless population in Camp Ashraf. That’s not exactly the kind of poster image President Obama may want for his re-election campaign. He must therefore seize the December 12 White House visit to convey in the most unequivocal terms the United States’ resolve in seeing the camp residents unharmed.
Speaking in a Washington conference about Camp Ashraf situation last November, Professor Alan Dershowitz, an authority in international law and genocide prevention, said in reference to Maliki’s White House visit that “If the President of the United States does not demand a change in the Iraqi government’s commitment to close the camp [by end of 2011], his silence will be taken as acquiescence, and that is so dangerous, silent acquiescence.”
Dershowitz said: “When the holocaust happened, everybody said we didn’t know. When the Armenian genocide occurred, we didn’t know, when Cambodian genocides were occurring, people were telling us it was propaganda, we didn’t know. Rwanda Darfur, we didn’t know. We know [about Camp Ashraf]. We have been told. We have been warned.”
The fact remains that the 3,400 residents of Camp Ashraf were promised protection. Those individuals and the camp’s leadership trusted America’s promise signed by most senior commanders of the US military, and gave up their weapons. With the deadline set by Iraq to close down the camp in just over three weeks and with the official departure of US forces, the question making round in the US Congress and among thousands of Iranian-Americans who s is:
Would President Obama uphold America’s promise and ensure safety and security of Camp Ashraf residents?
Would President Obama honor the contract America signed with each individual at Camp Ashraf and would not leave them behind unprotected?
Would Administration stop paying lip service to the dire humanitarian situation in Camp Ashraf and fulfill its commitments by asking Maliki to extend his December 31 deadline to close down Camp Ashraf so that the UN refugee agency can carry out the process of relocating the residents to third countries in a safe a secure manner?
The clock is ticking, and the lives of 3,400 Iranian dissidents, including 1,000 women, are on the line as Camp Ashraf is inching toward Srebrenica-style massacre before the year’s end.
Navid Dara is a Washington-based analyst of US policy towards Iran.
Rohrabacher presses State on future of Iranian exiles
December 6, 2011 by
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Wants terror label lifted as camp closing nears
The Iraqi government is using the State Department’s terrorist designation of a group of Iranian dissidents as an excuse to crack down on the unarmed exiles in their camp north of Baghdad, a top Republican lawmaker said Tuesday.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s subcommittee on oversight and investigations, said taking the group off the terrorism list would deprive the Iraqi government of this cover and expose it as a puppet of the theocratic regime in neighboring Iran.
“The Iraqi government is kissing the bloody boots of the mullahs in Tehran,” Mr. Rohrabacher said.
Mr. Rohrabacher is scheduled to convene a subcommittee hearing on Wednesday to seek an explanation from State Department officials about a court-ordered review of the terrorist label and an update on developments at Camp Ashraf.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has set a Dec. 31 deadline to close Camp Ashraf and relocate the 3,400 Iranian dissidents of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), a former military wing of the Iranian resistance that U.S. forces disarmed in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has said the deadline does not leave enough time to process the residents’ refugee status requests.
The Iraqi army attacked the camp on April 8, killing 36 residents, including eight women. More than 300 others were wounded. On Oct. 31, Iraqi troops and police entered the camp with sirens blaring in what residents said was an attempt to intimidate them. Supporters say all signs point to an impending massacre at Camp Ashraf.
“If we officially designated a group of people as a terrorist organization, we shouldn’t be surprised when someone commits an act of violence against them,” Mr. Rohrabacher said in an interview.
“However, the people at Camp Ashraf are not terrorists, and it is a great disservice to truth and to them and to finding some kind of peace in that part of the world to continue designating them as terrorists.”
Mr. al-Maliki wrote in The Washington Post this week that Camp Ashraf residents “are classified as a terrorist organization by many countries and thus have no legal basis to remain in Iraq.”
The Iraqi Embassy in Brussels last month sent a letter to the European Parliament in which it listed the designation of MEK as a terrorist organization by the “international community” as a reason to justify its decision to close Camp Ashraf by the end of the year.
Mr. Rohrabacher said taking the group off the U.S. terrorism list is not likely to change the Iraqi government’s attitude.
“They are trying to placate the mullahs, and that is not going to change simply because we change the designation,” he said.
“All we would have done is eliminate their cover, which is ‘These are terrorists, so thus we can do this,’ when in fact all they are doing is the bidding of a mullah dictatorship in Tehran,” he added.
The MEK has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and is backed by prominent former officials, including those who have served in Republican as well as Democratic administrations. The MEK also IS known as the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.
In July of 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit gave the State Department six months to re-examine its decision to keep the group on the terrorist list. The State Department designated MEK as a foreign terrorist organization on Oct. 8, 1997.
“Our focus is on reviewing the [terrorist] designation in accordance with the D.C. Circuit’s decision and applicable law,” said Noel Clay, a State Department spokesman.
The State Department is “working as quickly as possible to complete the review,” he added. At the end of the review, it will be up to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to decide whether to maintain or rescind the terrorist label.
State Department officials Daniel Fried, special adviser on Camp Ashraf, and Barbara Leaf, deputy assistant secretary for Iraq in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, are scheduled to testify at the subcommittee hearing.
President Obama is scheduled to meet with Mr. Maliki at the White House on Dec. 12.
Sam Drzymala, a spokesman for Rep. Russ Carnahan, the subcommittee’s co-chairman, said the Missouri Democrat hopes to get an update at the briefing on the status of the “safety, protection and potential relocation options for the residents of Camp Ashraf as the U.S. military transitions out of Iraq.”
All U.S. combat troops are expected to leave Iraq by the end of the year.
In June of 2009, the U.S. turned over control of Camp Ashraf to the Iraqi government, which gave written assurances that it would treat the residents in accordance with Iraq’s constitution and its international obligations.
Ed Rendell, a Democrat and former governor of Pennsylvania, said the al-Maliki government “cannot and should not be trusted to protect the lives of the residents of [Camp] Ashraf.”
Tom Ridge, homeland security secretary under former President George W. Bush, said the Iraqi government has to make a decision.
“Will they be a friend of the United States … or a lackey to Iran?” he asked.
He and Mr. Rendell spoke along with other MEK supporters at an event in Washington last week.
Camp Ashraf residents surrendered their weapons in 2003 as part of a cease-fire agreement with U.S. forces.
Besides the U.S., Canada, Iraq and Iran list MEK as a terrorist organization. Britain and the European Union took MEK off their lists of terrorist organizations in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
Earlier this year, French magistrates dismissed terrorism charges against MEK members after an eight-year investigation.
The State Department accuses the MEK of terrorist attacks in Iran in the 1970s that killed several U.S. military personnel and civilians. MEK also received military and financial support from Saddam Hussein’s regime, according to the State Department.
There is considerable debate in Washington over taking the MEK off the terrorist list.
Kenneth Katzman, a specialist in Middle Eastern affairs at the Congressional Research Service, said some U.S. officials are convinced that such action would be viewed by the Iranian government as a hostile act and eliminate hope for a resumption of talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said taking MEK off the terrorist list would set back U.S. interests in Iran for years.
“An American embrace of a group that has killed so many Iranians and allied itself with Saddam Hussein and other American embassies would be a world-class [mistake],” he said.
Others argue that delisting the MEK would be interpreted by the Iranian opposition as the U.S. throwing its weight behind what they say is an undemocratic group that does not have much support inside Iran.
“This is not a group the U.S. would look to work with as part of a policy of supporting groups that are trying to achieve human rights and democracy,” said Mr. Katzman.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/6/rohrabacher-presses-state-on-future-of-iranian-exi/
U.N. Wants Iraq to Extend Iranian Dissidents’ Camp Deadline
December 6, 2011 by
ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS – Iraq should extend its Dec. 31 deadline for closing a camp of Iranian dissidents, and third-party nations should accept its residents for resettlement to prevent a violent standoff, the U.N. envoy for the country said Tuesday.
Martin Kobler, the U.N. special representative, told the Security Council Tuesday that camp residents’ lives must be protected and that their forced removal would be “ill-advised and unacceptable.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said Camp Ashraf, housing more than 3,000 members of the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, must be closed by year’s end.
Iraqi Ambassador to the U.N. Hamid Al-Bayati told the council his country “doesn’t want to force anybody to go back to Iran.”
But he nevertheless indicated it will close the camp as planned “with the relocation decision … implemented by the end of the year.”
The Iraqi ambassador said about 900 residents hold dual nationality with third countries they may be able to go to.
Kobler told reporters after the session that U.N. officials are working on a peaceful solution to the problem, “but we cannot do it in the remaining time.” He asked Iraq again “to give us time, to give us space to bring about a humanitarian solution.”
The U.N. envoy also encouraged other countries to take in Camp Ashraf residents so they don’t have to return to Iran.
While Kobler was briefing the council, about three dozen Iranian-American protesters gathered in a small park across the street from U.N. headquarters to demand that the deadline for the camp’s closure be called off.
Several protesters carried yellow flags that declared “PROTECT ASHRAF” in blue letters, while others carried the flag used by Iran before the 1979 Islamic revolution.
“UNSC: Cancel the Deadline, No to Displacement, Blue Helmets for Ashraf,” read one protest sign, calling for the council to dispatch U.N. peacekeepers to protect camp residents.
“Ashraf protection is U.N. obligation,” the protesters chanted.
The camp in eastern Iraq houses Iranians dedicated to the overthrow of the Iranian government. Members of the group won refuge at Ashraf decades ago during the regime of Saddam Hussein, who saw them as a convenient ally against Tehran.
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.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/12/06/un-wants-iraq-to-extend-iranian-dissidents-camp-deadline/
Iraq: UN calls for more time to resolve issue of camp residents
December 6, 2011 by
UN News Center
United Nations – The United Nations envoy for Iraq today voiced concern over the situation in a camp housing several thousand Iranian exiles and urged the Iraqi Government to extend the deadline for closing down the settlement as efforts continue o find a peaceful solution that conforms with international law.
Situated in the eastern Iraqi province of Diyala, Camp Ashraf houses members of a group known as the People’s Mojahedeen of Iran. The Iraqi Government has repeatedly stated its intention to close down the camp by 31 December and to transfer residents to another location until countries willing to accept them for resettlement are found. Residents want to remain in the camp until a resettlement solution is found.
Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), told the Security Council in a briefingon the situation in the country that the UN is making efforts to facilitate a peaceful and durable solution.
“Lives are at stake and must be protected,” said Mr. Kobler. “The Government has a responsibility to ensure the safety, security and welfare of the residents. Any forced action that results in bloodshed or loss of life would be both ill-advised and unacceptable.”
Mr. Kobler noted that any workable solution must be acceptable to both the Iraqi Government and residents of Camp Ashraf. A solution must respect Iraqi sovereignty, on the one hand, and be in line with international humanitarian, human rights and refugee laws, on the other.
Progress has been made in recent discussions, but there are still major obstacles on arriving at a plan that would meet the concerns and requirements of all, he said.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is ready to begin a process of refugee status determination in the camp, but the exercise will require more time, he added, stressing that the principle of non-refoulement must apply.
Mr. Kobler urged the camp’s leadership, and well as all residents, to engage “constructively and open-mindedly” in the process of finding a solution, appealing to them to give serious consideration to all proposals under discussion. He warned them against any provocative acts or violence.
Mr. Kobler also urged the international community to do more to help find a peaceful solution to the problem, stressing that a lasting settlement cannot be found unless governments are willing to accept Camp Ashraf residents who wish to be resettled in other countries.
“The situation of Camp Ashraf is a complex problem, but not an insurmountable one. A process is underway, and if all concerned act responsibly at this time it is possible to arrive at a peaceful, durable solution that respects both the safety and welfare of the residents and Iraq’s understandable desire to assert its sovereignty,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kobler strongly condemned yesterday’s terrorist attacks targeting pilgrims marking the festival of Ashura in central Iraq. Dozens of people died in the attacks.
“I am deeply saddened by the horrific attacks that continue to shatter the lives of Iraqis across the country,” he said.
“Yesterday’s attack of pilgrims who gather on Ashura to practice their religious rights is particularly appalling. The Iraqi religious and ethnic diversity is the ultimate strength of this country. This diversity is at the heart of the country’s efforts to establish a peaceful, prosperous and all inclusive society.”
He extended his condolences to the bereaved families and his wishes for the full and speedy recovery of those wounded.
Protection of Camp Ashraf must be US final act in Iraq
December 6, 2011 by
THE HILL
The humanitarian issue of Camp Ashraf, home to 3,400 members of the Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedeen e Khalq (MEK), in Iraq has crossed party lines in the US, UK and EU as far right neo cons stand alongside democrats and liberals in support of defending an Iranian opposition group upon which there has been heated discussions. With an end of 2011 deadline set by Iraq to close the Camp, the issue will no doubt be a topic of serious discussion as Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki comes to Washington next week.
As the government of Iraq sticks stubbornly to its determination to close Camp Ashraf by the end of this year and forcibly displace the residents inside Iraq, international condemnation has intensified. With the UN and EU providing the Iraqi authorities the perfect opportunity to bring a peaceful end to this crisis, that government’s continued opposition indicates a sinister plan for the December closure of the camp, a plan which based on two previous incursions into the camp will mean the killing of numerous residents and the wounding of hundreds more.
In a previously unforeseen twist, the proposed closure of the camp will coincide with the removal of all US military forces from Iraq by the year end. Forced out by Nuri Al Maliki’s government, President Obama had announced the news as a success story. However, many saw the contempt shown by the Iraqi government as a clear indication of the Iranian regime’s growing influence. It is believed the Iranian regime had long been pushing for an end to the US presence inside Iraq. Iran’s behind the scenes pressures on Al-Maliki succeeded, as Tehran hailed its continued influence in Iraq.
Now as US forces prepare to depart Iraq, President Obama’s administration must look to the issue of Camp Ashraf as a final opportunity to uphold the values for which we entered Iraq and not permit this group of civilians to fall into the hands of an Iraqi government intent upon their destruction.
For the US authorities to board their planes and shut their eyes to a guaranteed massacre will be utterly shameful, not least because the US authorities provided guarantees to each and every resident to protect them from harm.
As the United Nations led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) intensifies its efforts to bring a peaceful solution to this crisis, doing so with the support of the EU, the deafening silence from the Obama administration is reprehensible in the extreme.
Pressure on the Iraqi government has intensified in recent weeks and months. The UN has recognised the residents as asylum-seekers and has demanded international support for its efforts in recognising the refugee status of the residents. The EU’s foreign policy chief has answered this call by appointing a special representative on the issue and demanding the involvement of EU Member States in agreeing to the transfer of a number of residents.
It is now time for the US to do its part and play an active role. The US went into Iraq upon a mission, a mission called ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’. That was our mission statement and that is the mission statement upon which the US must now intervene to protect this group of Iranians from further harm.
The task now is simple. President Obama must demand publicly that Iraq get rid of its end of 2011 deadline for the closure of Camp Ashraf, that the government of Iraq allow the UNHCR to carry out its refugee status work, support calls for the establishment of a UN peacekeeping presence to protect the camp, and work actively with its European partners to support the transfer of residents to states where their safety can be guaranteed.
The least that the US authorities can do now is support the UN and EU in their efforts to protect these Iranians to whom the US provided numerous guarantees. This must be the final act of the US administration in Iraq, upholding the rights of this group and protecting them from the clutches of the criminal bullies in Tehran.
Alex Carlile was the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation in the United Kingdom (2001-2011)
UN asks Iraq to extend dissident camp deadline
December 6, 2011 by
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
The United Nations on Tuesday appealed to the Iraqi government to push back a December 31 deadline to close an Iranian dissident camp north of Baghdad, warning of a growing risk of violence.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also renewed appeals to the international community to find a home for the estimated 3,400 Iranian exiles at Camp Ashraf.
Amid heightened international concerns, the UN envoy to Iraq, Martin Kobler, told the UN Security Council many “obstacles” remain to ending doubts over how to end the camp standoff.
The positions of the residents and the government “remain far apart,” Kobler told the 15-member council.
There is “a real danger of confrontation and even violence” because of the uncertainty over the camp, which has been home to members of the People’s Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) since the 1980s.
Iraq has insisted it must close by the end of the year. But the camp’s inhabitants refuse to move unless they are given UN protection.
At least 36 people at the camp were killed in clashes in April. Residents said they were attacked by Iraqi forces.
Kobler said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is ready to start interviewing Camp Ashraf residents, but there is little hope of ending the dispute over the camp by December 31.
“I therefore appeal to the government of Iraq to extend this deadline in order to permit adequate time for a solution to be found,” Kobler said.
The envoy said any solution must suit the Iraqi government, which says the camp is a security threat, and the residents’ demands for a safe exit.
“Lives are at stake and must be protected,” Kobler said. “The government has a responsibility to ensure the safety, security and welfare of the residents. Any forced action that results in bloodshed or loss of lives would be both ill-advised and unacceptable.”
UN leader Ban Ki-moon appealed for countries to volunteer homes for the Camp Ashraf residents in a report to the Security Council for the meeting.
“In order to find a durable solution for the camp residents, it is essential that potential third countries indicate their willingness to receive them for resettlement,” Ban said.
Iraq’s UN ambassador, Hamid al-Bayati, also called for international help.
“I would like to assure the Security Council that my government doesn’t want to force anybody to go back to Iran,” he said.
But Bayati said the camp residents were preventing Iraqi forces and government officials from entering.
“We cannot allow any group inside Iraq which will attack neighboring countries, that will cause lots of problems,” he told the Security Council.
UN envoy Kobler also stressed the need for Iraq and Kuwait to make a new effort to normalize their relations. Iraq remains on the UN Security Council agenda because of the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Kobler said “little progress” has been made in the past two years and offered UN assistance.
New efforts are “needed to promote confidence between the two countries and facilitate solutions,” said Kobler The Iraqi ambassador said repairing ties was a “top priority” of the Baghdad government.
Iraq and Kuwait have not settled their border and Iraq still has to pay almost $20 billion in war damages. The two are also in dispute over a new Kuwaiti port that Iraq considers a threat to its sea access.
http://www.france24.com/en/20111206-un-asks-iraq-extend-dissident-camp-deadline
Congress to hold hearing into US responsibility for Camp Ashraf
December 6, 2011 by
IRAN FOCUS
Washington, Dec. 06 – Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in the United States plan to hold a hearing on Wednesday into the responsibility of the State Department towards a camp of Iranian exiles in Iraq which is feared to come under attack by Iraqi forces as US forces leave the country by the end of the year.
Camp Ashraf, home to some 3,400 members of Iran’s main opposition movement Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI / MEK), was attacked in April by the Iraqi military, leaving 36 residents killed and hundreds injured. The MEK claims the attack was carried out at the behest of Iran. It was the second deadly assault on the camp. In July 2009, at least 11 residents were killed and 500 wounded when Iraqi forces tried to overrun the camp.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to close Camp Ashraf before the end of the year, which the residents fear would be a prelude to a massacre by Iraqi forces.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia plan to hold a joint hearing, entitled: “Camp Ashraf: Iraqi Obligations and State Department Accountability”.
Daniel Fried, the Special Advisor on Ashraf at the State Department, and Barbara Leaf, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq at the department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs will be questioned by lawmakers, according to a statement by the office of Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) who chairs the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield, former Assistance Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs and Col. Wesley Martin (Ret.), former Camp Ashraf commander, are the other witnesses.
The situation at Camp Ashraf has also been a source of major concern in the upper chamber of the U.S. Congress. Last month, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, urging her to “press the Iraqi government to extend its deadline for closing Camp Ashraf so that UNHCR can complete its work of assessing the refugee status of each of the camp’s residents”.
U.N. urges states to take Iranian dissidents in Iraq
December 5, 2011 by
REUTERS
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Dec 5, 2011 – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged nations to accept residents of a camp of Iranian dissidents in Iraq that Baghdad has vowed to close by the end of the year, according to a report released on Monday.
“In order to find a durable solution for the camp residents, it is essential that potential third countries indicate their willingness to receive them for resettlement,” Ban said in his latest report to the Security Council on the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
Ban said he and other senior U.N. officials “have been encouraging member states in this regard.” The U.N. Security Council will review Ban’s report at a meeting on Tuesday.
Last month, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she would urge EU member states to accept residents of Camp Ashraf, a base of the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, which mounted attacks on Iran before the U.S.-led removal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The future of Ashraf’s more than 3,000 residents became uncertain in 2009 after the United States turned the camp over to the Iraqi government, which considers its residents a threat to security.
Amnesty International says the Iranians there are subject to harassment by the government and denied access to basic medicine. More than 30 were killed in a clash with Iraqi security forces in April.
“The United Nations continues to advocate that the humanitarian needs of the residents be met,” Ban said.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been trying to arrange to interview the camp’s residents to determine who among them qualifies for refugee status and resettlement but Iraq has yet to allow this.
“The government of Iraq’s approval would be vital in moving this process forward,” Ban’s report said. “The support of the leadership of Camp Ashraf for U.N. efforts in this regard is also necessary.”
The EU removed the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran from its terrorism list in 2009 but it is still considered a terrorist organization by some countries, including the United States and Iran.
Last month, members of the European Parliament called on Ashton to step up pressure on Iraq to extend the deadline for closing the camp. British MEP Struan Stevenson said residents would face “certain torture and execution” if sent back to Iran.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/05/us-iraq-ashraf-un-idUSTRE7B42PB20111205
Reaching Across the Aisle, Former Governors Call for Urgent Intervention to Save Iranian Dissidents in Iraq
December 3, 2011 by
PR Newswire
As December 31 Deadline Nears for American Military Withdrawal, Fate of 3,400 “Protected Persons” Hangs in the Balance
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — At a press conference at the National Press Club, former Pennsylvania Governors Tom Ridge and Ed Rendell urged the Obama Administration to draw a clear line in the sand with the pro-Iranian government in Iraq: lift the approaching deadline for closing Camp Ashraf, home to more than 3,400 Iranian dissidents, refrain from forcible relocation of the residents that could lead to a massacre and allow their resettlement in third countries.
The dissidents are members the main Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK).
The Governors, joined by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, retired US Army Colonel Wes Martin, the former commander of Camp Ashraf, and Dr. Ramesh Sepehrrad, Scholar Practitioner from the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University, made their call for action before Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki meets with President Obama in Washington on December 12, 2011.
“The only reason we called this press conference is to call attention to a pending humanitarian disaster, the potential massacre of 3,400 democratic Iranian dissidents. The massacre can only be avoided by the collective action of Prime Minister Maliki and President Obama,” Governor Ridge stressed.
“We have sent hundreds of thousands of men and women around the world for decades to promote freedom and democracy. It was the ideal that got us into Iraq. US blood and treasure notwithstanding, this administration continues to ignore the commitment it also made when they signed the Status of Forces Agreement to protect and defend and provide for the safety and security of the people at Camp Ashraf… America’s credibility is at stake,” he added.
Governor Rendell laid out an immediate plan of action. “America has an obligation to protect the people of Camp Ashraf. We want President Obama to move swiftly to delist the dissidents from the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and do it quickly. This unfair designation has given Iran and Iraq a license to kill the dissidents at will. Secondly, we want President Obama to insist to Prime Minister Maliki that he delay his order to close the camp on December 31st.”
“[We] have an obligation, we gave our word to protect [Camp Ashraf residents]. Our word has to stand for something…the Maliki Government cannot and should not be trusted to protect the lives of the residents of Ashraf. They aren’t coming to do peaceful relocation. They are coming to arrest and put in prison the leadership of the MEK,” he added.
Judge Mukasey warned, “The people in Camp Ashraf are facing a crisis that is entirely precipitated by the Iraqi Government acting at the behest of Iran. There is no reason, none, for a deadline of December 31 other than the threat of the Iraqi Government to move in…with troops and arms and vehicles provided by the United States to attack defenseless women and men… This is not a political matter. This is a human rights matter. This is matter of the safety and security of people. This is a matter of the word of the United States.”
“This is a coming disaster that can be averted by the United States President making it clear to Prime Minister Maliki that we will not tolerate this. And if we do not act, this will happen and will go down in history as a disgrace to ourselves, our country, to the remainder of the human race.”
“Make no mistake that it is the Iranian plot that is driving the December 31st deadline, the forcible relocation within Iraq and repatriation to Iran. Through its Iraqi proxies, Tehran is working hard to either surrender or wipe out every single resident of the camp at any cost. So the options are to either die under torture in Iran or be killed in the coming days. Camp Ashraf residents will never surrender to the Iranian regime. They will also resist against any relocation within Iraq unless it is under U.S. protection and UN supervision,” Dr. Sepehrrad underscored.
Recalling his experience as Ashraf base commander, Col. Martin said, “In Ashraf, I had a group of people actually trying the best they could to help the Americans. They were one of our allies, yet we were calling them terrorists. That just doesn’t mean sense… When we would go outside the perimeter, I always knew I had good strong allies on my flank. The Iranian Mujahedeen was around to the same energy to rescue us even though they didn’t have arms.”
SOURCE Institute for Democratic Strategies