On April 8, 2011, Iraqi forces backed by tanks, armored personnel carriers, and artillary launched amassive assault on defensless and unarmed residents of Camp Ashraf, killing 36 and wounding several hundreds of the residents. The April attack, described by the Chairman John Kerry of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as “massacre”, left 36 dead and hundreds wounded. The US forces refrained from intervening to stop the bloodshed. … [Read more...]
Dean calls al-Maliki a ‘mass murderer’
April 26, 2011 By
The Washington Times Blames prime minister for an attack that killed 35 refugees in settlement A former head of the Democratic Party called the prime minister of Iraq a “mass murderer” on Tuesday and accused him of ordering a bloody attack on disarmed Iranian dissidents under international protection. “The truth is the prime minister of Iraq is a mass murderer,” said Howard Dean, denouncing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for an April 8 attack that killed 35 civilians in Camp Ashraf, a refugee settlement in northeast Iraq. The compound is home to about 3,400 members of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran, formerly an armed rebel group. The United States disarmed the … [Read more...]
Iran, Iraq sign agreements on Iranian opposition
April 24, 2011 By
ASSOCIATED PRESS TEHRAN, Iran – Iran and Iraq on Sunday signed agreements to return each others' detainees, which could lead to the forced repatriation of an Iranian opposition group based in Iraq, Iranian state TV reported. The countries' respective justice ministers signed agreements that including provisions for the repatriation of each others criminals and convicts to their country of origin, which could include members of the People's Mujahedeen, an Iranian opposition group long based in Iraq. Iraqi Justice Minister Hassan al-Shimari took the opportunity of the signing ceremony to repeat his country's stance that the group, once close to previous ruler Saddam Hussein, … [Read more...]
As al-Maliki Government Embarks on Disinformation Campaign, 12 Critically Wounded in Camp Ashraf Face Death; U.S. & UN Must Intervene
April 22, 2011 By
PRNewswire WASHINGTON, April 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At least 12 residents of Camp Ashraf, wounded, mostly suffering from severe gunshot and shrapnel injuries, during the Iraqi Army's deadly and unprovoked April 8, 2011 attack on the unarmed residents, will die absent urgent specialized medical care. Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad, is home to nearly 3,400 members of Iran's principal opposition, the People's Mojahdein Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), and their families. The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) calls on President Obama, as well as Secretaries of State and Defense to order the transfer of all of Camp Ashraf's injured residents, the 12 critically … [Read more...]
Rights groups call on UN to protect Iranian exile camp
April 20, 2011 By
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE Human rights groups called Wednesday on the United Nations to protect an Iranian exiles' camp in Iraq, after a deadly Iraqi army raid. "The UN has acknowledged the death of 34 people but no efficient measure of protection has been taken," said Nils de Dardel, from the Swiss lobby group Committee of Solidarity With The Ashraf Camp, which is located in the north of Baghdad. "The situation of Ashraf is very worrying. Military vehicles are still bringing their armies towards the camp," said Behzad Naziri, member of the National Council of the Resistance of Iran, the main external opposition movement against the Iranian regime. Warning of potential new attacks by … [Read more...]
No Good Options for Iranian Dissidents in Iraq
April 19, 2011 By
PolicyWatch #1797 In an April 8 confrontation at Camp Ashraf, Iraq -- home to some 3,400 members of the Iranian dissident organization Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) -- Iraqi army forces killed at least thirty-four people, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. The clash highlighted an ongoing problem: what to do about the presence of several thousand people the Iraqi government badly wants to be rid of, when no other country to which they are willing to go will accept them. Distasteful as the current situation is, the status quo may be best. The Confrontation When Iraqi forces entered Camp Ashraf on April 8, Baghdad initially claimed that no shots had been fired. … [Read more...]
UN mission concerned about use of force in Iraq
April 18, 2011 By
United Nations Radio The UN mission in Iraq is in discussions with authorities there regarding the military operation at a camp housing Iranian exiles where at least 34 people died and dozens of others were injured. UNAMI has expressed concern about the events at the camp housing Iranians belonging to the People’s Mujahadeen of Iran which opposes the government. UNAMI has visited Camp Ashraf to find out what happened on April 7th and 8th, when Iraqi soldiers mounted the operation in the camp. UN spokesman Farhan Haq has more. “The UN Assistance mission for Iraq, (UNAMI) has been in close contact with Iraqi authorities with regards to the events of 7 and 8 April at Camp … [Read more...]
USCCAR Welcomes Sen. John Kerry’s Statement on Camp Ashraf, Calls for Formation of UN Security Council-led Probe of the Massacre
April 18, 2011 By
PRNewswire WASHINGTON, April 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) welcomes the April 14 statement by Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, concerning the April 8 deadly assault by Iraqi forces against Camp Ashraf, which he appropriately characterized as a "massacre." While USCCAR agrees with Sen. Kerry that "the current situation at the camp is untenable" and that "the Iraqis must stop the bleeding and refrain from any further military action against Camp Ashraf," the heightened military build-up and construction inside the camp ever since the assault clearly indicate preparations for yet … [Read more...]
Protect Iran’s Freedom Fighters in Camp Ashraf
April 18, 2011 By
TIME In the early hours of Friday, April 8, while Washington and the media focused on a possible government shutdown, the Iraqi army assaulted a camp of Iranian civilians, called Camp Ashraf, murdering at least 28 residents and wounding hundreds more. Though the Iraqi government has claimed that only three people were killed and describes the events as an attempt to reclaim farmland, a U.N. inspection team found 28 bodies, including those of women, and determined that most were shot to death. Iraqi officials have not allowed journalists to visit the camp. Located in northwestern Iraq, 120 km (75 miles) from the Iranian border, Camp Ashraf has for more than 20 years been the home … [Read more...]
Iranian dissidents and a U.S. dilemma
REUTERS NEWS AGENCY WASHINGTON — Call it the coalition of the baffled — a diverse group of prominent public figures who challenge the U.S. government’s logic of keeping on its terrorist blacklist an Iranian exile organization that publicly renounced violence a decade ago and has fed details on Iran’s nuclear programme to American intelligence. On the U.S. Department of State’s list of 47 foreign terrorist organizations, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq is the only group that has been taken off similar lists by the European Union and Britain, after court decisions that found no evidence of terrorist activity in recent years. In the U.S., a court last July ordered the State Department to … [Read more...]