On June 1, 2012, a US Federal Appeal court ordered the US Secretary of State to review FTO designation of PMOI within four months, adding that “Should the Secretary fail to take action within the four-month period, the petition for writ of mandamus setting aside the FTO designation will be granted”.
Canadian Friends of a Democratic Iran, which has strongly advocated for the safety and security of members of PMOI in Camp Ashraf and Liberty and delisting of the organization in the US and Canada, reminds Secretary Clinton that her failure so far to remove PMOI from FTO list, has already cost lives of innocent civilians in two deadly attacks in Ashraf in July 2009 and April 2011, executions of supporters of PMOI in Iran for simply visiting Ashraf including Ali Saremi, Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaee. The unjustified and now unlawful designation of PMOI, in the face of one of the most brutal dictatorship that all democratic nations condemn, must be immediately removed. Fifteen years of a misguided policy at the behest of the Iranian regime and illusions that by designating a major democratic opposition as a terrorist organization the Iranian regime will make concessions, must come to an end. The price for the Iranian people and indeed for the security of the international community has been far greater than can be calculated.
The Iraqi government must also be put on notice that using this unwarranted and illegal designation to make life “intolerable” for Liberty residents can no longer continue. The Iranian resistance under the leadership of Mrs. Rajavi courageously fought a victorious legal battle in the UK, EU and US courts despite all the obstacles and huge misinformation campaign that had to be countered.
Mrs. Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian resistance, deserves to be congratulated for a relentless and principled struggle against all the odds. The time has come to once for all set aside the appeasement policy that has brought the world to the edge of an unwanted military confrontation and to support democratic change in Iran, starting with the recognition of the legitimate resistance against dictatorship. The ten point plan of Mrs. Rajavi, that encompasses the fundamental rights that all democratic countries embrace, can be a guiding light and a gauge of measuring dedication and determination of opposition forces.
Hon. David Kilgour, JD
Co-Chair, Ottawa
