Former senior UN official in charge of Camp Ashraf file told an international conference in Rome on Wednesday (Dec 19, 2013) that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the UN and government of Iraq on 25 December 2011 is being used for persecution of Iranian dissidents members of PMOI in Camp Liberty, Iraq.
Dr. Tahar Boumedra, the former head of human rights at the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq said “the MOU turned from a tool for protection to a tool for persecution because the early intention of the MOU was to protect but the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has turned it to an instrument for persecution and attacking on Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty.”
Speaking at a major international conference in Rome, Mr Boumedra said: “On the attack on Camp Ashraf on September 1, 2013, the government of Iraq tried to say that they were not aware of what happened in Camp Ashraf. This is a pure lie. It is impossible what happened in Ashraf without the knowledge of government of Iraq and secondly the prime minister’s office.”
“In April 2011 when the same massacre took place in Camp Ashraf and the same lie was made. On the 8 April 2011 I went to the house of Iraqi national security advisor FallehFayad. I asked him to give the instruction to immediately stop the attack against Ashraf. He told me stop spreading stories and allegation and nothing is happening in Ashraf. I asked him can I go to Ashraf right now to verify the situation on the ground. He told me no you can’t. Three days later I managed to reach Ashraf and I counted 36 bodies. This is the pattern of conduct of the prime minister’s office,” Mr Boumdra said.
“Camp Ashraf is victim of this policy and whatever happens there massacre or just deprivation all is governmental policy. It is documented. TheUN is aware of it but somehow they close their eyes. The MOU signed between the UN and government of Iraq has turned from a tool for protection to a tool for persecution because the early intention of the MOU was to protect but the Prime Minister Maliki has turned it to an instrument for persecution and attacking on Ashraf and Liberty.”
He added.” These crimes are witnessed by the diplomatic community in Baghdad. I used to brief the diplomatic community in Baghdad on a weekly basis. I told them what I learned and observed on the ground and yet they reported to their capitals differently. It is either compliances or they are probably just following the instructions for that administration by reporting what their administration wants to hear. They’re not reporting the facts.
“For diplomats to have some confusion about what happened on September 1 in Camp Ashraf, this is not reflecting the reality. They know it. They know who did it and yet they are not trying to inform their administration and rather they’re informing their administration differently.”
Others who made speeches at the conference included: Mrs Maryam Rajavi, Presidents-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Mr. Bernard Kouchner, former French Foreign Minister; Ms. Michèle Alliot-Marie, former French Foreign, Defense and Interior Minister; Lucio Malan, member of Italian Senate Presidential Board; Gianni Alemanno, former Mayor of Rome; Carlo Ciccioli, former representative and joint Chair of Italian Committee of Parliamentarians and Citizens for a Free Iran (CPCIL); Senator Ingrid Betancourt, Columbian Presidential candidate; Senator Robert Torricelli from U.S.; Dr. Juan Garces, prominent international jurist and Advisor to Salvador Allende; Ms Soyem from Albania; General David Phillips, former commander for protection of Ashraf; and Colonel Wesley Martin, former senior Anti-terrorism Force Protection Officer for all Coalition Forces in Iraq and Commander of Forward Operation Base in Ashraf; and a number of Italian governors and mayors.
