Camp Ashraf Military Occupation – No. 63
NCRI – According to Christian Science Monitor, Saad al-Muttalabi, Nouri al-Maliki’s advisor, in a series of loathsome lies regarding those who were killed during the brutal attack on Ashraf on April 8, said: “They were shot execution-style…The first medical reports indicated they were shot at very close range _ gunpowder was found on the wounds…. they appear to be have been shot with handguns rather than the rifles used by the Iraqi military.”
Through repeating such absurd lies that were also raised previously by Muhammad Askari and Ali Dabbagh, Maliki pursues two specific goals:
Firstly- Escaping the political, legal and international consequences of the major crime he committed on April 8 which is considered crime against humanity based on all standards;
Secondly- Preparing the ground for another bloodbath in Ashraf and massacre of more resident.
The Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Spain’s National Court have described these crimes as war crime and crime against international community. As the Commander in Chief and the Minister of Defense, Maliki is directly responsible for these crimes and must be put on trial.
If the Iraqi government is sincere in its claims, it should immediately allow the entry of jurists, human rights activists, parliamentarians and international observers into Ashraf, which he has banned for the past two and half years. This way they will be apprised of the crimes that Maliki claims the PMOI has committed.
On April 17, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian resistance, in a statement asked for the appointment of a special representative by the United Nations Security Council to investigate over the April 8 crime. If Iraq is sincere, it should accept it immediately.
These brazen lies are said at a time that the US representatives and the UN representatives along with medical teams visited Ashraf on 10 and 13 April respectively. They witnessed the martyrs and the wounded closely and noted how and where in their bodies they had been shot and became aware of the reality and the major crime committed by the Iraqi forces. After the UN representatives visited Ashraf, Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, while condemning the massacre of 34 residents of Ashraf, announced:
“The Iraqi military was well aware of the risks attached to launching an operation like this at the camp. A similar operation by Iraqi security forces in 2009 left 11 people dead and dozens wounded at Ashraf …There is no possible excuse for this number of casualties.”
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
April 18, 2011
