Bipartisan US Congress session emphasizes rights of Ashraf residents

NCRI – At a meeting at Capitol Hill, Democratic and Republican members of the US House of Representative insisted on the rights of Camp Ashraf residents in Iraq, home to 3,400 members of the main Iranian opposition, People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). They also underscored the imperative of continued protection for the residents and called on Washington to remove the PMOI from the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. NCRI – At a meeting at Capitol Hill, Democratic and Republican members of the US House of Representative insisted on the rights of Camp Ashraf residents in Iraq, home to 3,400 members of the main Iranian opposition, People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). They also underscored the imperative of continued protection for the residents and called on Washington to remove the PMOI from the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

A petition signed by 100,000 Iranians from cities across Iran was also unveiled at the meeting, which called on President Obama to delist the PMOI.

The congressmen at the meeting also condemned the trial of PMOI supporters as “moharebs” (enemies of God) in Iran by the regime and echoed demands to remove the terror label from the organization.

In their remarks, the members of the House of Representatives stressed that:

The continuation of the terror listing against the PMOI is truly incomprehensible; The Iranian regime fears no other organization as much as it fears t PMOI and despises it the most, and this is the best indication for the PMOI’s status.

Participants at the session included:

Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee

Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX), member of the House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary committees

Congressman William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives

Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ), member of the Armed Services and Judiciary committees

Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA), member of the Judiciary and Government Oversight committees

Allan Gerson, former advisor to the US permanent representative to the UN and former Justice Department official