We must stand with the Iranian pro-democracy activists both in exile, as well as those inside Iran, who work for the day when the people of Iran can live free from fear and oppression. We must ensure the protection that the exiles were promised by the United States"
Denouncing the Attack on Camp Ashraf
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, FL-21
July 29, 2009
Mr. Speaker,
I rise to condemn the brutal attack on the residents of Camp Ashraf, Iranian exiles, by Iraqi police forces.
Yesterday, I learned that Iraqi police forces are beating unarmed Camp Ashraf residents and that they have been brutally assaulting them. I have been informed that this attack has resulted in at least eight deaths and over 400 injuries. This beating of unarmed men and women is despicable, and my understanding is that this unjustifiable attack is still underway.
These Iranian exiles are unarmed today because they voluntarily surrendered their weapons to United States forces in exchange for a U.S. guarantee of their security in 2003. They are “protected persons” under Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The attack on these unarmed persons violates not only international law, but it also is a violation of basic human rights. The European Parliament, Amnesty International, and other international organizations have expressed concerns about the safety of these Iranian exiles. Furthermore, when United States forces withdrew from the Camp Ashraf region, the United States and Iraq signed an agreement that the Iraqi government would guarantee their safety. The Iraqi government is not keeping its promise and it is not upholding its obligations under international law.
The Iranian dictatorship’s fingerprints are all over this attack. The residents of Camp Ashraf are enemies of the Iranian regime. Camp Ashraf residents have been a vital source of intelligence information on the Iranian regime’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and other important intelligence information. As a result, the Iranian regime, under the direction of the tyrannical Supreme Leader, is putting immense pressure on the Iraqi government to hand over the Iranian exiles in Camp Ashraf. In a meeting on February 28, 2009, the Supreme Leader urged Iraqi President Jalal Talibani to expel the Iranian exiles at Camp Ashraf immediately.
Mr. Speaker, this incursion by Iraqi forces appears to be an ugly attempt by the Iraqi government to appease the Iranian regime. They may even return these exiles to Iran. That would be a condemnable and cowardly act. In a public statement on August 28, 2008, Amnesty International expressed profound concern that Iranian exiles would suffer torture and even death if they are forced to return. As we have seen since the sham election of June 12, the Iranian dictatorship’s deep hatred of those who oppose its cruelty and repression would mean almost certain death for these Iranian exiles and their families if they are repatriated to Iran. We must do everything in our power to prevent such an atrocity from taking place.
Already, the Congressional Iran Human Rights and Democracy Caucus, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the European Parliament’s Friends of a Free Iran, the European Parliament’s International Committee in Search of Justice and others have expressed deep concern over the treatment of Camp Ashraf residents at the hands of the Iraqi government. Today, Iranian-Americans from around the United States began a hunger strike at the White House to demand that these attacks be stopped, that abducted Camp Ashraf residents be returned, and that international groups such as the United Nations and the Red Cross be permitted into the camp.
I call on President Obama to demand that the Iraqi government immediately put an end to this attack. We must not stand by and allow physical aggression against unarmed Iranians in exile. We must stand with the Iranian pro-democracy activists both in exile, as well as those inside Iran, who work for the day when the people of Iran can live free from fear and oppression. We must ensure the protection that the exiles were promised by the United States.