Senate of Belgium,
Whereas 3,500 members of parliament on both sides of the Atlantic have signed a declaration in support of the residents of Camp Ashraf, Iraq, underscoring the imperative of providing and guaranteeing the residents’ protection by the forces of the United Nations and the United States, while expressing support for the Third Option as proposed by the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi;
Whereas the European Parliament passed a resolution on April 24, 2009 resolution on Camp Ashraf, where 3,400 Iranian dissidents, including 1,000 women, reside in Iraq as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention;
Whereas, the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) was removed from blacklists in the United Kingdom and the European Union in 2008 and 2009, respectively, following a series of court rulings;
A. Since relatives of Camp Ashraf residents have been sentenced to death by the Iranian regime after visiting the camp;
B. Since the Iraqi government has continued its inhumane siege on Ashraf, which began in early 2009 and has created a serious risk for the perpetration of a massacre against the residents;
C. Since restrictions are imposed against Ashraf by using the pretext of the PMOI’s listing in the US;
D. Since in its July 2010 ruling in favor of the PMOI, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered the State Department to review its decision to blacklist the organization;
1. We call on the government of Belgium to:
• Urge the US government to remove the PMOI from its blacklist;
• Urge the US to guarantee Ashraf’s protection and call on the UN to establish a monitoring team in the camp;
2. We call on the UN Secretary General and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) to reaffirm the legal status of Ashraf residents as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention, while prohibiting any forcible displacement of the residents inside Iraq or the perpetration of violence against them.