Source: Global Politician
There is little doubt that the Tehran regime, fighting for survival in the face of nationwide uprisings, has pressured the Iraqi government to create bloodshed in Camp Ashraf in Iraq , thereby freeing the regime from one of its main and most organized democratic opposition movements. The mullahs’ reign of terror has been dealt a lethal jolt and there is no end in sight for the widening factional fissures and purges at the top. The unprecedented suppression of pro-democracy Iranians has extended beyond Iran borders to Iraq, targeting, by proxy, the 3,400 Iranian dissidents living at Camp Ashraf.
These Iranians, members of Iran ’s main opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), and their families have been under a 14 month old unlawful and inhumane siege by the Iraqi military forces. During this period, they have been violently assaulted; threatened to be forcibly transferred to a notorious detention camp in the desolate and uninhabited deserts of southern Iraq near the Saudi border; deprived of urgent medical care, medicine and fuel; denied of visits by their families and their U.S. and European legal representatives; and faced with mercilessly irregular delivery of foodstuffs and basic staples.
As TIME magazine wrote in July 2009, "The sudden escalation with Ashraf may have more to do with a bruised Iranian regime's bid to stamp out its opponents both at home and abroad than with any pressing Iraqi national interest." Similarly in 2007, the French monthly Afrique Asie wrote, "The Iranian rulers are incredibly concerned and alarmed" about "peoples' support for the PMOI. Today, the PMOI is highly capable of attracting Iranian youth born and raised after the revolution."
Now, seven months after a deadly and unprovoked attack on the defenseless residents of Camp Ashraf in July by Iraqi forces, the continued inhumane and unlawful siege of the camp has put the lives of hundreds of its residents in great danger. The Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's inhumane crackdown on Ashraf residents is clearly designed to placate the Iranian regime.
An extensive ban on medical care and supplies has now given way to one of the most critical problems at Ashraf. Many residents are suffering from incurable diseases and a large number of those wounded during the July raid are enduring permanent injuries. Iraqi forces, acting on orders from the Committee for the Closure of Ashraf at the Prime Minister's Office, have prevented specialist doctors from visiting the camp. As a result many cases can no longer be cured. A number of patients are on the verge of losing their vision and several female residents are suffering from cancer. Compounding the medical crisis is the ban on fuel delivery to Ashraf. Moreover, food supplies are only allowed in following deliberately lengthy inspections.
Meanwhile Ashraf families are barred from visiting their loved ones inside the camp. Iraqi authorities have also refused issuing visas to US and European lawyers of the residents. European parliamentarians and internationally-known human rights and religious organizations and dignitaries are also barred.
Moreover, the Iraqi government is still pushing to forcibly displace the residents of Ashraf to an inhabitable southern detention center, a move, which according to Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, "could lead to bloodshed.” The plan is intended as a prelude to handing the defenseless Iranian dissidents over to the criminal regime in Iran . Reuters reported last December that Mr. al-Maliki intends to "uproot" the PMOI in order to nurture his close ties to Tehran.
Residents of Ashraf are entitled to the universally recognized humanitarian safeguards and protections, given their status as “Protected Persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention. This status was formally recognized by the United States in 2004 in recognition of the PMOI’s non-belligerence during the 2003 Iraq war and its aftermath. Since the US transfer of Ashraf’s security to the Iraqi government in January 2009, however, there has been an ongoing, systematic and escalating breach of human rights of the “protected persons” in Ashraf, a gross violation of Iraq ’s written assurances to the United States . Noting that Ashraf residents are recognized as “Protected Persons”, a Spanish court last November ruled it will probe the Iraqi forces' deadly July attack against Ashraf residents.
The US bears a legal, let alone moral, responsibility to ensure the safety and security of the “protected persons” of Ashraf in accordance with Article 45 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and in the framework of official agreements it has signed with the people of Ashraf. As a first step, the United States must intervene to ensure the immediate end to the siege on Ashraf which would otherwise turn into a humanitarian catastrophe.
Majid Roshan is a spokesman for the U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR). Established in 2003 by the U.S. families of residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq, the Washington-based USCCAR represents the humanitarian interests of people of Ashraf in the United States.