PARIS, April 19, 2012 /PRNewswire
In a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State on her visit to Paris to attend the international conference on the Syrian crisis, the French Committee for a Democratic Iran (CFID) urged Secretary Hillary Clinton to intervene personally to ensure the rights of Iranian dissidents in Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty in Iraq, who are members of the main Iranian resistance movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
The Committee, comprised of French parliamentarians and dignitaries and headed by Senator Jean-Pierre Michel, the Vice-President of the Friendship with Syria in the French Senate, stipulated that Ashraf residents have shown good faith and utmost flexibility by promoting a peaceful solution to the crisis, and as such nearly 1,600 Ashraf residents (almost half of the total population) have been transferred to Camp Liberty near Baghdad. On the other hand, the actions of the Government of Iraq, which is heavily influenced by the Iranian regime, represent the complete opposite of this attitude. The GoI is trying to turn Camp Liberty into a prison and is doing everything it can to make life unbearable for the residents in general and especially for the ill and disabled among them.
In its letter to the U.S. Secretary of State, CFID pointed out that the Government of Iraq recently refused the transfer of equipment and facilities for paraplegics and the last group of 400 Ashraf residents who were transferred from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty a few days ago. They were denied the right to transport generators and other equipment needed to fulfill basic requirements at the camp under the extreme heat in Iraq.
The French Committee stressed that the residents must in particular have the right to carry out construction activities and be able to improve the camp’s conditions to accommodate people with disabilities as well as those residents who are sick and elderly. It urged Secretary Clinton to intervene to make sure the residents’ minimum humanitarian and human rights standards are met and to prevent Camp Liberty to be turned into a prison.
The French Committee for a Democratic Iran welcomed Secretary Clinton’s presence in the French capital and honored her efforts to promote human rights and respect for freedoms. It called for her utmost commitment to the defense of the Syrian and Iranian peoples and their rights and activities to attain freedom. It underscored that the dictators ruling Iran and Syria are united in their barbarism, and resort to all forms of cruelty to suppress the legitimate demands of their populations.
The committee added that while Assad continued the savage bombardment of Syrian cities, the Iranian mullahs continue to torture and execute political opponents and plot against the residents of camp Ashraf and Liberty.
The CFID reminded that the Government of Iraq raided Camp Ashraf at the behest of the Iranian regime on two occasions, killing dozens and wounding hundreds of defenseless civilians.
For CFID – François-Colcombet Magistrate – Former Member of French parliament
SOURCE French Committee for a Democratic Iran (CFID).
