Strasbourg – Friends of a Free Iran (FOFI), an inter parliamentary group of the European Parliament, met recently to voice its commitment to support a democratic Iran where human rights would be respected. Members of the European Parliament expressed their concern about last year’s massacre of anti-regime members belonging to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Iraq’s Camp Ashraf, and the continued atrocities towards resident of Camp Liberty by Iraqi forces.
FOFI’s chairman Gerard Deprez of Belgium said the group’s first meeting was, “…to express and to show our solidarity and our commitment for a free Iran, for the people of Iran.”
Dr. Alejo Vidal Quadras, former FOFI chairman believes that the Iranian regime is the centre of the problem in the Middle East.
“In reality ISIS has been a by-product of Iranian regime’s meddling in Iraq and Syria. That’s why Henry Kissinger said recently that the real problem is Iran and not ISIS,” he said.
In describing the challenges facing FOFI, Quadras said, “There is nothing more important, or more noble, or more necessary in our work in the international arena…than fight for a democratic change in Iran. The difficulty of this task, because I can assure you it is very difficult, must not be an obstacle but an incentive for all of us.”
Deprez mentioned the hopes that many governments had for conditions to improve in Iran when Hassan Rouhani became president last year,but “…that’s not the case, on the contrary, if you see the situation of the human rights violations in Iran, the number of executions carried out since Rouhani took office exceed a thousand. This is the worst record from any Iranian president for more than two decades.”
He went on to say that simple things like donating money to the media in support of the PMOI has brought a death sentence of hanging. Newspapers and social media have been banned, and journalists face arrest while women face growing restrictions in such areas as employment.
Deprez said one of the most important issues for him as chairman of FOFI is the situation in Camp Liberty where more than 28 hundred PMOI members are being kept in deplorable conditions of having no food or medicine, which he described as “very worrying.”
MEP from Estonia, Tunne Kelam, stressed the seriousness of the dictatorship in Iran. “It’s our commitment here as parliamentarians to stand up for those who are trying to fight against dictatorship, to restore democracy and freedom,” he said, warning that historically dictators “will always go on their own way and you will get defeated, deceived.” Referring to the PMOI, Kelam who has toured Camp Ashraf said, “I can only add from my personal experience that these are exceptional people who are conducting this fight. They have never deceived us, they can be relied upon, they are realistic, they would warn us against risks and take care of us.I’ve never been in better company.”
Rather than using violent means to bring about change, Kelam said the PMOI uses the Internet. Referring to Camp Liberty, he said, “Our goal should be to save these people…why is it such a huge problem not to evacuate 2,800 persons who are declared protected persons (under the fourth Geneva Convention) to receive them in America and in the European member states, at least temporarily… to save their lives and to pressure our governments to receive them.”
MEP from Czech Republic cautions western countries from seeking an alliance with Iran in their fight to annihilate ISIS. Jan Zahradil said, “…we are dealing with a fundamentalist regime, with a regime which has nuclear ambitions…and it also wants to rule over the whole region, it puts its fingers and hands not only into Iraq, but also into Syria and Lebanon, and therefore we can consider this to be the most dangerous regime in the region…giving concessions to a regime which de facto is largely responsible for all turbulence, riots, and rise of Islamic fanaticism in the region, so that’s what we should not allow to continue.”
