By: Majid Roshan
Source: Global Politician
The significant success of Iraq’s non-sectarian nationalist block during the March 7 parliamentary elections is, no doubt, a major setback for Tehran and its Iraqi proxies. Still, with Iraq entering an anticipated period of post-election political uncertainty which could last for months, the United States, the United Nations, and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), must be vigilant and ensure that Iran rulers, through their Iraqi proxies, would not take advantage of the political instability to harm the residents of Camp Ashraf. These unarmed and defenseless Iranians, officially recognized as “Protected Persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention by the United States in 2004, are members and supporters of Iran’s main opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and their families.
On March 1, Amnesty International released its 2010 “Iraq: Human Rights Briefing” in which it confirmed that the Iraqi security forces “continue to make life difficult” for several thousand Iranian dissidents residing in Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s Diyala Province, 60 miles northeast of Baghdad. Amnesty International states in its report that: “The Iraqi government has continued to threaten Iranian refugees living in Camp Ashraf with forcible removal from the camp. On 28 July Iraqi security forces raided and took over the camp, in Diyala Governorate…”
The report also describes how the Camp’s residents came under Iraqi forces violent assault last July. It says: “During the raid, Iraqi forces used force against the camp residents. In video footage filmed at the time, Iraqi forces could be seen deliberately driving military vehicles into crowds of unarmed protesting camp residents. Further, live ammunition was used resulting in at least nine residents being shot dead. Another 36 were detained and subjected to beatings and torture. They were in poor health and staged a hunger strike against their detention and ill-treatment. The 36 remained held in al-Khalis police station, also in Diyala, although an investigative judge ordered their release. They were moved to Baghdad and only released in October after international protests.”
Last February, Dr. Ayad Jamal al-Din, a distinguished non-sectarian Shiite cleric leader of Ahrar party and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Iraqi Parliament told an Iraqi TV network that residents of Camp Ashraf are “Protected Persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention and their displacement is therefore prohibited.
Mr. Jamal al-Din told the As-Sumariya TV that the “PMOI and Camp Ashraf are recognized as Protected Persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Because they are civilians, we must protect them. They are civilians because they are not armed. So the legal aspect of the issue prohibits their forcible displacement. It means they cannot be forcibly moved from Diyala province or Khalis. International law prohibits their displacement.”
“From political point of view, it has been registered in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Iraqi Parliament that we must support PMOI and provide them with TV satellite and FM radio, and we must back them against Iran,” the leader of Ahrar party said.
Support for the human rights of PMOI members in Camp Ashraf is also growing beyond Iraq throughout the region from Bahrain to Egypt. The news website of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the largest democratic opposition coalition which functions as Iran’s Parliament-in-exile, reported on February 27 that “in a joint statement, fifteen organizations in defense of human rights and international law from various Arab countries have strongly condemned measures taken by the Iraqi authorities against the residents of Camp Ashraf.”
Iraq’s March 7 elections were indeed a milestone. It should be protected from Tehran’s terrorist Quds Force nefarious meddling, as should Iranian dissidents in Camp Ashraf.
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.
