“We must prevent another humanitarian catastrophe,” said the Iranian dissident at a meeting held at the sidelines of the UN Council of Human Rights, in Geneva on Wednesday September 21, 2011.
The Iraqi authorities have threatened to close Camp Ashraf where 3400 members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) live. On 8 April, an attack by the Iraqi forces killed 36 and injured 350 residents of the camp.
Mrs. Rajavi condemned the continuing blockade of Camp Ashraf and demanded that a team of UN observers be permanently deployed there. She further asked the UNHCR to grant refugee status to all of the residents there.
Mrs. Rajavi also called on the United States to ensure the safety of the camp and to protect the UN team to be deployed there. As a guardian of the Geneva Conventions, Switzerland has to “take urgent measures to ensure the protection of Ashraf residents,” said the NCRI president.
Mrs. Rajavi also expressed her disappointment at the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s silence and inaction toward human rights violations in Iran during the Council meeting. She said 490 people were executed in Iran since early January.
European support
Two MEPs supported Mrs. Rajavi’s demands. “We will not tolerate a new attack against Ashraf,” said Struan Stevenson, the President of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Iraq..
“The blue flag of the United Nations should fly above the camp,” he said, urging the authorities in Baghdad to cancel the decision for closing the camp and to assist in the relocating the 3400 residents to other countries.
“Tehran is seeking to eliminate all resistance to its regime,” said Vice President of the European Parliament Alejo Vidal Quadras. “The stability of the region is at stake,” he warned.
On the Place des Nations, outside the headquarters of the UN, several dozen activists of the PMOI are on their 150the day of a solidarity rally with the families of Camp Ashraf.
Another conference is scheduled on Thursday at the Victoria Hall in Geneva, sponsored by the Swiss Committee for the Defense of Ashraf and co-chaired by Nils de Dardel and National Councillor Francine John-Calame.
(Translated from French wire)