Tahar Boumedra, the top U.N. human rights official in Iraq from 2009 to 2011, quit as Kobler’s deputy in protest at his boss’s deceit to Iranian dissidents in Camp Liberty and links to the Iraqi government and Iranian regime.
He has accused the Martin Kobler of cooperating with Baghdad to make life so unbearable for the Iranians in the overcrowded relocation camp that they will voluntarily go home.
He told the Embassy Row columnist of the Washington Times: “The real purpose is to dismantle the MEK (PMOI). The ultimate goal is to push the population to go home.”
Mr Boumedra said UN officials were also aware of a plan to arrest MEK leaders and expel others, which was discussed in meetings he attended with other UN officials, representatives of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Iran’s ambassador to Iraq.
Iran was also pressuring al-Maliki to deport the dissidents, who have been a target of the Iranian regime for more than three decades, and were now being deliberately kept in inhumane conditions at Liberty, he said, adding: “The Iraqis would say, ‘They must suffer and leave’.”
Mr Boumedra this week met with leading members of Congress, including Rep. Ileana Ros-Lethinen, Florida Republican and chairwoman of the House Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, who he said shared his concerns over the fate of the dissidents, who surrendered their weapons to US forces who overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein 2003.
Mr Boumedra also blamed German diplomat Kobler – who is transferring to another UN post at the end of the month – for delaying the process of approving UN refugee status for the dissidents, which would make it easier for other nations to accept them.
Kobler this week accused the dissidents’ leaders of discouraging them from registering with UN officials and submitting to interviews to determine whether they meet refugee guidelines.
Mr Boumedra said more than 1,600 had gone through the process, but the others stopped meeting with UN officials after Iraqi troops attacked their camp this year. The UN office had also failed to complete a final review called ‘adjudication’, he said.
He added: “They registered. They were interviewed, but Kobler has refused to complete the process.”
He said: “Through the months, the years, 24/7, through emails, through visits to the dissident camp, my eyes were opened. The dissidents never lied to me. The Iraqis were constantly making false allegations against them.”