Mr. President,
Honorable parliamentarians,
I am very pleased to be in the house of democracy of the European nations.
This institution offers a model for coexistence among nations while placing human rights, the advancement of democracy, and justice at its core.
I have come here to bring to the attention of the European Council and member states to two important issues.
First – after the attack to Ashraf and massacre of 52 PMOI members, it is about one month that 7 hostages are detained by Maliki forces in Baghdad are under threat of being extradited to Iran.
Second -the threats emanating from a new phase of the inhumane policies of the religious fascism ruling Iran.
The Iranian regime is extremely vulnerable to widespread popular discontent, threat of large-scale social upheavals, and deep economic crises. International sanctions have exacerbated this vulnerability.
This regime is currently on the path to its overthrow. The intensification of the regime’s internal power struggle reflects this condition. If the regime were to retreat when it comes to the three core issues of human rights violations, the nuclear weapons project, and the export of terrorism and fundamentalism, this would lead to its rapid disintegration. The regime’s abandonment of any of these policies would bring the best news for us and for our people.
But to the contrary, concurrent with its farcical spectacles abroad, the regime has resorted to a new phase of suppression and barbarism at home. Subsequent to the sham election in June, 200 prisoners have been executed in Iran. According to the regime’s media outlets, in the three days alone that Rouhani was in New York talking about non-violence and democracy, twenty-two people were executed in various cities across Iran.
The most recent example of this policy was the attack by the regime’s puppet government in Iraq against Camp Ashraf, which included the mass execution of 52 members of PMOI and the hostage taking of seven more, all of whom were protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The assailants delivered coups de grace to most martyrs and they even opened fire on the wounded lying on hospital beds to end their lives.
Orders for this attack had come from Tehran. This massacre was the expression of the Iraqi prime minister’s commitment made to the mullahs in return for the regime’s support for keeping the fragile government of Iraq on its feet.
Maliki and his Security Advisor Faleh Fayadh plan to create their own scenarios by denying their responsibility in the mass execution of Ashraf residents, refuting the attack took place at all, and denying the hostage-taking. Such a vulgar scenario is an insult to human intelligence. This is while since 2009 to now they have placed a siege on Ashraf as a result of which not even a single neighbor, driver, repairman, or merchant has been able to enter Ashraf in order to carry out logistical matters.
The tactic of Maliki and Faleh Fayadh is to erase the hostages’ foot prints and to constantly move them around in such a way that when the address of one prison is revealed and the UN demands to visit it, that prison would be clear of the hostages. This results in various information sources reporting different locations for the hostages, thereby introducing greater uncertainty and ambiguity about their real location, in the end making it seem like the hostages are not in the hands of the Iraqi government at all.
The UN and the U.S. know quite well that the attack on Ashraf was carried out by Maliki and that the hostages are also in his hands. We have given them precise information and details in this regard. Undoubtedly, if they were willing to, if they actually lived up to their repeated and constant commitments to the safety and security of the residents according to the same Memorandum of Understanding of 25 December 2011 that they keep referring to, and if they were to hold Maliki accountable and obligate him to fulfill his international commitments, the hostages would be expeditiously released or will be handed over to a European country.
I once again reiterate that the United States and the United Nations are quite aware of both Maliki’s attack against Ashraf and the massacre, as well as the hostage taking. They also have access to obtain the location of the hostages. In addition to the accurate and detailed information provided by the Iranian Resistance, in his recent shocking testimony at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Mr. Tahar Boumedra left not a shred of doubt in Iraq’s direct responsibility in the massacre as well as knowledge of the U.S. government and the United Nations about the condition of the hostages.
Nonetheless, the U.S. and the UN have exercised silence and inaction, and European states and institutions have not shown a serious reaction that is proportionate to this crime.
I declare that we will send to international courts the responsible of this crime against humanity. And I also declare that watching in silence is tantamount to approving the crime.
This does not only represent a betrayal of the Iranian people but a betrayal of the people of the region as well as world peace and security.
Around two weeks ago, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton confirmed that the hostages are being held in a prison in Iraq and that they are being threatened with extradition to Iran. This opens the way for European governments to fulfill their responsibility of saving the lives of the hostages. But, Maliki and Khamenei are gravely counting on the extreme weakness and passivism of western governments.
Benefiting from the European states’ inaction, the Iraqi government’s security advisor recently invited European ambassadors in Baghdad and shared with them the criminal and blatant threats made against the residents of Liberty. In reality, the Iraqi government, looking straight into the eyes of European ambassadors, is obtaining a license to create future catastrophes.
Europe must end its silence and replace it with a humanitarian conduct vis-à-vis the hostages’ lives, and also a wise policy with respect to the future of the region.
The worse threat is inaction.
The worse decision is not to decide.
The worse danger is not to see the danger.
The responsibility of the UN and European countries and the US is to take action.
Distinguished parliamentarians,
Simultaneous with the continued hostage taking, a wave of protest hunger strikes by Iranians has also become a disconcerting development.
A large number of people have staged hunger strikes in protest to the inaction of the international community. Today marks the thirtieth day of the hunger strike and their condition continues to worsen.
As the Leader of the Iranian Resistance, Massoud Rajavi, has said, they represent “the flames of dignity and resistance of an enchained people,” and they “invite the conscience of contemporary humanity to judge between us and the mullahs who have usurped the sovereignty of our people.”
At the same time, they are paying the price of the inaction of governments and powers.
Think about the suffering of those who are in captivity.
Think about the agony of hundreds of people in Liberty and across the world who are on hunger strike.
Think about the consequences of an emboldened clerical regime in Iran and the terrorism and fundamentalism that it leads.
We are in the midst of urgent circumstances, which require responsible reaction by European governments.
I urge all of you to call on your respective governments, the European Council, the UN Secretary General and undersecretary for political affairs, to implement a series of urgent measures to end this humanitarian crisis, in a such a way that:
1. In any relations with the clerical regime, the brutal and systematic violation of human rights must not be forgotten.
2. They must place pressure on the Iraqi government to release the hostages, or otherwise reconsider their relations and aid to Iraq.
3. A monitoring team and a unit of UN Blue Helmet forces must be stationed at Liberty on a permanent basis.
4. Accept Camp Liberty residents, all of whom are considered refugees, and as a first step, accept those who are ill and injured. So far, these countries have refused to accept them.
5. The UN Secretary General and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights must conduct independent investigations into the crimes committed on September 1, 2013, and bring their perpetrators to justice. I also call on the Parliamentary Assembly of Europe to appoint a rapporteur for an independent investigation, steps which are necessary to prevent the recurrence of another crime.
Thank you.
