Washington’s Smear Campaign Against MEK Vs. Death In Camp Liberty

Council of Europe Siding With The MEK And Its US Supporters
by Fabian Mahmoudi

As Washington’s smear campaign fires away at MEK, Bardia Amir-Mostofian, a 44 year old engineer and resident of Ashraf, dies of cardiac arrest due to fatigue following a 48-hour-long transit inspection after entering Camp Liberty.

Bardia was one of 700 residents who volunteered to go to the Camp described to be a “prison” by a recent statement by the Council of Europe. (Full statement of Council of Europe)

International pleas by the opposition (MEK) alerting the US,UNAMI and international community of a plot to fail the relocation and blame it on the opposition has not been heeded when most needed.

The statement released by the opposition blames Baridas’ death on his extreme fatigue and stress cause by the rush imposed by Iraq and UNAMI to relocate before the Iranian New year.

The MoU does not allow residents the freedom to transfer their movable belongings.

Bipartisan Political Leaders Urge Removal of MEK from Terrorist List, Denounce Attempt to Silence State Department Policy Critics

WASHINGTON, March, 24, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX

With a federal appeals court deadline looming for the U.S. State Department to answer why it has defied earlier court rulings requiring review of a decision to maintain the main Iranian opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khaq (MEK) on the terrorist list, top former US officials and Members of Congress are urging the Department to remove the group immediately.

"I believe we will not only get our day in court, I believe we will succeed," former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge told an audience of Members of Congress, staff members, and Iranian-Americans during an event, marking the Iranian New Year, Nowrouz. "Sometimes justice takes a little longer than normal, but sooner or later, righteousness and the law prevail, and we will prevail."

Other speakers included Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and retired Army Col. Wesley Martin, who commanded Camp Ashraf.

At issue is the fate of 3,400 Iranian dissidents now housed at Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty in Iraq; their safe relocation has been vastly complicated by the State Department's refusal the make a decision on the Status of the MEK.

In 2010, a three-judge panel in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously ruled that the State Department had violated the due process rights of the MEK and ordered the Obama administration to revisit the issue. Since then, the State Department continues to be in violation of the due process in virtue of its refusal to make a decision based on instructions given by the Court.

Earlier this month, attorneys for the MEK filed a writ of mandamus seeking the court's intervention in light of State inaction. The court did so expeditiously, and gave the government a deadline of March 26 to respond to the mandamus.

In the meantime, in a move which some observers believe is tied to the court developments, the Treasury Department is apparently contemplating a "potential" investigation into the source of funding for events where a number of senior former federal law enforcement, intelligence and national security officials had urged that the MEK be dropped from the State Department's terror list and the residents of Ashraf be protected.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-CA, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Oversight and Investigations subcommittee, has called this inquiry "a travesty," adding that it is "a sin that our government is going after these people trying to support the people of Iran."

"It seems that the method to silence those who are in favor of the liberation of the MEK from the foreign terrorist organization... is to attack them personally... That is not going to work. Whoever is behind the attacks on these good men and women with unbelievable credentials, who believe in the de-listing of the MEK, it will not succeed," emphasized the Texas Republican, Rep. Ted Poe.

Since the Court ruling, nearly 130 members of Congress, including House Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI), Oversight and Government Reform Chair Darrel Issa (R-CA) and Armed Services Committee Chair Howard McKeon (R-CA), have co-sponsored resolutions calling for the delisting of the MEK

SOURCE California Society for Democracy in Iran

Death In Camp Liberty vs. Washington’s Smear Campaign Against MEK

Council of Europe Siding With The MEK And Its US Supporters

As Washington’s smear campaign fire away at MEK, Bardia Amir-Mostofian a 44 year old engineer and resident of Ashraf dies of cardiac arrest due to fatigue after 48-hour-long transit inspection after entering Camp Liberty. Bardia was one of 700 residents who volunteered to go to the Camp described to be a “prison” by a recent statement by the Council of Europe. (Full statement of Council of Europe)
International pleas by the opposition (MEK) alerting the US,UNAMI and International community of a plot to fail the relocation and blame it on the opposition has not been heeded when most needed.

MEK- Liberty :Council of Europe Condemns Camp Prison

The Council of Europe has issued a statement on the lack of lack of humanitarian and human rights standards in Camp Liberty and has urged the Iraqi government to implement the minimum guarantees demanded by the residents, including the removal of all armed units from the interior of the Camp.
The text of the statement reads:

·          [15/03/2012]  PACE’s Political Affairs Committee has repeated its call to the Iraqi authorities to stop turning Camp Liberty – a site near Baghdad where around 800 members of an Iranian opposition group are now living – into a prison. In a statement adopted yesterday, the committee called for armed units and surveillance to be removed from the camp, as well as free movement for its residents and improved conditions, including access to medical services, lawyers and UN monitors. The complete text of the Council’s statement:

Following the statement made in January and owing to the fact that

unfortunately no improvement has been made, the Committee on Political Affairs

and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe calls on

the Iraqi authorities to stop turning Camp Liberty into a prison. It also calls on

the UN Secretary General to ensure the minimum guarantees required by the

camp residents.

In spite of the lack of humanitarian and human rights standards, to date, 800

Ashraf residents have been moved to Camp Liberty in order to find a peaceful

solution. But this camp is suffering from a serious shortage of drinking water and

electricity. Open sewage has made the area terribly polluted and the danger to

human health and many of the trailers are extremely badly damaged, making

them unusable. Liberty residents are not allowed to leave the camp. They have

no direct access to medical services nor to lawyers. There is a police station and

nearly 150 armed Iraqi forces equipped with machine guns in this very limited

area of half a square kilometre in which 3400 people have to live. Several

surveillance cameras and eavesdropping devices have been installed in the

camp, the output of which has been passed to the Iranian authorities to threaten

the residents and their families.

The Committee urges the Iraqi government to implement the minimum

guarantees demanded by the residents, including the removal of all armed units,

surveillance cameras and eavesdropping devices from the camp; resolving the

infrastructure problem, particularly regarding water, electricity and sewage;

providing direct access to medical services, lawyers and UN monitors; allowing

free movement or at least increasing the camp area; and providing the security

of all residents until they leave Iraq preventing the arrest of even one resident.

We call on Council of Europe member and observer states to respond positively

and rapidly to resettlement demands of Liberty and Ashraf residents.

• Increasing police stations in Liberty and bringing them closer to residential areas

In the afternoon of Monday March 12 and the morning of Tuesday March 13, Iraqi armed forces opened up a 5-meter wide section of Camp Liberty wall and stationed police forces there. These points are at 10-meter distance from living and rest area of the residents. Therefore the number of police posts have been increased to seven. This is a clear threat to the residents and paves the way for attacking the residents.

Earlier on February 27^th, residents of Ashraf and Liberty in separate letters signed by all of the residents to UN Secretary General, his Special Representative and the US Secretary of State had stated their minimum assurances for the transfer of the remaining residents from Ashraf to Liberty, the most important of which was the withdrawal of police and Iraqi armed forces from Liberty 

 

Abandon failed Middle East foreign policy strategies
By Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas)
The Hill

For nearly a decade, the United States has invested money, sweat, blood and tears all in the name of a free and democratic Iraq. Before the war, Iraqis suffered under the oppressive dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Recent events have led me to believe that perhaps the new government does not value freedom any more than the last
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