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HomeIran News NowIran Opposition & ResistanceMaryam Rajavi urges Canada at parliament hearing to protect Camp Liberty residents

Maryam Rajavi urges Canada at parliament hearing to protect Camp Liberty residents

 

NCRI – Iranian Resistance leader Maryam Rajavi has called for urgent international protection for the residents of Camp Liberty and a full UN investigation to the attacks and hostage taking of Iranian dissidents in Iraq.

In a speech at the Canadian parliament, she urged Canada,  and other western nations to help relocate the dissidents to their own countries. Mrs Rajavi said: “The situation in Camp Liberty is directly linked to the political crisis in Iran.

“Since the US handed over the security of Camp Ashraf to the Iraqi Government, in three attacks on Ashraf and three deadly missile attacks on Liberty, 116 residents have been killed by Iraqi forces, 1,350 have been injured and seven are still bring held hostage.

“Twenty residents have also lost their lives due to the medical blockade. Many years of the medical blockade continue to affect even those who have left Iraq.”

Iranian opposition members Razieh Kermanshahi and Mohammed Babaii were among those who died recently due to years of lack of proper medical care in Camps Ashraf and Liberty, Mrs Rajavi said.

She added: “The religious fascism ruling Iran, engulfed by political, economic and international crises, considers the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK) as the most serious threat to its rule.

“The PMOI (MEK) is seen as the major force for change in Iran. Therefore, the regime will not spare an opportunity to strike at this organization.”

There were now three urgent issues that needed addressing – security at Camp Liberty, the living conditions at the camp and the resettlement of the residents to safe countries, Mrs Rajavi said.

She told Canadian lawmakers: “Trailers are overcrowded with no protective walls or bunkers for the residents to take shelter at the time of missile attacks. They are completely defenseless and vulnerable. Iraq’s internal conflict and worsening security situation have increased the danger for the residents.

“The second issue is the living conditions in Camp Liberty. The human rights of residents are being systematically violated. A UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention have in two reports described Camp Liberty as a prison.

“Residents have no freedom of movement, they are denied the right to have family visits or meet their lawyers and are under a medical blockade. The Iraqi government is also trying to steal the residents’ property left at Camp Ashraf.

“The third issue is the resettlement of the residents. In the two and half years since the residents started relocation from Ashraf to Camp Liberty, only ten per cent of the 3,200 residents have been resettled outside Iraq.
The question is what to do now?”

Firstly an independent international investigation must be carried out into the killings, and in particular the massacre of 52 Ashraf residents and the abduction of seven on September 1, 2013, Mrs Rajavi said.

The international community must provide security for the residents in Camp Liberty by stationing international observers and a unit of Blue Helmets in the Camp.

And the West must address the massive abuse of human rights, including arrests and summary death sentences, by raising the issue at the UN Security Council.

And Canada should play an active role in the relocation of the residents and encourage other countries like Albania to do the same, Mrs Rajavi said.

She added: “In recent years, the Government’s severing diplomatic ties with the mullahs’ regime and parliamentarians’ support for the Iranian Resistance have been heart-warming for our people.

“Despite claims of moderation by the regime’s president, there have been more executions over the past year compared with any other year in the past 25 years.

“Last month political prisoners in Evin prison were brutally attacked by prison guards and the mullahs intensified their attacks on Ashraf and Liberty. In such circumstances, Canada’s support for human rights in Iran, freedom and the Iranian Resistance is more effective than any other time.”