On the eve of the UN Security Council session on Iraq, Martin Kobler is exploiting good intention of Government of Albania to cover up crime against humanity, exert extra pressure on residents and to divert attention from immediate and pressing issue of security at Camp Liberty
Regarding Albania, Iranian resistance has been waiting for four months for the transfer of individuals whose names it has provided to UNHCR and U.S. repeatedly
NCRI – Today, March 17, Martin Kobler in a letter to Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, in an opportunistic approach tried to register the humanitarian step of the Prime Minister of Albania regarding accepting 210 residents of Camp Liberty in Albania, as his own achievement and tried to exploit the move by the Prime Minister of Albania in order to cover up the crime against humanity in Liberty in which Kobler was facilitator.
In addition, by depicting the situation as being normal, he is exerting extra pressure on the residents so they would forget the pressing issue of collective security of Liberty that is under threat from all directions. To this effect, Kobler has brazenly written to Mrs. Rajavi to “instruct” Liberty residents to resume the interviews from Sunday.
Subsequent to martyrdom of the eighth resident of Liberty on March 13th due to the injuries he suffered in February 9 rocket attack, more than 3,000 of the residents in a joint letter to the UN Secretary General that was sent on March 16, wrote: ” Thirty-five days after the missile attack on Camp Liberty and while threats by the Iranian regime and its elements and hirelings in Iraq for future attacks on Liberty continue, the Iraqi government stonewalls the least protective measures in the camp. It has not allowed a single T-wall into the camp. Likewise, it prevents transfer of our protective vests and helmets from Ashraf.
Concurrent with entry of residents to Camp Liberty in February 2012 and in subsequent weeks, Iraqi forces employed several cranes working round the clock to expeditiously remove 17500 T-walls from Camp Liberty despite residents’ protests and thereby intentionally left the containers vulnerable to any attack.
There is no doubt the goal of Iranian regime and the GOI is to inflict further casualties on us in later attacks. General James Jones, President Obama’s former National Security Advisor, reiterated that the situation at Camp Liberty is worse than Guantanamo prison. (CNN- March 11, 2013)
More than one month after the rocket attack, we have repeated time and again that our most urgent issue is immediate provision of security. Continuation of interviews in Liberty and the very slow method of resettlement which is consistent with the Iranian regime’s will is not the solution to the vital issue of our collective security, and any just conscience would agree that in fact it increases the dangers for the wide majority that will remain in Liberty for a long period. It covers the truth and portrays this wrong image as if everything is normal and matters are being pursued in the right path. None of us accept this dishonorable attitude that leaves the lives of the others in danger.
Our immediate security can be provided by rapid transfer of all of us to the US even temporarily. The US government has signed an agreement with each and every one of us and in return for getting our arms has taken the responsibility of our protection until our final disposition. In its statement of August 29, 2012, the US State Department reiterated the US government’s commitment on ‘the safety and security of the residents throughout the process of their relocation outside of Iraq.’
Otherwise, the only solution is our immediate return to Ashraf which is relatively safer since it is 80 times larger than Liberty with entrenched buildings as well as equipped bunkers that we built ourselves. A polluted environment and extremely insanitary situation at Liberty due to a deficient sewage system and overflow of sewage tanks, outbreak of infectious diseases, and medical siege and crisis doubles the need to transfer residents to Ashraf. Refugee Status Determination process and the transfer to third countries, which has been covered with blood and has become impossible in Liberty, could continue in Ashraf.”
The Iranian Resistance yesterday while expressing its gratitude to the humanitarian step of the Government of Albania and Prime Minister Berisha, underscored that accepting 210 of Liberty residents by the Government of Albania is not anything new that Kobler is trying to portray as his miracle. This is an agreement that was agreed upon during the visit of the former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton from Tirana on November 2012. In this regard, Ambassador Dan Fired, on November 22, 2012 wrote to the representative of the Ashraf and Liberty residents: “As you may have heard, the Government of Albania has confirmed privately that it is prepared to accept for resettlement up to 210 former Ashraf residents. UNHCR is now preparing referrals to the Government of Albania and may be in contact with leaders of Camp Liberty to discuss this.
I hope and expect that the leaders at Camp Liberty and your own leadership will welcome this news and will cooperate fully with UNHCR to carry out this important resettlement. I urge you and the MEK not to make this offer public, but to work quietly with UNHCR to help your people leave Iraq in safety for a better future. The MEK’s cooperation in making this relocation effort to Albania a success will encourage other governments to move more swiftly in accepting former Ashraf residents for resettlement”.
Following the agreement of the Government of Albania to accept 210 residents of Liberty, the representatives of the residents and Iranian Resistance visited Tirana on January 8, 2013. They requested that more residents be accepted and provided written assurance to the Government of Albania that they would bare all the cost for all the people who be mutually agreed to be transferred.
They also provided the list of all the individuals that the resistance wanted to be transferred expeditiously to Prime Minister Berisha. The list has been sent to the UNHCR and the U.S. authorities repeatedly since December 2012. More than 2,000 Liberty residents have been interviewed several times and their Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process is completed.
As Mr. Struan Stevenson, President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq wrote to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on February 28, in order to solve the immediate issue of security: “There are only two solutions conceivable. Either all of the residents, without any exceptions, should be temporarily transferred to a location in the United States or Europe, or be returned to Camp Ashraf so they can be resettled from there.
There are two main elements involved in considering both solutions. First, as already stated, is that either solution should include everyone, without any exceptions. Secondly, the urgency of the matter, as we should not waste more time in useless talks and continue the past processes, giving an opportunity for the next catastrophe to take place.”
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
March 17, 2013