![](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2012\/01\/IMG_5672.JPG\" "\\"IMG_5672\\"")
NCRI – In an international conference held in Paris on Friday, January 6, at the invitation of the CFID (French Committee for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran), dozens of distinguished American and European dignitaries warned of obstructions and non-cooperation by the Iranian regime and Government of Iraq in guaranteeing a peaceful solution for Camp Ashraf, where members of the Iranian opposition reside in Iraq.<\/p>\n
The conference speakers were Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance; Gov. Howard Dean, former Governor Vermont, Chair of the Democratic National Committee (2005-2009) and US presidential candidate (2004);\u00a0 Gov. Tom Ridge, former Governor of Pennsylvania and the first US Homeland Security Secretary (2003-2005); Louis Freeh, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1993-2001); Gov. Ed Rendell, Chair of the Democratic National Committee (1999-2001) and Governor of Pennsylvania (2002-2011); Judge Michael Mukasey, US Attorney General in the Bush Administration (2007-2009); Ambassador Mitchell Reiss, former Director of Policy Planning at the US Department of State; General James Conway, Commandant of the US Marine Corps (2006-2010); Rep. Patrick Kennedy, Member of US House of Representatives (1995-2011); Gen. Chuck Wald, former Deputy Commander of US European Command; Gen. David Phillips, Commander of U.S. Military Police (2008-2011); Prof. Alan Dershowitz, one of the most prominent advocates of individual rights and the most well-known lawyer in criminal cases in the world; Ambassador Dell Dailey, Head of the State Department’s counterterrorism office (2007-09); Col. Wesley Martin, former Senior Anti-terrorism Force Protection Officer for all Coalition Forces in Iraq and Commander of Forward Operation Base\u00a0 in Ashraf; Prof. Ruth Wedgwood, Chair of International Law and Diplomacy at Johns Hopkins University; Philippe Douste-Blazy, Former French Foreign Minister and to the UN Secretary General; Alain Vivien, former French Minister of State for European Affairs; Rita S\u00fcssmuth, former President of German Bundestag; G\u00fcnter Verheugen, European Commissioner (1999-2010) and former Advisory Minister in German Foreign Ministry; and Sen. Lucio Malan, Member of Italian Senate.<\/p>\n
Below is speech by Hon. Patrik Kennedy:<\/strong><\/p>\n Thank you.\u00a0 Thank you very much.\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 I salute you.\u00a0 I want to salute you.\u00a0 And I want to salute your family members in Camp Ashraf because they\u2019re putting their lives on the line for another set of hostages, for another people that are prisoners and that\u2019s their compatriots in Iran who are prisoners to the Mullah\u2019s theocracy and brutal dictatorship in Tehran.<\/p>\n Let there be no mistake about it that the fight for Camp Ashraf is a fight to free Iran from this tyrannical regime.\u00a0 We need to have relocation, not only of the residents of Camp Ashraf, but relocation of the Mullahs in Tehran.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s be honest and now I want to speak to my friends in the United States.\u00a0 Let\u2019s understand what this terrorist listing means.\u00a0 For all of you, you know what it means.\u00a0 It\u2019s an execution order for your family members.\u00a0 But it is also a mortal threat to the national security of the United States of America.\u00a0 After 9\/11, no American can stand by while we honor false and hypocritical and political lists like this.\u00a0 We cannot afford, as the United States, to play games, to play political games with national security.\u00a0 So I say to the State Department,\u00a0 I say to my colleagues in Congress, former colleagues in Congress, understand this:\u00a0 if you care about the security of the United States, which you\u2019re sworn to uphold, then take this sham of a list and tear it up.<\/p>\n And I want to have actions because I agree with my colleagues on the stage that words are not enough.\u00a0 Do you realize right now that there are 13 billion dollars in American military sales that are going to Iraq?\u00a0 Do you want to get the attention of the American public?\u00a0 Do you want to get the attention of the Congress and the President of the United States?\u00a0 Then introduce a resolution in Congress that says that the moment there is a violation of international law and a crime against humanity by using the training and weapons provided by the United States of America, we are going to suspend any future military sales to the people of Iraq.\u00a0 You want to get the attention of the American public?\u00a0 That\u2019s what you do.<\/p>\n Finally, let me just say, as Madame Rajavi so eloquently said, everyone here is part of the answer.\u00a0 Each of you has a responsibility.\u00a0 All people of goodwill have a responsibility to do the right thing.\u00a0 And when my uncle Robert Kennedy spoke in Cape Town, South Africa in 1966 when no one ever thought they\u2019d see the end of an apartheid because it took another generation before apartheid ended, he said, \u201cEach time a person stands up against injustice or acts to improve the lot of others, they send forth a tiny ripple of hope.\u201d\u00a0 And coming from the million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples can create a current that can knock down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.\u00a0 Each of us, each one of us has an opportunity to make a difference and in the totality of all these acts will be written the history of this cause when we are able to see the peaceful relocation of your friends and family members and of human beings who are disarmed and all that they want is freedom and all they want is to be with their families.\u00a0 And if you stick to this, I\u2019m confident that we\u2019ll ultimately see the day where they will truly be free.\u00a0 Thank you very much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NCRI – In an international conference held in Paris on Friday, January 6, at the invitation of the CFID (French Committee for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran), dozens of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-11608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ashraf-liberty","8":"tag-updated"},"yoast_head":"\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2012\/01\/IMG_5704.JPG\" "\\"IMG_5704\\"")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2012\/01\/IMG_5112.JPG\" "\\"IMG_5112\\"")
<\/p>\n