![](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2012\/02\/jimhiggins2.jpg\" "\\"jimhiggins2\\"")
NCRI – A European-American Conference was convened on invitation of the Friends of Free Iran intergroup in the European Parliament on February 7, in relation to the current political situation in Iran and the region, and the necessity of protecting Ashraf residents, members of the Iranian opposition.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
HIGGINS, member of the European Parliament\u2019s Bureau<\/strong>:Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and can I welcome each and every one of you for coming along for what is a very important meeting at a very important time at a major crisis point in relation to the whole issue of Camp Ashraf.\u00a0 And I want to, in particular, welcome again Mrs. Rajavi who has done such excellent work.\u00a0 Her presence here today is symbolic of what she\u2019s done on a global front for defending democracy and defending Ashraf through her competent leadership.\u00a0 We have a long list of very distinguished speakers and can I say to them, we are extremely grateful to them for coming along and for offering their support.\u00a0 They are people who have a huge amount of political experience and hopefully, a huge amount of power in terms of bringing this disastrous situation to a correct, satisfactory and humanitarian conclusion.<\/p>\n In particular, we are delighted to welcome Governor Howard Dean, who was Chairman of the U.S. Democratic Party in the period 2005 to 2009.\u00a0 He is extremely welcome.\u00a0 To Patrick Kennedy, United States Congressman from 1995 to 2011, as an Irish representative on the European Parliament can we say Patrick, you are extremely welcome.\u00a0 We know that he comes from a very long, noble and powerful [1:41] in the United States.\u00a0 His late uncle, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was President of the United States and we remember in particular his historic words in 1963 when overlooking the Berlin Wall when he said, \u201cIch bin ein Berliner.\u00a0 I am also a Berliner.\u201d\u00a0 And that\u2019s the kind of solidarity that the Kennedys have always been noted for, and that\u2019s the reason that we welcome him in particular in relation to showing his solidarity for the people of Camp Ashraf.\u00a0 To Senator Robert Torricelli, Democratic United States Senator 1996 to 2003, again we extend a very hearty and warm welcome.\u00a0 And to the man on my right here, John Bruton, former Irish Taoiseach, our Prime Minister during the period 1994 to 1997, who had he been returned to power, would not have (dealt) the economic chaos that we have in Ireland at present where we have a (troika in) and the current Prime Minister coming in John\u2019s wake and a good friend of his, Enda Kenny.\u00a0 And John\u2019s brother is a senior minister and mainly responsible for the fact that Ireland is well and truly in recovery.\u00a0 So to each and every one of you I say a very hearty welcome indeed.<\/p>\n This meeting has been organized by the Friends of Free Iran, the inter-group which has the support of several hundreds of my colleagues here with different political tendencies.\u00a0 It was founded in 2004 jointly by Paulo Casaca, a socialist member and Struan Stevenson, a British conservative.\u00a0 I would like to sincerely thank Mrs. Rajavi for her presence because she and her movement, both she as leader of the movement has a particular symbolism.\u00a0 The first is that this is the 33rd anniversary of the Iranian revolution which overthrew the Shah\u2019s regime in February 1979.\u00a0 And we are now facing a serious (threat) by the regime in Tehran which is prepared to use nuclear weapons if it manages to produce them.\u00a0 Let us not forget that it was the PMOI and the National Council of Resistance of Iran, NCRI, who first revealed the secret weapon program of the mullahs.\u00a0 It is astonishing that all the western governments are saying that they see no quick solution and no efficient solution to this problem.\u00a0 They seem to have closed their eyes to the reality that this evil regime has a democratic, popular and very well organized alternative, the PMOI and the NCRI led by Mrs. Rajavi.<\/p>\n This movement needs to be de-listed by the United States Government as well as we have done it in Europe.\u00a0 It needs to be done internationally and it needs to be recognized internationally as the only democratic alternative representing the Iranian people and capable of bringing freedom of democracy to Iran.\u00a0 The United States as well as the European Union, by having an appeasement policy with Iran in these years and putting the biggest enemies of the mullahs, which are the PMOI, in different black lists have lost several years.\u00a0 So we call today on the Obama administration to follow Europe and take PMOI, MEK, off the United States\u2019 blacklist and recognize it.\u00a0 I see no other Iranian group so much committed to democracy and so well organized.\u00a0 This resistance, including those brave people in Ashraf, truly believe in a secular state and women\u2019s rights.\u00a0 They are committed to a free Iran and have paid a very heavy price in these years.<\/p>\n My second point is that last Thursday, we had a meeting with the special representatives of the United Nations, the USA, and the EU.\u00a0 Today, Mr. Kobler, the Special Representative of the Secretary General, is in the forefront of the international community for resolving the Ashraf crisis.\u00a0 Without a doubt, during this period, he has done\u2014and we have to give credit\u2014he has done some good work and we have praised him for that.\u00a0 But at the same time, there are things that he shouldn\u2019t have done and things that he has not done and we hope that Mr. Kobler will correct that.\u00a0 On January the 31st he announced that Camp Liberty is ready and while quoting UNHCR, he wrote that the Camp complies with the humanitarian standards.\u00a0 But the next day UNHCR presented another version by issuing a statement that, and I quote, \u201cUNHCR has been advising on the technicalities of improving the Camp infrastructure while emphasizing the necessity for freedom of movement in this new location.\u201d\u00a0 In the agreement signed by Mr. Kobler with the government of Iraq on December 25th, it was stipulated that humanitarian and human rights standards should be provided for at Camp Liberty.\u00a0 But Mr. Kobler forgets about human rights and human standards in his January 31st press release.\u00a0 Mr. Kobler has time and time again told representatives of Ashraf that there is no freedom of movement in Liberty and no access to lawyers.<\/p>\n Building the facilities are important, but far more important is the human dignity of these people in Ashraf and their freedom of movement in this new camp.\u00a0 And our question is, is this a voluntary relocation or is a forced relocation?\u00a0 Is Camp Liberty going to be a transitory refugee camp or will it be a prison as it seems to be designed at present?\u00a0 What is the role of the EU to find a peaceful and long term solution?\u00a0 What is the role of the United States of America and what should the Obama administration do?\u00a0 We have here, as I said, three prominent politicians from the Democrats who can give good advice, solid advice, sound advice to President Obama.\u00a0 But one thing is quite clear, that Ashraf residents and their representatives have come all the way and have entirely shown their goodwill and their good faith.\u00a0 From this point on, it is up to the United Nations; it is up to the European Union; it is up to the United States to live up to our common shared responsibility.<\/p>\n So again, I want to welcome each and every one of you.\u00a0 And one of the leaders of the Friends of Free Iran, is my good friend and colleague from the European People\u2019s Party, Vice President of the Parliament, Alejo Vidal-Quadras.\u00a0 It gives me great pleasure to hand the floor to Alejo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NCRI – A European-American Conference was convened on invitation of the Friends of Free Iran intergroup in the European Parliament on February 7, in relation to the current political situation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-11682","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\/02\/Brussels-Conf-7-Feb.jpg\" "\\"Brussels-Conf-7-Feb\\"")
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