Iranian dissident dies in Camp Liberty due to medical restrictions

                           
                                                         Mansour Koufe’i             

A resident of Camp Liberty, a member of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI.MEK) died on Tuesday afternoon, March 12 at the Iraqi clinic in the camp, due to lack of medical attention. Mr Mansour Koufe’i, 52, was a political prisoner under the mullahs’ regime in early 1980’s when he was a student at Tehran University. He was an activist against the regime for more than 30 years. Despite severe pain and agony and lack of access to medical services, he never gave up fighting his illness. In addition to his illness—like other PMOI members at Camp Liberty—he was suffering from the aftermath of the recent rocket attacks against Liberty. Mansour Koufe’i was suffering from lymphoma since some time ago and had he received specialized treatments and medical attention. His illness could have been treated or at the very least brought under control. In his last visit, the Iraqi doctor diagnosed him with lung infection and was treating him for that. On February 14, Liberty residents wrote a joint letter to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and stated that Martin Kobler moved them from Ashraf to Liberty prison by employing three big lies: Liberty’s compliance with humanitarian standards, promise of speedy relocation to third countries, and provision of safety and security at Liberty. As time goes by, the astonishing and astronomical dimensions of these lies become ever more obvious. UNAMI, under supervision of Martin Kobler, in its last December’s human rights report inverted the truth and presented a completely reversed picture of camp Liberty’s realities in order to cover-up the lies. He wrote that 'there is a medical facility with an Iraqi physician at Camp Liberty. Ambulances are on alert around the clock,” while these facilities are nothing but two trailers and a doctor whose only job is to refer patients to Baghdad. In an inhuman measure, the Iraqi government prohibited transfer of residents’ medical equipment from Camp Ashraf to Liberty and thus denying PMOI members at Liberty from receiving minimum services and medical treatment that they had at Camp Ashraf. The Iranian Resistance calls on the U.S. government and the United Nations to take immediate action for ending medical restrictions and the ban on transfer of medical equipment from Ashraf to Camp Liberty and reminds that such restrictions are crimes against international community, violation of Geneva Conventions, and violation of refugee laws, and thus perpetrators must be pursued and brought to justice. Like other Liberty residents, Mansour Koufe’i was recognized as “protected person” under the refugee laws as well as under the Fourth Geneva Convention. He held the ID card No. B356AC6 issued by US government upon recognition of his status as a protected person. Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran March 13, 2013