Geneva conference reminds new Iraqi government responsibilities toward Camp Liberty Iranians

                  

Statement by: NGOs International Educational Development, Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty and Women’s Human Rights International Association (WHRIA):

On Thursday, September 18, in a conference in the margins of the current Human Rights Council in Geneva, political figures, representatives of international organizations and the Swiss parliament called the sanctions and restrictions imposed on Iranian refugees in Camp Liberty illegal as illegal and inhumane. They warned of the dangerous consequences of these sanctions and restrictions and called on the United States, the United Nations, and the Government of Iraq to respect their commitments vis-à-vis the refugees in Camp Liberty.

The speakers to this conference assessed the critical situation in the Middle East and the Arab World underlining the need to combat the unbounded and blind terrorism under the emblem of Islam that has targeted world peace and security.

Speakers welcomed the formation of an international coalition to combat extremist terrorism called ISIS and stated: The Iranian regime that has institutionalized through its revolutionary guards the export of fundamentalism and extremism has established another face of that same so-called ISIS “caliphate” for over three decades in Iran. They noted that not only the Iranian regime is no ally of the West in combating ISIS, but is itself a key part of the problem and has paved the way for this crisis. To engage Iran in this campaign or to cooperate with it in search of a solution to destroy this terrorist current should be a red line not to be crossed.

The conference underscored that the terrorist groups in Iraq such as the 9 Badr, the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, and the Kata’ib Hezbollah that are affiliated with Iran and are employed to massacre the Syrian people and the innocent Iraqis, particularly the Sunnis, have created the best fertile ground for the growth of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS. Therefore, confronting ISIS without cutting off the long hand of the Iranian regime and the terrorist groups affiliated with it will never bear fruit.

Speakers reiterated that to end the catastrophic situation in Iraq and to reach an enduring solution in the form of a stable pluralistic, secular and democratic Iraq, the West needs to brush aside its policy to ignore the Iranian meddling that has already been tested in Iraq.

This conference was held on the first anniversary of the September 2013 massacre of 52 refugees in Camp Ashraf by the Iraqi forces at the behest of the Iranian regime.

The speakers expressed concern for over 2700 Iranian refugees who face similar threats. They called on the United States and the United Nations to secure the rights of the residents based on their written commitments and the international law.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reminded on August 5 that the residents of Camp Liberty are calling for their minimum rights on two fundamental issues: First, the provision of their safety and security and the acknowledgement of their rights as political refugees; and second, for the provision of humanitarian and human rights standards until the time that all of them leave Iraq. The speakers numerously drew upon the UNHCR statement.

In support for the rights of refugees in Camp Liberty, they emphasized on: the revocation of all restrictions against the provision of minimum security requirements and an end to all aggression against Camp Liberty residents by the Iraqi government and forces affiliated with the Iranian government; the complete annulment of the six-year blockade and free access of residents to medical and logistical services; declaring Camp Liberty a refugee camp; and an independent international probe into the six massacres and the criminal blockade of Ashraf and Liberty and an independent international probe into the slaughter of 136 residents in six massacres and the criminal blockade of Ashraf and Liberty, especially the September 1, 2013 massacre; and to establish, try and punish the perpetrators of these crimes.

Speakers accentuated that the provision of these rights is a clear test for the adherence of Government of Iraq to recognized international values and a distinct test of the United States and the United Nations in their relations with the new government in Iraq.

Sid Ahmed Ghozali, former Prime Minister of Algeria; Gilbert Mitterrand, President of France Libertés – the Danielle Mitterrand Foundation; Eric Voruz, member of Swiss Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe; Elizabetta Zamparutti, former Italian parliamentarian and President of the non-governmental association of Hands Off Cain; Parviz Khazai, the representative of the National Council of Resistance in Nordic countries; Gianfranco Fattorini, human rights activist; and Karen Parker, President of International Educational Development; offered speeches to this conference.