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	<title>The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People! &#187; Camp Ashraf</title>
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		<title>Humanitarian Conditions Asked for Iranian Dissidents at U.S. Camps</title>
		<link>http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/08/us-news/humanitarian-conditions-asked-for-iranian-dissidents-at-u-s-camps/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=humanitarian-conditions-asked-for-iranian-dissidents-at-u-s-camps</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Aug 2012 18:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>TP Newswire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foreign Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S. News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baghdad US camps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camp Ashraf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[camp ashraf iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camp Liberty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[camp liberty iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Humanitarian conditions at US camps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran Policy Committee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iranian dissidents at Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US foreign policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US on Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US on Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US senate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.toonaripost.com/?p=69977</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a></p><p>Washington, U.S.A. &#8212; In the course of research on Iranian dissidents, the Iran Policy Committee (IPC) reviewed letters sent by a Senator and Members of the House of Representatives to the Secretary of State on the status of Iranian dissidents in Iraq. IPC also participated in a briefing by Members of the House. IPC research [...]</p></p><p>The article <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/08/us-news/humanitarian-conditions-asked-for-iranian-dissidents-at-u-s-camps/">Humanitarian Conditions Asked for Iranian Dissidents at U.S. Camps</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a></p><p>Washington, U.S.A. &#8212; In the course of research on Iranian dissidents, the Iran Policy Committee (IPC) reviewed letters sent by a Senator and Members of the House of Representatives to the Secretary of State on the status of Iranian dissidents in Iraq. IPC also participated in a briefing by Members of the House. IPC research is consistent with views expressed in these letters and at the briefing.</p>
<p>In a June 12, 2012 letter, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to express his dismay over the lack of action by the Department of State to reach a decision on the status of a revocation petition filed by the main Iranian opposition group that rejects clerical rule, the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.</p>
<p>Senator Levin wrote: &#8220;I have requested repeatedly that the Department of State proceed expeditiously to make a determination regarding the designation of the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK) as a foreign terrorist organization…&#8221; The Senator is the latest among U.S. lawmakers to criticize the delay by the Department on the status of the MEK. The Senator also questioned the process that the State Department pursues to determine the status of the petition by the MEK.</p>
<p>A letter of August 2, 2012 from Members of the House spearheaded by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA), ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade stated, &#8220;We respectfully request that the Department of State seek the Iraqi government&#8217;s agreement to and implementation of a number of humanitarian measures.</p>
<p>Until these measures are implemented, further voluntary relocation of Camp Ashraf residents would only exacerbate the current dreadful living conditions in Camp Liberty.&#8221; A bipartisan group of 79 Members of Congress signed the letter.</p>
<p>During a briefing by Members of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington on August 1, 2012, Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), a senior member of Committee on Homeland Security blamed Baghdad for &#8220;lack of clean water&#8221; at Camp Liberty. Also at the briefing, Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, called for removal of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), a group to which the Iranian dissidents belong, from the U.S. terrorist list to facilitate their speedy resettlement outside of Iraq, without relocation from Ashraf to Liberty.</p>
<p>Through independent research, the IPC determines that residents of Liberty are only seeking minimum humanitarian improvements in their quality of life.These include ensuring satisfactory access to clean water via measures to connect Liberty to the Baghdad water network and transfer of water purification equipment from Ashraf to Liberty or acquisition elsewhere of such items; improved electrical equipment to operate air conditioners, potentially through transfer of large generators from Ashraf to Liberty; authority to construct adequate ramps and related safety infrastructure for residents of Liberty, including those who are suffering from disabilities; and transfer of forklifts from Ashraf to Liberty to facilitate handling of heavy items.</p>
<p>Three former U.S. military officers of the IPC issued a statement on implications of diplomatic maneuvering about the status of the Iranian dissidents in Iraq. Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney (Ret), former Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force; Maj.</p>
<p>Gen. Paul Vallely, (U.S. Army (Ret), former Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army, Pacific; and Captain Charles &#8220;Chuck&#8221; Nash, U.S. Navy (Ret) said, &#8220;We are concerned that statements implying Iranian dissidents in Iraq are responsible for any delay in relocating play into the hands of those in the Government of Iraq intent on forcible relocation; on the contrary, our research finds that Baghdad is responsible for such delays because of failure to provide minimum humanitarian assistance to the dissidents.</p>
<p>In this respect, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Ambassador Martin Kobler, told the Security Council on July 19, 2012 that, &#8220;Time is running out to find a sustainable situation,…[and he urged] the Camp Ashraf residents to cooperate with the Iraqi authorities and to relocate.&#8221;</p>
<p>Founder and President, Global Initiative for Democracy and former Freedom House Executive Director, Bruce McColm commented on a statement of August 1, 2012 by Patrick Ventrell, Department of State Acting Deputy Spokesperson. Ventrell called on &#8220;…the Ashraf leadership to immediately resume cooperation with the relocation of residents to Camp…[Liberty].</p>
<p>The continued intransigence of the residents&#8217; leadership in placing preconditions and making demands prior to any agreement to relocate…[additional] Ashraf residents is unacceptable…&#8221; McColm said &#8220;Ventrell&#8217;s statement blames the victim rather than the cause of the delay—Baghdad.&#8221;</p>
<p>Professor Raymond Tanter, President of the IPC and former member of the National Security Council staff in the Reagan administration, inferred Baghdad&#8217;s hidden agenda for denying minimum humanitarian life support: &#8221;</p>
<p>1) Provide a rationale for forcible relocation within Iraq of remaining Ashraf residents by the Iraqi military;</p>
<p>2) Wear down resolve of Liberty residents so they &#8216;voluntarily&#8217; repatriate to Iran rather than resettle to friendly third countries where they can continue as a political force that threatens survival of the clerical regime in Tehran; and</p>
<p>3) Evacuate Ashraf but keep former residents at Liberty to give space and time for the Iraqi military to place weapons in Ashraf to reinforce the false claim the MEK maintains an intent to commit terrorism and justify its continuation on the U.S. terrorist list. Such a hidden agenda based on fabricated premises is an illegitimate basis for denying minimum humanitarian life support to individuals listed as asylum seekers by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.&#8221;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Image Courtesy of  <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/perspective/" target="_blank">Elvert Barnes</a></p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/08/us-news/humanitarian-conditions-asked-for-iranian-dissidents-at-u-s-camps/">Humanitarian Conditions Asked for Iranian Dissidents at U.S. Camps</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>ISDCI Calls On for Protection of Iranian Opposition Members of Camp Ashraf</title>
		<link>http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/04/world-news/isdci-calls-on-for-protection-of-iranian-opposition-members-of-camp-ashraf/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=isdci-calls-on-for-protection-of-iranian-opposition-members-of-camp-ashraf</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:30:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>TP Newswire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[April 8 Massacre]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ashraf residents]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ban Ki-moon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camp Ashraf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camp Ashraf massacre]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camp Liberty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran opposition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iranian opposition movement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ISDCI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MEK]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nouri al-Maliki]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Secretary Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UN Security Council]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.toonaripost.com/?p=41822</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a></p><p>On the anniversary of the April 8, massacre of the residents of Camp Ashraf, International Solidarity for a Democratic Change in Iran (ISDCI) calls on UN, US and EU to take necessary steps to guarantee safety and basic human rights of the residents. ISDCI also calls on US Secretary Clinton to, firstly, uphold her last year&#8217;s [...]</p></p><p>The article <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/04/world-news/isdci-calls-on-for-protection-of-iranian-opposition-members-of-camp-ashraf/">ISDCI Calls On for Protection of Iranian Opposition Members of Camp Ashraf</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a></p><p>On the anniversary of the April 8, massacre of the residents of Camp Ashraf, <a href="http://www.isdciran.org" target="_blank">International Solidarity for a Democratic Change in Iran</a> (ISDCI) calls on UN, US and EU to take necessary steps to guarantee safety and basic human rights of the residents.</p>
<p>ISDCI also calls on US Secretary Clinton to, firstly, uphold her last year&#8217;s December 25 commitment for a &#8220;robust Monitoring&#8221; by the U.S. at Camp Liberty and secondly remove the terror tag on the Iran&#8217;s most important opposition movement, the MEK, which is an absolute necessity to facilitate resettlement to third countries.</p>
<p>The UN Security Council is expected to discuss Iraq, including the situation of Ashraf residents, next week. The Secretary General Special Representative for Iraq, Ambassador Martin Kobler is also expected to report to the Security Council.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.isdciran.org" target="_blank">ISDCI</a> also calls on the United Nation Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to ensure that the conditions at Camp Liberty meet minimum humanitarian standards which it currently lacks.</p>
<p>ISDCI further expresses its dismay that after one year past the April 8 Massacre, the perpetrators of this heinous crime against humanity are yet to be brought to justice.</p>
<p>ISDCI participated in an <a href="http://www.isdciran.org/index.php?option=com_magazine&amp;func=show_edition&amp;id=10:Paris%20March%2024,%202012&amp;Itemid=47" target="_blank">international conference in Paris</a> on March 24, 2012 as a display of solidarity for the call to protect residents of Camps Ashraf and Liberty in Iraq as the international consensus have called for it for the past year.</p>
<p>On the one-year anniversary of April 8 massacre of unarmed residents of Camp Ashraf at the hands of the Iraqi Army, and by the orders of the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Iranian regime, ISDCI along with the families of the residents of Ashraf and supporters of the Iranian resistance remember the day of loss of their loved ones on April 8 of last year, knowing there is still much left to be accomplished as lives of the residents who still live in Ashraf or Liberty are in danger.</p>
<p>The Attack of April 8, 2011 on the unarmed residents of Camp Ashraf, who were declared &#8220;Protected Persons&#8221; under the &#8220;Fourth Geneva Conventions&#8221; by the American forces following the invasion of Iraq, left 36 residents dead, including 8 women, one as young as 19 years old.</p>
<p>The Attack was the second of its kind. The first attack, leaving 11 unarmed residents dead, took place in July 2009 shortly after the handover of the protection of the camp to Iraqis, despite persisting opposition on the part of residents, realizing the close ties between the governments of Iraq and Nouri al-Maliki and the theocratic regime ruling in Iran, foreseeing a human catastrophe.</p>
<p>Last February the residents accepted an international call supported by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to move to Camp Liberty located in Baghdad under the condition that their safety and security as well as humanitarian and human rights standards would be guaranteed and honored in the new Camp.</p>
<p>About 1200 residents have moved to Liberty up until now despite the new camp&#8217;s lack of adequate and basic accommodation particularly for so many people. The inadequacies include drinking water, electricity, and proper sewage system, not mentioning the 24 hour presence of police guards armed with heavy machineguns.</p>
<p>At the March 24 Conference in Paris, speakers from the United States and Europe stressed on the need for protecting the rights of Ashraf and Liberty residents. Speakers included Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian resistance, Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York and US Presidential Candidate (2008), Michael Mukasey, US Attorney General (2007-2009), Secretary Tom Ridge, the first US Homeland Security Secretary (2003-2005) and former Governor of Pennsylvania;</p>
<p>John Bolton, former US Ambassador to the United Nations, Patrick Kennedy, member of the US Congress (1991-2011); Glenn Carle, former Deputy National Intelligence for Transnational Threats; Col. Wesley Martin, former Commander of the MNF-I anti-terrorism unit and commander of Forward Operation Base in Ashraf; Lt. Col Leo McCloskey, Commander of Forward Operation Base in Ashraf until 2008. Additionally, a number of European personalities also made remarks during the conference.</p>
<p>Speaking in front of a crowd of about one thousand cheering supporters, the speakers stressed on the necessity for the U.S. Government to remove the unjust terror tag on the Iranian resistance, as the Europeans and the British have done, paving the way for a smooth transit by the residents to other countries.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Image Courtesy of   <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/perspective/" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/photos/perspective/</a></p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/04/world-news/isdci-calls-on-for-protection-of-iranian-opposition-members-of-camp-ashraf/">ISDCI Calls On for Protection of Iranian Opposition Members of Camp Ashraf</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Giuliani Calls For a Commission of Inquiry About Conditions at Camp Liberty, Iraq</title>
		<link>http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/02/us-news/giuliani-calls-for-a-commission-of-inquiry-about-conditions-at-camp-liberty-iraq/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=giuliani-calls-for-a-commission-of-inquiry-about-conditions-at-camp-liberty-iraq</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:30:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>TP Newswire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foreign Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S. News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alan Dershowitz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camp Ashraf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camp Liberty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camp Liberty conditions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[former Policy Advisor Avi Jorisch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iranian dissidents]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iranian opposition movement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraqi Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MEK]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mujahedin-e Khalq]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[US politicians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.toonaripost.com/?p=36111</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a></p><p>Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani called for the formation of a commission of inquiry, consisting of a group of prominent former US politicians and law enforcement officials, to visit Camp Liberty, Iraq, where some 400 Iranian dissidents are living, after they were relocated from Camp Ashraf, their home of 25 years. &#8220;I would suggest that we ask [...]</p></p><p>The article <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/02/us-news/giuliani-calls-for-a-commission-of-inquiry-about-conditions-at-camp-liberty-iraq/">Giuliani Calls For a Commission of Inquiry About Conditions at Camp Liberty, Iraq</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a></p><p>Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani called for the formation of a commission of inquiry, consisting of a group of prominent former US politicians and law enforcement officials, to visit Camp Liberty, Iraq, where some 400 Iranian dissidents are living, after they were relocated from Camp Ashraf, their home of 25 years.</p>
<p>&#8220;I would suggest that we ask …the House of Representatives to pass a resolution that would appoint a commission…that would immediately go to Iraq and examine Camp Liberty, and report back within&#8230;two or three days what they see,&#8221; Giuliani said. &#8220;Is Camp Liberty really a suitable place? Should it be a relocation center? Is it really a prison, or a concentration camp?&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a scandal.  This is a fraud; a fraud not involving money, but a fraud involving threats to human life. What we need immediately is a commission of inquiry to determine how this fraud was perpetrated. Who certified, who approved that hell hole, that garbage dump?  Who said that it met United Nation&#8217;s standards?</p>
<p>Somebody is responsible for perpetrating that fraud and for getting 400 innocent people to risk their lives and their health to be exposed to that kind of trash and that kind of hazard to their health.  We have to get to the bottom of this,&#8221; Harvard Law Professor, Alan Dershowitz emphasized.</p>
<p>At issue is the fate of 400 Iranian dissidents, members of the main Iranian opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (&#8220;MEK&#8221;) who are currently housed at Camp Liberty. These individuals, like some 3,000 other Iranian dissidents, had been based at Camp Ashraf. Despite the United Nations certification that the infrastructure and facilities at Camp Liberty meets &#8220;international standards,&#8221; the camp lacks even the most basic conditions, providing only intermittent electricity and insufficient supplies of running water.</p>
<p>The Iraqi government does not allow international monitors or visitors to Camp Liberty. Concerns about those in Camp Liberty are heightened by the fact that Camp Ashraf has twice been attacked by Iraqi military forces, resulting in 47 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries, since the Iraqi government took control of the camp from the US military in 2009.</p>
<p>Giuliani told the conference, that the US should be prepared to accept the dissidents living at Camp Ashraf and at Camp Liberty. He joined other panelists, former Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, and former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Transnational Threats on the National Intelligence Council, Glenn Carle, to call for the U.S. State Department to remove the MEK from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.</p>
<p>Other speakers at the conference included former Chicago Mayor, Richard Daley, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Philip Lader and former Policy Advisor at the Treasury Department&#8217;s office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Avi Jorisch.</p>
<p>&#8220;In 2012, there is no reason, no justification, under any of the guidelines under the law that this group deserves to be treated as a terrorist organization,&#8221; Ridge said. &#8220;From October 8 <sup>th</sup> of 2001 until the day I walked out as Secretary of Homeland Security, I used to get a threat matrix every day.  I must tell you, I don&#8217;t recall ever seeing a reference to the MEK as an organization or a terrorist who allegedly belonged to MEK threatening the United States (or) its citizens. They do not belong on the list. They&#8217;re not a terrorist organization. Take them off the list.&#8221;</p>
<p>Governor Dean added, &#8220;The United States of America has the ultimate responsibility for the safety of the people in Ashraf, and each one of the people in Ashraf has that in writing, signed by the Senior Commander of the United States Armed Forces,&#8221; Dean said. &#8220;This is not simply a battle to save the lives of 3,400 unarmed civilians who find themselves stuck in an increasingly less democratic Iraq. This is a battle about what kind of country the United States is.&#8221;</p>
<p>Regarding the correct policy to counter the threats posed by the Iranian regime, Mr. Carle emphasized, &#8220;Tactically, the field intelligence work I did for over two decades argues in favor of de-listing the MEK from its now outdated and wrong designation as a terrorist organization.  Strategically, it argues working in favor with the MEK as a means of pressuring a regime which is a destabilizing influence in the entire region.&#8221;</p>
<p>Image Courtesy of   <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/azipaybarah/" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/photos/azipaybarah/</a></p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/02/us-news/giuliani-calls-for-a-commission-of-inquiry-about-conditions-at-camp-liberty-iraq/">Giuliani Calls For a Commission of Inquiry About Conditions at Camp Liberty, Iraq</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>UN and US Share Responsibility to Protect Iranian Dissidents in Iraq</title>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>TP Newswire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[United High Commissioner for Refugees]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a></p><p>A humanitarian tragedy unfolds as the Iraqi military and police harass and threaten 397 Iranian dissidents relocated to Camp Hurriya, a former American military base. They are the first of 3,400 residents of Camp Ashraf. How Iraq, UN, EU, and the United States act is a litmus test for whether the rest of the residents of Camp Ashraf [...]</p></p><p>The article <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/02/world-news/un-and-us-share-responsibility-to-protect-iranian-dissidents-in-iraq/">UN and US Share Responsibility to Protect Iranian Dissidents in Iraq</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a></p><p>A humanitarian tragedy unfolds as the Iraqi military and police harass and threaten 397 Iranian dissidents relocated to Camp Hurriya, a former American military base. They are the first of 3,400 residents of Camp Ashraf. How Iraq, UN, EU, and the United States act is a litmus test for whether the rest of the residents of Camp Ashraf relocate.</p>
<p>Professor Raymond Tanter, former member of the National Security Council staff in the Reagan-Bush White House and <a href="http://www.iranpolicy.org/scholarsandfellows.php#6" target="_blank">President of the Iran Policy Committee</a>, stated, &#8220;The UN shares with Washington responsibility to protect Iranian dissidents from being harmed by Iraqi authorities. At the UN World Summit, September 2005, over 150 countries <a href="http://www.un.org/summit2005/presskit/fact_sheet.pdf" target="_blank">adopted</a> &#8217;responsibility to protect&#8217; populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.&#8221;</p>
<p>Professor Tanter said, &#8220;The United High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) formally <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/4e7064e26.pdf" target="_blank">recognized</a> on 13 September 2011, and <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendocPDFViewer.html?docid=4f2a54a16&amp;query=ASHRAF%20ASYLUM%20SEEKERS" target="_blank">reiterated</a> on 1 February 2012 residents of Ashraf as &#8216;asylum seekers,&#8217; with rights and protections based on international humanitarian standards. According <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendocPDFViewer.html?docid=4f2a54a16&amp;query=ASHRAF%20ASYLUM%20SEEKERS" target="_blank">UNHCR</a>, &#8220;International law requires that asylum-seekers must be able to benefit from basic protection of their security and well being. This includes protection against any expulsion or return to the frontiers of territories where their lives or freedom would be threatened.&#8221;</p>
<p>Professor Tanter added, &#8220;But the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (<a href="http://www.uniraq.org/newsroom/getarticle.asp?ArticleID=1636" target="_blank">UNAMI</a>) works at cross purposes with UNHCR. While UNHCR stands ready to conduct Refugee Status Determination to resettle the dissidents in other countries, UNAMI <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/usccar-deplores-reckless-decisions-by-unamis-chief-on-camp-ashraf-138578039.html" target="_blank">colludes</a> with Iraqi authorities, providing a pretext for Baghdad to harm them, contrary to international humanitarian standards.&#8221;</p>
<p>UNHCR emphasizes protecting Iranian dissidents <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendocPDFViewer.html?docid=4f2a54a16&amp;query=ASHRAF%20ASYLUM%20SEEKERS" target="_blank">stating</a>, &#8220;Any relocation outside Camp New Iraq [Ashraf] [should] proceed on a voluntary basis, with freedom of movement the most desirable state at the site of relocation.&#8221; But according to <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2012/02/18/400_iran_exiles_reluctantly_move_to_new_iraq_home/?page=full" target="_blank">reports</a>, Iranian dissidents are barred from taking their personal belongings, even items like wheelchairs, microwave ovens, and satellite dishes for Internet access.</p>
<p>Contrary to UNHCR, the dissidents have no freedom of movement. Journalists are kept away, and neither lawyers nor families can observe or visit Camp Hurriya; in disregard of dissidents&#8217; rights, UNAMI paid no attention to Iraqi harassment, intimidation, and insult to them upon arrival to Hurriya.</p>
<p>Washington is also accountable for failure to provide effective diplomatic pressure on Iraq to ensure safe relocation, often called the &#8220;American plan&#8221; because it stems from a Christmas Day <a href="http://translations.state.gov/st/english/texttrans/2011/12/20111227094203su0.0707165.html#axzz1mhkMgESY" target="_blank">statement</a> by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: &#8220;We are encouraged by the Iraqi government&#8217;s willingness to commit to this plan, and expect it to fulfill all its responsibilities, especially [to] provide for the safety and security of Ashraf&#8217;s residents.&#8221;</p>
<p>Because of the Clinton statement, the dissidents <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/12/28/v-print/134314/maryam-rajavi-expresses-gratitude.html" target="_blank">accepted</a> the relocation plan, which is now being violated by Iraqi authorities. A subsequent announcement by the Department of State &#8220;commends the decision by the Ashraf residents to begin to relocate to Hurriya, where the United Nations will begin a process aimed at facilitating their eventual departure from Iraq,&#8221; a commendation that enhances U.S. stake in the plan and responsibility to protect the dissidents.</p>
<p>By praising the former residents of Ashraf for the first time, the pronouncement also implicitly commends their leadership in Paris for its constructive role in averting human tragedy.</p>
<p><strong>The Way Forward</strong><br />
In a <a href="http://www.mojahedin.org/pagesen/detailsNews.aspx?newsid=17175" target="_blank">statement</a> of 7 February this year, 23 former senior officials of the U.S. Government expressed concern about relocation, &#8220;We are very troubled by the official position of the Iraqi Government that the residents of Ashraf will have no freedom of movement while in Camp Liberty.&#8221;</p>
<p>First, the IPC concurs with a <a href="http://www.mojahedin.org/pagesen/detailsNews.aspx?newsid=17175" target="_blank">recommendation</a> of our former colleagues in the U.S. Government for American Embassy Baghdad to obtain assurances for security of dissidents now relocated in Camp Hurriya and as incentive for the 3,000 who remain in Camp Ashraf to relocate: &#8220;We believe an operational protocol must be developed through dialogue among all relevant parties, including the representatives of Camp Ashraf and the Iraqi Government.&#8221;</p>
<p>Second, the UN might inform dissidents of rights as asylum seekers. The IPC is dismayed to learn that Iranian dissidents in Camp Hurriya have no minimum assurances from either the UN or Washington about their security or rights under international human rights law.</p>
<p>Third, the Secretary General needs to bring operational practices of UNAMI in accord with humanitarian standards of asylum seeker status provided by UNHCR. If the Iraqi police were outside Camp Hurriya and UNAMI monitors inside, UNHCR humanitarian standards are more likely to be followed.</p>
<p>Without such steps, a calamity is likely, spilled blood of the Iranian asylum seekers will be on the hands of those with responsibility to protect, and appropriate legal action against accountable parties is likely in international and national tribunals.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/02/world-news/un-and-us-share-responsibility-to-protect-iranian-dissidents-in-iraq/">UN and US Share Responsibility to Protect Iranian Dissidents in Iraq</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>USCCAR Urges Secretary Clinton to Ensure Safety of 400 Iranian Asylum Seekers</title>
		<link>http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/02/us-news/usccar-urges-secretary-clinton-to-ensure-safety-of-400-iranian-asylum-seekers/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=usccar-urges-secretary-clinton-to-ensure-safety-of-400-iranian-asylum-seekers</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:30:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>TP Newswire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foreign Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S. News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ashraf camp iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ashraf iraq]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Camp Ashraf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Camp Liberty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iranian dissidents]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Iraqi Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Martin Kobler]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.toonaripost.com/?p=34583</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a></p><p>On Friday, February 17, 2012, as a goodwill gesture, 400 Iranian dissidents residing in Camp Ashraf in Iraq since 1986, many with families and relatives in the United States, began their relocation from Camp Ashraf, their home of 25 years, to Camp Liberty, a former U.S. military base near Baghdad international airport, even though minimum guarantees for their safety and security [...]</p></p><p>The article <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/02/us-news/usccar-urges-secretary-clinton-to-ensure-safety-of-400-iranian-asylum-seekers/">USCCAR Urges Secretary Clinton to Ensure Safety of 400 Iranian Asylum Seekers</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a></p><p>On Friday, February 17, 2012, as a goodwill gesture, 400 Iranian dissidents residing in Camp Ashraf in Iraq since 1986, many with families and relatives in the United States, began their relocation from Camp Ashraf, their home of 25 years, to Camp Liberty, a former U.S. military base near Baghdad international airport, even though minimum guarantees for their safety and security have not been provided by the Iraqi Government or the United Nations.</p>
<p>The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has formally recognized the residents of Ashraf as &#8220;asylum seekers&#8221; and &#8220;persons of concern,&#8221; which entitles them to fundamental protections and security based on humanitarian standards.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the Iraqi Government, with the tacit approval of the UN Secretary General&#8217;s Special Representative, Martin Kobler, has relocated our loved ones to Camp Liberty which, contrary to its name, is, by all indications, more like a prison than a transitional facility for &#8220;asylum seekers&#8221;.</p>
<p>The Iraqi-imposed inhumane and humiliating conditions under which 400 residents were inspected and then transferred to Camp Liberty, as well as the atrociously sub-humane living conditions of the camp amply reveal the nefarious intentions of the Iraqi Government.</p>
<p>Equally appalling is the fact that the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), which is expected to be playing a humanitarian role, has increasingly acted to accommodate the Iraqi Government in exerting pressure against the residents.</p>
<p>Not surprising, emboldened by the UNAMI chief&#8217;s repeatedly one-sided actions and positions to the detriment of Ashraf residents, the Iraqi Government has heightened it&#8217;s blatant and repeated violations of the residents&#8217; human rights and the December 25 Memorandum of Understating.</p>
<p>The US Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR), representing thousands of Iranian-Americans whose loved-ones reside in Camp Ashraf, urges Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to uphold the United States&#8217; long-standing moral and legal obligations to ensure safety and security of the residents of Ashraf, particularly those 400 who are now at the mercy of Iraqi Government in Camp Liberty.</p>
<p>Specifically, Secretary Clinton, in line with her assurances provided on February 15, should ensure that the Iraqi Government removes its draconian restrictions on the 400 Iranian dissidents in Camp Liberty, guarantee the withdrawal of the Iraqi police from inside the camp and the freedom of movement of the residents &#8211; as stipulated by the UNHCR, as well as the unhindered access of the residents to their lawyers and their families.</p>
<p>Absent these guarantees, the stage would be set by the Iraqi Government to seriously jeopardize the safety and security of our loved ones in Camp Liberty. USCCAR urges the United States to address the serious concerns regarding this camp, otherwise, the relocation of the rest of Ashraf residents will be rendered moot.</p>
<p>A stellar roster of former senior US officials and a bi-partisan group of members of US Congress have declared their readiness to visit Camp Liberty and confirm its suitability to accommodate the Iranian asylum seekers. Such a visit and unfettered access of journalists to the camp and its residents will help to assuage the widespread anxiety of US families of the residents over their safety. To this end, Secretary Clinton should use her good offices to facilitate such a visit.</p>
<p>Camp Ashraf is home to 3,400 members of Iran&#8217;s principal opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) and their families, who were recognized by the United States as &#8220;Protected Persons&#8221; under the Fourth Geneva Convention in 2004.</p>
<p>Image Courtesy of   <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-92586p1.html?cr=00&amp;pl=edit-00" target="_blank">stocklight</a> / <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/?cr=00&amp;pl=edit-00">Shutterstock.com</a></p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/02/us-news/usccar-urges-secretary-clinton-to-ensure-safety-of-400-iranian-asylum-seekers/">USCCAR Urges Secretary Clinton to Ensure Safety of 400 Iranian Asylum Seekers</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Washington Post Iraq Editorial Condemned by USCCAR</title>
		<link>http://www.toonaripost.com/2011/12/world-news/washington-post-iraq-editorial-condemned-by-usccar/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=washington-post-iraq-editorial-condemned-by-usccar</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:00:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>TP Newswire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World News]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[David Ignatius]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Iranians]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[massacre]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Washington Post editorial]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a></p><p>The US Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) deplores Washington Post&#8217;s editorial – A U.S. plan to save Iranians who remain in Iraq – , endorsing a US plan for relocation of 3,400 residents of Camp Ashraf to an Iraqi-run de facto detention center near Baghdad&#8217;s International airport, formerly known as Camp Liberty. The insidious piece, [...]</p></p><p>The article <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com/2011/12/world-news/washington-post-iraq-editorial-condemned-by-usccar/">Washington Post Iraq Editorial Condemned by USCCAR</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a></p><p>The US Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) deplores Washington Post&#8217;s editorial – <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-us-plan-to-save-iranians-who-remain-in-iraq/2011/12/07/gIQA1YXhsO_story.html">A U.S. plan to save Iranians who remain in Iraq</a> – , endorsing a US plan for relocation of 3,400 residents of Camp Ashraf to an Iraqi-run de facto detention center near Baghdad&#8217;s International airport, formerly known as Camp Liberty.</p>
<p>The insidious piece, replete with double-entendre and mixing of absolutely no facts and lots of fiction, is effectively a farewell gift to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, on his way back to Baghdad, to set in motion the plan for the massacre of Camp Ashraf residents.</p>
<p>The Post is suggesting to have the lives of these Iranians under the control of Maliki, a man, who David Ignatius of the Post has described as &#8220;the conspirator turned chief executive&#8221; and a &#8220;backroom plotter,&#8221; whose &#8220;own Dawa Party bombed the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait in 1983.&#8221; The editorial&#8217;s case about relocation of the residents to such a detention center as the best plan to end this humanitarian crisis peacefully is at best wishful thinking.</p>
<p>It is an extremely dangerous suggestion that could prepare the ground for yet another Srebrenica-style massacre. Without any practical and actionable guarantees by the international community, nothing would deter the Iraqi forces of al-Maliki from repeating the massacres they perpetrated in July 2009 and April 2011, killing 47 residents &#8211; including eight women &#8211; and wounding 1070.</p>
<p>To cover its bloody tracks, the Iraqi government, with the help of the US Embassy, has blocked any investigation into these crimes &#8211; as UN had demanded &#8211; by the US and European Union parliamentary fact-finding missions.</p>
<p>In light of these killings and the three-year illegal and barbaric siege of Camp Ashraf, the Post&#8217;s blindness to volume of facts all pointing to Iraq&#8217;s systematic and deliberate breach of its commitment toward Ashraf residents, and to the equally abhorring United States&#8217; inaction in the face of Iraq&#8217;s repeated violation of its so-called written assurances to the United States, is ominously suspect.</p>
<p>Astonishingly, in line with Iran&#8217;s thirty-year-old policy of blaming the MEK&#8217;s leadership for whatever atrocities Iran&#8217;s ruling tyrants have committed against the organization – a ploy widely used by Maliki following the July 2009 and April 2011 attacks – the Post&#8217;s editorial, in an ultimate act of falsification, sinisterly attempts to shift the blame for an impending massacre away from Maliki – and by extension from the Obama administration – to MEK&#8217;s leadership, accusing it of making &#8220;unrealistic demands.&#8221;</p>
<p>The following facts must be repeated:</p>
<p>Camp Ashraf residents were recognized by the United States as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention and as such the US provided them protection until January 2009. According to article 45 of the Convention, that responsibility does not elapse if the new protecting power (Iraq since 2009) does not have the capacity and the intent to provide protection.</p>
<p>Iraq has failed on both fronts and thus from a legal standpoint the United States, as the original protecting power, is still bound to ensure the residents&#8217; protection whether or not it has a presence in Iraq.</p>
<p>In 2003 and again in 2004, the United States gave written guaranteed commitment of protection to every individual in Ashraf as long as they remain in Iraq. America is, therefore, still morally and legally responsible for their safety and security. Last September, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) declared that Camp Ashraf residents have applied for refugee status and therefore, under international law as &#8220;asylum seekers&#8221; they must be able to benefit from basic protection of their security and well-being.</p>
<p>Against this background, the demand by Camp Ashraf residents and its leadership that &#8220;U.S. troops or U.N. peacekeeping forces provide security at the new camp,&#8221; is indeed completely &#8220;realistic&#8221; and in line with America&#8217;s promises and UNHCR&#8217;s declaration.</p>
<p>If the Post&#8217;s editorial finds the residents&#8217; morally and legally justified and actionable demand &#8220;unrealistic,&#8221; then it is acting as a de facto voice of an administration that is dishonoring America by reneging on its commitment to a group of unarmed men, women and children, who in the words of Brig. Gen. David Phillips, former Commandant of U.S. Army Military Police Corps and former Senior Commanding Officer at Camp Ashraf, were vetted and completely investigated by several US agencies which were not able to find an iota of evidence linking any of them to any act of violence.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the Washington Post refers to some of the most patriotic Americans as a &#8220;stable of handsomely-paid&#8221; mouthpieces of the MEK. This is astonishing as the paper itself has never wasted any time to support the misguided policy of the US State Department to designate the MEK as a terrorist organization in 1997 for purely political considerations and appeasement of the mullahs of Tehran.</p>
<p>The designation, legally and factually discredited and revoked in the United Kingdom, France, and the European Union, and declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals as it violated the due process rights of the MEK, has been used by the Maliki government as a pretext to slaughter the residents.</p>
<p>Additionally, the editorial alleges that the MEK was responsible for killing Americans more than four decades ago when multiple credible independent sources have provided ample countervailing evidence that the current MEK in its entirety has had nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>The Washington Post is wise to remember that history may not judge kindly its expediency in support of an administration that seeks reelection by throwing a group of innocent men and 1,000 Muslim women, who have already been victimized by the barbarism of Iraqi soldiers, into the wolves.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, in this case of the impending humanitarian catastrophe of monumental dimension, the Post has opted to take the wrong side and has issued a license to murder the residents by blaming the victims instead of the butchers.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com/2011/12/world-news/washington-post-iraq-editorial-condemned-by-usccar/">Washington Post Iraq Editorial Condemned by USCCAR</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.toonaripost.com">The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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