Saturday October 31, 2009, 1:40 pm
Baghdad-26 October 2009: During his recent meeting with representatives of the diplomatic community in Baghdad, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General-for Iraq (SRSG) Ad Melkert expressed continued concern over the humanitarian situation at Camp Ashraf. He confirmed UNAMI's commitment for the duration of this critical period to monitor the situation in the Camp on daily basis.

Over the past few years the UNAMI and the High Commissioner on Human Rights have been closely monitoring the situation in Camp Ashraf, exploring possible assistance in reaching a resolution that is consistent with Iraq’s legitimate sovereignty rights, and international law.

To this end, the United Nations has engaged with all parties concerned, including the Government of Iraq which has reiterated its commitment to abide by Iraqi and international laws when dealing with Camp Ashraf and its residents. UNAMI is working with the Government through various channels to assist in meeting this responsibility.

UNAMI’s mandate includes the promotion of human rights in Iraq, and the Mission’s Human Rights Office regularly assesses the situation in and around the camp. The UN continues to advocate that Camp Ashraf residents be protected from forcible deportation, expulsion or repatriation contrary to the non-refoulement principle.

At the same time the Camp Ashraf leadership has been urged to meet the requirement by individual inhabitants of the Camp to cooperate with Iraqi authorities on the basis of their voluntary expression of preference concerning their options for the future. UNHCR and other relevant UN agencies stand ready to provide any legal and social counseling in this regard in a fair and neutral environment.

Efforts are now needed on all sides to reduce tension and look for solutions. The UN calls on the international community to provide all possible assistance in this regard, including resettlement to third countries of those that want to leave the camp.

Saturday October 31, 2009, 2:46 pm

An official source from the southern Muthanna province, Tuesday, 27/10/2009, a government delegation arrived here from Baghdad to the city of Samawah to discuss the possibility of transferring the population (Camp Ashraf) to a camp near the town of Samawah, indicating that the proposal has been categorically rejected by the governor and provincial council.

The source said that a government committee "arrived to the city of Samawah, on Tuesday morning and discussed with the governor of Muthanna, a number of local officials the possibility of the transfer of Camp Ashraf residents (MKO) to the Iraqi military camp, west of Samawah, established by the Japanese troops." He pointed out that "the proposal has been categorically rejected by county officials."

The Japanese Self-Defense Forces had established a camp end of 2004 and adopted as its headquarters until its withdrawal from Iraq in July 2007 for troops to hand him over to Iraqi army brigade deployed in the province.
The source explained that "the governor and provincial council refusal tied to Al Muthanna province will be a safe haven for the group, which will reflect negatively on the security reality and lead to sabotage security in the region."

The Iraqi government has taken a decision in the meeting of the so-called Council of Ministers on June 17, 2008, as the presence of the MKO on Iraqi territory illegally and must leave Iraq, and Iran are endemic to the creation of Ashraf camp site (the new Iraq) in Khalis (15 km north of Baquba (.
The source asked not to be named, that the Commission "has, this morning visited the camp to study the site and identify the fields over the possibility that the new headquarters for the residents of Camp Ashraf." Alluding to the fact that the Commission "found that the camp in question is invalid for shelter residents Camp Ashraf and lacks a lot of ingredients. "

"There is another option to the Committee is, a camp taken by American forces based near Diwaniyah, but not cleared several months ago, according to proposed by the Commission."
The transfer of MEK to the province of Muthanna, "an old idea dating back to 2008, has completed a timely manner to maintain the authority to reject the proposal." He pointed out that options for the transfer of that group to the camps in the province of Muthanna and Diwaniya, "is still in the process of proposals and not the decisions of the government's Iraq.. "
Is noteworthy that the Iraqi security forces had entered 28/7/2009 to Camp Ashraf in Diyala province to take control of it, which led to clashes which killed seven and injured 400 other residents of the camp, as well as two people and wounded 60 members of the security Iraq.

And take the opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of the Iranian government from Camp Ashraf in Diyala province (north-east of Baghdad) as their headquarters since the transfer of leadership to Iraq in 1985 and received a timely manner under the auspices of the former regime, where it has launched attacks in Iran.
After the American intervention in Iraq in 2003, on the U.S. Army Corps and its members remain at their base at Camp Ashraf, which was placed under U.S. protection, although classified as a terrorist organization, after signing the security agreement between Iraq and the United States late last year, the Iraqi government took responsibility for Camp Ashraf that U.S. forces remain in the camp, and then withdraw from it in accordance with the timing of the Convention.
The town of Samawah, capital of Muthanna province, lies 280 km south of Baghdad.

Saturday October 31, 2009, 2:52 pm
thank you Uhoud

Saturday October 31, 2009, 3:00 pm
Let us pray that all will be resolved with no further loss of life and injuries.

Saturday October 31, 2009, 6:42 pm
Uhoud, could you please explain a bit better what camp is that and for whom?

Thank you.

Sunday November 1, 2009, 1:14 am
Good on you for campaigning for Human Rights like this, Uhoud : )

Sunday November 1, 2009, 1:29 am
About Camp Ashraf, from HumanRightsWatch article, "Iraq: Protect Camp Ashraf Residents," July 31, 2009:


Iraqi Government Should Investigate Possible Security Forces Abuse of Iranian Dissidents

The Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein allowed the Mojahedin Khalq to base itself in Iraq in 1986. An estimated 3,500 members remained in Camp Ashraf, in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, after they surrendered their weapons to US forces following the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Many Iraqis have alleged that the group's members participated in campaigns against opponents of Saddam Hussein's government, and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government had indicated its intention to shut down the camp.

The Mojahedin Khalq was founded in 1965 as an armed Islamist group to challenge the shah's government. In 1981, two years after the Iranian revolution, the group went underground after trying to foment an armed uprising against Ayatollah Khomeini. After a period of exile in France, most of the group's leaders relocated to Iraq in 1986. During the Iran-Iraq war, Mojahedin Khalq forces regularly attacked Iranian troops along the border and made several incursions into Iran. After the war ended in 1988, Iranian courts issued summary execution orders against thousands of political prisoners in Iranian custody, including many Mojahedin Khalq members.

The fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003 put an end to Iraqi financial and logistical support to the group. After the US-led invasion, the US military said it had disarmed Mojahedin Khalq forces operating in Iraq.


Iraqi authorities should conduct an independent investigation into the deaths of at least seven Iranians during a police raid on Camp Ashraf, where several thousand members of an Iranian dissident group, Mojahedin Khalq Organization, have lived for over two decades, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch expressed concern that police used excessive force against the camp residents during the raid on July 28, 2009.

On July 30, Iraqi officials acknowledged that the seven Camp Ashraf residents had been killed, some by gunfire, when Iraqi forces took control of their camp in an effort to assert the government's authority by establishing a police station on the grounds. A Mojahedin Khalq spokesperson had said that Iraqi security officers stormed in and shot people, killing at least seven and wounding more than 300. Iraqi officials have disputed the details surrounding the deaths, blaming rioting and Mojahedin Khalq snipers.

"Camp Ashraf's residents were isolated and, as far as we can determine, unarmed," said Joe Stork, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch. "Seven dead and scores of wounded is a high price to pay just to make a point about Iraqi government authority over this piece of land, which is why an impartial investigation is needed."

"This group has made lots of enemies among Iraqis with their support for Saddam Hussein," Stork said. "The Iraqi government is responsible for protecting them from revenge attacks or forcible return to Iran, and it has acknowledged this responsibility by taking over the camp."

Mojahedin Khalq videos from the raid viewed by Human Rights Watch appear to show Iraqi security forces using batons, riot shields, and water cannons in their assault on the camp against what appear to be unarmed residents. A Mojahedin Khalq spokesperson said that bulldozers destroyed fences and walls on the camp's perimeter as security forces on foot forced their way into the camp, clashing with hundreds of residents who had formed a human chain. An Iraqi security commander wounded in the raid told the media that camp residents fiercely resisted security forces with stones, knives, and sharp tools. Iraqi security forces have prevented journalists from entering the camp, according to journalists covering the story.

Ali al-Dabbagh, the spokesperson for the prime minister's office, told media that a police station has now been established inside the camp and that an investigation into the deaths was under way. Human Rights Watch called on the government to ensure that the investigation is independent and impartial, to make the results public, and to discipline or prosecute as appropriate officials who authorized or used excessive force.

The UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials states that "law enforcement officials may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty." The UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms provide that law enforcement officials "shall, as far as possible, apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force" and may use force "only if other means remain ineffective." When the use of force is unavoidable, law enforcement officials must "exercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offence."

Camp Ashraf had been surrounded by US forces until a security agreement between the US and Iraq took effect on January 1. The raid followed repeated statements by Iraqi officials that the government intended to take control of the camp and evict the residents. The most recent statement was on July 27, the day before the raid.

Where the camp's former residents will end up remains unclear. Human Rights Watch urged the Iraqi government not to return the exiles to Iran against their will, saying they may risk torture or other serious abuse. Human Rights Watch has previously documented the prevalent use of torture in Iran, particularly against opponents of the government.

Iraq, as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is bound to apply the principle of non-refoulement. The UN's Human Rights Committee, which interprets the covenant, has explained this as, "States parties must not expose individuals to the danger of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment upon return to another country by way of their extradition, expulsion or refoulement." The US State Department said on July 28 that the Iraqi government assured Washington that it would not forcibly transfer any member of the group to a country where they face a risk of torture.

Sunday November 1, 2009, 6:26 am
Thanxxx... lets hope their situation changes... improve and that their humatarian efforts

Sunday November 1, 2009, 9:34 am
If Mojahedin Khalq are Islamists fighting Shah in the past, why do they fight Ahmadinejad now? Is he not Islamic enough, or too much?

Sunday November 1, 2009, 1:32 pm
Gee, I haven't the foggiest, WC! They didn't like Khomeini, either, as the HumanRightsWatch article I reproduced up there reports: 'the group went underground after trying to foment an armed uprising against Ayatollah Khomeini.'
I don't know what their program or politics are.

Sunday November 1, 2009, 3:41 pm
Thank you Alba. Uhoud, any word of wisdom on it?

Monday November 2, 2009, 10:50 am
Wild Ahmadi Nejad Islamic too much !!!!!!!

Monday November 2, 2009, 11:38 am
Thank you Uhoud. More details will be appreciated as well.