Iran Focus
London, 6 Jul – The Brussels-based European Iraqi Freedom Association has condemned the missile attack on Camp Liberty, on Monday.
The attacks wounded 50 people, including 14 women, and destroyed large sections of the camp. The camp houses members of the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK). Given their location, in a security-heavy area near to Baghdad airport, it seems like the Iranian Government worked with the Iraqi security forces to execute these attacks, it has been suggested.
In a statement released via their website on July 5, the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA) called on the UN and the US to protect these political dissidents until their resettlement in a safe country.
Struan Stevenson, President of EIFA, said: “This was a horrendous and cowardly attack. But I am forced to ask, what on earth are the United Nations and the United States doing?”
He criticised them for not keeping the residents of Camp Liberty safe. The camp was visited by Iranian agents on surveillance missions who pretended to be relatives of the people in exile. The agents took detailed photos of the site and abused the residents so EIFA warned of an impending attack but the UN and the US did nothing.
Stevenson, a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014, recounts that food and medical shipments were blocked from entering the camp by Iraqi guards for a week before the attack. The people inside Camp Liberty were without fresh food, essential medicines and even fuel for their generators so they could not use any type of air conditioning in the 50-degree centigrade heat.
Stevenson, who was also President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq from 2009 to 2014, said: “The EIFA demands the immediate intervention of the UN and the US embassy in Baghdad, firstly to hold the perpetrators of this crime accountable and bring them [to] justice and secondly to guarantee the safety and security of the camp until the last person can be airlifted to safety. Thirdly the UN and US must immediately demand that the Iraqi Government stops any further suppressive measures against the camp’s residents, in particular preventing the entry of fuel, food, medicine and service trucks to the camp. Fourthly, the Government of Iraq must be prevented from allowing Iranian Intelligence (MOIS) agents, under any pretext whatsoever, from mounting further reconnaissance and surveillance missions at Camp Liberty”.
On July 9, in Paris, a Free Iran rally will be held. It is a chance for supporters of the Iranian resistance to showcase the tyranny of the regime, and to plead for the international community to take notice.
