by EIFA
European Iraqi Freedom Association
Press release – 1 November 2015 – Call on USA, EU & UN to take practical measures to protect Iranian refugees in Camp Liberty, Iraq
The brutal terrorist attack against defenceless Iranian refugees in Camp Liberty near Baghdad airport on Thursday 29 October was a crime against humanity. It was a massacre we have warned would happen for months. In numerous letters, press releases and statements we had alerted the USA government, the UN and the EU that the Iraqi government is not a competent entity to be responsible for the security of this camp and that as such, the refugees interned within this ‘death-camp’ were in imminent danger.
Our warnings were ignored. It is pointless now for Western politicians to demand that Baghdad must investigate the Camp Liberty massacre, as clearly they have colluded with the perpetrators of this crime under the influence of agents of the Iranian regime who have penetrated to the core of the Iraqi government.
For example the same criminals who were responsible for previous massacres against the residents in Ashraf have been allowed to remain in charge of Camp Liberty, particularly, Faleh al-Fayad, the national security advisor of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He now holds the same position under Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Fayad and his cousin Hadi al-Ameri, head of the terrorist Badr Organization, are agents of Tehran and have planned and committed numerous crimes against PMOI members in Iraq in recent years. We have repeatedly pointed this out to the international community and revealed the continued abuse and repression of the Camp Liberty refugees by these murderous criminals, but our warnings once again have been ignored.
Faleh al-Fayad, the key oppressor of the Camp Liberty refugees, has in recent weeks allowed the transfer of groups of the Iranian regime’s agents to Liberty, under the pretext that they are relatives and family members of the residents. Such actions that are a direct repetition of events that occurred outside Camp Ashraf in 2010 and 2011, provided sinister cover for surveillance and reconnaissance of the camp, which led, subsequently, to successive bloody attacks and massacres of unarmed refugees in Ashraf. Again we warned the international community that this was a certain precursor to a renewed massacre, and again we were ignored.
As the residents are living in highly vulnerable and flimsy trailers, their surrounding protective concrete T-walls have been taken away by the Iraqi authorities and they were denied the right to receive even their own protective helmets and vests, which they were forced to abandon in Camp Ashraf. Again we repeatedly warned that this blatant denial of their rights to their own property would render them vulnerable to missile attacks. Again we were ignored by the UN, US and EU.
Just condemning this atrocity is not enough. These refugees must be transferred to the US and to European countries immediately. As a matter of urgency, we urge the UN, US and EU to take the following practical measures to protect the Iranian dissidents in Camp Liberty from further bloodshed and death:
The US must provide air cover for Camp Liberty to prevent further attacks
The protective concrete T-Walls and the residents’ protective helmets and vests must be returned forthwith
Faleh al-Fayad and his men who run the daily management of Camp Liberty must be immediately replaced by those not affiliated with or beholden to the Iranian regime and its cohorts
All international assistance to Iraq must be suspended forthwith until the security of the Camp Liberty residents is assured
The UN must stop any further obfuscation and officially recognise Camp Liberty as a refugee camp under its direct supervision and protection
Struan Stevenson
Struan Stevenson is President of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA). He was a UK Conservative Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014 and President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq from 2009 to 2014
European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA), 1050 Brussels, Belgium
President: Struan Stevenson, Chairman of European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq (2009-2014), Members of the board: Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Vice President of the European Parliament (1999-2014); Stephen Hughes, 1st Vice-President of European Parliament Socialist Group (2009-2014); Giulio Terzi, Former Foreign Minister of Italy; Ryszard Czarnecki,Vice-President of the European Parliament; Lord Carlile of Berriew, QC; Paulo Casaca MEP (1999-2009); Kimmo Sasi, MP (Finland); and honorary members including Tariq Hashemi, former Vice President of Iraq , Sid Ahmed Ghozali Former Prime Minister of Algeria
