Nima Sharif
Stop Fundamentalism, April 16-  Members of the Iranian opposition, Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) who have moved to Camp Liberty from Ashraf, as a part of a pact with United Nations to arrive at a solution for the humanitarian crisis at Camp Ashraf, say that Iranian regime agents, who were stationed at the entrance of Camp Ashraf for three years, threatening and torturing the residents, are now moving to Camp Liberty.  According to a statement released by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Iraq has now provided a separate section of Camp Liberty to the Iranian embassy to house these agents.

Stationing Iranian agents at the new Camp is only a pretext to perpetrate another massacre of the residents.  It is to ensure that there will be no peaceful solution to Camp Ashraf crisis as the US, UN and the Europeans intended and particularly what was the intention of Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Iraq, Mr. Martin Kobler.  Iranian agents should not be allowed to stay at Camp Liberty to start another psychological torture against the residents specially that the new camp is 60 times smaller than Camp Ashraf.
It should not come to anyone’s surprise that in spite of all efforts by the residents of Camp Ashraf to show good-intent to peacefully solve the situation, the Iraqi government at the will of the Iranian regime, continues its mal-practices to impose inhumane conditions at this second location as well.
Camp Ashraf residents, despite having obvious refugee rights after living 25 years, legally, in Iraq, agreed to abide by a United Nations led initiative to move to Camp Liberty in order to be resettled to third countries (countries except Iran and Iraq) by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
But the Iraqi government, as it did not allow the UN refugee determination process to begin in Ashraf, it continues to obstruct the process at the new location, Camp Liberty.
In April last year, Iraq staged an overall military assault on the unarmed residents of Camp Ashraf killing 36 residents including 8 women and wounding hundreds.  Immediately after the April 8 massacre, to further cover-up the crime against humanity committed by the Iraqi forces and the Nouri al-Maliki government, Prime Minister Maliki ordered the closure of Camp Ashraf.
While the residents clearly had the right to stay in Ashraf, where they have lived for the past 25 years building an unfertile desert land into an oasis, following assurances coming from international bodies and personalities such as Secretary Hillary Clinton and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, accepted a transfer to a temporary transit location, before being resettled to other countries.  This way a peaceful solution will be reached trusting that the desires of the Iraqi government have been fulfilled.
But now that the residents are moving to the new Camp in Baghdad, cooperating fully with the UN Assistant Mission in Iraq, UNAMI, by moving the Iranian agents to Liberty, Iraq once again proves that it indents not to allow the residents a safe path through and does not intend to peacefully resolve the matter.  A new round of inhumane psychological torture of the residents is only the begging of what could end up as another human massacre, this time in a much larger scale.
Iranian refugees at Camp Ashraf accepted UN and US suggestions to move to Liberty, under the condition of close monitoring of their human rights by United Nations and the US Embassy in Baghdad.  Psychological torture should no longer be allowed to continue at Liberty under US and UN observations.  Furthermore, the UNHCR should expedite the determination process of the residents in order resettle the residents as soon as possible.  It should also call on democratic countries to accept a considerable number of residents aiming at a peaceful solution to Camp Ashraf crisis.