European Parliament
VICE PRESIDENT

30 May 2012

ISJ calls on the UN, the US and the EU to expedite the reaffirmation of “Liberty” residents’ refugee status and to specify their concrete rights

It appears that Ambassador Kobler’s mission was to close Ashraf in any way and to cram the residents into “Liberty” prison

International Committee In Search of Justice (ISJ) expresses its deep concerns regarding the conditions of camp “Liberty” in Iraq and calls on the UN, the US and the EU to immediately act to guarantee the rights of the residents of camps Ashraf and Liberty and to expedite the process of reaffirming their refugee status.
Around 2,000 Ashraf residents have, thus far, been transferred to Liberty. The Iraqi government opposed interviewing the residents by the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at Ashraf, and, for that reason, it postponed the process of finalising the refugee status of Ashraf residents and their resettlement for several months. But in the 100 days since the transfer of residents to Liberty has begun, only about 350 of them (about 11% of all residents and 17% of those transferred to Liberty) have been interviewed. Thus far not even a single person has been transferred to a third country and no bright perspective is noticeable in that matter. The United Nations and the U.S. government explicitly say that even the European countries have difficulties admitting Ashraf and Liberty residents as a result of the U.S. State department’s terrorism label against PMOI/MEK.
On the other hand, the U.S. government—due to political considerations including nuclear negotiations with the totalitarian rulers of Iran and being in an election year—evades carrying out the court orders for delisting the MEK and, in order to buy more time, has announced that it will consider the delisting 60 days after Ashraf is evacuated.
Should the UNHCR’s interviews continue at the current pace, the process will take, at best, another two years. Therefore, we are asking the process to be expedited. Ashraf and Liberty residents are, by any measure, considered refugees and they are in danger not only in the primary country, Iran, but also in Iraq.
Meanwhile, the conditions at Liberty are grossly violating many of the minimum human rights and humanitarian standards, and while it has been exactly 4 months since the statement by Mr. Kobler, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative, announcing the confirmation of standards by the UNHCR and UNAMI, Liberty is suffering from lack of basic needs such as water, electricity, and a properly functioning sewage system, and the government of Iraq inhumanely prevents the transfer of residents’ necessary items from Ashraf to Liberty. European Parliament, ASP 11E205, 60 rue Wiertz, B-1047, Brussels, Belgium 2

Despite repeated statements by the UNHCR, including statements of February 1st, March 1st, and March 28th, the residents do not have the right of passage, have no access to their lawyers, and their relatives are not permitted to enter Iraq or Liberty/Ashraf. Liberty is, by all means, a prison.
And instead of improving these conditions, Mr. Kobler’s mandate seems to be, first and above all, closing Ashraf at any price and piling up the residents in Liberty Prison. This has caused us all frustration and dismay.
One of the Iraqi government’s excuses for violating these standards is that Liberty is a Temporary Transit Location (TTL). This designation relates to conditions where the expectation was that the UNHCR’s process would take at most 6 months and the residents would be fast relocated outside Iraq, while according to UNAMI and the U.S. government, most of the residents will, under the optimum conditions, stay at Liberty for at least 2 years.
Under these circumstances, an immediate and active intervention is needed by the international community particularly the UN Secretary General, the US Secretary of State, the EU High Representative and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to resolve the following issues:
• Explicitly underscore the rights of Liberty residents in order to prevent any misuse by the Government of Iraq. This means emphasising the humanitarian and human rights standards such as freedom of movement, free access to lawyers, property rights or those rights which have been stipulated in the refugee laws, the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.(Please see the additional note below)
• Expedite the process of interviews and reaffirm the residents’ refugee status.

Alejo Vidal-Quadras
Vice President of the European Parliament
President of the International Committee In Search of Justice (ISJ)
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Additional note: When the Iraqi government was trying to trample the Ashraf residents’ rights, on October 7, 2005, General Brandenburg, deputy commander of the Multinational Forces-Iraq, in a letter to Ashraf residents and the PMOI’s Secretary General reiterated their fundamental rights, an act which prevented many abusive pressures. In this letter, he underscored the necessity of treating the residents within the international laws and standards and stated, “The residents of Camp Ashraf have the right to protection from danger, violence, coercion, and intimidation, and to special protection for the dignity and rights of women; they have the right to freedom of thought, religion, expression, intra-community association, and political opinion; they also have the right to freedom from persecution and forced unpaid labor.”
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