September18, 2014
--------------------------
Conference of NGOs in the margins of Human Rights Council
session in Geneva:
Responsibilities of the new Government of Iraq toward
Camp Liberty residents
in the framework of international law
On Thursday, September 18, in a conference in the margins of the current
Human Rights Council in Geneva, political figures, representatives of
international organizations and the Swiss parliament called the sanctions and
restrictions imposed on Iranian refugees in Camp Liberty illegal as illegal and
inhumane. They warned of the dangerous consequences of these sanctions and
restrictions and called on the United States, the United Nations, and the
Government of Iraq to respect their commitments vis-à-vis the refugees in Camp
Liberty.
The speakers to this conference assessed the critical situation in the
Middle East and the Arab World underlining the need to combat the unbounded and
blind terrorism under the emblem of Islam that has targeted world peace and
security.
Speakers welcomed the formation of an international coalition to combat
extremist terrorism called ISIS and stated: The Iranian regime that has
institutionalized through its revolutionary guards the export of fundamentalism
and extremism has established another face of that same so-called ISIS “caliphate”
for over three decades in Iran. They noted that not only the Iranian regime is
no ally of the West in combating ISIS, but is itself a key part of the problem
and has paved the way for this crisis. To engage Iran in this campaign or to
cooperate with it in search of a solution to destroy this terrorist current
should be a red line not to be crossed.
The conference underscored that the terrorist groups in Iraq such as the 9
Badr, the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, and the Kata’ib Hezbollah that are affiliated with
Iran and are employed to massacre the Syrian people and the innocent Iraqis,
particularly the Sunnis, have created the best fertile ground for the growth of
terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS. Therefore, confronting ISIS without
cutting off the long hand of the Iranian regime and the terrorist groups
affiliated with it will never bear fruit.
Speakers reiterated that to end the catastrophic situation in Iraq and to
reach an enduring solution in the form of a stable pluralistic, secular and
democratic Iraq, the West needs to brush aside its policy to ignore the Iranian
meddling that has already been tested in Iraq.
This conference was held on the first anniversary of the September 2013
massacre of 52 refugees in Camp Ashraf by the Iraqi forces at the behest of the
Iranian regime.
The speakers expressed concern for over 2700 Iranian refugees who face
similar threats. They called on the United States and the United Nations to
secure the rights of the residents based on their written commitments and the
international law.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reminded on August 5 that
the residents of Camp Liberty are calling for their minimum rights on two
fundamental issues: First, the provision of their safety and security and the
acknowledgement of their rights as political refugees; and second, for the
provision of humanitarian and human rights standards until the time that all of
them leave Iraq. The speakers numerously drew upon the UNHCR statement.
In support for the
rights of refugees in Camp Liberty, they emphasized on: the revocation of all
restrictions against the provision of minimum security requirements and an end
to all aggression against Camp Liberty residents by the Iraqi government and forces
affiliated with the Iranian government; the complete annulment of the six-year
blockade and free access of residents to medical and logistical services;
declaring Camp Liberty a refugee camp; and an independent international probe
into the six massacres and the criminal blockade of Ashraf and Liberty
and an independent international probe into the slaughter of 136 residents in
six massacres and the criminal blockade of Ashraf and Liberty, especially the
September 1, 2013 massacre; and to establish, try and punish the perpetrators
of these crimes.
Speakers accentuated that the provision of these rights is a clear test for
the adherence of Government of Iraq to recognized international values and a
distinct test of the United States and the United Nations in their relations
with the new government in Iraq.
Sid Ahmed Ghozali, former Prime Minister of Algeria; Gilbert Mitterrand,
President of France Libertés – the Danielle Mitterrand Foundation; Eric Voruz, member
of Swiss Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe;
Elizabetta Zamparutti, former Italian parliamentarian and President of the
non-governmental association of Hands Off Cain; Parviz Khazai, the
representative of the National Council of Resistance in Nordic countries; Gianfranco
Fattorini, human rights activist; and Karen Parker, President of International
Educational Development; offered speeches to this conference.
International Educational
Development – IED
Nonviolent Radical Party,
Transnational and Transparty
Women’s Human Rights
International Association - WHRIA
No comments:
Post a Comment