US and UN must guarantee rights of Ashraf, Liberty residents

The saga of Iraqi government's mistreating Iranian dissidents in Iraq continues unabated. What is more puzzling and perplexing is the silence of the UN and the US as the main parties that brokered an agreement with the Government of Iraq and the dissidents who belong to the main Iranian opposition movement, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

The last episode took place on Friday evening as the fifth convoy of the dissidents left Camp Ashraf, their home for the past 25 years, to Camp Liberty, a former U.S. military base near Baghdad airport.

What happened was that the utility vehicles that were accompanying the convoy and were headed to Liberty for the dire needs of the residents who lack proper water supply, fuel or service vehicles, were returned to Ashraf from half way to Liberty before the eyes of UN observers.

This was nothing short of a filthy trick by the Government of Iraq and was against the draft agreement with Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Iraq, and also it is in violation of all agreements and the provisions of the MOU, and earlier agreements with the Government of Iraq.

The transfer of the fifth group started began on Friday evening May 4, subsequent to two weeks of intense negotiations and communications between the U.N. and the representatives of the Ashraf residents and following the insistence of the US Department of States special advisor on Ashraf and the UN Secretary General Special Representative. Eventually they agreed that three vehicles including 3 water tankers, 2 sewage tankers and 1 fuel tanker will accompany the fifth convoy.

Yet when the convoy left Ashraf at the presence of UN monitor, the residents realized that there was no utility vehicle in the column. Subsequently, it was known that upon the orders of Iraqi authorities, all the utility vehicles that each had an Ashraf resident onboard had been returned to Ashraf.

The new round of covetous behavior by the Government of Iraq took place after a week long process of inspecting the belongings of Ashraf residents that began on April 27. Throughout the seven days, the defenseless residents faced deliberate delays, obstructions and humiliating behavior by the Iraqi forces.

Iraqis once again even prevented the paralyzed residents and those who special treatment, were prevented from transferring their vehicles and special trailers. This was despite the fact that in several letters and emails, the UN had committed to do its utmost to meet the humanitarian needs of the patients, but apparently the Iranian Regime has prevented Nouri-al-Maliki and his security advisor from carrying out their commitments to the U.N. during their recent trip to Tehran.

Presently, three are nearly 2000 people in camp Liberty. This is while this camp lacks the minimum requirements for proper living of the residents and their most basic humanitarian needs have not been met and guaranteed.

In reality, Camp Liberty remains as a prison and is surrounded by armored vehicles.

While the residents have shown utmost flexibility and have given up on a lot of their rights and while Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iran resistance has shown utmost cooperation to achieve a peaceful solution on this humanitarian crisis, The Iraqi Government at behest of its masters in Tehran keeps trampling on the rights of the Iranian dissidents.

It is high time for the direct and immediate intervention of the UN Secretary General and the US Secretary of State to reprimand Iraqi Government on its behavior and to guarantee that the rights of the residents are observed and their properties are not plundered by the Iraqi Government. The UN and the US should adhere to their promises and commitments to the residents; and the whole world is watching.

Sam Azizi is a human rights activist who has been writing news stories and commentaries on topics of international relations and national security as a freelance journalist. He is based in Washington, DC.

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