MPs Condemn Deadly Rocket Attack On Camp Liberty

MPs Condemn Deadly Rocket Attack On Camp Liberty

The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom (BPCIF) condemns in the strongest terms the deadly rocket attack carried out on Camp Liberty, Baghdad, today which left at least two Iranian dissidents killed and more than 50 injured.

“This is an outrage against international law. Mr Kobler and the UN should speak out, and the Iraq Government should be called to account. Iraq Ambassadors should be called in by the US, UK, French and German Governments to explain these terrible events,” said Lord Carlile of Berriew QC.

This terrorist attack on the Iranian refugees in a camp which was supposed to be protected by the United Nations was carried out on Saturday at the behest of the Iranian regime at a time when its sham election is facing international criticism.

No United Nations personnel were in the camp when the attack took place at 13.15 local time.

In a calculated move to deny the residents protection from missile attacks, the government of Iraq has removed 17,500 T-walls which previously protected the trailers in which the residents live. Iraq has for more than a year prevented the residents from transferring their protective helmets, safety vests and medical facilities from Camp Ashraf, their original home in Iraq.

This is the third terrorist rocket attack on Camp Liberty in 2013. A similar attack on 9 February left eight residents killed and 100 injured.

UNAMI chief Martin Kobler, who forced the 3,200 members of the main Iranian opposition group PMOI to transfer from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty in 2012, had promised that the camp would be safeguarded from attacks and that residents would quickly be able to leave once they had been interviewed by the UN. However, after more than 2,000 interviews in the past 18 months, less than three percent of the camp population have been resettled and there is no prospect of any quick resettlement. UNAMI has ignored hundreds of calls by British and European Parliamentarians to relocate the residents from Camp Liberty.

All Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty residents are “protected persons” under the 4th Geneva Convention and entitled to international protection.

The BPCIF demands that the UN urgently relocate the residents back to Camp Ashraf which is 80 times bigger and where their security can be better guaranteed. We urge the Foreign Office to condemn the latest attack and actively press for an impartial international investigation into the attacks on Camp Liberty.

The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom
15 June 2013

ENDS

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