USCCAR Condemns Iraqi Forces' Attack on Camp Ashraf, Demands UN Protection and U.S. Guarantee

WASHINGTON,  April 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents:

Around midnight Thursday, the Iraqi forces attacked residents of Camp Ashraf, home to 3,400 members of Iran's main opposition, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).  Threatening to occupy a number of buildings by force, they used electric batons, daggers and iron bars in beating up the residents, wounding five. They also tried to abduct a female resident but were thwarted when she resisted.

The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) deplores this barbaric attack, clearly carried out at the behest of the Tehran regime and with the approval of the Iraqi Prime Minister.

The residents of Camp Ashraf were recognized as "Protected Persons" by the United States in 2004. Since the U.S. transfer of Ashraf's protection to the Iraqi government in 2009, the human rights of Ashraf residents have been systematically breached in violation of international law and Iraq's written assurances to the United States.

Still dumbfounded by the strategic defeat during Iraq's recent parliamentary elections, Tehran and its Iraqi surrogates have been bent on destroying Ashraf. USCCAR demands that the United Nations must assume the protection of Ashraf residents before another humanitarian tragedy occurs. The Committee also urges President Obama to guarantee the protection of Ashraf residents consistent with the US government's signed agreement to this effect with Ashraf residents in 2004.

Following the last July deadly assault by the Iraqi forces against Camp Ashraf, a bi-partisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives co-sponsored a resolution which "deplores the ongoing violence by Iraqi security forces against the residents of Camp Ashraf; calls upon the Iraqi Government to live up to its commitment to the United States to ensure the continued well-being of those living in Camp Ashraf; and calls upon the President to take all necessary and appropriate steps to support the commitments of the United States" to ensure protection of Camp Ashraf residents.

In a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last February, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated, "We do hold the Iraqi government responsible for how the members of the MEK are treated, and we expect the Iraqi government to honor its written assurances that it will treat the MEK members humanely." It is time for the U.S. to keep to its words.

SOURCE U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents