Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on May 15th, 2014

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Wayne Marston]

Thank you, Mr. Sweet.

We'll go now to Mr. Cotler.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I also want to express our appreciation to Mrs. Rajavi for her testimony before us today, in particular for addressing three aspects of the situation in Liberty: the security situation, the living conditions, and the manner of the resettlement of the residents outside Iraq. I say that because these have been subjects that have been the continuing concern of our own foreign affairs subcommittee enquiring into Camp Liberty. More recently they were the subject of testimony by both Colonel Wesley Martin and Jared Genser.

In 2012, Canada and the United States, following the European Union's example, removed the MeK from the list of terrorist entities.

My first question for you is, has the delisting of the MeK aided the residents of Camp Liberty?

[Maryam Rajavi]

As you said, the United States.... First, the court ruled in favour of the MeK, saying that these allegations are without basis. Then they removed the MeK from the list. Of course, the Iranian regime didn't like it and their lobby has been very active in the United States trying to prevent any positive impact of this move of delisting.

Last month, Secretary Kerry, in one of the hearings of the foreign affairs committee in the House of Representatives, announced that they are now ready to take a number of refugees, but they have not yet taken anyone. I must say that a lot of the negative consequences of that false listing still remain.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

That brings me then to a related question. You did bring up the issue of Canada, for example, accepting a group of refugees from Camp Liberty for resettlement here.

If residents of Camp Liberty were to leave, would any of the residents be likely to pose a security risk to the country in which they would be resettled?

[Maryam Rajavi]

I think the record is very clear, just to let you know that when American agencies were in Iraq, almost 16 different agencies and departments screened and interviewed every single one of the residents and declared at the end that there was not one single bit of evidence against any of the residents to show that they had violated any law, or could be a threat to any country.

As you know, members or sympathizers of this movement have been in various countries for many years, and I can give you assurance that they have never been a problem, let alone a security problem, for any countries, and they will continue not to be a problem.

One of the principles of our movement is to fully respect the rule of law in any given country where we are present.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Again, I have a related question.

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran has said that its political goal is to use peaceful means to transform Iran into a democratic secular state.

What means would you have at your disposal as an organization to seek to accomplish this objective?

[Maryam Rajavi]

We have an organized movement that is very important, with deep roots, profound roots, in Iranian society particularly among women and youth. We have a very strong network inside the country and a political alternative to the current regime, a Parliament in exile with over 530 members, of which 52 are women, with millions of supporters inside the country.

Many of these demonstrations and protests in Iran have been organized by our network. In the beginning we had the opportunity to openly operate, and at first, just after the revolution, there were 500,000 people taking part in the demonstrations. Even now we have our networks in all strata of Iranian society organizing the protest against the regime.

Our network is also very active in providing intelligence from inside Iran. For example, it was our movement that revealed all the secret nuclear sites of the Iranian regime, and as you know, our network also played a great role in the uprising in 2009. That's why the regime resorted to widespread arrests. Many of our supporters were arrested and executed, and a large number of them are still in prison.

What I want to say, in short, is were it not for the policy of appeasement and the help that the region gets, and had it not been for obstacles such as the terrorism tag and other pressure that is now being exerted on the residents in Camp Liberty, I'm confident that the people of Iran and the resistance would have been able to bring about democratic change in Iran.

As a last point, the Simay Azadi, the national television of Iran, is broadcast into Iran 24 hours a day, which is very much welcomed, and its viewership is much larger. That's why the Iranian regime tried to jam it and collect dishes in order to prevent people from watching our satellite television.

I'm sorry for taking so long.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Wayne Marston]

Thank you, Mr. Cotler.

We'll go to Mr. Sweet again, for the government.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Ms. Rajavi, we've heard chilling testimony here in the past regarding the exportation of terror from this regime in Iran. Has your life been threatened in Paris?

[Maryam Rajavi]

Yes. As far as the Iranian regime, the military regime, is concerned, their efforts have always been to assassinate members of this movement, in Paris or in other places. One of the officials very recently announced that not even a single member of the movement should remain on the face of the earth. Of course, part of that is just a threat to frighten people into not opposing the regime, but naturally, all well-known figures of the movement have been at risk. For example, our representative in Italy, Hossein Naqdi, was some years ago assassinated in Italy. Dr. Kazem Rajavi, our representative in Geneva, was assassinated there. There have been a number of attempts against me that were neutralized by the security services, and fortunately, they could not carry out their plan.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

When Wesley Martin was here, he mentioned his fear of imminent attacks against Camp Liberty.

Have there been recent attacks in the last few weeks at Camp Liberty?

[Maryam Rajavi]

As I said, there was one incident last night, only one fire at the camp. The bullets went through the wall, the ceiling, and one person was injured in the head. It could have led to his death, but fortunately it didn't.

We do have some information about the possible attack. It seems that in the past couple of weeks Maliki's government is very much engaged in trying to rig the election in their favour and they do not want to get engaged in some other activities, but the concern is real. After the announcement of the result of the election, we are expecting, unfortunately, that there will be more attacks. For this reason, residents almost at all times are on alert. They spend a lot of their time in the few bunkers that they have.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

That very conveniently leads me to the next question. Colonel Wesley also mentioned the blocking of the construction of the T-walls and the bunkers. How important are they for your members for safety?

[Maryam Rajavi]

As I showed you in the photograph, in the present situation, with the possibility of missile attacks, they are really important, because these trailers have no protection whatsoever. Any kind of missile attack will turn into shrapnel from trailers and bring more casualties among the residents. Had it not been for the few bunkers they had in the past missile attacks, more people would have been killed and more injured. If we could increase the number of T-walls and bunkers, there would definitely be, even in the case of another attack, fewer casualties. They have a really significant role. Thank you.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Ms. Rajavi, this year you've talked about a medical blockade. Colonel Martin mentioned the fact that at times they wouldn't even allow you to remove the garbage from the site so that you could have sanitary living conditions.

Has there been any international personnel able to visit Camp Liberty in the last couple of months, this year, in 2014?

[Maryam Rajavi]

Unfortunately, the Iraqi government does not allow independent international personalities to go there.

In January 2013, two legal representatives of the residents from the United States went to Iraq to visit them. Even the United States embassy and UNAMI were trying to help them. They went to the gate of Liberty, but even though they were the lawyers and the legal representatives of the residents, they were not allowed into the camp to meet their residents.

They are not allowing anyone to go into the camp. There have been delegations from the United States wanting to visit, but they did not allow them. I know there are delegations from the European Parliament and the British Parliament that have asked to be allowed to go to Baghdad and visit the camp, but so far they have been refused.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Wayne Marston]

Thank you, Mr. Sweet.

We'll go now to the final round of questioning, to Mr. Benskin of the official opposition.

[Tyrone Benskin, NDP, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Thank you for your testimony. Thank you for your words of insight.

With what you've been telling us about in terms of the collusion, for lack of a better way of putting it, between the Iranian government and the Iraqi government, what do you believe is the deterrent? This will seem like a cold question, but what is the deterrent at this point that has stopped an all-out assault on Camp Ashraf as far as Iran's seeming determination is concerned to eliminate the residents of Camp Ashraf?

What do you feel has been the deterrent to date?

[Maryam Rajavi]

That is a very good question.

I think the main reason is the international campaign that has been waged to expose the crimes committed against the people, and I must say your own role in having all these testimonies are exerting pressure on the Government of Iraq. The Government of Iraq wants to show that it's part of the family of nations, that it's a democratic country. That's what they want to portray. Therefore, they can be influenced by international pressure. Through this international campaign and concern, we have managed to prevent so far, as you said, a comprehensive assault by the Iraqi forces through the Iranian regime by making the price very high for the Iraqi government. The Iraqi government is trying to portray that it doesn't want these attacks to take place but there are other rogue groups that are doing it.

I must also say that the presence of UNHCR and the UN, although they have not fully fulfilled their obligations, is nevertheless a deterrent. For example, now UN observers are visiting the camp on a daily basis or every other day. Of course, the residents were promised that they would be there 24/7. This is one of the breaches by the UN, not being present on a 24-hour basis, but still, their daily visits are important. That's why I said that a 24/7 presence of UN observers could be a very preventive measure and a deterrent to attacks on Camp Liberty. This is something we can demand from the United Nations and try to encourage them to do. If you look, they carry out their attacks at a time when the observers are not present in the camp.

[Tyrone Benskin, NDP, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Thank you.

To just follow up on a remark that you made in regard to the finalization of the Iraqi elections, you suggested that one of the reasons the Iraqi government has pulled back a bit in working with the Iranian government is their focus on the Iraqi elections.

Is there a fear or concern on your part that after the election process has been concluded in Iraq, the types of attacks that were happening before will escalate again in Camp Liberty?

[Maryam Rajavi]

Yes, we are concerned. Absolutely, we are concerned. Based on information, we are expecting that there will be more attacks.

[Tyrone Benskin, NDP, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

How best do you feel that Canada and the international community can aid the work in preventing an escalation in attacks?

[Maryam Rajavi]

That is an excellent question.

I would like to repeat that I think the most important first step is an international investigation into the crimes that have already been committed, in particular into the massacre of September 1, 2013, because it draws attention to this issue. I really urge you to also call upon the Canadian government to initiate such an investigation on the international scene. Also, I think it's very important that, through the United Nations, efforts be made to set up a commission to bring to justice those who perpetrated these crimes. These are all preventive measures. They could be very effective in preventing further attacks. As I said, had there been a really comprehensive investigation into previous attacks, I'm confident that the following massacres would not have occurred.

Your committee could also play a leading role in promoting this idea and calling on the Canadian government to urge the UN to also take responsibility for the protection of the residents so long as they are in Iraq and people who are relocated outside Iraq, if necessary, and to have a unit of blue helmets there to provide them protection.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Wayne Marston]

Thank you, Mr. Benskin. That worked out to 10 seconds over.

This concludes the question portion of our meeting.

President Rajavi, I want to thank you for the insight you've offered today. With the previous testimony we had, that will certainly help us balance out and understand the issues somewhat better.

Thank you very much.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're adjourned.