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

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Welcome to the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. Today is May 15, 2014, and this is our 28^th meeting.

We are continuing our study of the situation in Camp Ashraf.

Joining us by video conference from Paris is Maryam Rajavi from the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

Ms. Rajavi, I invite you to begin your testimony. Following your testimony we will have questions from the members of the committee.

[Maryam Rajavi, President-elect, National Council of Resistance of Iran]

Mr. Chairman, distinguished members, good day.

I would like to thank you for your attention to the ongoing human rights violations in Iran as well as the humanitarian crisis in Camp Liberty. I also want to express my deep appreciation for all of your efforts during Iran Accountability Week. Such efforts, as you said, sounds the alarm on the fourfold Iranian threat—nuclear, terrorist, incitement, and in particular the Iranian regime’s widespread and systematic violations of human rights.

The situation in Camp Liberty is directly linked to the political crisis in Iran. Indeed what is happening in Camp Liberty is the other side of the coin of suppression in Iran.

Since the U.S. handed over the security of Camp Ashraf to the Iraqi government, there were three attacks on Ashraf and three deadly missile attacks on Liberty with 116 residents killed by Iraqi forces, 1,350 injured, and seven still being held as hostages. It has now been eight months that they have been held as hostages. Twenty residents have also lost their lives due to medical blockade.

Many years of medical blockade continue to affect even those who have left Iraq. Razieh Kermanshahi died yesterday in Albania because for many years she had not received the proper medical care. Mohammad Babai passed away in Liberty on April 27 because of lack of medical care.

So far as the PMOI members are concerned, they are paying the price for their perseverance for freedom of the Iranian people. The religious fascism ruling Iran, engulfed by political, economic, and international crises, considers PMOI as the most serious threat to its rule. The PMOI is seen as the major force for change in Iran; therefore, the regime will not spare an opportunity to strike at this organization. For this reason, Liberty residents have become the prime targets of the regime’s atrocities.

I would like to address three aspects of the situation in Liberty that are very important: the security situation, living conditions, and the resettlement of the residents outside Iraq. The prime issue is a lack of security in the face of missile attacks on Camp Liberty. Trailers are overcrowded, with no protective walls or bunkers for the residents to take shelter at the time of missile attacks. They are completely defenceless and vulnerable. Iraq’s internal conflict and worsening security situation have increased the danger for the residents. Remarks by the Iraqi minister of justice on March 2 and Iraq’s ambassador in Tehran on April 27 regarding the extradition of PMOI members in Liberty is yet another indication of the dangerous situation of the residents.

The second issue is on the living conditions in Camp Liberty. The human rights of residents are being systematically violated. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in two reports have described Camp Liberty as a prison. Residents have no freedom of movement. They are denied the right to have family visits or meet their lawyers, and they are under medical blockade.

The Iraqi government is also trying to steal residents' property left at Camp Ashraf and has so far prevented them from selling their property.

The third issue is the resettlement of the residents. After two and a half years since the residents started relocation from Ashraf to Camp Liberty, only 10% of the 3,200 residents have been resettled outside Iraq, and the prospect for resettlement of the others looks dim, while all residents have been interviewed by UNHCR.

The question is, what to do now?

One, the first step is an independent international investigation into the killings, in particular the massacre of 52 residents and the abduction of seven on September 1, 2013. These are the photos of 52 persons who had been massacred on September 1 in Ashraf. Had there been an independent investigation about the first massacre, and had its perpetrators been brought to justice, we would not have seen the following massacres. Such investigation would be a preventive measure. Therefore, I urge you and the international human rights committee to call on the Government of Canada to initiate such an investigation by the relevant international authority.

Two, to prevent another Srebrenica, the international community must provide security for the residents so long as they are in Camp Liberty by stationing international observers and a unit of blue helmets in the camp. By offering financial and logistical support for such an initiative, the Government of Canada can remove all obstacles and excuses.

Three, violation of the residents’ human rights is part of the ongoing human rights violations in Iran. Families of the 3,000 Liberty residents in Iran are also suffering. Many of them have been arrested, abused, and some have been executed. A number of them are on death row. This matter must be addressed at the UN Security Council. I call on the Canadian government to raise this matter in the third committee of the UN.

Four, the Government of Canada can play an active role in the relocation of the residents by accepting a group of refugees from Camp Liberty and contributing to the cost of the relocation, and encouraging countries such as Albania to take more refugees.

In the end, I would like to thank the Government of Canada and Parliament for their firm position towards the Iranian regime. In recent years, the government cutting off diplomatic ties with the mullahs’ regime and parliamentarians’ support for the Iranian resistance have been heartwarming for our people in their efforts to achieve freedom.

The regime has intensified suppression because it feels more vulnerable. Despite claims of moderation by the regime’s president, there have been more executions over the past year compared with any other year in the past 25 years.

Last month political prisoners in the Evin prison were brutally attacked by prison guards. The mullahs have intensified their attacks on Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty. In such circumstances, Canada's support for human rights in Iran, freedom, and Iranian resistance is more effective than at any other time. Our objective is a free and democratic Iran, a republic based on separation of religion and state, with gender equality and the rule of law, a new Iran with no discrimination against religious or ethnic minorities, and a non-nuclear Iran.

Thank you for your attention. I would like to hear your views. Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you very much for your testimony.

We have enough time to have six-minute rounds of questions and answers. We'll begin with Ms. Grewal, followed by Mr. Marston.

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Thank you, Ms. Rajavi, for your presentation. Certainly all of us do appreciate it.

While there were many promises made to the residents of Camp Ashraf during the relocation by the UN, by the United States and Iraq to name a few, perhaps what is most concerning about these promises are the actual physical conditions in Camp Liberty itself.

Can you elaborate on the current conditions inside Camp Liberty, and how this limits the safety and security of the residents there?

[Maryam Rajavi]

If you would allow me, I'll continue in Persian.

This is a very important question because many commitments have been breached. The most important one is the security and protection of the residents in Camp Liberty. The reality is that Camp Liberty lacks any security. Residents are crammed in trailers without any protection.

I have photographs of the trailers that show they have absolutely no protection. If I can make a comparison, the top photograph is when the Americans were stationed in the camp. As you will see, all the trailers had been protected by large T-walls. The bottom photo is the present condition in Camp Liberty, without any protection whatsoever.

Also, when the Americans were stationed there, there was no such high density of population. At the same time, they had 17,500 T-walls to protect them. After the residents were relocated from Ashraf to Camp Liberty, all of the T-walls were removed from the camp by the Iraqis.

After two years of intensive efforts, the Iraqi government has only allowed about 700 T-walls to be installed in the camp so far. Only yesterday a bullet was fired at the camp, and because there was no protection, it hit one of the trailer walls and then went through the ceiling. One resident's head was injured. The lack of security in Camp Liberty and the immediate and serious threat that the residents are facing are alarming.

Unfortunately, Iraq does not even allow the residents, at their own expense, to get bunkers or to bring their own protective equipment, including protective vests and helmets that they have in Ashraf. The reality is that the residents are vulnerable to missile attacks.

Also, as you know, the security situation in Iraq has deteriorated in recent months. Recently we received information from inside Iran that the Iranian regime and the government of Maliki intend to attack Liberty and then claim that the opposition forces or rogue groups attacked the camp. Also, as you know, some of the conflicts between the opposition and the Iraqi forces are only a few kilometres away from Camp Liberty.

In terms of living conditions, Camp Liberty lacks the internationally recognized standards. That's despite the fact that over the past two years the residents have been working hard to improve the conditions in Liberty. Because of the restrictions imposed by the Iraqi government, they still do not have the basic needs of human life. For example, the grounds are all covered by gravel. There are no concrete buildings in the camp. The residents do not have the freedom of movement. As I said, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has described the camp as being a prison.

It's also very important to note that the residents do not have free access to medical treatment. As a result, 20 people have been killed.

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Camp Liberty was initially a kind of a temporary stop for residents of Camp Ashraf before the relocation, but with only 10% of residents, they were being resettled outside of Iraq in the span of two and a half years. The threat that Iran has made to other countries is to not accept the residents.

What action do you feel should be taken to advance the relocation process of Camp Ashraf residents?

[Maryam Rajavi]

You correctly said that the mullah regime does not want the residents of Camp Liberty to be relocated from Iraq to other countries. In this regard, Maliki's government is a puppet of the Iranian regime, the religious dictatorship ruling Iran. Therefore, they are really at risk because of the order given by the Iranian regime to the Maliki government.

I believe that the international community, and you in Canada, as a legitimate and respectable country, can be more active and play a bigger role in accepting a group of these people in Canada as refugees. Also, an important issue is other countries, such as Albania which is willing to take more people than the 240 they have already taken, being encouraged and helped to facilitate their taking more people.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you.

Mr. Marston, please.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

I'm pleased to address President Rajavi this morning.

Due to the fact that we have a television audience for this committee, a couple of points should be made.

Madam President is testifying today from Paris in exile.

The other thing is—and I'll ask you a direct question so that you can answer it—how long was Camp Ashraf in existence before the transition camp of Liberty was put in place?

[Maryam Rajavi]

Thank you very much for this clarifying question.

Camp Ashraf was in existence for almost 26 years. As you know, this was a barren land when the residents moved there. They built that into a modern city with their own hands. Based on Iraqi laws, they turned this barren land into a prosperous place and they had the right to stay there.

Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent to build that city. Now all the properties of the residents, both movable and immovable, are still there. Despite commitment by the UNAMI, the UN, the United States, and the Iraqi government that the residents and their representatives could sell this property in order to finance their relocation to outside Iran, they were not allowed to.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

I was trying to start a kind of line of questioning here, and it got moved just a little bit.

Last year—or I guess it's longer than that now; time does fly—we had testimony at this committee regarding the concerns about the safety of the people being moved from Ashraf to Liberty. You've described very well how Ashraf had developed into a reasonably safe community, but even then, it was under attack from time to time.

Our understanding at the time was that Camp Liberty would be a place where the UNHCR could do interviews. If I understood your testimony today, you said that those were all completed. Am I correct in that?

[Maryam Rajavi]

Yes, this is absolutely correct. UNHCR has finished all the interviews.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Again, for our televised audience, the interviews were to allow people from other countries to view these people in the camps for potential transfers to their countries.

Clearly, from your testimony today, that has only happened in a very, very modest way. You've stressed that you believe Iran has been involved by trying to persuade people not to take them. Do you see any other limitations that might have caused the lack of the transfers of the people to other countries? Is it that the receiving countries are reluctant to take them for other reasons? Would you expand on that, please?

[Maryam Rajavi]

The Iranian regime, both as you said and its media has said publicly, doesn't want to exert pressure on the European government not to accept that. Let me give you the background very quickly.

Back in September 2011 the UNHCR announced that all residents of Ashraf are asylum seekers and enjoy international protection, but Iraq did not allow them to have the interview for several months. It took six months before they could do the interview. As you said, they told the residents this was a temporary location and they would immediately be relocated. Even they said that this would be a revolving door, that people would go from Ashraf to Liberty outside Iraq.

They said that when 400 people went from Ashraf to Liberty, by the time they were relocated outside Iraq, then the next group could go, but as you know, after two years, only 10% have gone.

Albania has taken 240. Over 90 people have gone to Germany, and a few have gone to other European countries.

I think the UNHCR could have expedited the process by announcing right from the beginning that all these people were refugees. On the other hand, the Iranian regime is actively preventing that.

The regime's objective is really to kill these people in liberty.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

I'm going to barge in—

[Maryam Rajavi]

To answer your question, another reason is the policy of appeasement in some of the European countries prevented them from taking these refugees.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

If I could interrupt you for a second; I am sorry to do this, but I am almost out of time and I have a question that I think is important.

Do you have any direct evidence of direct Iranian physical force intervention at Ashraf or Liberty?

[Maryam Rajavi]

Yes. We have clear information with documents that show that people from the Iranian regime have been involved. I can provide you with some of these documents. Some of the Iranian regime officials have also acknowledged that.

Many of the orders to attack Liberty or put pressure on the residents, both in Ashraf and in Liberty, come from the Iranian embassy in Baghdad.

The Iraqi government has also announced that they are under pressure from the Iranian regime and this is what Iran demands from them. We know that people from the Quds Force are now very close to Camp Liberty.

As you know, Tahar Boumedra, who was formally in charge of Camp Ashraf, has publicly said that many of the decisions about the pressure on Ashraf and Liberty is taken in the Iranian embassy in Baghdad.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you.

Before we go to our next questioner, Ms. Rajavi, we would be very grateful if you could ask one of your assistants to send the documents to which you referred to our clerk, who will try to contact your office to get the relevant documentation.

[Maryam Rajavi]

Yes, of course. Okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Good. Okay.

We go now to our next questioner, Mr. Sweet.

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

Thank you, Ms. Rajavi, for being with us today and providing some very critical testimony regarding your people who have had to live through horrendous conditions. Many have not survived.

I want to go on with the kind of questioning my colleague was just making with regard to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. We have heard allegations that one of the reasons the processing is slow is that the groups of people of the PMOI are too large to move easily. In other words, they don't want to break down the family units and send them to different countries. Is there any truth to that?

[Maryam Rajavi]

This is absolutely false. There is absolutely no truth in it.

Just to give you a report, last week three people went to Spain. A couple of weeks ago, one person went to Norway. Some of the European countries have taken one, two, or three people. The residents have all accepted any offers that they have received.

Therefore, this is absolutely incorrect.

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

Thank you.

You mentioned on a couple of occasions here today, and Colonel Wesley Martin, who's been before this committee a number of times, has mentioned it as well, about the relationship between Iran and Iraq.

I think many people who are viewing our proceedings may not know the history. There has obviously been a lot of bloodshed in the past between Iraq and Iran, and your people came to Camp Liberty. Now there seems to be a collaboration.

Can you explain how this has transpired?

[Maryam Rajavi]

Yes.

Since the protection of Camp Ashraf, which from 2002 to 2009 was done by the American forces, was handed over to the Iraqi forces, the Iranian regime started its conspiracy in coordination with the Maliki government. As you know, Nouri al-Maliki owes his prime ministership to Khomeini and the religious dictatorship in Iran. In return, he promised the mullahs in Tehran that he would pursue the policies asked by the Iranian regime, particularly with regard to the people in Ashraf. For example, now the Iranian regime has influence over all security forces in Iraq. On one occasion they published the names and particulars of 32,000 Iraqis who are on the monthly payroll of the Iranian regime, the Quds Force.

For example, it has been over two weeks since the last election in Iraq, and the Iranian regime officials continue to intervene through the Quds Force in Iraq in order to have the governments that they want in Iraq.

In reality, it has been said that the true ruler of Iraq is Qassem Suleimani, commander in chief of the Quds Force. Even the American officials have acknowledged that 70% of the explosions in Iraq have been carried out by groups affiliated with the Quds Force. The undeniable reality is that the current government in Iraq is under the complete influence of the Iranian regime.

For the religious dictatorship, the real threat is through the Iranian resistance and the organized resistance who they want to.... They believe that if they can eliminate them, destroy their opposition in Camp Liberty or Camp Ashraf, then they can guarantee their survival in power. Therefore, all of their efforts are against these people, first in Ashraf and now in Liberty.

I must say that now even the Iranian regime is very much involved through the Quds Force in the internal conflicts in Iraq, and the Quds Force is playing a commanding role.

There is much information that I can provide to your committee later on. All of this can be sent to the committee.

I think the world knows that Maliki is now pursuing the policy under orders that he gets from the supreme leader in Iran, and the first demand is to destroy, torture, execute, and eliminate its opponents in Camp Liberty. As you know, one-third of the residents in Liberty have already been imprisoned in Iran as political prisoners and suffered torture. There are 1,000 witnesses to what has been happening in the Iranian jails.