Sunday, November 6, 2016

Call for prosecution of those responsible for the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran




Call for prosecution of those responsible for the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran


To:  All individuals and NGO’s who support a free and democratic Iran









4 November 2016 Statement


Call for prosecution of those responsible for the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran and the ongoing genocide of thousands of Iranians to date, as a crime against humanity

Coinciding with the escalation in recent weeks of arbitrary executions in Iran, revelations of new details on the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 have shocked the Iranian society. 

On August 9, the son of the late Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri posted an audio recording online, dating to the time when Montazeri was still the next in line for the supreme leadership. In it, he described the massacre in vivid detail, condemned the members of the “death commission” appointed by Khomeini as the perpetrators of the Islamic Republic’s greatest crime, and effectively broke with the regime, turning himself from heir-apparent into enemy of the state. 

According to a former deputy to the Ministry of Intelligence, 33,700 political prisoners were executed in the massacre carried out on Khomeini's orders in July 1988. A former official of the presidential office put the total at more than 20,000. 

Khomeini declared in his Fatwa: “As the treacherous Hypocrites [Mojahedin] do not believe in Islam and their statements are rooted in deception and hypocrisy, and as their leaders have confessed that they have become renegades, and as they are waging war on God, … it is decreed that those who are in prison throughout the country and remain steadfast in their support for the Hypocrites are waging war on God and are condemned to execution.” 

Ayatollah Montazeri wrote three letters of protest to Khomeini and the death commission, warning "the massacre of thousands of people in just a few days" would have adverse consequences. The Mojahedin represent “an idea and a way of thinking,” he wrote, and “their credibility will be enhanced” by the killings. 

Many of those condemned had been previously sentenced to prison terms. They were either serving or had even completed their sentences. Other execution victims arrested in the wake of Khomeini's decree were prisoners who had been released, or people with family ties to PMOI members. 

Amnesty International wrote that 10 people were executed almost every day between August and December 1988. Later, prisoners learned that the same was going on in other prisons. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues have declared the massacre a crime against humanity.

While U.S. policymakers and lawmakers are focused on reversing Iran’s nuclear threat, Iran continues to pose other serious challenges to America’s national security interests and core values.  This fact sheet focuses on Iran’s human rights record since Hassan Rouhani assumed the regime’s presidency under Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei.


I.  General  Overview

The Iranian regime’s systematic violations of human rights have continued since President Hassan Rouhani assumed office in August 2013.  As the U.S. State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices  in February 2014:  “The most egregious human rights problems were the government’s manipulation of the electoral process, which severely limited citizens’ right to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections; restrictions on civil liberties, including the freedoms of assembly, speech, and press; and disregard for the physical integrity of persons 
whom it arbitrarily and unlawfully detained, tortured, or killed.

Under Rouhani, Iran  roughly 900 political prisoners, including reform activists, human rights defenders, journalists and bloggers, and students.  Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran, warned in a March 2014 statement:  “hundreds of individuals reportedly remain in some form of confinement for exercising their fundamental rights; including some 39 journalists and bloggers, 92 human rights defenders, 179 Baha’i, 98 Sunni Muslims, 49 Christians, and 14 Dervish Muslims.  It is also distressing that the leaders of the Green Movement, Mr. Mir Hussain Mosavi and Mr. Mehdi Keroubi remain in detention after three years in the absence of 
charges.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported in December 2013 that the Iranian regime “continued to make new arrests and to condemn minority and reformist journalists to lengthy prison sentences despite the election in June of a new president, Hassan Rouhani,” adding that Iranian authorities were holding at least 35 journalists in prison, the second-highest total in the world. 

Being an LGBT person in Iran “may be punishable by death or flogging.”  As the U.S. State  Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices noted in February 2014:  “The law [in Iran] criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual activity, which may be punishable by death or flogging.  Security forces harassed, arrested, and detained individuals they suspected of being gay.  In some cases security forces raided houses and monitored internet sites for information on LGBT persons.  Those accused of sodomy often faced summary trials, and evidentiary standards were not 
always met.”

The Iranian regime executed more people per capita than any other country, executing as many as 687 people in 2013—an increase of 165 over the prior year.  In March 2014, Reuters quoted Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran, as saying:  "I am still at a loss to understand how a reformist president should be in office and see such a sharp rise in executions.  The government hasn't given an explanation, which I would like to hear.”

The United Nations cited an increase in the rate of executions in Iran under Rouhani’s presidency in the second half of 2013.  As the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) noted in an April 2014 report:  “An escalation in executions, including of political prisoners and individuals belonging to ethnic minority groups such as Baloch, Ahwazi Arabs and Kurds, was notable in the second half of 2013.  At least 500 persons are known to have been executed in 2013, including 57 in public.  According to some sources, the figure may be as high as 625.”

Hashem Shaabani Nejad, an Iranian poet, was executed in January for charges that included “waging war on god.”  As the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) reported in January 2014:  “According to an IHRDC source, intelligence officials called the homes of these two individuals on January 29 and informed their families that they have been executed.  The second branch of the Ahvaz Islamic Revolutionary Court had sentenced them to death on charges of muharibih (or ‘waging war on God’), sowing corruption on earth, propaganda against the Islamic Republic and acting against national security.  Mr. Rashedi and Mr. Sha’baninejad were teachers from the town of Ramshir in Khuzestan Province.”

Under Rouhani, Iranian authorities have executed more than two people per day in 2014.  As Iran Human Rights reported in June 2014:  “at least 320 prisoners have been executed in 2014 in Iran. Iranian official sources have announced at least 147 executions in the period between 1  January and 1 June 2014.  In addition, more than 180 executions have been reported by human rights groups and not announced by the official sources.  Based on these numbers, the Iranian authorities have executed in average, more than 2 people every day in the first five months of 2014.  This is despite the fact that there has been a 3 week’s halt in the executions around the Iranian New Year in March.”


II.  Religious Persecution and Political Repression

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s 2014 Annual Report listed Iran among the worst violators of religious freedom, writing:  “The government of Iran continues to engage in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, including prolonged detention, torture, and executions based primarily or entirely upon the religion of the accused.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated in its World Report 2014 that the Iranian regime “denies freedom of religion to adherents of the Baha’i faith, Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, and discriminates against them.”  In May 2014, HRW reported:  “The Baha’i International Community says that as of December 2013, there are 136 Baha’is that are in prison in Iran solely on religious grounds.  Among those are the seven former Baha’i leaders, who are nearly six years into 20-year sentences in a trial that fell short of international standards.”

Iran has kept under house arrest leading opposition figures such as Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi whom the regime detained after they called for street protests in February 2011. As Human Rights Watch stated in January 2014:  “Authorities have released some prominent political prisoners but executions continued at high rates.  Officials continued to detain many civil society activists and leading opposition figures, including the 2009 presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi; and the government denied entry to the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Iran.”

Neither candidate has been charged with a crime.  As the Guardian reported in May 2014:  “Both Mousavi and Karroubi are suffering age-related medical complications:  both are over 70 and were taken to hospital a number of times last year.  Neither has been put on trial nor publicly charged....”
Iran’s judiciary and laws are used by the regime in Tehran to silence perceived critics.  As Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran, said in March 2014:  “Iran is still overlaid by very draconian, as it were, sorts of practices in the judiciary, the intelligence officials (and) the Revolutionary Guard in a system that is actually working to suppress the rights of people.”
Iranian authorities use cruel and degrading punishments prohibited under international law.  The U.N.’s April 7th Report of the Secretary-General states:  “The recurrence of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, such as amputation of limbs and flogging remains a cause for concern.  The judiciary has frequently applied punishments which are prohibited by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a State party.  The revised Islamic Penal Code provides for limb amputations for offences including muharaba [enmity or war against God] and theft, and flogging for drinking alcohol, theft and certain sexual offences.”

Laws are “seemingly flouted by individuals and groups with impunity.”  Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran, warned in March 2014 that “despite the existence of laws and provisions, in practice these laws are seemingly flouted by individuals and groups with impunity.”

International lawmakers warn Rouhani’s appointee as justice minister has been implicated in major human rights abuses.  As Irwin Cotler, Member of the Canadian Parliament, wrote in May 2014:  “There is a complete absence of judicial independence and rule of law in Iran. Indeed, the entire legal system is designed to enable and enforce the regime’s massive repression of human rights, and underpinning a culture of impunity for its violators.  In this regard, it is outrageous that Rouhani’s appointee as justice minister is Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi – a man implicated in a litany of major human rights violations, including the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners.”

In April 2014 dozens in the political prisoner block of Tehran’s Evin Prison were beaten, denied medical care, or placed in solitary confinement, according to reports.  As Amnesty International stated in May 2014:  “According to information available to Amnesty International, prison guards blindfolded and handcuffed many prisoners before forcing them to run the gauntlet of the ‘baton tunnel’, where they were repeatedly struck on their backs, heads and faces.  Some were then taken by minibus to another section of Evin Prison, Section 240, which is used to hold prisoners in solitary confinement.  They did not receive medical attention, despite their injuries, but rather were subjected to forcible shaving of their heads and facial hair and then placed in solitary confinement.”

The Iranian regime continues to limit the public’s freedom of expression and public access to information.  As the National Endowment for Democracy’s Center for International Media Assistance reported in March 2014:  “The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’s elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, command one of the world’s most extensive Internet tracking and censorship operations.  For years, Twitter, Facebook, and millions of smaller websites have been blocked.  Internet users have been dogged by surveillance, intimated by cyber police, and arrested for their online activities, particularly those deemed to be critical of the government or contrary to official interpretations of Islam.”

Freedom House’s 2014 report Freedom in the World rated Iran “not free,” writing:  “Freedom of expression is severely limited.  The government directly controls all television and radio broadcasting.  Satellite dishes are popular, despite being illegal.  Censorship, both official and self-imposed, is widespread, and cooperation with Persian-language satellite news channels based abroad is banned.”

Attacks against online users in Iran are on the rise.  As the National Endowment for Democracy’s Center for International Media Assistance noted in March 2014:  “When Rouhani won a surprise victory in June 2013, optimism swept the Iranian blogosphere…  Months later, hope for a freer Internet has faded.  Attacks against online users are escalating and, so far, the president has not spoken out publicly in their behalf. ‘Censorship of the Internet has only gotten worse, but it’s more and more clear that Rouhani does not have complete control over this process,’ said cyber security expert Collin Anderson who has conducted research on Iran’s Internet infrastructure.”

In May 2014, the Iranian regime reportedly sentenced eight Facebook users to prison terms ranging between 7 and 20 years.  As The New York Times reported on May 27th:  “Kaleme, an opposition website based abroad, reported on Tuesday that a judge in a Tehran revolutionary court had convicted eight Facebook users of numerous offenses, including propaganda against the state, insulting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, blasphemy and spreading falsehoods.  All were arrested by the cybercrime unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards during 2013, the website reported, and received unusually tough sentences, ranging from 7 to 20 years.”


III. Deceptive Maneuver of Changing the Law and Reducing the Number of Executions by the Mullahs

In a deceptive maneuver that has been started since several years ago mullah Pour Mohammadi, Rouhani's Minister of Justice, underscoring the fact that death penalty cannot be ignored said, " the number of death penalties and its application should be reviewed.... However, death penalty continues to be in the agenda but not as much as it is being done nowadays" (ILNA, state news agency- 29 October 2016). Coincident with the General Assembly session, he is repeating this crude pledge while the regime sent to the gallows 77 people just in this September.

Pour Mohammadi  is one of the members of Death Committee in Tehran in the course of political prisoners massacre in 1988. Defending such a crime against humanity, he said two months ago, " we are proud to have implemented the God's law against the PMOI, and stood firm in the face of the enemies of God and the nation... There should be no mercy for the Monafeqin (the term used by the regime for PMOI members and supporters)."

There is no doubt that the remarks of Pour Mohammadi and other regime's officials are on the one hand to prevent ratification of a strong resolution by the UN General Assembly condemning violation of human rights in Iran, and on the other hand because of the regime's fear of growing public opposition to executions. Accordingly, the time has come for the international community to hold the religious fascism ruling Iran accountable for its crimes, and to prevent it from continuing repression, instead of falling prey to it hollow maneuvers and making concessions to it by helping it get released out of the corner and encourage it to continue executions and killings.

Since two years ago the leaders of the Iranian regime have pledged repeatedly that the number of executions will be reduced by changing the law. Coincident with the sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations, or on the eve of the regime's sham elections, such lies, extremely needed more than before by the regime's appeasers to justify their deals with the regime, are being heard more and more.

Also, in these days that the Justice Seeking movement for 30,000 martyrs of the 1988 massacre is getting widespread, the mullahs' regime is in more need of such ridiculous maneuvers.

In his report to the current session of General Assembly regarding the human rights in Iran, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon worte, "since 2009, there has been a pattern of executions dropping significantly before polling day then dramatically increasing afterwards."

JavadLarijani, in charge of the so-called human rights in the regime", told France 24 two years ago, "we have this much drug-related crimes according to the existing law which they are receiving capital punishment. We are crusading to change this law and if we are successful to pass it in the parliament almost 80 percent of the executions would go away and it is a big news for us." (5 December 2014)

Seventy days ago he said, "we are against full removal of capital punishment because for some very dangerous crimes there should be capital punishment. Furthermore, there are cases such as castigation that is related to divine Law. Even regarding drug-related crimes, we do not advocate full removal of capital punishment, rather we are after reviewing the law…reviewing drug law is not equivalent to removal of death penalty. ...one of the issues for which we execute capital punishment is of course the issue of castigation that... we are very proud of." (state media- 23 August 2016)

The regime's parliament (Majlis) has also participated in this deceptive and ridiculous maneuver for the last 2 years. Mohammad Ali Esfanani, the spokesman of the Majlis judicial committee, talked two years ago about the bill of reduction of capital punishment. He said, "the idea of reducing capital punishment about drug-related crimes will be definitely welcomed by many in Majlis.... At the same time the legal and judicial committee of Majlis in the Code of Criminal Procedure that is going to be enforced from July 2015 has referred to commutation of the punishment for drug-related crimes." (IRNA news agency- 23 December 2014)

Last year and coincident with the session of General Assembly, Mir HadiGharaseyyedRoomiani, member of the judicial committee board of directors of Mjlis informed that more than 70 MPs had signed for the plan of removal of capital punishment from the drug law and said, "By ratifying this plan, capital punishment will be implemented only in armed smuggling cases." He added, "Once this plan has been ratified, all prisoners who are currently in prison will be released." (state media- 8 December 2015)

Once again this same disgusting game was repeated this fall when the General Assembly started. Mullah Hassan Nowrouzi, the spokesman of Majlis legal and judicial committee, informed of the plan of commutation of capital punishment signed by 100 MPs. He said, "Today this plan is going to be presented to the parliament's board of directors." He reiterated, "This plan will cover only those individuals who have carried drugs for the first time or a small amount of it." (Tasnim- Quds Force news agency, 4 October 2016)

A month later on 30 October 2016, this same mullah said in his interview with the regime's radio and TV news agency, "We presented a plan with 76 signatures to the Majlis board of directors today which says individuals who have carried drugs or were fallen prey to drug traffickers, provided that they do not have criminal record, should not be executed," however "those who act as a gang and have criminal record are referred to as corrupt on earth and should be eliminated and executed…we are not against destroying corrupt on earth." 

IV.  Iranian Regime at it’s weakest

These deceptive maneuvers as well as a number of cosmetic decisions taken by the Iranian Regime lately are indicative of the weakness and fragile situation of a regime that is deeply scared of frustrated people uprising, and has no way forward and no way back in the deadlock of increasing domestic and international crises.

The Iranian military is currently at its weakest and incapable of any real military action while most of the atrocities are carried out by puppets and officials close to the clerical regime.

NOW THEREFORE

We, the undersigned NGO’s and Organizations, ask everyone’s support and assistance to demand from the United Nations:

1.       to strongly condemn the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran, as well as the continuing killing and execution of the Iranian people and to put a stop to the ongoing genocide in that country.   

2.       to establish a truth commission about this massacre and the ongoing prosecution of the Iranian people. 

3.   UN High Commissioner on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council, the UN General Assembly and Security Council to put the investigation into this atrocity on their agenda, and to bring to justice its perpetrators and masterminds before the International Criminal Court.

The time to act and to restore a democratic and free Iran, free from the shackles of an oppressive and draconic theocratic government, is NOW. 


Kindest Regards
Stes de Necker









Int. Dipl. Ambassador
4 November 2016


For and on behalf of the following 103 International NGO’s

Note:  This declaration only binds the NGO’s who have signed the Statement. 


1

International Monitoring Commission for Human Rights
2

Islamic Middle Party Jordan
3

MunshiPrem Chandra memorial children committee- India
4

NCPC - The National Coalition Party of Canada
5

Online media for innovative independent humanitarian projects around the world on topics including national and international politics.
6

Global peace & human rights advocate
7

International Criminal Court Alliance Los Angeles, California
8

Lawyers Union for Democratic and Legal Studies Egypt
9

Sangram,Jharkhand (fight for right)-India
10

Lavinia Dickinson Project.-Italy
11

People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR)- India
12

Association of Democratic Jurists (ANGD) Italy
13

Beihani Association Yemen
14

Consultancy to establish International Human Rights & Peace concerns Organization.Pakistan
15

Human Rights for women and children- Jordan
16

Movement for Justice Peace & Human Rights International-Pakistan
17

ICBC International Committee of the Blue Cross and Blue Crescent
18

Muslim & non-Muslim unity and development association-Philippines
19

National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedom (HOOD) Yemen.
20

New Indian Women Development Association.
21

Pox Christi Australia.
22

Planet of the arts of diplomacy and activism for human rights Civil Rights and Social Justice
23

Tunisia Green Party Tunisia
24

Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)-Geneva
25

World Academy Human Of Sciences.-Italy
26

Diplomatic Embassy to the service of peace between Nations and human promotion.-Italy
27

Association Amis des Enfants Australia (Friends Association for Children Australia)
28

World Interfaith Harmony Week –India.
29

World Students' Peace Federation Pakistan
30

International Human Right Council - IHRC
31

Italian Association of Democratic Lawyers Italy
32

Muslims/Non-Muslims Affairs. AtSPMUDA INTERNATIONAL
33

The World Peace Committee- India
34

loyal Foundation-Uganda
35

Poets for Human Rights International Group
36

Syrian Continuous Development Center Egypt
37

Blue Cross and Blue Crescent Society
38

Human Rights and Democracy Media Center (SHAMS) Palestine.
39

World academy of Human Sciences – Italy.
40

Press Ambassadress for Human Rights.
41

Socionomic Rural Urban Development India - SRUDI
42

Overseas Pakistan solidarity
43

The Center for Public Integrity
44

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)
45

Council of inter Parliament Organizations, IGO-Lebanon
46

The National Press Club
47

United Refugee Green Council- Italy
48

World Peace Committee, Nigeria
49

WSPF - World Students Peace Federation
50

Association in Defense of Human Rights (LADDH) Algeria
51

GREEN AVENUE ORGANIZATION-south Sudan
52

HaiyaAlalFalah Educational Welfare Society- India
53

Association of Human Rights (APDHE) Spain
54

Association of International Humanitarian Noble Academy-IHUNA Italy
55

Association Watching The Sky Genoa, Italy
56

Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan & member of the SOS-Network of OMCT Azerbaijan
57

International Commission of Diplomatic Relations Human Rights and Peace
58

Africa Youth Network for Justice, Peace & Progress(AYNJPP) Togo
59

International Society for Human Rights (ISHRA) Australia
60

Rainbird Foundation-Non-profit organization-at Madison, Wisconsin
61

International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) Bangladesh
62

ST.PAUL'S VOICE CENTRE OF UGANDA
63

HE Rjiba Maher - Foundation Rjiba
64

Freedom House Foundation (FHF) Yemen
65

Humanitarian causes for culture of world peace Palestine
66

world aid organizations for human rights United nation- India
67

world aid organizations for human rights United nationSouthern Philippines
68

World Peace Committee (WPC) Malaysia
69

People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) India
70

Forum for rights of weavers and artisans - India
71

Human Rights - diplomacy and activism for human rights Civil Rights and Social Justice
72

Human Rights Organization (OMDH) Morocco
73

Reform and Development Party (RDP) Egypt
74

Humanitarian Noble Academy-IHUNA - Italy
75

Arab Penal Reform Organization (APRO) Egypt
76

African League Organization-South Africa
77

Global Media for Human Civil Rights and Social Justice
78

Kanoni Foundation - Uganda
79

EveryOne Group Genoa, Italy
80

We Care for Humanity-United States
81

Diplomatic Commission Africa
82

AlfagrElgadeed Center for Studies and Human Rights Egypt
83

Alwatan Center Palestine
84

Yemen Center for Civil Rights (YCCR) Yemen
85

International Diplomatic Ambassador and FOCL South Africa
86

Solidarity Party Syria.
87

Foundation For Peace Professionals- Nigeria
88

Global Media For Human Rights - Media/News/Publishing
89

Global Peace & Human Rights Activist-India
90

Savitri Bai Phule memorial women forum- India
91

ABA's International Criminal Court Project CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE Brazil
92

International Command of the Blue Cross & Blue Crescent Corps
93

Reporters without Borders
94

Angel Intergovernmental Organization Italy
95

International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) Nigeria
     96

Christian Democracy Tuscia - Viterbo provincial Department.-South Africa
     97

International Parliament for Safety and Peace
     98

Human Rights Organization , Bhagalpur
     99

God Believers Association (GBA) India
  100

Citizens Watch Russia
  101
  102
  103

International Commission of Diplomatic Relations Human Rights and Peace- Egypt
Council of inter Parliament Organizations, IGO-Lebanon
St. Paul's Voice Centre of Kampala Uganda



Friday, October 21, 2016

51 years of resistance of The People’s Mojahedin of Iran - History of Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty







(The post- Shah Pahlavi era)

History of Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty

A Victory for Humanity


Stes de Necker
International Diplomatic Ambassador and
President of Friends of Camp Liberty




Introduction

 
People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) is the oldest, largest, and most popular resistance organization in Iran. The PMOI was founded in September 1965 by three Iranian engineers who sought to replace the Shah’s repressive monarchy with a democratic government. 

The PMOI enjoys broad popularity in Iran because of its longstanding support for democracy and freedom.

The People’s Mojahedin participated in a united front against the Shahs monarchy, which violently opposed democratic reforms and had one of the worst human rights records in the world.

Demonstrations against the Shah commenced in October 1977, developing into a campaign of civil resistance that included both secular and religious elements and which intensified in January 1978.
Between August and December 1978 strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the country. The Shah left Iran for exile on January 16, 1979, as the last Persian monarch, leaving his duties to a regency council and an opposition-based prime minister.

After the Shah fled Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini was invited back to Iran by the government, and returned to Tehran to a greeting by several million Iranians. 

The PMOI/MEK worked to establish a democratic government, but Ayatollah Khomeini hijacked the Revolution and instead created an Islamic theocracy.

The royal reign collapsed shortly after on February 11, 1979 when guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed troops loyal to the Shah in armed street fighting, bringing Khomeini to official power.
Iran voted by national referendum to become an Islamic Republic on April 1, 1979, and to approve a new theocratic-republican constitution whereby Khomeini became Supreme Leader of the country, in December 1979.

The PMOI shifted course and directed its opposition against the Ayatollah, continuing its struggle to restore democracy in Iran.

On June 20, 1981, the PMOI organized rallies across Iran to protest Khomeini’s oppressive rule. More than a half million Iranians attended the demonstration in Tehran but Khomeini brutally suppressed the half a million people demonstration in Tehran and the resistance against the Khomeini regime.   On direct fatwa by Khomeini, the Hezbollah blocked off streets and fired into the growing crowds, killing hundreds of Iranians and injuring many more. Thousands of Iranians were arrested.

The reign of terror had begun

The largest 2009 uprising protests attracted crowds of more than 100,000 people in Tehran. Paramilitary Basij and police attacked the demonstrators with batons, pepper spray, and guns. Hundreds were arrested, and dozens were killed and wounded.

Camp Ashraf

Camp Ashraf was created in 1986, after the PMOI leadership relocated from France to Iraq.
Camp Ashraf has for over 25 years been home to thousands of members and sympathizers of Iran's main opposition group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

The camp is situated north of the Iraqi town of Al-Khalis in Diyala Province, about 44 miles from Iran's Western border.

It began as barren land with only a handful of deserted buildings and no facilities, paved roads, or running water. Over 25 years, however, Ashraf was built by its residents into a modern city with a complex of roads and buildings with many educational, social and sports facilities, and it became the PMOI's main enclave in Iraq.

Camp Ashraf, was named after Ashraf Rajavi, a famous political prisoner at the time of the Shah who was among the last group of political activists released from the Shah’s prisons in 1979.

One remarkable characteristic of Ashraf is the presence of thousands of people who have freely chosen to come to Ashraf with only one goal and desire—to dedicate their lives to their people’s freedom from the clutches of the mullahs’ terrorist religious dictatorship.

Prior to the 2003 U.S.-led war in Iraq, the PMOI publicly declared its neutrality and played no part in 2003 Iraq War

In April 2003, US forces signed a cease-fire agreement with the PMOI and the residents of Ashraf  Protected Persons Status under the 4th Geneva Convention

After an extensive 16-month investigation of every member of the PMOI in Camp Ashraf by seven different US government agencies that began after the US agreement, PMOI members were found not to have violated  any US law [New York Times, July 27, 2004]

The US led Multi-National Force - Iraq (MNF-I) formally recognized all the residents of Camp Ashraf as "Protected Persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention [Coalition Statement, July 2004], and U.S. forces took up their protection.

The MNF-I reiterated its obligations towards Ashraf residents under the 4th Geneva Convention on numerous occasions.

This can be seen in a February 16, 2006 letter by the then-Deputy Commanding General, and it is also specified in the October 7, 2005, letter by Maj. Gen. William Brandenburg which says: "The residents of Camp Ashraf have the right to protection from danger, violence, coercion, and intimidation, and to special protection for the dignity and rights of women."

In January 2009, despite strong opposition by the residents and several legal opinions by distinguished jurists, the camp's security was transferred to Iraq without the necessary credible guarantees. The US stated that the Government of Iraq has given written guarantee respecting the rights of the residents.

On July 2009 and April 2011, the Iraqi Army under the direct order of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched deadly attacks on Camp Ashraf.

The first attack left 11 Ashraf residents dead and nearly 500 wounded.

The second attack during 2011 - described by then U.S. Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as a "massacre" - left 36 dead and hundreds wounded. The attacks drew widespread condemnation from the international community.

Since 2009, the camp has been under a barbaric siege where delivery of food, fuel and medicine has been hampered and visits by family members, human rights organizations, residents' lawyers, and independent journalists have been disallowed.

Camp Liberty

Following an agreement between Ambassador Martin Kobler of UNAMI and the Government of Iraq, and at the behest of the Iranian regime, Ashraf residents were subject to a forced eviction and involuntary relocation to Camp Liberty, a former U.S.-base in Baghdad.

Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Iraq, misled the residents and the international community by repeated assurances about the residents welfare and protection at the new site which has proved to be blatantly false.

In 2012, some 3,200 residents were moved to Camp Liberty, but Iraq has denied them freedom of movement, basic humanitarian needs, and the right to transfer or sell most of their property.Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Iraq (SRSG), gave the residents repeated assurances about their welfare and protection at the new site. But the Government of Iraq (GoI) has imposed a siege on the camp and denied them the right to transfer or sell most of their property.

In violation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Iraq and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Camp Liberty lacks human rights standards and was considered a prison from every aspect.

The area of the camp is half a square kilometre, and it is run by Iraqi Col. Sadeq Mohammad Kazem, who is wanted by a Spanish court for ordering his troops to open fire on Ashraf residents in the massacres of July 2009 and April 2011.

There is a central police station and at least five other police posts and uninterrupted patrols in the small camp. Surveillance cameras have been installed in various areas of the camp to control all commuting inside. The signals from these eavesdropping devices and spying cameras are transmitted to the Iranian regime, leading to serious security threats to the residents and their families in Iran.

Residents have no freedom of movement, and Iraq has banned them from having access to their relatives, human rights activists, parliamentarians, reporters and any foreign visitor in Liberty or Ashraf.

Heavy medical restrictions are imposed on the camp residents, and this has led to the death of two residents by the start of 2013. The ground is gravel, and there are no pavements. The Iraqi Government (GoL)does not permit contractors into the camp to build stable ramp entries for the disabled.

Residents are not allowed to use machinery and the GoI prevents them from transferring their forklifts from Ashraf to move items and do construction work in Camp Liberty. The residents were forced to carry heavy loads by hand leading to numerous injuries.

Iraq refuses to connect the camp to the national electricity grid, and the few power generators that are in the camp were dilapidated. By December 2012, Liberty residents had paid $3.5 million for fuel for generators at the camp to provide electricity and $2.5 million for a water supply project.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on 23 November 2012 described conditions at Camp Liberty as synonymous with that of a detention centre and in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

This was the second opinion adopted by the Working Group detailing abuses at the camp. Another opinion issued on 17 July 2012 found similar abuses taking place.

Mr. Tahar Boumedra, SRSG's advisor on Ashraf affairs, who was responsible for Ashraf at the UNAMI for three and a half years resigned in May 2012 in protest to Martin Kobler’s attempts to cover up violations of human rights at Camp Liberty. In two shocking testimonies at the U.S. Congress on 13 September 2012 and the UK Parliament on 11 December 2012, Mr. Boumedra revealed how Ambassador Kobler would manipulate reports to cover up the abuses.

Instead of designating Camp Liberty as a refugee camp, the camp has been illegally designated a “temporary transit location - TTL” to cover up the appalling lack of minimum standards for a refugee camp and violation of laws and regulations related to refugees and asylum seekers.

The term TTL applies to a camp which has a several-day or several-week passage for transferring refugees to third countries.

Many distinguished international jurists, Parliamentarians, former government officials, human rights advocates, and human rights organizations have urged the UN to urgently recognize Camp Liberty as an official Refugee Camp and accept responsibility for the residents’ protection and to ensure that their rights are respected under international law

Successful resettlement of Camp Liberty

Owing to the efforts of the Iranian Resistance, the United States Congress introduced a number of resolutions and passed legislation, obligating the U.S. Government to undertake the necessary measures to protect the residents of Liberty and to safely transfer them out of Iraq.

Similar resolutions and declarations were also adopted in the European Parliament, and in parliaments in the United Kingdom, as well as in other European and Middle Eastern countries.On July 19, 2016, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stated, “UNHCR is supporting a steady and growing stream of movements out of Iraq in coming months. It is hoped that the process will be completed well before year end. This progress has been achieved with the cooperation of the residents who have proceeded with the relocation process despite difficult circumstances, including the attack on 4 July 2016, which fortunately did not result in any casualties.”

On Friday September 9, 2016, the last 280 members of PMOI in Camp Liberty, left Iraq safely for Albania, marking the successful conclusion of the four-and-a-half-year-long process of relocating members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) to places of safety.

The relocation of the residents has not been achieved without cost, however. The regime used its influence with the Iraqi authorities to ensure that residents were not permitted to take any personal possessions and that collective resources were disposed of without compensation. 

In the course of the process to resettle Camp Liberty residents, Iraqi intelligence agents, acting at the behest of the Iranian regime’s ambassador to Iraq (a commander of the terrorist Quds Force), prevented the residents from taking with them their personal belongings, such as computers, radios, cell phones, and even electric shavers.

The goal of the Iranian regime was not to see the departure of PMOI members from Iraq; rather, it sought to annihilate or force them into surrender.

The victorious transfer of the PMOI members and regime’s major defeat in this regard, which takes place simultaneous with growing calls seeking justice for 30,000 political prisoners massacred in 1988, opens a new chapter for the Iranian people and the PMOI. 

After 4 years of heroic resistance and countless international efforts by thousands of Political dignitaries and Parliamentarians all over the globe, the history of Camps Ashraf and Liberty resulted in a victorious conclusion and resettlement that enjoyed international congratulations.