Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNEWSRESISTANCEUN ‘tried to silence’ its former Iraqi envoy over Iranian PMOI (MEK)...

UN ‘tried to silence’ its former Iraqi envoy over Iranian PMOI (MEK) Camp Ashraf refugees

NCRI, 2 Nov 2013 – The United Nations told its former envoy to Iraq Tahar Boumedra to ‘remain silent’ over the plight of the Camp Ashraf Iranian refugees, he has revealed at a conference in London.
Mr Boumedra also blamed Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki for the massacre of the members of Iranian opposition Mujahedin-e khalq (MEK/PMOI) at the camp and the taking of seven hostages in a speech to the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom on October 28.
He said of the September 1 atrocity: “It is absolutely impossible for anybody to reach Camp Ashraf without being detected by Iraqi security forces.
“It is impossible for anybody to get into the camp, chase the residents for hours, kill 52, explode buildings and bunkers, detonate them and then abduct seven people, take them out of the camp against the two security rings and then the government says we don’t know. This is a lie.
“About the seven abducted people, again the Iraqi government is saying we don’t know where they are and who kidnapped them.
“But let me tell you that the seven are detained in the prime ministry’s facilities and are moveable.”
Mr Boumedra also dismiss claims that the Ashrafis themselves were responsible for human rights abuses in their own camp.
He added: “It is really shocking to me to hear these kinds of allegations because first of all the office of prime minister, his political and security advisers, openly said, and it is on the records, said we will make Ashrafis life unbearable, we will not let them settle a minute, and we will deprive them from their basic necessities so they will leave Iraq.
“They accused or they claim that Ashrafis are not cooperating with the UN and they are obstructing the process of refugee status determination of the UNHCR.
“It is not Ashrafis who adjudicate their cases. It is the UNHCR. So, at this stage, the process is holding and halted. Can we blame the Ashrafis for that? Once we understand the process, we know who is obstructing it. It is not the Ashrafis. It is the UN itself.
“It is an obligation for the UNHCR to adjudicate every case and interview it within six months. 2,000 people were interviewed for more than a year now and they are still waiting to be adjudicated. Can we blame the Ashrafis for that?
“I am really amazed how diplomats manage to cover the realities and make report to blame everything on the Ashrafis.”
And Mr Boumedra concluded: “Just to finish with this, I tell you that I have received the letter officially from the UN in New York telling me to keep quiet.”
Tahar Boumedra was the Chief of the Human Rights office of the UN’s Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and adviser to UNSG Special Representative for Iraq when the PMOI (MEK) were transferred to the Liberty ‘prison camp’.
Mr Boumedra said he was forced to resign because UNAMI failed to uphold the rule of law and protect human rights in Iraq, and covered up for certain unlawful conduct of the Iraqi Government.
He has published a book titled ’The Untold Story of Ashraf’ that reveals  ’cruel, inhumane and degrading’ treatment of PMOI (MEK).

RELATED ARTICLES

Selected

Latest News and Articles

Most Viewed

[custom-twitter-feeds]