Camp Ashraf

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can. (December 2011)
Gnome globe current event.svg
 This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2011)
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2011)

Camp Ashraf or Ashraf City was a refugee camp in Iraq's Diyala province and headquarters of the exiled People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK).[1][2] The population used to be around 3,400 in 2012 but 2,000 have been relocated to BIAP (Baghdad International Airport) with 1,500 of the leadership and staunch resisters, remain at Camp Ashraf.

Camp Ashraf (aka US Forward Operating Base Grizzly) is situated 27.6 km northeast of the Iraq the town of Khalis, about 80 kilometers west of the Iran border and 40 kilometers north of Baghdad. On January 1, 2009, the US Government formally transferred control over to the Iraqi government. Over the past 10 years, Camp Ashraf has been attacked several times the last being on April 8, 2011 when Iraqi security forces stormed the camp and killed as many as 36 and wounding 320 residents and also on 17 October 2010 on the eve of al-Maliki's visit to Tehran.[1][3] The Iraqi government planned to close the camp at the end of December 2011.[2][dated info]

Entrance Gate of Ashraf City

Contents

History [edit]

Ashraf Rajavi [edit]

The city of Ashraf was named in commemoration of Ashraf Rajavi, a famous political prisoner at the time of the Shah and who was slain by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps after the Iranian Revolution.[citation needed]

Under Saddam Hussein [edit]

The PMOI established base at Ashraf in 1986.[1] Along with at least six other sites in Iraq, Camp Ashraf was given to the MEK as a headquarters and training site by Saddam Hussein. From this base, the MEK was equipped with tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers that were taken from Iranian troops during major operations by the group beyond Iran-Iraq border.[citation needed]

Ashraf during occupation of Iraq [edit]

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, coalition forces launched air attacks against MEK forces. Mujaheddin commanders negotiated a ceasefire on April 22, 2003 in which they were initially allowed to keep their military equipment.

In June 2003, US forces took control of Camp Ashraf and the MEK was consolidated, all their weapons were secured by special forces and their munitions and caches were maintained in a bunker complex located northeast of the city of Ashraf. Within months, the US sent in US military police battalions, to secure the bunkers and residents. Within a year, as a result of defecting Ashraf residents, two TIFs (Temp Intern Facilities) were added increasing the military battalions mission and troop to task requirements. The primary TIF housed approximately 500 PMOI defectors who were under US control and frequently screened for additional intel by various government agencies. Along with the defectors, the compound was home to approximately 22 military police officers and a team of 6 communication specialists from a different unit to establish secure and encrypted modes of communication. The remainder of the military police and other supporting personnel were on the main compound 2 km away. A lack of infrastructure on the compound made housing so many defectors difficult.

There were hostilities between those who defected and the remaining PMOI members who totalled approximately 5,000 and lived a few kilometers away. Threats of attacks by the remaining members constantly put US Servicemembers on alert as they were outnumbered almost 20-1 in 2004.

Military presence [edit]

Within the boundaries of the camp is Forward Operating Base Grizzly (formerly FOB Spartan, FOB Red Lion, FOB Barbarian). The Forward operating base is where up to 2,000 US and Coalition forces, used to reside. Under pressures from Tehran, food and fuel rations of Ashraf were terminated; elements affiliated with the regime blew up the water pipelines to Ashraf; and members of the MEK were abducted in Iraq. It is also known that a bus carrying Iraqi laborers to the city of Ashraf was blown up, killing 11.[citation needed] As of Summer of 2010, US Forces no longer maintain a presence at FOB Grizzly after handing over the facility to the Government of Iraq, effectively ending direct US monitoring of Camp Ashraf. Instead, Iraqi police has been stationed inside the camp and the Iraqi army is outside the camp (in the bunker complex).

Transition to Iraqi control [edit]

On January 1, 2009 the U.S. officially transferred control of Camp Ashraf to the Iraqi government. According to a press release from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the U.S. would maintain a military presence at the camp and the Iraqi government would ensure that all residents were treated according to Iraqi law.[1] A State Department spokesman said the Government of Iraq had promised both humane treatment of people at Camp Ashraf and that none would be relocated to a country where they would have "a well-founded fear of persecution".[4]

Ashraf attacked by Iraqi Forces [edit]

In late July 2009 conflict erupted when Iraqi forces attempted to enter the camp to establish a police station without the consent of the MEK. Accounts of the conflict differed. Iraqi forces used violence, including gunfire, water cannons and batons, killing eleven people and injuring about 400; two others were killed later on due to injuries. Videos taken by Ashraf residents show these scenes.[5] Iraqi authorities denied using violent methods, but said unarmed residents used stones, knives and sharp tools to protect themselves and to fight security forces that tried to enter the camp.[5][6] Journalists were excluded from the area.[5]

Video has surfaced purportedly showing Iraqi forces trying to repeatedly run down residents with vehicles.[7] Amnesty International in its March 1 report regarding human rights situation in Iraq wrote, "On 28 July 2009, Iraqi security forces stormed Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad, home to about 3,500 Iranian refugees and detained 36 residents. The 36 were subsequently reported to have been tortured, including by being beaten with batons and guns. Several people needed medical treatment for their injuries.' 'The Iraqi government has continued to threaten Iranian refugees living in Camp Ashraf with forcible removal from the camp. On 28 July Iraqi security forces raided and took over the camp, in Diyala Governorate, which houses some 3400 members or supporters of the People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), an Iranian opposition group."

In its report of 27 April 2010, various aspects of violation of human rights in Iraq entitled as “Iraq, Civilians under Fire”, Amnesty International revealed and condemned violation of Ashraf residents’ rights by Iraqi government on July 28 and 29, 2009.[8]

On December 10, 2009 the Iraqi government announced plans to move the MEK from Camp Ashraf to a former detention center, Neqrat al-Salman, about 200 miles (120 kilometers) west of Basra.[9][10] In response, the MEK refused to comply with the decision.[11][12] On December 15, 2009,Iraqi government sent a group of its security forces into the camp to urge the residents of the camp to leave the camp. They used loudspeakers and distributed pamphlets calling the residents to join them and leave Ashraf. However, no resident accepted to leave there. Media reporters were present on the scene.[13] And according to UN News Center exiled camp residents must not be deported.[14] Meanwhile the Associated Press reported the issue that the UN envoy Ad Melkert bluntly disputed Nouri al-Maliki's claim of their farewell meeting, saying he did not embrace the government's efforts to deport Ashraf residents by the end of 2011.[15]

On January 7, 2011, a number of Iraqi agents hired by Iranian embassy[citation needed] in Baghdad attacked the camp resulting in 176 wounded. Iraqi forces prevented the wounded, 91 of whom were women, to go to the hospital for treatment.[16]

Main article: Camp Ashraf raid

On April 8, 2011, Iraqi security forces in bulldozers and Humvees stormed Camp Ashraf.[17] 36 residents were killed and scores wounded in what RFERL called "circumstances that are not clear. MEK says camp residents were killed by Iraqi forces. The Iraqi government, however, says it believes about 30 people were shot dead by guards at the camp."[18] However according to Amnesty International video clips of the April 8 clashes uploaded to YouTube by the MEK "appear to show Iraqi soldiers indiscriminately firing into the crowds and using vehicles to try and run others down."[18] The Iranian authorities have taken new suppressive measures for espionage against Ashraf residents by installing two tall communication poles south of Camp Ashraf, preparing the grounds for next attacks.[19] The Iraqi government said that the PMOI must leave the country by the end of 2011.[20]

The Central Investigation Court No 4 of the Spanish National Court, in face of impossibility of any investigation into the massacres in Ashraf inside Iraq by a government that itself has ordered these massacres, has taken on this case. In its last writ dated July 11, 2011, the court summoned senior Iraqi officers to appear before the court on October 3, 2011 for war crimes. The Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki is also to appear before the court once he leaves his post as premier that gives him immunity from judicial prosecution.[21]

On Sept. 28, 2011 the EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton has appointed Ambassador De Ruyt, as an advisor to mull over the fate of thousands of outlawed Ashraf residents facing expulsion from the camp in Iraq, their home for 30 years.[22] In the mean time, Maryam Rajavi, called for the new nominee to visit Ashraf and to demand Iraq drop its bid to close the camp by the end of 2011.[22]

Later developments [edit]

In 2012 MEK moved from Camp Ashraf to Camp Hurriya in Baghdad (a onetime U.S. base formerly known as Camp Liberty). A rocket and mortar attack leaving at least five dead and 40 wounded occurred at Camp Hurriya on February 9, 2013. Iranian residents of Camp Hurriya and their representatives and lawyers appealed to the UN Secretary-General and U.S. officials to let them return to Ashraf, which they say has concrete buildings and shelters that offer more protection. The United States has been working with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on the resettlement project.[23]

Status of residents [edit]

Camp Ashraf is the base in Iraq of the Iranian opposition group People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

After 2003, the coalition forces designated the MEK at Camp Ashraf as protected persons under the Geneva Convention. The UK government no longer holds the view that residents of Camp Ashraf are "protected people," according to a written reply to a question from an MP by Ivan Lewis, Minister of state at the Foreign Office on November 25, 2009[24]

UN Secretary General in his quarterly report to the Security Council of 14 May 2010 pursuant to Resolution 1883, Ban Ki-moon, stressed the rights of residents of Camp Ashraf, Iraq, for protection against arbitrary displacement in Iraq or forced extradition to Iran.[25][not in citation given] In order to better the humanitarian situation in the camp, EUHR Catherine Ashton has appointed Jean De Ruyt, a senior Belgian diplomat, to advise on the EU's response to Camp Ashraf[26]

Brian Binley, a Member of Parliament from the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party in a big gathering asked for protection of Ashraf.[27]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Kamn, Nicholas; Mazin Ezzat (2008-01-05). "Iranian Resistance Group a Source of Contention in Iraq". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2008-01-05. 
  2. ^ a b Courson, Paul (2011-12-12). "White House talks on Iraq's Camp Ashraf draw protesters". CNN (Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.). Retrieved 2011-12-14. 
  3. ^ 20101017 NCRI en Ashraf Attack 1
  4. ^ Ian Kelly, State Department Spokesman (2009-07-29). "Special Briefing". US State Department. Retrieved 2009-07-30. 
  5. ^ a b c Mohammed Tawfeeq (2009-07-29). "Fights with police at Iranian refugee camp leave 7 dead". CNN. Retrieved 2009-07-30. 
  6. ^ "Iraqi Forces Reportedly Open Fire, Beat Iranian Exiles". Fox News. 2009-07-29. Retrieved 2009-07-29. 
  7. ^ "Video shows Iraqi Humvees running down Iranians at Camp Ashraf". Fox News. 2009-08-24. Retrieved 2009-08-30. 
  8. ^ "IRAQ: CIVILIANS UNDER FIRE". Amnesty International. Retrieved 20 July 2012. 
  9. ^ Murphy, Brian (2009-12-11). "Iraq seeks to shift Iranian group to desert camp". Google News. Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-12-16. [dead link]
  10. ^ CNN report
  11. ^ "MEK refuses to comply with Iraqi order to leave". Press TV (Tehran: Press TV). 2009-12-15. Retrieved 2009-12-16. 
  12. ^ Hammoudi, Laith (2009-12-15). "Iranian dissident group defies order to leave Iraq". Miami Herald (Miami: Miami Herald Media Co.). Retrieved 2009-12-16. [dead link]
  13. ^ CNN report on Camp Ashraf - 15 december 2009 - YouTube
  14. ^ Iraq: UN stresses that exiled camp residents must not be deported
  15. ^ [1][dead link]
  16. ^ Brutal assault on camp Ashraf
  17. ^ Iran hails Iraq action on former rebels, AFP, 11 April 2011
  18. ^ a b Iraqi Forces Attack Camp Ashraf PMOI, April 8, 2011, 4 45 AM 2 - YouTube
  19. ^ New details on plan for electronic suppression and espionage against Ashraf
  20. ^ Kate Allen (14 April 2011). "Camp Ashraf is a barometer of Iraq's human rights". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2011. 
  21. ^ Spanish Court writ
  22. ^ a b EU joins bid to help end Iraqi Camp Ashraf standoff - Region - World - Ahram Online
  23. ^ Attack kills 5 at Iranian exile camp in Iraq
  24. ^ "Written answers and statements, 25 November 2009". UK Citizens Online Democracy. 2009-11-25. Retrieved 2009-12-16. "Camp Ashraf is in a sovereign and democratic Iraq and the camp residents subject to its laws. The UK is of the view that the residents of Camp Ashraf, as with all people in Iraq, enjoy rights and protections under the Iraqi constitution and applicable international obligations to which Iraq is a signatory. We do not consider that they have 'protected persons' status. We do not feel a ministerial statement is necessary at this time." 
  25. ^ National Council of Resistance of Iran - NCRI
  26. ^ "Catherine Ashton appoints Jean De Ruyt to advise on the EU's response to Camp Ashraf" (Press release). European Union. 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-12-16. 
  27. ^ An appeal to protect Camp Ashraf

Evacuation [edit]

The population used to be around 3,400 in 2012 but all of its residents moved to another Camp Liberty near Baghdad airport.

External links [edit]

Portal icon Iraq portal
Portal icon Iran portal
Portal icon United States Army portal

Coordinates: 34°03′49″N 44°34′24″E / 34.06361°N 44.57333°E / 34.06361; 44.57333

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Camp_Ashraf&oldid=555137881"