Washington D.C., August 25, 2012 - Thank you very much.  First of all, I am reminded very vividly by Congressman Kennedy's remarks that my co-sponsor and champion of passing the Iranian Libyan Sanction Act decades ago was none other than the great Senator, his dad, Senator Ted Kennedy.  (Applause.) 

I'm going to be somewhat political because this whole process is very political in nature. 

It was two Senators, two different political parties, two different persuasions, one a liberal and one more conservative.  We came together with a common voice for the cause of freedom and protecting the interest of the United States first to say that we were not going to allow the regimes of Libya and Iran, regimes that were dedicated to our destruction. 

The US, UN, and EU Should Strongly Condemn Attack on Ashraf Residents
&
US Observers Should Be Present In All Phases of Transfer

Yesterday’s attack on Camp Ashraf residents by Iraqi forces causing injury to 20 residents, once again reveals the ominous intentions of the Iranian regime and its collaborators in Iraq. According to pictures and video clips, Iraqi SWAT forces (wearing all-black uniforms) attacked the defenceless residents, who had gathered with their personal belongings to be inspected before moving to Camp Liberty at the specific request of the US and UN. The Iraqi thugs attacked the residents with sticks, clubs, and rocks. The residents’ only apparent offence was to object to the theft of their belongings by the Iraqi forces during their tedious inspections.

USCCAR Condemns UN Cover-up in Iraq, Calls for Swift Investigation Following Revelations by Former Senior UN official

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22, 2012 -- /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) has learnt of shocking revelations made by Mr. Tahar Boumedra, chief of the Human Rights Office for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), regarding the outrageous cover-up by Ambassador Martin Kobler, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative for Iraq, to deceive the international community about the prison-like conditions at Camp Liberty.

Former UN official's revelations warrant full inquiry into actions of UNAMI in Iraq, says Association of Iranian-Americans in NY & NJ

NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The recent revelations by Mr. Tahar Boumedra, a senior former UN Human Rights Official, about the actions of the United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative for Iraq, Ambassador Martin Kobler, raise questions as to whether the SGSR possesses the integrity, the competence and veracity to be an impartial arbiter in dealing with the issue of the 3,400 Iranian dissidents in Iraq, residents of Camp Ashraf and the "prison-like" Camp Liberty.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog pressed Iran on Friday to address suspicions about nuclear bomb research in the Islamic state, pursuing diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute before any possible military action by Israel or the United States.

A flurry of bellicose rhetoric from some Israeli politicians this month has ignited speculation that Israel might hit Iran's nuclear sites before the U.S. presidential election in November.

Shock UN Report on Conditions in Camp Liberty, Baghdad

Struan Stevenson, MEP
President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq
July 26, 2012

The publication of a report by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is deeply shocking and an indictment of the Iraqi Government and its treatment of the 2000 refugees in Camp Liberty near Baghdad. The report notes that the residents were subjected to humiliating searches, headcounts and long delays when they transferred from their former home in Camp Ashraf. They were denied personal belongings such as wheelchairs and medicines. They are now being held in appalling conditions with inadequate water, sewage facilities or electricity generation. They are denied the right to leave Camp Liberty, despite their recognised international status as asylum seekers and refugees. Lawyers and politicians have been denied access to Camp Liberty. The UN Working Group describes Camp Liberty as a prison in all but name, which is in direct contradiction to the assurances we have received in the European Parliament from the UN Special Representative in Iraq Martin Kobler and US State Department Ambassador Dan Fried, who have gone out of their way to support the Iraqi Government and criticise the Iranian residents in Ashraf and Liberty.

Senate Briefing Warns of Humanitarian Tragedy in Camp Liberty, Iraq, and Urges Immediate Improvement in Conditions Imposed on Iranian Dissidents before Further Relocation to Liberty

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The following is being released by Iranian-American Cultural Association of Missouri:

In a briefing at the historic Senate Kennedy Caucus room, senior former U.S. military commanders and Administration officials called for immediate improvement in inhumane conditions at Camp Liberty, Iraq, where 2,000 Iranian dissidents reside after relocating from Camp Ashraf, their home for 26 years.

The Iranian dissidents are members of the main Iranian opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK).

Archbishop Of Armagh Writes To UN Secretary General

July 17, 2012 - The Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, The Most Revd Alan Harper, joined by a number of bishops and clergy from across the UK, has written to His Excellency Ban Ki–moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, expressing deepening concern for the welfare of the residents of Camp Ashraf/Liberty in Iraq.

In particular, the letter condemns any threat of force against the people in the camp, whose status as refugees is recognised by the UN. The Archbishop and signatories call for the Secretary General and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to intervene, saying: ‘We believe that the international community, the United Nations and the people of the United States of America are at one in desiring morally acceptable humanitarian standards for all people. Therefore, we strongly urge the United Nations and the Government of the United States to press the Government of Iraq to implement such policies for the benefit of the Iranian refugees in Ashraf and Liberty.’

State Department's Coercing Ashraf Residents to Forgo Their Humanitarian Needs in Return for Possible Delisting of MEK is Appalling and Unlawful

LONDON, July 9, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The International Solidarity for Democratic Change in Iran (ISDCI) denounces pressuring the Iranian opposition and the residents of Camps Ashraf into giving up minimum humanitarian life support requirements and relocating to Camp Liberty in return for possible delisting of the main Iranian opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). Some 2,000 Ashraf residents have already relocated to Camp Liberty, where the living conditions are inhumane. The Camp has no running water and it must be delivered on a daily basis by tankers.

MPs: State Department demand for Iranian dissidents to evacuate Ashraf without their minimum humanitarian needs is unjust

More than 100 cross-Party Parliamentarians on Saturday rejected the call by the U.S. State Department on members of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK) to vacate Camp Ashraf, their home for the past 26 years, without meeting their humanitarian needs. The MPs and Peers described the demand by the State Department as unjust.

Iran opposition head says West must end appeasement

(Reuters) - An Iranian dissident leader urged major powers on Saturday to stop appeasing Tehran and start supporting opposition groups after the latest round of talks on Iran's nuclear program ended in deadlock.

Paris June 23, 2012 - Maryam Rajavi, who heads the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), also accused the United States of dragging its heels on a decision to remove her group from its terrorist list.

Senator Raymond Luca, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Romanian Senate:

Paris, June 23 2012 - Thank you, thank you.  Salaam Free Iran. Salaam Ashraf.  And from my heart, dear friends, let me tell you how honored I am, me and my fellow members of the Romanian Parliament, for being today at this fantastic gathering of thousands and thousands of people.  Romania not that long time ago historically speaking was a dictatorship.  We felt the same pain, the same suffering, the same fear, as the whole Iranian people feels today.  Twenty two years ago we had our revolution.  A successful revolution.  And let me tell you, I feel you'll have one very soon.  [applause] As a matter of fact, I think it started here and now.