MKO expresses concern over attendance of Mr. Kobler in marking Iraq’s HR’s Day
An assessment of the human rights situations in the world’s countries tells that the situation in general is worrying. There are, however, essential differences between the results according to
findings and reports of local and international NGOs which vary from country to country according to their political, social and historical characteristics and particularly if a country experiences post-war crises. Even in such a country, Iraq for example, many people today realize that their government has obligations in the sphere of human rights and the government has also started to meet these obligations; the existence of the Ministry of Human Rights expresses how important human rights are for this country.
But the important thing and the responsibility on the international organizations active to monitor and promote human rights are to push states to respect the obligations to which they have signed up. These international bodies play an active role by taking measures aimed at encouraging states to respect these obligations and they can also play a more active role by following the recommendations issued by these bodies. It is clear that an exceptional improvement of the human rights situation means a positive step forward that needs an international encouragement to be followed by many other, a responsibility that Mr. Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Iraq, carried out by attending the official Human Rights Day celebrations hosted by Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki at the Iraqi Institute of Human Rights in Baghdad.
Appreciated as an overall promising and urging move, the attendance is being criticized by the leaders of the forcefully relocated MKO that the Iraqi government is decisive to expel from its soil for its very same role in violation of human rights and many Iraqi rules as well as interfering in domestic affairs. In a statement issued by the group’s office in France, Mr. Kobler’s attendance was condemned as “an abhorrent flattering” which was claimed to be in complete contradiction to his earlier reports of human rights violations in Iraq. Mr. Kobler is quoted to have flattered in the presence of Nouri Al-Maliki by saying:
“The Prime Minister’s remarks are in line with the UN’s agenda on human rights. This is a correct and realistic obligation to human rights. ….. The existence of the Ministry of Human Rights expresses how important human rights are for this country. ….His Excellency the Prime Minister and the Human Rights Minister, I am very happy to participate in this gathering. I am very happy that the Prime Minister is in this event and this is a very important indication that His Excellency the Prime Minister’s honorable presence means he pays notice to human rights in Iraq. I express my gratitude to the Minister of Human Rights for his enormous cooperation with UNAMI and me personally and human rights in Geneva. What we are doing in Iraq is in line with the government’s actions and parallel to strengthening human rights in Iraq.”
Even if we suppose that Mr. Kobler has flattered the Prime Minister Al-Maliki, Iraq is a country that needs strong and considerable encouragement to pass over the hard days and to be promoted with confidence to make efforts for bringing sorts of improvement to the human rights situation in the country. Of course, MKO’s displeasure is mostly because the Iraqi government turns a blind eye to ceaseless and illogical demands of the group that is imposed on the government, and which is only one of many unwelcome legacies of the ousted Saddam to tackle with. At the present, MKO has the least required cooperation with both the Iraqi government and the UN bodies to bring an end to the agonies and plights of some 3,200 enslaved members of the group waiting under an unrelenting, cultic, psychological pressure in a transitory camp near Baghdad for their destiny to be decided. Having a long record of violating its insiders’ rights, the group itself is the bottleneck that hampers the processing process and continues to break principles in dealing with insider’s rights.
a Temporary Transit Location, Camp Liberty near Baghdad airport, according to the Memorandum of Understanding signed by UN special representative, Ambassador Martin Kobler and the Iraqi Government. Previously too reluctant to move to TTL (Camp Liberty), having settled down in the new site, the MKO leaders are now seeking the recognition of Liberty as Refugee Camp by the UN.
[Temporary Transit Location] where the last remaining members of MEK reside. Sanjabi`s review is important in regards to evaluating the situation of MEK members. She was an important and trusted figure in MEK and since decided to leave the cult like terrorist group, has remained active to help others inside. She has established a great contact with those who have managed to escape the camp and applied asylum from UN. In her article Sanjabi describes how MEK chain of command has made life in camp liberty as a concentration camp for people inside. She says that each individual has to get up at 5 am and follow a daily ordered program that is already set for them. The program consists of aimless labor till noon and from noon to night people are forced to attend ideological meeting.
have won the support of a number of unaware or narrow-minded authorities of Europe. The most important success was the removal of the MKO from the terrorist list of European Union following long term lobbying activities in 2009.
court ruling obligating it to a revisal of the PMOI designation. It was a historic victory for the Iranian Resistance at the end of a legal and political journey in Europe and then the US, with many ups and downs. Justice provided a positive answer everywhere to the PMOI’s demands”. It appears there are still agencies misinformed as to the true cause of a terrorist group’s removal from the list. The real story is in direct contradiction to the group’s diffusion of disinformation propaganda.
terrorist organization. The reason given is that the group has apparently not committed any terrorist act for more than a decade and has seemingly abandoned the use of violence to reach its political goals. The question this raises is, according to the US administration and the US judicial system, how many years are needed to consider the crimes of a terrorist group whitewashed? Certainly in a different international political situation with different interests, conditions would have differed. No doubt the US government would not adopt the same policy towards Al-Qaeda and would consider them terrorists for good.
MEK’s financial backers are has blown over. It means that attention can now properly be returned to the situation of the MEK in Iraq where the urgent problem is how to restore basic human rights to the former MEK fighters trapped in Camp Liberty. Because although UN inspectors and Diplomatic representatives have attested to the more than acceptable living conditions in the temporary transit camp, the residents continue to be denied their basic human rights by the MEK leadership. Since 2003 the Americans have been complicit in allowing the MEK to mistreat the membership. Unfortunately this situation has continued at Camp Liberty to where all but a handful of the former Camp Ashraf residents have been relocated.
on August 22nd, 2012 was interviewed by Sahar Family Foundation a few days after his defection. The following is the interview which was translated by Nejat Society.
United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), reported some facts during the session of the UN Security Council regarding MKO obstructing the evacuation of Ashraf garrison which must be handed over to the government of Iraq. Apparently this report did not please Massoud Rajavi and consequently the so called National Council of Resistance issued a statement and indicated some accusations against Mr. Kobler and the Government of Iraqi.