Written declaration No. 501 | Doc. 12765 | 06 October 2011

Protection of Camp Ashraf

Signatories: Mr Mike HANCOCK, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Mr Francis AGIUS, Malta, EPP/CD ; Mr Alejandro ALONSO, Spain, SOC ; Mr Mörður ÁRNASON, Iceland, SOC ; Mr Lennart AXELSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Daniel BACQUELAINE, Belgium, ALDE ; Mr Mario BARBI, Italy, ALDE ; Ms Meritxell BATET, Spain, SOC ; Mr Joe BENTON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Rossana BOLDI, Italy, EDG ; Ms Sílvia Eloïsa BONET PEROT, Andorra, SOC ; Ms Anne BRASSEUR, Luxembourg, ALDE ; Mr Márton BRAUN, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Otto CHALOUPKA, Czech Republic, EDG ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS, Latvia, SOC ; Mr Guy COËME, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Marie-Louise COLEIRO PRECA, Malta, SOC ; Mr Telmo CORREIA, Portugal, EDG ; Mr Carlos COSTA NEVES, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Ms Lena DĄBKOWSKA-CICHOCKA, Poland, EDG ; Mr Joseph DEBONO GRECH, Malta, SOC ; Mr Arcadio DÍAZ TEJERA, Spain, SOC ; Mr Jim DOBBIN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Karl DONABAUER, Austria, EPP/CD ; Alexander [The Earl of] DUNDEE, United Kingdom, EDG ; Mr Saad-Dine EL OTMANI, Morocco ; Mr Arieh ELDAD, Israel ; Mr Tuur ELZINGA, Netherlands, UEL ; Ms Lydie ERR, Luxembourg, SOC ; Mr Joseph FALZON, Malta, EPP/CD ; Ms Doris FIALA, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Stanislav FOŘT, Slovak Republic, ALDE ; Ms Pernille FRAHM, Denmark, UEL ; Mr Hans FRANKEN, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Mr György FRUNDA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Sir Roger GALE, United Kingdom, EDG ; Mr Jean-Charles GARDETTO, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Mr Tamás GAUDI NAGY, Hungary, NR ; Mr Valeriu GHILETCHI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Paolo GIARETTA, Italy, ALDE ; Mr Andreas GROSS, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Annette GROTH, Germany, UEL ; Mr Jonas GUNNARSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Margus HANSON, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Gábor HARANGOZÓ, Hungary, SOC ; Ms Olha HERASYM'YUK, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Andres HERKEL, Estonia, EPP/CD ; Mr Jim HOOD, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Anette HÜBINGER, Germany, EPP/CD ; Ms Susanna HUOVINEN, Finland, SOC ; Mr José Luis JAIME CORREA, Mexico ; Mr Tomáš JIRSA, Czech Republic, EDG ; Mr Birkir Jón JÓNSSON, Iceland, ALDE ; Mr Antti KAIKKONEN, Finland, ALDE ; Mr Ferenc KALMÁR, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Ms Nermina KAPETANOVIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Mr Burhan KAYATÜRK, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Pavol KUBOVIČ, Slovak Republic, EPP/CD ; Ms Fatiha LAYADI, Morocco ; Ms Yuliya L'OVOCHKINA, Ukraine, EDG ; Mr Philippe MAHOUX, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Nicole MANZONE-SAQUET, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Ms Meritxell MATEU PI, Andorra, ALDE ; Ms Pirkko MATTILA, Finland, NR ; Mr Frano MATUŠIĆ, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Mr Edgar MAYER, Austria, EPP/CD ; Sir Alan MEALE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr José MENDES BOTA, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Patrick MORIAU, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Pier Marino MULARONI, San Marino, ALDE ; Ms Riitta MYLLER, Finland, SOC ; Mr Pasquale NESSA, Italy, EPP/CD ; Ms Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN, Netherlands, ALDE ; Mr Joseph O'REILLY, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Ms Sandra OSBORNE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Maureen O'SULLIVAN, Ireland, UEL ; Ms Liliana PALIHOVICI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Oleg PANTELEEV, Russian Federation, EDG ; Mr Peter PELLEGRINI, Slovak Republic, SOC ; Mr Petar PETROV, Bulgaria, EPP/CD ; Mr John Paul PHELAN, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Mr Oleksiy PLOTNIKOV, Ukraine, SOC ; Mr Alexander POCHINOK, Russian Federation, EDG ; Mr Ivan POPESCU, Ukraine, SOC ; Mr Jørgen POULSEN, Denmark, ALDE ; Mr Christos POURGOURIDES, Cyprus, EPP/CD ; Mr Jakob PRESEČNIK, Slovenia, EPP/CD ; Mr Janusz RACHOŃ, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Frédéric REISS, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Mailis REPS, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr François ROCHEBLOINE, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Tatiana ROSOVÁ, Slovak Republic, EPP/CD ; Mr Paul-Eerik RUMMO, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Giacomo SANTINI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Giuseppe SARO, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Kimmo SASI, Finland, EPP/CD ; Mr Jim SHERIDAN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Ismo SOUKOLA, Finland, NR ; Ms Karin STRENZ, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Vilmos SZABÓ, Hungary, SOC ; Ms Anette TRETTEBERGSTUEN, Norway, SOC ; Mr Ahmet Kutalmiş TÜRKEŞ, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Miltiadis VARVITSIOTIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Stefaan VERCAMER, Belgium, EPP/CD ; Ms Anne-Mari VIROLAINEN, Finland, EPP/CD ; Mr Luigi VITALI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Luca VOLONTÈ, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Hansjörg WALTER, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Jordi XUCLÀ, Spain, ALDE ; Mr Emanuelis ZINGERIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

We alert the international community to a Srebrenica-style massacre of 3 400 Iranian opponents in Camp Ashraf, Iraq.

So far, 47 unarmed refugees have been killed and hundreds injured in two murderous attacks on Ashraf at the behest of the Iranian regime. The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, has said that the camp must be closed by the end of 2011, thus preparing the ground for a new massacre.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has declared that Ashraf residents are “asylum-seekers” who must benefit from international protection.

We support the mission of Ambassador Jean de Ruyt who was recently appointed as the EU’s special representative on Camp Ashraf. We demand that he visit Ashraf very soon to make his efforts for a peaceful solution to the crisis more effective.

We also demand:

• that the UNHCR reconfirms the political refugee status for the camp residents,
• that the UN Secretary General and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) station a constant monitoring team at Ashraf to secure the protection of the residents until they are all resettled in third countries,
• that the United States, the European Union and the United Nations make Iraq cancel the deadline to close Ashraf, end the siege and psychological torture by 300 loudspeakers, uninstall jamming and surveillance devices outside the camp and allow the residents free access to their lawyers and medical services.