[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 130 (Friday, September 27, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1392-E1393]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ASSAULT AND MURDER AGAINST THE MEK

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 27, 2013

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, not all is well in the world. In the 
21st century, there is still a fight that must be fought against those 
bent on killing innocent people. These people's crime? Simply wanting 
to be left alone and live how they please. In the early morning hours 
of September 1, Iraqi gunmen raided Camp Ashraf. Camp Ashraf is a camp 
out in the hinterlands of Iraq where members of an Iranian opposition 
group used to live after Iran started executing their Members. But 2 
years ago most residents were forced to move to a new camp closer to 
Baghdad and out of over 3,000 people originally at Camp Ashraf, only 
about 100 remained in the camp on the morning of the attack. By the 
time the sun came up, they had killed fifty-two unarmed residents and 
kidnapped seven more. I have seen footage of the attack. Unarmed 
civilians are running around trying not to get shot while the evildoers 
systematically gun them down. The evildoers were not trying to talk. 
They were trying to kill. And they succeeded. A United Nations 
delegation conducted a visit to the camp the next day and verified that 
the 52 deceased had ``suffered gunshot wounds, the majority of them in 
the head and the upper body, and several with their hands tied.'' These 
people were executed when they had not done anything wrong. They had no 
weapons. They did not pose a threat to anyone. They were murdered in 
cold blood. To make matters worse, this isn't even the first time that 
something like this has happened. Despite repeated assurances by the 
Iraqi government that they will be safe and protected, since 2012 
alone, 113 members have been killed in five separate attacks. It should 
be clear to all by now that the Iraqi government cannot be

[[Page E1393]]

trusted to keep these refugees safe. I have traveled to Iraq several 
times. On my last trip, I asked Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki to let me 
visit Camp Ashraf. He refused. It seemed like he had something to hide. 
Mr. Speaker, there were 7 hostages taken on September 1. All we know is 
that they are somewhere in Iraq still. If we don't find these hostages 
soon, it is almost certain that they will be killed in Iraq or taken to 
Iran and executed. Our government must do everything in its power to 
secure their release. And that's just the way it is.

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