[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 19744]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  DENOUNCING THE ATTACK ON CAMP ASHRAF

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to condemn 
the brutal attack on the residents of Camp Ashraf, Iranian exiles, by 
the Iraqi police forces. Yesterday I learned that Iraqi police forces 
are beating unarmed Camp Ashraf residents and that they have been 
brutally assaulting them. I have been informed that this attack has 
resulted in at least eight deaths and over 400 injuries. This beating 
of unarmed men and women is despicable, and my understanding is that 
the unjustifiable attack is still underway.
  These Iranian exiles are unarmed today because they voluntarily 
surrendered their weapons to United States forces in exchange for a 
U.S. guarantee of their security in 2003. They are protected persons 
under Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The attack on these 
unarmed persons violates not only international law but also basic 
human rights. The European Parliament, Amnesty International and other 
international organizations have expressed deep concern about the 
safety of these Iranian exiles. Furthermore, when United States forces 
withdrew from Camp Ashraf, the United States and Iraq signed an 
agreement that the Iraqi Government would guarantee their safety. The 
Iraqi Government is not keeping its promise, and it is not upholding 
its obligations under international law.
  The Iranian dictatorship's fingerprints are all over this attack. The 
residents of Camp Ashraf are enemies of the Iranian regime. Camp Ashraf 
residents have been a vital source of intelligence information on the 
Iranian regime's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and 
other important intelligence information. As a result, the Iranian 
regime, under the direction of the tyrannical so-called Supreme Leader, 
is putting immense pressure on the Iraq Government to hand over the 
Iranian exiles in Camp Ashraf. In a meeting on February 28 of this 
year, the Supreme Leader urged the Iraqi president to expel the Iranian 
exiles at Camp Ashraf immediately.
  This incursion by Iraqi forces appears to be an ugly attempt by the 
Iraqi Government to appease the Iranian regime. They may even return 
these exiles to Iran. That would be a condemnable and cowardly act. In 
a public statement on August 28, 2008, Amnesty International expressed 
profound concern that those Iranian exiles would suffer torture and 
even death if they were forced to return. And as we've seen since the 
sham election on June 12 of this year, the Iranian dictatorship's deep 
hatred of those who oppose its cruelty and repression would mean almost 
certain death for the Iranian exiles and their families if they are 
repatriated to Iran. We must do everything in our power to prevent such 
an atrocity from taking place.
  Already, the Congressional Iran Human Rights and Democracy Caucus, 
the chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, the European Parliament's Friends of a Free Iran, the European 
Parliament's International Committee in Search of Justice and others 
have expressed deep concern over the treatment of Camp Ashraf residents 
at the hands of the Iraqi Government. Today Iranian Americans from 
around the United States have begun a hunger strike at the White House 
to demand that these attacks be stopped, that abducted Camp Ashraf 
residents be returned and that international groups such as the United 
Nations and the Red Cross who want to be able to get into Camp Ashraf 
be permitted to do so.
  I call on President Obama to demand that the Iraqi Government 
immediately put an end to this attack. We must not stand by and allow 
physical aggression against unarmed Iranians in exile. We must stand 
with the Iranian pro-democracy activists, both in exile and inside 
Iran, who work for the day when the people of Iran can live free, free 
from fear and free from oppression. We must ensure that the protection 
that the Iranian exiles were promised by the United States is given to 
them and that this aggression cease.

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