USCCAR Welcomes Sen. John Kerry's Statement on Camp Ashraf, Calls for Formation of UN Security Council-led Probe of the Massacre

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) welcomes the April 14 statement by Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, concerning the April 8 deadly assault by Iraqi forces against Camp Ashraf, which he appropriately characterized as a "massacre."

While USCCAR agrees with Sen. Kerry that "the current situation at the camp is untenable" and that "the Iraqis must stop the bleeding and refrain from any further military action against Camp Ashraf," the heightened military build-up and construction inside the camp ever since the assault clearly indicate preparations for yet another attack.

As the international outrage over the massacre at Camp Ashraf and calls for a comprehensive, speedy, authoritative, and fully transparent investigation grow, there are concerns about a whitewash and cover up of the crimes against humanity committed on the orders of the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.  

Equally disconcerting are the calls on the Maliki government to conduct an investigation. In light of Iraqi government's bold-faced lies and its parroting of Tehran's official line to justify the massacre, expecting Maliki to conduct a credible investigation would be expecting a murderer to investigate his own crime. The Iraqi government has zero competency and credibility to conduct such an investigation.

Based on news reports, teams from the United States and the United Nations, which visited the camp several days after the massacre, have drafted their respective reports. Those reports must be immediately released. The longer these reports remain secret, the more the culprits of the massacre at Camp Ashraf in Baghdad and Tehran would be able to spin the facts and present their own distorted narrative.

A comprehensive, speedy, impartial and fully transparent investigation would only be possible when it is conducted by a special representative of the UN Security Council and, at a minimum, the involvement of the United States and the European Union as well as the representatives of Camp Ashraf, who were the victims of this odious crime.

The April 8 massacre by Iraqi forces at Camp Ashraf, home to 3,400 defenseless and unarmed members of Iran's principal opposition, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and their families, has so far left 34 dead and nearly 300 wounded, according to the United Nations.

SOURCE US Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents