SDIR Committee Meeting

The Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development met in a televised session at 1:04 p.m. this day, in Room C-110, 1 Wellington Street, the Chair, Scott Reid, presiding.

Staci Haag, by videoconference from Traverse City, Michigan, made a statement and answered questions.

At 1:58 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 2:00 p.m., the sitting resumed in camera.

It was agreed, — Whereas the Subcommittee has heard timely and compelling testimony regarding the horrific human rights situation facing the residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq, formerly at Camp Ashraf, including that:

Camp Liberty houses more than 3000 members of the Iranian resistance organization Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) under dangerous and deplorable conditions characterized in particular by wholly inadequate security infrastructure;

The Iranian regime continues to target these residents – all of whom have been designated as “protected persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention – with three attacks on Camp Ashraf and three deadly missile attacks on Camp Liberty since 2009;

We are concerned with the serious allegations of Iraqi and Iranian culpability for the September 1, 2013 Ashraf massacre, with that camp having been surrounded at the time of the assault by more than 1200 Iraqi military and police personnel, and with the attackers wearing Iraqi special forces uniforms;

The attackers who carried out the September 1 massacre at Camp Ashraf killed 52 people, each shot in the head or neck, and seized seven hostages who were forcibly transported outside the camp and remain missing at this time;

Be it resolved that the Subcommittee:

Recognizes that the situation at Camp Liberty represents a legal, political and – in particular – humanitarian crisis that must be addressed and resolved;

Calls upon the government of Iraq to ensure that the Camp Liberty residents are afforded the international law protections to which they are entitled, in particular the right not to be refouled to Iran;

Calls on the governments of Canada and the United States to seek the immediate and safe return of the seven hostages to Camp Liberty;

Supports the establishment of a United Nations presence inside Camp Liberty to monitor the situation and to process refugees for resettlement;

Calls on the United Nations to immediately launch an independent and impartial investigation into the massacre at Camp Ashraf on September 1, 2013, and in particular to determine the whereabouts of the seven missing hostages, and;

Recommends that the government continue its efforts for the relocation of Camp Liberty residents and accept asylum seekers within Canada.

It was agreed, — That the Clerk of the Subcommittee, in consultation with the Chair, issue a news release to announce the adoption of the Subcommittee's motion concerning the human rights situation of the residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq formerly at Camp Ashraf.

It was agreed, — That the Clerk of the Subcommittee, in consultation with the Chair, issue a news release to announce the Subcommittee's adoption of a motion concerning the human rights situation in Iran.

At 2:11 p.m., the Subcommittee adjourned to the call of the Chair.