El Presidente. − El punto siguiente es el debate sobre seis propuestas de resolución relativas a la situación humanitaria de los residentes en el campo de Ashraf⁽¹⁾.

  Ana Maria Gomes, author. − Mr President, some in this Chamber want to present the People’s Mujahedin as heroes or a true alternative to the Iranian regime. They are neither.

In my trips to Iraq, I have heard Kurdish, Sunni, Shia, Christian, Turkman leaders and others complain about the role of the People’s Mujahedin as a tool of Saddam Hussein in the 1988 Anfar campaign, which culminated in massacres such as Halabja. That is what the Iraqi delegation which was here this week also confirmed to us, while assuring us that the Iraqi constitution binds the Government of Iraq to fully respect the human rights of the residents of Camp Ashraf, who, with the help of UNHCR and ICRC, wish to leave for Iran or any other destination, or wish to stay as political refugees abiding by the laws of Iraq.

We must understand the reluctance of the Iraqi Government to let Camp Ashraf continue to be a nuisance to their good neighbourly relations with Iran. For Iraqis, Iran cannot be wished away. It is there. It is a powerful neighbour. It is true that the People’s Mujahedin are no longer on the terrorist list, but they are still an opaque cult which brutalises those of its members who wish to defect. Above all, the people in Camp Ashraf are human beings whose human rights have to be respected, irrespective of the fate of the organisation itself or of its past. They are to be treated under the 1951 Refugee Convention and no one – I repeat, no one – should be forced to return to Iran.

But let us make one thing clear. This resolution is not about the Iranian regime, which has been repressing its people, mismanaging the country and destabilising the Middle East for decades. Anyone who presents a vote for the PSE and Green amendments, which aim to balance the tone of this resolution, as a vote for the Iranian regime, is either arguing in bad faith or has simply run out of arguments.

The spirit of our amendments is quite simple. We want to present the whole picture of human rights violations and threats in and around Camp Ashraf. For example, we request that all Camp Ashraf residents be allowed to be interviewed by the ICRC and UNHCR at a neutral location and without People’s Mujahedin officials in attendance, in order to clarify their real wishes. Also we must call on the Mujahedin leadership to stop controlling the lives of the residents of Camp Ashraf, namely by not letting them leave the camp. Above all, we express our concern about the reported practices of mental and physical manipulation and severe human rights violations within the cult. In short, this is about the individual human rights of the people in Camp Ashraf. Let us have these people and their human rights in mind when we vote.

  Alejo Vidal-Quadras, author. − Mr President, this morning we will be voting on a joint motion for a resolution co-signed by four political groups on the situation of the Ashraf refugee camp in Iraq. Three thousand five hundred Iranian men and women, members of the democratic opposition to the fundamentalist regime in Iran, live there completely defenceless. In the last few weeks they have been under pressure and harassment by the faction of the Iraqi Government under the influence of the Iranian regime, and there is a high probability that at any moment a tragedy could happen that would parallel the ones we witnessed in the Balkans not so long ago.

We all remember Srebrenica, and I have no doubt that no Member in this Chamber wants a second Srebrenica in Iraq. Our motion for a resolution is a call to alert public opinion all over the world before a disaster takes place. Unfortunately, some colleagues have tabled amendments that could increase the danger for the residents in Camp Ashraf and provide the Iranian regime and its proxies in Iraq with arguments to massacre them.

I recently visited the camp myself and I assure you that the allegations included in the amendments tabled are absolutely unfounded. People in Ashraf are there on a volunteer basis. They are free to leave whenever they want and they live in the best friendly relations with the Iraqi population of the region. The intention of our motion is to protect these people. Nobody would understand – but if these amendments are adopted the result of the motion would be exactly the opposite.

This is not a political issue, colleagues: it is purely humanitarian and it is very urgent. I beg you to vote against all amendments tabled to this joint motion supported by these four groups and support the motion as it has been agreed by these four groups that are of very different political stances. The lives of many innocent and harmless people depend on your vote. Please do not let them down.

  Angelika Beer, Verfasserin. − Herr Präsident, verehrte Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Meine Fraktion hat diese Entschließung nicht mit unterzeichnet, und wir werden nur zustimmen, wenn die Änderungsanträge, die ich mit der Verfasserin, Anna Gomes, für die PSE und die Europäischen Grünen hier eingebracht habe, angenommen werden.

Worum es hier geht, ist die Auseinandersetzung um die Mudschaheddin bzw. die MKO. Sie ist eben keine demokratische Opposition. Ich möchte einige Ausführungen dazu machen: Die MKO ist eine degenerierte Organisation, die mit einer religiösen Sekte zu vergleichen ist und die ihre eigenen Mitgliedern, auch im Camp, massiv unterdrückt. Unter Ausübung psychischen und physischen Drucks werden die Mitglieder gezwungen, in diesem Camp zu bleiben. Bei denjenigen, die sich weigern, werden Beziehungen zerstört, es kommt zu Zwangsscheidungen und Kindesentführungen, einer der brutalsten Mittel der Unterdrückung.

Die MKO hat alle im und außerhalb des Camps lebenden MKO-Miglieder absolut isoliert. Jeder Zugang zur internationalen Presse oder zu Medien wurde unterbunden. Alle durch die USA ausgeführten Interviews fanden unter Anwesenheit von MKO-Kadern statt, was dazu geführt hat, dass die Personen über ihre wirklichen Probleme und Sorgen nicht reden konnten.

In der Vergangenheit hat die MKO Mitglieder aus dem Norden des Irak an die Schergen Saddam Husseins ausgeliefert, diese wurden im Camp Abu Greib schändlich gefoltert und umgebracht. Das sind nur einige Beispiele und Erläuterungen für die gemeinsamen Änderungsanträge, die zu unterstützen ich hier appelliere. Wer diese ablehnt – und das will ich ganz klar sagen – und wer den vorliegenden Entschließungstext unverändert annimmt, der stimmt zu, dass die MKO in einem von ihr kontrollierten Camp die Unterdrückungspolitik weiter betreiben kann. Sie tragen dann aber auch Mitverantwortung für das, was die MKO heute bereits androht, nämlich dass sie für den Fall, dass das Camp unter internationaler Aufsicht aufgelöst wird, ihre Mitglieder dort zur Selbstverbrennung aufruft. Das ist der Gegensatz, den wir hier deutlich machen wollen, und deswegen appelliere ich, den Änderungsanträgen der PSE und meiner Fraktion zuzustimmen.

  Erik Meijer, author. − Mr President, for 30 years Iran has been ruled by a theocratic dictatorship. That dictatorship not only forces the inhabitants to live in conformity with its religious standards but also tries to kill everyone who does not conform to its system. The consequence is that many Iranians have to live in exile, not only in Europe but also in the neighbouring countries.

After the Anglo-American military invasion in Iraq, the Iranians who live there in exile got a guarantee of protection from Iran. Now the foreign troops are preparing to withdraw from Iraq. I support this withdrawal, but an unforeseen consequence could be that the theocratic regime in Iran would get an opportunity to attack the opposition outside its own borders. It strives for the deportation of those people to Iran in order to kill them. Inside Iraq there is much solidarity with the Iranians in exile. However, the power of Iran in Iraq has grown because the majority of the inhabitants in Iraq, too, is Shiite Muslim.

Through written questions to the Council I have drawn its attention to the position of the 3 400 people living in Camp Ashraf. The only answer was that the Council had not discussed this matter. Today, we are discussing a very important urgent resolution on Camp Ashraf. In two previous resolutions in 2007 and 2008, our Parliament confirmed the legal status of the Ashraf inhabitants under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Today, our Parliament is paying special attention to the current situation by adopting a resolution only on Ashraf. This text is a joint text, adopted by most political groups, and it is balanced. It wants to send a strong message to the Iraqi Government that the rights of these 3 400 people in Ashraf, including 1 000 women, cannot be violated because of the pressures of the mullahs in Iran.

So we must send a united message, without amendments that would undermine and weaken this resolution, which only covers the humanitarian issues of Ashraf residents. We have to avoid any changes to the final text of the resolution that would complicate the situation or endanger the lives of these defenceless people.

The inhabitants of Ashraf were bombed by US forces at the beginning of the invasion in 2003. Later on, they were screened by the USA. The Iraqi Government has also screened every one of the people in Ashraf – this took place during April this year. Every one of them was interviewed, outside Ashraf. They were encouraged and urged to leave the camp or go to Iran. Only six of them agreed to leave – six out of 3 400 people! So we have to respect their decision.

  Mogens Camre, author. − Mr President, the situation of Camp Ashraf, home to 3 500 members of the main democratic opposition of Iran, the PMOI, has been of great concern for some time and has been the subject of several resolutions in this House in recent years. Together with a delegation of four Members of this House, I visited Camp Ashraf in October last year and met with American, Iraqi and UN officials there. They all reinforced our concern for the legal status of Ashraf’s residents, because its security was transferred from American troops to Iraqi forces at the beginning of this year.

The situation has got much worse since then. The Iranian supreme leader, in an official announcement at the end of February, asked the visiting Iraqi President to implement the mutual agreement to close down Camp Ashraf and expel all its residents from Iraq.

Since then Iraqi forces have started a siege around the camp. Iraqi troops have been preventing entry of families of Ashraf residents, parliamentary delegations, human rights organisations, lawyers, journalists and even doctors to the camp, and do not allow many logistical materials to get into Ashraf.

This Parliament therefore found it absolutely necessary to address this as an urgency issue at this stage. We have now worked together with all groups and produced a common text, which is well balanced and addresses all our concerns on this matter, and calls on international bodies to find a long-term legal status for Ashraf residents.

Unfortunately there are some amendments tabled by some of the spokesmen for Tehran, those who believe the lies told by Tehran. I think we should understand clearly that these are contrary to the security of the residents of Ashraf and we should vote against them. We urge all colleagues to stick to the joint text and reject any amendments.

  Marco Cappato, Autore. − Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, qui stiamo parlando di un cosiddetto campo, una vera e propria piccola città di persone che in base a una decisione politica difficile hanno consegnato le armi, persone che hanno affidato la propria difesa di fatto alla comunità internazionale. Oggi la ragione per la quale discutiamo questo punto come tema d'urgenza è il rischio che in massa queste persone siano deportate e venga violato definitivamente ogni loro diritto rispetto al regime iraniano.

Allora, certamente può essere questionato il grado, il tasso di democraticità dei Mujahidin del popolo, della loro organizzazione, ma non è questo temo il dibattito che dobbiamo fare, non è questa la ragione dell’urgenza che noi abbiamo chiesto! La ragione dell’urgenza che noi abbiamo chiesto è quella di impedire che in massa questa piccola città si trovi ad essere violata, eradicata del proprio diritto fondamentale, e venga consegnata nelle mani della dittatura iraniana.

Ecco perché, gli emendamenti che sono stati proposti rischiano semplicemente di confondere la brutale urgenza e necessità di questo messaggio ed è per questo motivo che mi auguro non siano approvati.

  Tunne Kelam, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group. – Mr President, we are here today to prevent a potential, large-scale, human tragedy from taking place.

Almost 4 000 people, members of the Iranian opposition, are in imminent danger of being deported by the Iraqi authorities back to Iran, whose regime has already executed more than 22 000 of their friends. By the way, these are the people who have exposed the Tehran secret nuclear programme and are opposing the terrorism-exporting regime by peaceful means.

It is in the interests of the democratic credibility of the Iraqi Government, as well as the US Administration, which has granted their status as protected persons, to protect their lives, respect their free will and dignity and guarantee their safe future under international law. But, first of all, we call on the Iraqi Government to lift the blockade of Camp Ashraf.

  Nicholson of Winterbourne, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Mr President, I believe that Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a good friend of mine, and others who have spoken are profoundly mistaken and that we should support the amendments, because the Iraqi Government has announced on more than one occasion recently that it has no intention whatsoever of forcing the inhabitants of Camp Ashraf to leave for Iran or to go to any other country.

The Iraqi Government has repeatedly requested different countries, including many EU Member States, to receive them, and we have not agreed.

Of the 3 400 people living in the camp, 1 015 hold residence permits from, and enjoy resident status in, different countries, many of which are EU Member States, and we are not accepting these people. Why?

Most of the camp’s inhabitants received professional military training during the previous Saddam Hussein regime and they participated with his presidential guards and with other security forces in the violent crushing of the Iraqi people’s popular uprising after the liberation of Kuwait in 1991.

There is ample evidence that these people harmed the Iraqi people when the Iraqi army refused to carry out the killings that Saddam Hussein required. The families of the victims in Iraq cannot forget this fact, and the Iraqi Constitution does not permit the presence of groups such as the NKO or the PKK on Iraqi soil.

Two thousand of these people have registered themselves with the High Commissioner for Refugees, hoping to be transferred to other countries ready to accept them, and for several years now the Iraqi Government has been working closely with UNHCR asking other countries to accept them.

Dear colleagues, this is the business of Iraq. The sovereignty of Iraq is at stake, and we should place our trust in this democratically elected Government of Iraq. This is their right, their duty, and I can assure you they are fulfilling it correctly.

  Charles Tannock (PPE-DE). - Mr President, I have never been a great fan of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, whose philosophical origins are Islamist-Marxist – which is a contradiction in terms – and they were of course for many years under the protection of Saddam Hussein, the butcher of Baghdad, whom they supported militarily.

Nevertheless, in recent years they have reformed, and have given valuable information to the West about human rights violations in Iran and the geographical location of Iran’s secret uranium enrichment facilities. It was therefore questionable if they should have remained on the EU banned terrorist list. What is unquestionable, in my view, is that the residents of Camp Ashraf deserve legal protection in Iraq from its Government and the allied forces, and do not deserve deportation to Iran, where they face almost certain torture and possible execution.

  Richard Howitt (PSE). - Mr President, this debate once again demonstrates the limitations of urgencies, with huge numbers of representations because there has been insufficient time for proper negotiation and consultation.

I want to put on record that the original Socialist text clearly opposes any question of forced deportation, and calls for full compliance with the Geneva Convention and full access by international human rights organisations. To Mr Vidal-Quadras and others, having myself sought to get a compromise by getting cross-party support only for Amendments 2, 3 and 6 and then the Socialist support for the joint resolution, it is a complete distortion to say that these amendments could be used as a pretext to massacre residents. Whether people support or criticise the PMOI, in a human rights debate no one in this Chamber should disagree with amendments which seek to support human rights obligations on any or all parties anywhere in the world.

  Jan Zahradil (PPE-DE). - Pane předsedo, mně bude stačit 30 vteřin. Já chci říci, že jsem rád, že to bylo české předsednictví, během kterého byla organizace PMOI odstraněna z listu zakázaných organizací Evropské unie, a jsem rád, že dnes pokračujeme v ochraně opozice proti íránskému režimu rezolucí o táboře Ašraf. Chtěl bych poděkovat všem, kteří se na tom podíleli ze všech politických skupin bez rozdílu jejich politické barvy a přesvědčení, a doufám, že ta rezoluce projde v té podobě, v jaké byla navržena, bez pozměňovacích návrhů, které by ji nějakým způsobem deformovaly.

  Paulo Casaca (PSE). - Senhor Presidente, também eu queria apelar ao voto nesta resolução conjunta, tal como ela se encontra. As emendas que aqui estão apresentadas são profundamente enganosas.

É absolutamente falso que haja um só, um só refugiado do campo de Ashraf que do campo alternativo tenha sido transferido para a Europa ou mesmo para dentro do Iraque com o apoio do Alto Comissariado. Eu desafio quem quer que seja a perguntar ao Alto Comissariado se alguma vez um só foi transferido.

Tudo isto são meras falsidades com o único objectivo de facilitar um massacre. É disto que se trata, nada mais, e eu pediria aos autores disto, que é absolutamente vergonhoso, para retirarem estas emendas, que são um insulto a este Parlamento.

  Antonio Tajani, Vicepresidente della Commissione. − Signor Presidente, le chiedo di poter parlare, però in condizioni possibili, perché con tutti i parlamentari in piedi è sinceramente molto difficile; io sono molto rispettoso del Parlamento, ma mi pare veramente impossibile poter parlare in questa situazione!

  El Presidente. − Tiene usted razón.

Colegas, no vamos a cerrar el debate hasta que no esté todo el mundo sentado y en silencio.

Me dirijo a los colegas que están en los pasillos y de conversación: ¡no vamos a cerrar el debate hasta que se acaben las conversaciones y se pueda escuchar al Vicepresidente de la Comisión con el respeto debido!

  Antonio Tajani, Vicepresidente della Commissione. − Signor Presidente, la ringrazio perché credo sia giusto partecipare a dibattiti ascoltando quello che si dice e intervenendo in maniera appropriata.

Je vais maintenant parler en français. Monsieur le Président, Mesdames et Messieurs les députés, la Commission suit régulièrement l'évolution de la situation en Iraq, notamment en ce qui concerne le camp d'Ashraf.

Comme nous le savons tous, en janvier 2009, le gouvernement iraquien a repris le contrôle de cette zone. S'agissant de la situation humanitaire dans ce camp, la Commission a été informée, par le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge et par d'autres organisations internationales qui ont suivi l'évolution de la situation, qu'aucune dégradation sensible des conditions de vie ni aucune violation des conventions internationales n'avaient été signalées.

La Commission partage pleinement le point de vue selon lequel la fermeture du camp doit s'inscrire dans un cadre juridique, et que la vie, ainsi que l'intégration physique et morale de ses résidents ne peuvent être menacées. Il est nécessaire d'appliquer les normes humanitaires internationales, et notamment le principe de non-refoulement.

À plusieurs reprises, le gouvernement iraquien s'est déclaré disposé à traiter les résidents du camp de façon décente et à affirmer qu'il n'avait nullement l'intention d'expulser illégalement les membres de cette organisation ou de les contraindre à quitter l'Iraq.

Sachant cela, la Commission insiste néanmoins, comme toujours, sur le respect de l'État de droit, et compte sur le gouvernement iraquien pour qu'il agisse dans ce sens.

Lors de leur rencontre avec la Commission en mars 2009, les autorités iraquiennes ont réitéré leur engagement à respecter les normes humanitaires internationales et à ne pas faire usage de la force, notamment à ne pas opérer de retours forcés en Iraq.

Le ministère iraquien des droits de l'homme procède actuellement à des entretiens individuels avec les résidents afin d'établir leurs droits et de déterminer s'ils préfèrent retourner en Iraq ou partir dans un pays tiers.

Au cours de ces dernières semaines, certains membres ont choisi de quitter le camp et ont été en mesure de le faire sans rencontrer de difficultés. La Commission soutient ces efforts. Si les résidents du camp sont désireux de partir, le gouvernement iraquien doit les autoriser à s'établir dans un autre pays et faciliter leurs démarches

La Commission, de concert avec les représentants des États membres présents sur le terrain, continuera à suivre l'évolution de la situation.

(Applaudissements)

  El Presidente. − Se cierra el debate.

La votación tiene lugar a continuación.

PRÉSIDENCE DE MME MARTINE ROURE
Vice-présidente