Camp Ashraf, previous home to Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK) members in Iraq, was targeted by terrorist agents of the Iranian regime and its Iraqi proxy forces on September first, 2013. This brutal attack left 52 killed, 7 hostages and millions of dollars’ worth of damages to the camp’s property.

It was not the first time MEK members and camps were subjected to the Iranian regime’s attacks; however, this time, the MEK’s camp was subjected to an attack while one hundred of MEK members remained in Camp Ashraf based on a quadripartite agreement between the Iraqi government, the US, the UN, and the MEK. MEK members were left to protect MEK’s property while other members had been transferred to Camp Liberty. All one hundred MEK members were protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Iranian agents killed fifty-two in cold blood and took seven hostages, including six women.

The State Dept. Reveals new details

The US State Department in its new report entitled: Iranian Regime Malign Activities During Negotiation With Iran and During JCPOA and published on October 17, 2019, revealed new details, saying:

       “On September 1, 2013, an attack by Iranian proxies Kata’ib Hezballah (KH) and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) on Camp Ashraf in Iraq, led to the deaths of 50 members of the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, or MeK.  Press reports claim members of the QF not only planned the attack, but also played a direct combat role in it. The QF, along with KH and AAH members, also abducted seven MeK members and smuggled them back to Iran, according to the press.  The missing seven members haven’t been seen or heard from since the attack.”

Some other facts on the event

Mr.Tahar Boumedra, the former UN advisor on Camp Ashraf- in his testimony in the hearing of British House of Commons on September 13, 2013, said:

“The reality about Camp Ashraf is …. sealed. Nobody could penetrate Camp Ashraf without the active participation of the Iraqi Security Forces. In the east, south of Lion’s Gate, you have the base for the HQ of the Army in Ashraf and you have the police.”

The New York Times on September 3, 2013, wrote:

“Iraq’s security forces, trained by the American government at a cost of billions of dollars, were sharply rebuked by the United Nations on Tuesday for a deadly raid on Sunday at Camp Ashraf, a compound near the Iranian border that houses a group of Iranian dissidents. United Nations officials, after visiting Camp Ashraf on Monday, said they had seen 52 bodies, most of them shot in the head and upper body, some with their hands tied.”

Reuters on September 1, 2013, reported from Baghdad:

“Two Iraqi security sources said that army and special forces had opened fire on residents…”

#Iran #News #PMOI supporters in Iran commemorate 2013 #CampAshraf massacre http://t.co/XpEDr7m7v9 pic.twitter.com/uYHqw3ZyAz

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 9, 2015

Collaborating with the then Iraqi government, Nouri al-Maliki administration, the terrorist Quds Force was in charge to conduct the attack. The plan was the total annihilation of all one hundred members of the MEK at once; however, they could not keep up to their malign plan and forty- two could survive to tell the world the true story.

Staff Writer

This September 1 marks the sixth anniversary of the 2013 Camp Ashraf massacre. Iraqi security forces, acting at the behest of the Iranian regime, shot to death, execution-style, some with their hands tied behind their backs, 52 unarmed Iranian dissidents, of Iran’s main opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several, initially wounded, were shot in the head in the Camp’s clinic while being treated. All the medical staff were also murdered. The assault force abducted seven more residents, including six women.

The attack took place at a time that MEK members were granted ‘protected persons’ status under the Fourth Geneva Convention and the United States had guaranteed Their protection.

Over the past six years, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has repeatedly called on the United Nations Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to conduct an independent and comprehensive investigation into the September 1, 2013 massacre and to hold those responsible to account.

Memorial ceremony in commemoration of 52martyrs of #CampAshraf massacre in 01/09/2013,by proxies of #Iran ian regime in #Iraq #FreeIran #MEK pic.twitter.com/lsEfdYXOtp

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 1, 2017

On September 2, 2017, while honoring the fallen heroes of the 2013 massacre, Mrs. Rajavi said, “

We pledge to always remember their sacrifice and wage an unrelenting battle that will overthrow the mullahs’ religious dictatorship. Indeed, each moment in that historic confrontation in Ashraf that September day was astonishing. Let us remember the words of Massoud Rajavi, the Resistance’s Leader, who said, “If you were to ask me to give a simple definition of the word Mojahed, I would say that being a Mojahed means adhering to one’s pledge through eternal sacrifice in the history of Iran.”

Mrs. Rajavi elaborated on the regime’s motives for planning and carrying out the massacre at Camp Ashraf.

“What they sought was to either physically annihilate the PMOI/MEK or to force them to surrender. And that left no other options.  Over the past years, in the context of the choice between giving up or continuing the fight, the PMOI/MEK has always chosen to persevere and fight on, the very choice that has been the secret to the movement’s survival and advancement,” she said.

Laying a wreath in memory of the 2013 massacre in Ashraf #Iran #FreeIran pic.twitter.com/lhbMnw1IPH

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) July 12, 2019

In an article about the massacre of MEK members on 1 Sep 2015, retired Army Col. Wesley Martin, a former base commander in Camp Ashraf wrote, “Suddenly on September 1, 2013, fifty-two wonderful lives were extinguished and seven others were taken hostage by the brutality of a corrupt government. Their lives have been taken, but their memories will never be lost as long as we live and the spirit of democracy lives within each of us. The time will come in the future when we are together again. We will appreciate the opportunity we had to know and work with each other in this life. We will also be proud of knowing we never gave up on each other and never gave up on striving to bring peace and stability to the world.”

Honoring the memory of the victims in Iran 

During the past six years, MEK supporters inside Iran have held ceremonies to honor the memory of Ashraf residents murdered on September 1, 2013. Taking up serious risks of arrest and persecution by regime security forces, they have also placed posters in memory of the 52 martyrs on walls, phone booths and other public areas in cities across Iran.

Staff writer