The residents of Camp Ashraf should not be evicted from that Camp in breach of the undertakings given by the Iraqi government and their rights under international humanitarian law. Unless and until this government, the United States and the United Nations Security Council step in, we are heading for an humanitarian catastrophe at Ashraf.
What is going on is that the Iraqis through that Committee for the Suppression of Ashraf - its title tells you its purpose and it shows the contempt with which they hold their obligations under international humanitarian law - they are determined now to erase Ashraf from the face of the earth and if that means killing more people and injuring more people then that is what they are going to do.
Now we are going to stop them. We are going to stop them. I have written urgently to the Foreign Secretary William Hague about what is going on there. We have got a question in the House of Lords on the 25th of January on this topic and I have also written to the American Ambassador in London, with a copy of a letter signed by about 25 distinguished colleagues of mine in both Houses of Parliament.
We are determined that we will not be silenced on this matter. There are obligations, whether the Iraqis like them or not, they have signed up for them. They did not say we accept our obligations under humanitarian law, except for members of the PMOI. They signed up to those international obligations.
We demand that, as they have demonstrated they have no intention of carrying out those responsibilities, then that responsibility should be taken away from them and there should be a force established through the UN Security Council to ensure the safety and security of the people of Camp Ashraf.
What matters about Ashraf, what matters about this, is that it is a signal of hope. The hope for freedom and respect for human rights for those millions who cry freedom in Iran itself. It is a voice that drifts over the desert sand, crosses that border into Iran itself and gives those people renewed hope, spirit and determination to stand up to one of the vilest regimes on this planet who have been sanctioned 57 times by the United Nations for their breaches of respect for human rights. They flog women, hang women, hang children. They hang more people than the rest of the world put together, bar China. What a picture of Islam that gives to the world, doesn't it. They are barbarians and we are not going to let them get away with it. You are not and we are not. We are going to stand firm, raise our voices.
Salam Ashraf. We stand alongside you. Thank you very much.
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