This is a continuation of a piece posted last week about the fate of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in Iraq.
When we left off, the MEK had been granted protected personhttp://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32442:the-truth-behind-the-mek-in-iraq-part-2&catid=50:blog&Itemid=137 status under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which means that they are officially recognized as people of concern by the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC). However, when US troops withdrew from Iraq in 2009, the responsibility for protecting the unarmed MEK fell to the Iraqi government.
The MEK opposed the transfer of power because they said that it would endanger them; something also noted by various jurists and international organizations.
The Iraqi government gave the US written assurances that they would treat the MEK humanely in accordance with Iraq’s Constitution, laws, and international obligations, but this turned out to be untrue.
Since the Iraqi government took over, at least 116 MEK members were murdered and over 1,300 injured. This was a clear violation of human rights, international law, and the individual agreements that the US government signed with each MEK resident in 2004.
The MEK had been attacked on multiple occasions by the Iraqi forces sworn to protect them, but there was no independent investigation by an international body and whilst in Camp Ashraf, the MEK remained a target for future attacks.
Why would Iraq attack the MEK?
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