Speech of Maryam Rajavi Conference for regime change in Iran
And in the Name of the Martyrs of April 8, the martyrs who pursued dignity and freedom for Iran.
And the brave Mojahed Saeed Chavoshi said: “We will greet any hardship or challenge.”
Mahdiyeh Madadzadeh said: “I will pay the price of the path I have chosen.”
Faezeh Rajabi said: “we write the destiny of our people”.
Amir-Massoud Fazlollahi said: “There is nothing in this world that is more beautiful than staying true to one’s word and fulfilling one’s promise.”
And Saba Haftbaradaran said: “We stand tall, and we will persevere until the very end.”
Such were the last words of the martyrs of April 8, 2011, a testimony to their enduring perseverance.
Yes, since the first series of martyrdoms of the members of the central committee of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), Ali Mihandoust, Ali Bakeri, Nasser Sadeq, and Mohammad Bazargani, to the blood-stained epic created in Ashraf on September 1, 2013, this is the message that can be continuously heard: Resistance, resistance and more resistance. This is the way to change our destiny and to build our future. This is the key to liberation and to paving the way forward in the midst of the religious fascism’s oppression.
Respected Dignitaries,
The Iraqi forces’ attack on Camp Ashraf on April 8, 2011, on the orders of the Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader, was part of a long series of sieges, plots, and massacres, which were planned with the objective of annihilating the Ashrafis and the only democratic alternative to the religious fascism ruling Iran.
But, take a look at the Iranian political scene today:
Thanks to the monumental perseverance of the Ashrafi heroes, and thanks to the sacrifices made by their supporters and the fortitude of the Resistance’s sympathizers and friends across the world, the Iranian Resistance came out proud and triumphant after an extremely difficult and blood-stained test that it has been subjected to and that is continuing to this day.
The living and roaring alternative of this regime, the Iranian people’s symbol of yearning for freedom, has stood tall, more revitalized, and stronger than ever.
On the other hand, the clerical regime has been stuck in the quagmire of crises and gigantic defeats.
Ten months after the farcical presidential elections in the velayat-e faqih regime, the presidency of Hassan Rouhani and his sham display of moderation has caused crippling splits and rifts within the regime.
Five months after the nuclear accord was signed in Geneva, the agreement has now turned into a noose around the regime’s neck, and the deep confrontation between the disenchanted population gripped by poverty and inflation against the ruling regime has cornered the mullahs.
The belligerent policies of Khamenei and the ruling faction have reached a dead end.
The posturings of moderation by the faction led by Rouhani and former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani have also failed in the span of only a few months.
Now, the clerical regime is being drowned in uncontrollable crises:
On the one hand, it needs to display a semblance of moderation. But on the other hand, fearful of loosening the chains of suppression which could pave the way for popular uprisings, it has increased executions to unprecedented levels.
On the one hand, in order to take the weight of sanctions off its shoulders, it needs to implement the nuclear accord. On the other hand, fearful of the lethal consequences of such a retreat, it cannot afford to abandon its ambitions of acquiring a nuclear weapon. Khamenei has said it loud and clear that, “As regards the nuclear issue, there is absolutely no possibility to stop or slow down,” insisting that he will never abandon their nuclear program and facilities.
On the one hand, it needs to rein in the trend of economic collapse. On the other hand, it is incapable of reducing the enormous costs of running the machinery of domestic suppression or its astonishing costs of continuing the war in Syria.
On the one hand, it needs to improve its diplomatic relations with other governments. On the other hand, it is so vulnerable and its rule is so shaky that the slightest mention of human rights violations in Iran will cause it to shout and scream in protest.
The regime’s hysterical reaction to the recent resolution adopted by the European Parliament regarding human rights abuses in Iran demonstrates how demoralized the mullahs are.
In so far as it concerns the regime itself, the mullahs’ screams and indignation are first and foremost a defensive posture against the threat of calls for greater respect for human rights. And secondly, in the context of the ongoing infighting within the regime, they are a means to limit the rival faction’s advance.
The regime’s deep trepidation of human rights is not misplaced, because the slightest divergence in this regard will facilitate vast popular uprisings while shattering of the wall of suppression, particularly since the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance intend to compel the regime to drink the poisoned chalice of human rights in addition to the poison of internal splits and the poison of the nuclear issue.
That is why, on the basis of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we call on the international community and especially western governments to predicate their relations with the regime on the resolution of the human rights issue in Iran, especially abolishing executions, ending torture and suppression and accepting respect for the freedom of speech.
We call on them to stand on the right side of the rapid movement of history towards freedom, especially in the Middle East and at its heart Iran.
End the policy of appeasing and offering concessions to the Iranian regime.
Do not use the excuse of nuclear negotiations as a means to close your eyes on the regime’s crimes against the Iranian people.
And do not close your eyes on the regime’s role in the ongoing genocide in Syria and its lethal occupation of Iraq and meddling in other countries of the region.
This regime will not last. And the Iranian people will undoubtedly triumph.
Let’s go back to the Bloody Friday of April 8, 2011:
Take a look at this picture. This picture depicts the exact moment that an Iraqi government Humvee was running over an Ashrafi. Akbar Madadzadeh was also run over by Humvees and murdered.
This picture, in and of itself, depicts everything that rained down on Ashraf on April 8 and thereafter: It depicts both the brutality of the mullahs’ puppet government in Iraq as well as the struggles and heroism demonstrated by the Ashrafis.
But let us see what happened in the ensuring days:
A week after the April 8 attack, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stressed the need for “independent, transparent and impartial investigations,” and “bringing the culprits of the crime to account.”
At the same time, then Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, John Kerry, called for an investigation. But the UN did not act. Consequently, it was revealed that the UN would not do anything that would invite the fury of the Maliki government.
In his testimony to the U.S. Congress, Dr. Tahar Boumedra said that since October 2011, when Martin Kobler began his mission in Iraq, 95 percent of the resources, personnel and time of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) was dedicated to helping the Iraqi government to close Camp Ashraf. He exposed the fact that in any matter concerning Ashraf, the tasks of UNAMI were determined at the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office with the full knowledge and involvement of the Iranian regime’s embassy in Baghdad.
Precisely along these lines, we see the finger prints and influence of the religious fascism in some of the wording of reports that were crafted last January (and, of course, dated August 2013), when Kobler was still the official representative of the UN Secretary General in Iraq, and which were published under the name of the UNAMI Human Rights Office in Baghdad in collaboration with the High Commission for Human Rights.
Also on this weak and unreliable basis, again in the month of March, the same paragraph and the same message appeared in a report in the name of the Secretary General to the UN Security Council. These are exactly the same spurious claims and allegations that say that the leadership of Camp Liberty, and not the Iraqi government, are responsible for preventing the MEK from accessing medical treatment and for violating their rights.
This paragraph has been written in one place by the same individual or individuals against the victims of massacres and sieges and for the benefit of the dictatorships ruling Iran and Iraq. Its purpose is nothing but to deflect attention from the great crimes committed against the Ashrafis.
And regardless of how many times we ask why, in violation of the Memorandum of Understanding and the statement by the U.S. Secretary of State at the time, UN monitors have not been stationed at Camp Liberty to see everything for themselves, we are not hearing a response. Why?
It was for this reason that the families of martyrs and the MEK Ashrafis in Liberty and New York filed a complaint and they are also seeking to register a similar complaint against the writer or writers of the statements which offer a false picture of the reality on the ground.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions has thus far issued two reports, saying that Camp Liberty resembles a detention center.
So far, 18 Ashrafis have lost their lives as a result of the medical siege. In this book entitled Betrayal of the Hippocratic Oath, medical doctors at Ashraf Clinic provide a comprehensive picture of how Iraqi government agents caused the gradual deaths of those who were ill at Ashraf.
So why has the UN not even once issued a firm and public statement calling for the lifting of the medical siege and the siege on the import of food?
During a speech at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Dr. Boumedra said that UNAMI’s reports are crafted in Baghdad, edited in Geneva and New York, and shared with the Iraqi government before publication. And only after the Iraqi government has been given an opportunity to approve, meaning after they can make their formal alternations, can the reports be published. This is the first and most important fact.
Another reality came to light by the dignified employees of the UN. They say that some individuals in the UN have made a business out of playing with words and expressions, which are ready-made and prepared in advance. When the time comes or when someone requests it, they would immediately use those words and expressions. This is while many UN institutions and organs also oppose such reports and declare them to be contrary to their own objectives.
Similarly, the MEK at Liberty and their lawyers have written numerous letters to the Secretary General and the Security Council requesting that the issue of investigations about the crimes against humanity committed in Ashraf not be delayed any longer and be referred to the International Criminal Court.
Gentlemen,
If this seems to be a daunting task for you, then create an international fact-finding mission to conduct the investigations.
If the Iraqi government is innocent, then compel it to agree to an investigation carried out by Amnesty International.
This is not a request to complain about past events. Before all else, it is to guarantee the rights of the MEK freedom-fighters and to protect their lives now and into the future. If the U.S., the European Union or the UN and the UNHCR had remained committed to their declarations about the necessity of conducting independent investigations after the first blood bath occurred in July 2009, or after the second one on April 8, 2011, then the next wave of attacks could have been prevented.
We demand that the Secretary General explicitly and firmly end instances of complicity or disregard when it comes to the commission of crimes against humanity. We also invite the Secretary General to order independent investigations into the mass executions and hostage taking at Ashraf on the basis of a clear timetable.
Is this request unjustified or out of the ordinary?
No, these are not demands that are out of the ordinary. Rather, they are imperative to prevent a repeat of inhumane crimes, and they are necessary to protect the credibility of the UN itself.
On the twentieth anniversary of the massacres in Rwanda, Mr. Ban Ki-moon said: “The UN still feels a sense of shame about the genocide that happened in Rwanda.”
The same sense of shame was expressed by both the current and former secretary generals with respect to the Srebrenica massacre.
The UN Secretary General has repeatedly emphasized the established principle of Responsibility-to-Protect. In accordance with this principle, if there is a fear of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes, governments cannot and shall not hide behind the argument for sovereignty, because the responsibility to protect does not undermine a government’s sovereign rights.
Although the expressions of shame and criticizing oneself, even after a delay lasting several years, should still be well-received, for the same reason, this inexplicable inaction must end.
14 months have passed since the first missile attack against Camp Liberty. Contrary to the agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding it signed with the UN, the Iraqi government is still refusing to implement the security requirements. Only 3.5 percent of the nearly 17,500 protective T-walls have been returned. The sleeping quarters and most of the halls lack protection. We even said that we are prepared to shoulder the extraordinary costs of purchasing 2-by-2 meter individual bunkers, something that the Iraqi side had proposed itself. But they stopped this process as well, only after 46 of the bunkers were transferred to Liberty. UNAMI and UN observers witness these events with their own eyes on a daily basis and are aware of all the details.
I once again hereby emphasize the imperative security requirements at Liberty against missile attacks, including T-walls, fortifications, and the need for the transfer of protective and medical equipment from Ashraf.
Over the past two years, the Iraqi government’s opposition to transferring medical equipment belonging to the Ashrafis from Ashraf to Liberty and its prevention of constructing buildings for the sick, injured and disabled residents has not been met with any objection or clear protests from the UN. On the other hand, there have been numerous comical claims delivered to us that the Iraqi government was unaware of attacks against Ashraf as well as fabricated scenarios about the secret burial of the martyrs. For example, the claim that the Iraqi government buried the bodies of the martyrs in the initial days because it did not have enough space in its morgues. It is still unclear why they would inform of this 175 days after the fact!
There is solid evidence that shows that on September 1, 2013, UN and U.S. officials quickly initiated discussions about the attack with Iraqi government officials at various levels at 5:30 AM, only 15 minutes after the attack was launched. But, Iraqi officials claim that they were unaware of the attack for hours.
Does the chain of lies told by the Iraqi government have any purpose other than removing any signs of the crime against humanity? Was it not the UN and the UN Secretary General Special Representative in Iraq who promised on the day that they took the bodies of the 52 martyrs away made promises to us in this regard?
So, why have they remained silent? It was on the basis of their commitments and the letter of the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State in Near East Affairs with respect to the bodies of the martyrs, the property in Ashraf and especially the issue of security that I requested the 42 survivors at Ashraf to move to Liberty.
Yes, we are demanding the immediate implementation of the written commitments and unfulfilled promises. We are demanding release of seven Ashrafi hostages and the transfer of all the residents of Liberty, especially the sick and the wounded, to the United States and Europe.
Respected Guests, on April 8, 2011, and in all of the glorious epics over the past years, what happened was not only resistance against barbaric attacks. It was an uprising in defense of the most basic values of humanity, which inspire women and Youth in Iran in their struggle for freedom and liberty.
Hail to the 36 heroes and heroines who became eternal on April 8, 2011.
Hail to my martyred daughters: Saba, Shahnaz, Mahdiyeh, Asiyeh, Fa’ezeh, Nastaran, Marzieh, and Fatemeh, who were the harbingers of the promise of the Iranian women‘s triumph over reactionary mindset, injustice and inequality. They have truly created a new phenomenon in the Iranian people’s liberation struggle.
And the warmest tributes should be sent to Mansour Hajian, Saeed Chavoshi, Hassan Avani, Hanif Kafai, Zoheyr Zakeri, and other heroic martyrs of April 8.
They were pioneering men who combined the political struggle and battle for overthrowing the velayat-e faqih regime with the profound struggle for shunning all the worn-out and inhibiting elements of exploitation.
And since they had accepted the ideal of equality with all their heart and since this ideal has seeped into their thoughts, deeds and relations, they had acquired the gem of liberation, creativity and impressive capabilities. Hail to these heroes who rose to wage a resistance for the freedom of the Iranian people that is inspired by their mentor Massoud Rajavi.
This is a resistance movement that stands as the progressive force of history and it is something that we must persistently champion and protect it.
Yes, this is our path and our answer that is Resistance with any price. As Massoud Rajavi has said, “When the demon spits out fire, when the henchmen knows no bounds, the key to perseverance and advancement can be summed in a word: sacrifice.
The MEK, starting with their founders to their members and supporters all over Iran and the entire world, have learned this lesson well and know how to write the history of their people and country.”
Esteemed Guests, the attendance of the representatives of the associations of Iranian youths in this gathering sends a clear message to our compatriots inside Iran as well as to the international community. The message is that the youth of Iran are determined to overthrow the religious dictatorship and establish freedom and democracy and they are saying that no matter where they happen to be in the world, their heart still beats for Iran and the Iranian people.
Indeed, we see the reinvigorated spirit of the martyrs in the eyes of you young people who are committed to the ideal of freedom and liberty.
As you said, you are continuing the path of these martyrs, from Rahman to Amir and Saba, Assieh and Mahdieh.
You have risen in support of resistance and uprisings, and you represent the future of Iran.
Dear Friends, the Iranian Resistance persevered in the face of monumental challenges and has become eternal. The regime’s chain of plots against the Resistance have all failed.
Now, the winds are heading toward the clerical regime.
Regardless of the path that they choose, their road ends at overthrow.
This is the will of the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance. We have risen up for a free and democratic Iran, and are certain of the triumph of freedom and popular sovereignty.
Hail to the people of Iran
Hail to freedom
Hail to all of you.
