WASHINGTON, July 25, 2011 — The US Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents (USCCAR) condemns the outrageous remarks by Ambassador Lawrence Butler, stationed in Iraq, about the residents of Camp Ashraf and the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
The outlandish and totally false allegations by Mr. Butler about the MEK’s past and present – debunked repeatedly by the group and the highest courts in the United Kingdom, the European Union and France – lays bare the Ambassador’s sinister agenda in trying to impose a plan which would only exacerbate the “vexing” humanitarian crisis in Camp Ashraf.
Mr. Butler ignores the Iraqi Government responsibility for the unjustifiable attack on the unarmed residents of Ashraf on April 8, 2011; a crime described by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry as “massacre,” and, instead, describes the victims as those who have “blood on their hand.” No wonder that Iranian regime’s media have been recycling Mr. Butler’s allegations.
His remarks could only be viewed as paving the way for another massacre at Camp Ashraf.
This is not the first time Mr. Butler has displayed his bias toward Ashraf residents. Back in November 2007, he made extremely insulting remarks about the female residents of Camp Ashraf during an interview with a Swedish daily which drew worldwide condemnation at the time, including by Iranian Diaspora.
Mr. Butler is clearly frustrated at the fact that the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously adopted a language in the Foreign Relations Authorization Bill to make it the policy of the United States “to take all necessary and appropriate steps to prevent the forcible relocation of Camp Ashraf residents inside Iraq and facilitate the robust presence of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq in Camp Ashraf.”
To cover his unwillingness to fulfill the task of facilitating the safety and security of the Ashraf residents, Mr. Butler has, instead, opted to vilify the very same victims he is tasked with protecting. By doing so, he has disqualified himself as an objective person to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the crisis as suggested by Senator Kerry.
A new U.S. envoy must be mandated with implementing what the House Committee on Foreign Affairs has set as the policy of the United States in regards to Camp Ashraf in order the urgent task of finding a resolution has a realistic chance.