THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Sponsors of the Resolution include 22 Committee and Sub-Committee Chairs, 23 Committee and Sub-Committee Ranking Members
Excerpts:
Whereas the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) seeks freedom, democracy, and human rights for the people of Iran;
Whereas tens of thousands of MEK members have been executed by the Iranian regime;
Whereas in 2004, MEK members in Camp Ashraf obtained ‘protected persons’ status under the Fourth Geneva Convention based on the United States investigators’ conclusions that none was a combatant or had committed a crime under any United States laws;
Whereas senior United States military officers have acknowledged on multiple occasions that MEK’s intelligence has played a positive and effective role in saving the lives of American soldiers by exposing the threats and dangers of Iran’s terrorist interventions in Iraq;
Whereas in 2008, the United Kingdom removed the MEK from the list of proscribed organizations and lifted all the consequent restrictions;
Whereas in 2009, the Council of Ministers of the European Union voted unanimously to remove the MEK from the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations;
Whereas in July 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that the Department of State’s designation of the MEK as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189) was faulty because it violated the due process rights of the group;
Whereas the FTO designation of the MEK has been used by Iranian surrogates in Iraq as well as the Nuri al-Maliki Government in Iraq to attack the MEK members in Camp Ashraf or impose inhumane restrictions on them, which has led to loss of life;
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives –
(1) urges the Secretary of State to remove the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) from the Department of State’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations; and
(2) urges the Secretary of State to lift all restrictions imposed on the MEK, its members, and its affiliates, which has emanated from its designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
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