NEWS))))))

Top U.N. official in Iraq ‘misled’ world on camp for Iranians

Washington Times reported that the top U.N. official in Iraq directed his staff to cover up the prisonlike conditions of a relocation camp for Iranian dissidents in reports to the world body, said a former U.N. official who has resigned in protest. In his first interview since leaving his post, Tahar Boumedra told The Washington Times that Martin Kobler, U.N. special representative for Iraq, wanted the dissidents relocated quickly to Camp Liberty, a former U.S. Army base near Baghdad’s airport, and then moved out of Iraq. Mr. Kobler “misled [the U.N.] headquarters in New York, Washington” and the dissidents about conditions at Camp Liberty in his rush to move them from Camp Ashraf, where they have lived since 1986, said Mr. Boumedra, the former human rights chief at the U.N. mission in Baghdad.

Mr. Boumedra said he “got the shock of my life” when he first visited Camp Liberty in December. “I had visited a lot of prisons but that place was worse than a prison,” said Mr. Boumedra, an Algerian activist who has promoted human rights and penal reform in North Africa and the Middle East for many years. Iraqis vandalized the camp after U.S. troops left, he said, and facilities were in utter disrepair. Containers that had been used as soldiers’ living quarters were piled high with trash. Doors dangled from their hinges, and windows were smashed.

Mr. Kobler “asked us to go back and take pictures of the camp and the facilities, and make sure that the most appealing pictures are to be put in a file and presented to the residents and the diplomatic community that, ‘Here is a camp of high standards, meeting all the refugees’ requirements,’” said Mr. Boumedra, who left Iraq in May. “He asked me, and I underline this, that we make sure that ‘sellable pictures,’ be used,” he said. “I found myself fabricating reports and doctoring pictures in order to mislead my organization, the international community and the Ashrafis.”

UN says Iran arms to Syria violate UN sanctions

Associated Press reported on Aug. 22nd that the U.N. political chief says Iran’s delivery of weapons to the Syrian government is an apparent violation of U.N. sanctions banning arms exports by Tehran. Jeffrey Feltman raised the issue in Wednesday’s monthly Mideast briefing to the U.N. Security Council. Iran is a strong supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad and has reportedly been supplying the government with weapons. Feltman said the Syrian government and opposition are focusing on the use of force, with the government using heavy weapons on populated areas and the Syrian people 'suffering grievously from the appalling further militarization of this conflict.'

Iran must immediately release prisoner of conscience Arzhang Davoodi

Amnesty International said in its statement that writer Arzhang Davoodi, who is facing fresh charges after being imprisoned in Iran for nearly nine years, must be released immediately and unconditionally.

Mr. Arzhang Davoodi, a 60 year old teacher and writer, who has been imprisoned since October 2003, faces a court hearing before Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran on 28 August on a new charge of “enmity against God” (moharebeh), which carries a possible death sentence. The new charge is believed to be linked to his peaceful political activism and writings, including the release of an audio recording in which he called for “freedom and democracy”. Arzhang Davoodi is feared to have been tortured and ill-treated since being transferred on 27 June to Section 209 of Tehran’s Evin Prison which is believed to be under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence.
“Not only is Arzhang Davoodi held solely for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of expression and association in his writings and political activism, but he now faces fresh charges after being in jail for nearly nine years,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director. “He is a prisoner of conscience and the Iranian authorities must release him immediately and unconditionally.