Camp Ashraf
Camp Ashraf or Ashraf City is a camp in Iraq's Diyala Governorate, having the character of a small city with all basic infrastructure, and the former headquarters of the People's Mujahedin of Iran. The population used to be around 3,400 in 2012, but in 2013 nearly all were relocated to Camp Liberty near Baghdad International Airport after pressure by then-prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's office.
Camp Ashraf is situated 96 kilometers north of Baghdad near the town of Al Khalis. On January 1, 2009, United States formally transferred control over to the Iraqi government. From 2003 to 2013, Camp Ashraf was attacked several times, the worst being on April 8, 2011, when the Iraqi Army raided the camp and killed as many as 34 people and wounded 318 more.
On September 1, 2013, an attack was directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and conducted by Iranian proxy militias Kata'ib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, killing 52 civilians belonging to the MEK, with numerous prisoners being abducted to Tehran following the raid.
The Camp was briefly occupied by ISIS in 2014 and remained under the control of ISIS until 2015, when it was recaptured by the Badr Organization, an Iran-backed militia affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces.
As of 2025, the Camp remains under the control of Iraqi Private Militias affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Units and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
History
Camp Ashraf under MEK
According to the U.S. State Department, the MEK, which established its base at Ashraf in 1986, was then welcomed into Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War. The city of Ashraf was named in commemoration of Ashraf Rabiei, a famous political prisoner at the time of the Shah, a senior member of the People's Mujahedin of Iran and wife of Massoud Rajavi. She was killed in a firefight with the Revolutionary Guard in 1982, after the Iranian revolution.Development of a city
The MEK established its base at Ashraf in 1986. The refugees began on a barren land with no facilities, paved road, or running water. The members of MEK built it into a modern city with a complex of roads and buildings with many educational, social, medical, and sports facilities, manufacturing and agricultural works, and even a university.Iranian air attacks
Even after the cease-fire with Iran, the Iranian Air Force carried out several air raids against Ashraf. The first of such raids was conducted using eight F-4 Phantoms armed with rockets and cluster bombs on 6 April 1992. During this raid, one F-4 was shot down by either insurgent or Iraqi military anti-aircraft artillery and both pilots were captured and not freed until 1998. Despite threats of response, Iraq was not able to retaliate due to its own fight against Kurdish separatist guerillas and the Western-imposed no-fly zones that crippled and limited its air force's operations. Another air raid was conducted on 26 May 1993 against Ashraf and Jalat with 12 planes, according to a statement by the MEK. Iranian government news agencies said the attacks were in retaliation for several attacks on Iranian military personnel and oil pipelines in Khuzestan province.Ashraf during US occupation
From air attacks to designation as protected persons
During the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, Coalition forces launched air attacks against MEK forces. Reports indicated that Coalition attacks had been planned well in advance as part of a purported agreement whereby Iran agreed to support US efforts as long as the US-supported Iran's initiative to destroy Camp Ashraf and its residents. MEK commanders negotiated a ceasefire in April–May 2003, on the basis of which the group relinquished its weapons, including tanks, armored vehicles, and heavy artillery.Subsequently, different US agencies investigated Camp Ashraf residents, and saw no basis for trying any of the residents for acts of terrorism. Consequently, Coalition forces granted residents of Camp Ashraf protected status as civilians under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Military presence
Adjoining the camp was Forward Operating Base Grizzly. The forward operating base is where US and Coalition forces used to reside and were involved in a humanitarian mission designed to oversee control of the camp.During the period that it protected the MEK in Iraq—from April 2003 until January 2009—the US Army was confronted with almost 600 disillusioned members who wanted to leave the organisation. In order to house the defectors, the US Army built a separate camp adjacent to Camp Ashraf, where the MEK was concentrated, known as the Temporary Internment and Protection Facility.
Under U.S. military protection, the group was disarmed and became confined to Camp Ashraf. When the U.S. military formally gave control back to the Iraqi government in January 2009, it caused several issues, mainly where Iraq asked for the group to be handed over to them for prosecution. However, the MEK received protection under international law.
In 2004, the U.S. determined that the residents of Camp Ashraf were "noncombatants" and "protected persons", and the United Nations commission described the residents as "formal asylum seekers" against persecution by the regime in Iran.
Transition to Iraqi control
On January 1, 2009, the U.S. officially transferred control of Camp Ashraf to the Iraqi government. According to a press release from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the U.S. would maintain a military presence at the camp and the Iraqi government would ensure that all residents were treated according to Iraqi law. A State Department spokesman said the Government of Iraq had promised both humane treatment of people at Camp Ashraf and that none would be relocated to a country where they would have "a well-founded fear of persecution".Forcible eviction of residents
2009 attack by Iraqi forces
In late July 2009 conflict erupted when Iraqi forces attempted to enter camp Ashraf to establish a police station without the consent of the MEK. Accounts of the conflict differ. Some sources say Iraqi forces used violence, including gunfire, water cannons, and batons, killing eleven people and injuring about 400; two others later died from their wounds. Videos by Ashraf residents purportedly show these scenes. Iraqi authorities denied using violent methods but said residents used stones, knives, and sharp tools to fight security forces that tried to enter the camp. Journalists were excluded from the area.Video footage surfaced purportedly showing Iraqi forces trying to repeatedly run down residents with vehicles.
In September 2009, in accordance with their mandate, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, led by Ad Melkert, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, started attempts for mediation between the residents and premier minister Al-Maliki's office. Additionally, as reported by UNAMI issue leader Tahar Boumedra, Chief of the Human Rights Office, it ensured regular visits to the camp for monitoring human rights and as a deterrent against violence. In October 2009, in the frame of UNAMI's mediation, the Government of Iraq announced they would close Camp Ashraf, while the residents responded that neither remaining in Iraq nor returning to Iran were safe options for them; they said to be prepared to move to safe third countries as soon as this become possible and asked for the necessary time for exploring this perspective.
On December 10, 2009, the Iraqi government announced plans to move the MEK from Camp Ashraf to a former detention center, Neqrat al-Salman, about 200 miles west of Basra. In response, the MEK refused to comply with the decision. On December 15, 2009, Iraqi government sent a group of its security forces into the camp to urge the residents of the camp to leave the camp. They used loudspeakers and distributed pamphlets calling the residents to join them and leave Ashraf. However, no resident accepted to leave. Media reporters were present on the scene.
The UN issued a statement "exiled camp residents must not be deported". UNAMI, led by the UN envoy Ad Melkert disputed Nouri al-Maliki's claim, saying that UN would not embrace the government's efforts to deport Ashraf residents by the end of 2011. Instead, as brought forward by the UNAMI issue leader Tahar Boumedra, all parties should be engaged: the Iraqi government for building civilian camp management capacities in line with international humanitarian standards, the MEK for achieving a more realistic understanding of their reality, and the international diplomatic community.
In a 2010 report, Amnesty International said that "Following months of rising tension, Iraqi security forces forcibly entered and took control of Camp Ashraf... on 28 and 29 July. The camp, which houses some 3400 members or supporters of the People's Mojahedeen Organization of Iran, an Iranian opposition group had been under US military control since 2003.... Video footage showed Iraqi security forces deliberately driving military vehicles into crowds of protesting camp residents. The security forces also used live ammunition, apparently killing at least nine camp residents, and detained 36 others who they tortured".
The failure to relocate the camp residents prompted the "Ashrafi Committee", an ad-hoc group of Premier Minister al-Maliki's office, to tighten the embargo on Camp Ashraf. From January 2010 onwards, despite the attempts of UNAMI for the protection of human rights, fuel deliveries, water, and food supply were severely reduced, resident's vehicles were seized, and medical assistance and resident's access to hospital treatment and surgery were denied.
In Spring 2010, the Iraqi Premier Minister's Office in cooperation with the Iranian embassy in Iraq arranged so-called "family visits" of some Iranian government-operated NGOs to destabilize Camp Ashraf. Assisted by the Iraqi army, they set up camp at the gate and fixed loudspeakers around the camp. Over a period of two years, there were around 300 units "blaring threats and insults day and night at the residents".
In his quarterly report to the Security Council of 14 May 2010 pursuant to resolution 1883, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed the rights of residents of Camp Ashraf, to protection against arbitrary displacement in Iraq or forced extradition to Iran.
Brian Binley, a Member of Parliament from the United Kingdom's Conservative Party, also asked for protection of Ashraf.
On 17 October 2010, on the eve of al-Maliki's visit to Tehran, an armed attack by Iraqi forces took place, injuring 10 residents.
On January 7, 2011, assailants bussed from Basra, Amara, Nasiriya, and Baghdad to the gates of the Camp. This was jointly coordinated by the "Ashraf Committee" of al-Maliki's office with the Iranian embassy in Baghdad and backed up by Iraqi security forces. The assailants attacked the camp resulting in 176 wounded. Iraqi forces prevented the wounded, 93 of whom were women, to go to the hospital for treatment.