Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the United Nations to Wall Street to the Inner City

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 28 -- The day after a violent confrontation in Camp Ashraf in Iraq, when Inner City Press asked the UN about it at first the response was that the facts were in dispute, then that only "light injuries" resulted.

   On August 27 Inner City Press reported that after Ashrafis say they were left to wait three hours in temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, violence broke out. Photos of beaten Ashrafis, including an older man bleeding from the head, have been sent to Inner City Press and were published here.
  
  On August 28, Inner City Press went to the UN's noon briefing and asked about the incident.

   Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq replied that the facts were "in dispute" and that the UN needed "further details." Video here, from Minute 14:25.

   Inner City Press tweeted this response, juxtaposing it with the photo of the bleeding older man.  Subsequently the following UN response arrived by e-mail:

Subject: Answer on Camp Ashraf
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 12:42 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

UNAMI's preliminary reports confirmed that yesterday, an incident between residents and Iraqi Police led to some light injuries on both sides. However the situation returned to normal. Preparations for the relocation of the next group of 400 residents to Camp Hurriya are continuing and we hope the move will soon be completed.

   Inner City Press has been sent video, of the type often shown by broadcast networks despite saying it could not be independently verified, which tends to call into question this "light injuries on both sides" claim.

  On wider questions, some in the UN decline comment, on the theory that responses only bring more replies. But it still seems that some of the below should be responded to: 

--In addition to going through detector, the Iraqis conducted body search of almost every resident;

--Many of the residents belongings including computers were not approved during the inspection. Even some computer accessories were stopped without any justification;

--the Government of Iraq has not allowed the generators to be transferred to Camp Liberty. There is no justification for such prohibition. The Government of Iraq is now laying claim to all generators; and

--The Iraqis are not even transferring the trailers for the disabled. As you recall for months Kobler was making propaganda about Iraq generosity for allowing disabled trailers to be transferred. The Iraqis are now promising that they will transferred them next time.

We'll see.