By Saied Mehdizadeh, Camp Liberty
Free access to physicians and medical services are one of the most basic human rights that no individual can deprive any other of. However, here in Camp Liberty near Baghdad International Airport, home to Iranian opposition members of the fascist regime ruling Iran, there is no sign of respecting this human rights principle. In fact, these rights are violated on a daily basis as easy as drinking a cup of water. When you pass by the Iraqi clinic in the camp you see patients suffering for months and waiting to exit the camp for visits or treatment in Baghdad hospitals.
You become happy, hoping that there will be an end to their pains and sufferings. At 8 am my eyes follow the ambulance carrying patients at the camp’s exit checkpoint. However, minutes later you see that ambulance has been stopped in front of the camp. This tragedy is being repeated exactly like the days before. I stand there waiting for the ambulance to exit and waves of questions come to my mind like what will happen if they actually do exit the camp? If the Iraqi security forces begin obstructing again for no reason at all, what will happen then?
I hadn’t answered these questions when all of a sudden I heard the sound of the ambulance’s tires on the gravel road, and it was as if a pile of sadness took over me seeing the ambulance turn back into the camp. I look at my watch. It’s 11:30 am. I lose my thoughts and all my hope vanishes in thin air while the ambulance passes me by. My eyes fall on those of the patients in pain and this question comes to my for a second, with the all heavy load of the disasters in Liberty: why is it that in the 21st century 2,800 people in a so-called “temporary transit” camp must be deprived of their most human rights?
Iran Liberty 