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US: Situation at Camp Ashraf in Iraq

Press Statement

Marie Harf

Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

September 6, 2013

—————

We are continuing to follow with urgency the situation at Camp Ashraf in Iraq. The United States reiterates its condemnation of the horrific attack that took place on September 1 and we express our condolences to the families and friends of the victims.

We further reiterate our support for the United Nations Assistance Mission (UNAMI) and its efforts to conduct an independent fact finding investigation into this terrible event and to document what took place. We have called on the Government of Iraq to fully support UNAMI’s efforts to conduct a full investigation of its own and to help find and return to safety those who are missing. We insist that the perpetrators of this barbarous act be brought to justice.

We also note the troubling statements issued by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) praising the attack, and call on the Government of Iran to use whatever influence it might have with groups that may be holding missing persons from the camp to secure their immediate release.

Regarding the immediate situation at Camp Ashraf, we urge all parties to cooperate with a plan proposed by UNAMI to ensure the safe and secure relocation of the survivors to Camp Hurriya as soon as possible. Consistent with this plan, we call on the Government of Iraq to move expeditiously to enhance security structures within Camp Hurriya, pursuant to the plan discussed with UNAMI, and we call on the MEK to make all necessary preparations to move remaining residents at Camp Ashraf to Camp Hurriya in full cooperation with UNAMI. The United States stands behind the UNAMI efforts to resolve this crisis.

The State Department has appointed a Senior Advisor for MEK Resettlement, Jonathan Winer, to oversee our efforts to help resettle the residents of Camp Hurriya to safe, permanent, and secure locations outside of Iraq, in addition to those countries, such as Albania, that have admirably assisted the United Nations in this important humanitarian mission.

September 8, 2013 0 comments

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest

Iran Interlink Weekly Digest – 20

++ Nearly all the news, posts and comments in both English and Farsi this week relate to the 1 September events at Camp Ashraf. Reports from Nejat Bloggers, AFP, Anti-War, Press TV, and the Tehran Times gave sometimes conflicting information, but it has been established that 52 had been killed and of the 42 remaining residents over twenty were injured while seven people (Massoud Rajavi’s personal security detail) are still missing. The Mojahedin press office issued press releases and photographs of the scene including the dead, and claimed that Camp Ashraf was attacked by an Iraqi SWAT team. The government of Iraq and military and security officials denied any involvement in the events inside the camp, but said MEK activists attacked soldiers outside the gate killing two.

++ The United Nations, European Union, European governments and the US all issued strong condemnation of the violence and offered condolences to the victims’ families. None assigned blame for the deaths and all asked that the Iraqi government launch an investigation into the event. Amnesty International noted that the events were “disputed”, and called for an impartial inquiry. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki set up an inquiry into the deaths, and on Monday 2nd a UN team visited the camp to try to establish what happened.

++ Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced itself delighted at what it called ‘divine vengeance’ and congratulated the children of the Iraqi nation, pointing to the MEK’s role in suppressing a Kurdish uprising in 1991 on behalf of Saddam Hussein, as well as many assassinations carried out by the MEK in Iran.

++ In Farsi, writers expressed condemnation of the killings and expressed their condolences for the families of the victims. At the start of the week many were repeating the MEK’s claim that Iraqi forces attacked the camp, but by mid week there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Iraq did not do this. However, almost all of the writers blamed Massoud Rajavi for creating the conditions which led to these deaths. The gist of most posts and articles was, ‘You [Rajavi] have said for the past ten years that Nouri Al Maliki is an agent of the Iranian regime, so why are you keeping the members there? Let them go. Why are you there anyway, and what did you expect would happen?’

++ Interestingly the MEK use this event as the basis to continue its belligerent verbal attacks on defected members as though it was their fault that it happened.

++ The titles of some articles are interesting. In an article titled ‘Gentlemen come dine, the blood is ready’ Mohammad Razaghi explains how he believes the members were kept in Camp Ashraf to be killed. Ghorbanali Hosseinejat’s article is titled, ‘Yet another Ashura for the Mojahedin without Imam Hussein’. Arash Rezai’s article in Nimnegah details why the ideological leadership of a cult like the MEK needs blood.

++ Hossein Bagherzadeh, a respected human rights activist, wrote in Iran Emrooz. He examines various scenarios and describes how the event unfolded. He points out that if anyone criticises the MEK they become their enemy. But, he says, my writing is not about that, it is a serious reminder to the Mojahedin Khalq leaders that in a case when people are killed in cold blood, other Iranian opposition activists cannot refrain from expressing their views about the MEK and while condemning the killings, will also emphasize how much the MEK are hated by Iranians. Bagherzadeh says that up until now, anyone expressing that view would be labelled an agent of the Iranian regime. But he says ‘today I want them to look at themselves, what they have done and see that this is the result.’ He warns, ‘ I want them to look at themselves and change because tomorrow is not going to get any better than today’.

++ Behrouz Setudeh, a famous activist, writes for Iran Global. He asks how many times this kind of thing has to happen before the leaders of the MEK wake up. He reminds Rajavi of when he was in university with him 45 years ago and says, ‘you should remember international law, and you will see how silly and sad it is that in a country which has been at war, and whose government has changed, a group of foreigners sit tight and refuse to accept the order of the new government to leave their country. Even more ridiculous is that you are demanding that whatever you got from the old regime, the new government has to leave it for you… While you were working for Saddam Hussein your self-declared mission of ‘fighting the Iranian regime’ doesn’t change international laws and norms; you were still working for the Saddam regime.’ Setudeh concludes by suggesting that beyond all this, Rajavi should do one honourable thing and let the remaining MEK members go.

++ 139 people signed a letter condemning the attack and asking those in charge to follow up to make sure it cannot happen again.

++ A. Minoo Sepehr writes in response to this letter to remind the signatories how events unfolded and warns them not to fall into the trap of accepting MEK propaganda. He gives the example of the films of the alleged attackers saying they have no helmets or proper masks and no proper equipment. He also reminds them to look at what the MEK have shown as handcuffs which on the bodies are metal, but the unused ones also shown are plastic handcuffs. He highlights many similar discrepancies. Sepehr concludes by saying ‘yes, everyone is against this violence, but don’t think the version of events you heard from the MEK is the whole thing’.

++ Karim Gholami’s article titled ‘Did they have a second chance?’ explains that among those killed are some who tortured him while he was an MEK dissident. He says he wasn’t happy about their deaths because nobody deserves that kind of death. He says, ‘I had a second chance, I ran away and am now happy, but they didn’t. They took part in the torture but then they stayed and were killed as well’.

++ Among the dead is Amir, the son of Hadi Shams Haeri who died before being able to see his son in spite of years of campaigning for this right. Many people were deeply affected by this. Some consoled themselves by saying that according to their belief, whatever happened in this world, father and son will be reunited after death.

September 6, 2013

September 7, 2013 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Were the Camp Ashraf victims bait for a more sinister goal?

It appears there are two ways to respond to the September 1st attack at Camp Ashraf. One is the normal approach taken by the United Nations and Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, the governments of America and Europe, the European Union, and Amnesty International ; condemnation of the killings, condolences for the

victims’ families and demands that the government of Iraq conduct an investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki set up an inquiry into the deaths, and on Monday 2nd a UN team visited the camp to try to establish what happened.

Then there is the approach of the Mojahedin Khalq (aka MKO, MEK, NCRI), sympathetic media and lobbyists; immediately blame your enemies (in this case the host country) and build a strong verbal and pictorial narrative to support that assertion. Less than a few hours after the event strident press releases and graphic photographs of handcuffed, executed bodies were being sent to media and political circles claiming that the government of Iraq had massacred the camp residents. Iraq’s security forces denied having entered the camp.

But, after a day or two of drip-feeding such images it began to resemble a Hollywood film; initial shocking pictures of the dead, then a back-flash to the moment the ill-equipped but masked attackers covertly crept up on the camp. (Carefully filmed by the victims themselves; if you saw this would you not run away or at least grab a gun rather than a camera!) This also begs the obvious question, ‘why would the Iraqi forces brutally murder half the residents then leave the remainder free to film the victims, send the films to the MEK HQ and allow these pictures to be distributed to the world?’ What possible motivation would they have?

No, the mystery surrounding these killings can begin to be unlocked by looking at some facts behind the MEK’s propaganda campaign, and by examining Massoud Rajavi’s disgusting, inhuman and sickening behaviour. Firstly Rajavi reneged on his agreement with the UN and insisted on retaining 100 people in Camp Ashraf while the remainder were transferred to temporary transit camp Liberty. This meant hundreds of Iraqi security forces were unnecessarily tied up in ‘protecting’ people illegally squatting the land and who are regarded in Iraq as terrorists, while Iraq’s civilian population are under constant threat of bombing and shooting in the rest of the country. While there they refused to allow anyone to enter the camp, declaring it an extra-judicial enclave to which not even the UN was granted access. And they endlessly whinged about the poor conditions while demanding that they stay put. They also refused to deal with the so-called possessions which they had supposedly remained there to sell. Certainly if the MEK were in any way immersed in normal society, even if the families of residents had been allowed to remain outside the camp to make contact with their loved ones, this kind of covert attack would not have been possible.

So, why were they really there and who was behind this attack? Although Iranian rightwingers and Revolutionary Guards hailed it as a victory for the Iraqi people, whoever was behind this tragedy was certainly an enemy of the government of Iraq.

There has been speculation that the MEK left behind in Camp Ashraf were there to protect Rajavi who was hiding in the camp, although it is also highly doubtful that he would risk remaining in the camp after he saw what happened to his benefactor Saddam Hussein. Since the MEK released the names of the recent victims it has emerged that nearly all of the 100 people who remained at Camp Ashraf had been indicted for various terrorist crimes. Most of those killed were old and disaffected members but were unable to leave the MEK as they were marked for arrest by law enforcement agencies. They were, in effect, Rajavi’s hostages to do with what he wanted. Interestingly, the people who are missing are all members of Rajavi’s personal security team, including the head of his security team Mahboubeh Jamshidi. How did it happen that they were not among those killed and where are they now? More to the point, where is Massoud Rajavi?

In August this year Rajavi surprised everyone when he announced that he had washed his hands of the MEK members who for thirty years have devoted their lives to him. He told them, “I am only in charge of your Day of Judgment and no one knows the date of the collapse of the regime”.

But if Rajavi wants to reduce or discontinue the MEK’s activities, give up his political ambition for regime change, then retire and attend to his personal life, he will have two essential needs. One is that he must somehow convince the United States to provide a safe retirement residence somewhere in Europe or the Middle East, and the second need is to get rid of the 3000+ people in Iraq. In this respect Rajavi could cut a deal to offer these 3000 people as mercenary forces to push the western agenda in Iraq and Syria; for example chemicals, bombing, poison or similar activities. His best case scenario would be that they die in situ through mortar attack or similar so that he could blame the Iraqi government for killing them. The Iraqi government would probably then be forced to offer some kind of compensation to the Americans and in return the Americans could be persuaded to give him, Rajavi, a place in Europe where he can be kept pickled for a day when he may be useful again.

Although it may seem far fetched to imagine the MEK itself or some collaborative group arranged to kill these individuals and leave some alive to film the events, Rajavi’s own track record for exploiting the blood of his followers, whether in war, assassinations, self-immolations, suicide missions, etc, sadly speaks for itself. Did Rajavi offer up the unwanted residents of Camp Ashraf as irresistible bait?

September 7, 2013 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

MeK: Iraqi Troops Attacked Camp Ashraf

MeK: Iraqi Troops Attacked Camp Ashraf, Killed 52

Claims Troops Burned Camp, Killed Scores

This The Mujahedin-e Khalq (MeK) has claimed a major attack on their exile camp in Iraq’s Diyala Province, Camp Ashraf, saying the troops attacked the camp and killed 52.

Their version of the story is that the troops attacked the camp out of nowhere, set fires and killed the people and then left. Iraqi officials deny all of these claims, and while hospital officials claim two Iraqi soldiers killed by camp residents, they had no information on casualties inside the camp itself.

which saw 34 killed and 318 wounded.

The MeK has had a site at Ashraf since 1986, when it was welcomed by Saddam Hussein’s government and used as an auxiliary during the Iran-Iraq War. The group has had its residents steadily resettled from the camp for years, with the Iraqi government hoping to see them removed from the nation outright.

by Jason Ditz

September 5, 2013 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

UN mission in Iraq witnesses aftermath of Ashraf attack

Iraq: UN human rights office, UN mission condemn attack on Camp Ashraf

3 September 2013 – The United Nations human rights office and the UN mission in Iraq today strongly UN human rights office, UN mission condemn attack on Camp Ashraf condemned the killing of dozens of people in Camp Ashraf north of Baghdad, urging the Iraqi Government to investigate what happened.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) visited the site yesterday, meeting separately with the camp’s surviving residents and the commander of Diyala’s Police.

“Inside the camp, the delegation witnessed 52 bodies in a makeshift morgue,” UNAMI said in a news release, with seven people still missing after Sunday’s attack.

“All the deceased appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds, the majority of them in the head and the upper body, and several with their hands tied.

“The delegation also saw several damaged buildings, including one burnt, and was shown quantities of explosives,” according to the statement.

UNAMI said it mediated between Iraqi authorities and camp’s residents to persuade the residents to allow Iraqi ambulances to transport the bodies of the deceased to the morgue in Baquba. The Chief of Human Rights Office and other members of the delegation remained in Camp Ashraf for further monitoring, the Mission said.

“I call on the Iraqi Government to ensure that a thorough, impartial and transparent investigation into this atrocious crime is conducted without delay and that the results of the investigation are made public,” urged Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General Gyorgy Busztin, who led the visit. He was joined by UNAMI heads of the human rights and of medical sections.

Meanwhile, the United Nations human rights office today urged the Iraqi Government to ensure that medical assistance is urgently provided for the wounded. According to the UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMI), Iraqi authorities have confirmed that medical support is being delivered to the Camp.

Camp Ashraf is comprised of Iranian exiles, many of them members of a group known as the People’s Mojahedeen of Iran.

More than 3,000 residents have been relocated to a transit facility know as Camp Liberty while the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) carries out a process to determine their refugee status, and resettle them outside of the country, in line with an agreement signed in December 2011 between the UN and the Iraqi Government.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also urged the Government to guarantee the protection of the residents who remain in Camp Ashraf as well as those who are currently in Camp Liberty.

“While we are still seeking details of what occurred, we also call upon the Iraqi government to quickly launch a full investigation to establish the facts and disclose the circumstances surrounding this attack,” OHCHR spokesperson Cecile Pouilly told journalists in Geneva.

In a statement from his spokesperson over the weekend, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack and extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims.

September 5, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Americans, Saudis use MKO terrorists to destabilize region

The US and its staunch ally Saudi Arabia use the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) to destabilize the Middle East region, a political analyst tells Press TV.

“The US wants to utilize them (MKO members) as a tool to undermine the Islamic Republic of Iran and also the Saudis want to utilize them as a means to destabilize, discredit and derail the political process with the ultimate goal of dismantling the newly democratic Iraq,” Zayd al-Isa said in a Monday interview.

“Well, they use them as leverage and for various operations of espionage. We must not forget that they have played a major role in trying and [are] being actually paid huge sums of money to try to infiltrate Iran in order to bring valuable information about … various technological developments taking place in Iran and also [they are] being utilized for espionage operations and shoring up and propping up the al-Qaeda and Ba’athists in Iraq by the Saudis,” the commentator added.

He said that the MKO played a “major and pivotal” role in Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein’s suppressing of a Shia uprising in southern Iraq in 1991, adding the executed dictator also used the terrorist organization against Iran.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and has committed numerous terrorist acts against Iranians and Iraqis.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it received Saddam’s support and set up its camp near the Iranian border.

Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist attacks since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, some 12,000 have fallen victim to the acts of terror carried out by the MKO.

The group also sided with Saddam during Iraq’s eight-year imposed war against the Islamic Republic.

September 5, 2013 0 comments

Ban deplores attack on Iranian exile camp north of Baghdad

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today condemned an attack on an Iranian exile camp near the Iraqi capital of Ban deplores attack on Iranian exile camp north of Baghdad Baghdad, and urged the Government to launch an investigation into what happened.

“The Secretary-General deplores the tragic events in Camp Ashraf today that have reportedly left 47 killed,” his spokesperson said in a statement. “He expresses his sorrow and extends his deepest condolences to the families of the victims.”

Iraqi authorities have confirmed that medical support is being delivered to the Camp, according to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Camp Ashraf is comprised of Iranian exiles, many of them members of a group known as the People’s Mojahedeen of Iran.

This resettlement is a priority for UNAMI, in whose work Mr. Ban reiterated that he has “full support for and his absolute confidence”.

The UN mission said it intends to rapidly conduct it own assessment of the violence.

In today’s statement, Mr. Ban urged the Government to restore security in the Camp and stressed that it is its responsibility to “ensure the safety and security” of the residents.

He also called for the Government of Iraq to promptly investigate the incident and disclose the findings

September 5, 2013 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraqis demand expulsion of MKO remnants

On September 1, 2013, over 70 MKO terrorists, including top MKO commanders, were killed during an attack by a group of Iraqi people on Camp Ashraf.

Expulsion of the remnants of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from Iraq is a serious demand by the Iraqi nation, an Iranian lawmaker says.

“This shows that the Iraqi people’s patience is wearing thin and they seriously call for the expulsion of the remaining members of this grouplet from their homeland,” Mohammad-Saleh Jokar said on Monday.

Jokar, a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, was referring to the Sunday attack by a group of Iraqi people on MKO’s notorious terror Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s eastern Diyala Province.

Over 70 terrorists, including top MKO commanders, were killed during the incident.

Jokar noted that the Iraqi people are likely to wage more similar attacks on Camp Ashraf to take revenge on MKO for its atrocities in the country.

Although most MKO terrorists were forcibly transferred from Camp Ashraf to the former US-held Camp Liberty near Baghdad months ago, around 100 members had remained in the camp.

This is while the Iraqi government has repeatedly expressed its desire to expel all the terrorists from the country, but it came under intense pressure by the US and the United Nations to remain their host until a third country offers to accept them.

The MKO — listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community — fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s then-dictator Saddam Hussein and set up a terror camp near the Iranian border.

The group is notorious for carrying out numerous acts of terror against Iranian civilians and officials, involvement in the 1991 bloody repression of Shia Muslims in southern Iraq, and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds in the country’s north under Saddam.

In December 2011, the United Nations and Baghdad agreed to relocate some 3,000 MKO members from Camp New Iraq, formerly known as Camp Ashraf, to Camp Liberty — a former US military base near Baghdad International Airport.

Tehran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the terrorist group, but the US has been blocking the expulsion by pressuring the Iraqi government.

September 5, 2013 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

UNAMI delegation visits Camp Ashraf to assess the situation

UNAMI delegation visits Camp Ashraf to assess the situation following reports of massacre

24 hours after the tragic events that took place in Camp Ashraf, a UNAMI delegation led by the Deputy Special Representative of the United Natio UNAMI delegation visits Camp Ashraf to assess the situation following reports of massacre ns Secretary-General (DSRSG), Mr. Gyorgy Busztin, and including UNAMI Chief of Human Rights and of Medical Sections, conducted a visit to the camp yesterday, where they met separately with the camp’s surviving residents and the commander of Diyala’s Police.

Inside the camp, the delegation witnessed 52 bodies in a makeshift morgue. All the deceased appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds, the majority of them in the head and the upper body, and several with their hands tied. The delegation also saw several damaged buildings, including one burnt, and was shown quantities of explosives.

The delegation was informed by the camp’s residents that seven persons were still missing.

After UNAMI’s mediation between the Iraqi authorities and the camp’s residents, the latter agreed to allow Iraqi ambulances to transport the bodies of the deceased to the morgue in Baquba. The Chief of Human Rights Office and other members of the delegation remained in Camp Ashraf for further monitoring.

Reiterating his previous statement, the UN Envoy expressed his outrage at the brutal killing of the camp’s residents. Mr. Busztin took note of the statement issued by the Government of Iraq announcing it has initiated its own investigation into the tragic events and acknowledging its responsibility for the safety of the camp’s residents. “I call on the Iraqi government to ensure that a thorough, impartial and transparent investigation into this atrocious crime is conducted without delay and that the results of the investigation are made public”, he said.

Underscoring the utmost volatility of the situation, as Camp Ashraf does not provide an adequate level of security for its residents, Mr. Busztin affirmed that “until the camps residents are relocated to safety, all measures must be taken to protect their lives”.

September 4, 2013 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

From Facts To Propaganda: Events Behind The Tragedy At Camp Ashraf

From early morning on Sunday 1st September, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the western Events Behind The Tragedy At Camp Ashraf shop front of the Rajavi cult in Paris, started issuing statements one after another claiming that armed Iraqi forces had carried out an attack, killing some of the remaining people in Camp Ashraf while they have been handcuffed. international media started broadcasting this news and a flood of condemnation and sympathy resulted. It is unfortunate that the original source of this news has been the Mojahedin Khalq (aka MKO, MEK, NCRI), the dangerous, destructive Rajavi cult. The Mojahedin Khalq also distributed pictures which have also been broadcast worldwide, eliciting even more sympathy from various quarters. The speed at which this self-reporting was carried out and the wide circles to which it was distributed clearly shows some amount of readiness in this respect.

The Iraqi government denied any military involvement in Camp Ashraf, and various Iraqi officials condemned this attack no matter how and by whom it was carried out. They have all asked for the intervention of the United Nations and a thorough investigation into this issue. But apparently the Rajavi cult’s side of the story was a more desirable and acceptable one for the western media. Among these western media, the Associated Press coverage is most interesting as it reports on the contradictions among the statements by different Iraqi authorities. When you read the report, it is obvious that all the officials interviewed who have been named by AP have condemned the attack and have asked for international organisations to intervene. But an “unnamed” local police officer has apparently claimed that the Iraqi forces were involved! Later on we find that the so-called “unnamed local police officer” is of course the Rajavi cult itself which has pushed this claim through their connections and friends inside the Associated Press.

We have recently written about Massoud Rajavi answering the question “when will the regime be toppled?” by saying “I am only in charge of your Day of Judgment and no one knows the date of the collapse of the regime”. We put this reply to an expert on Iraq and the Mojahedin Khalq and asked for his opinion. His analytical reply on September 24, 2013 (by emails which can be made available) was that:

“If true, and if he (Rajavi) wants to reduce the [MEK’s] activities, discontinue the [group’s] current situation and give up political activities to retire and attend to his personal life, then he will have two essential needs. One is that he has to somehow convince the United States to sort him out and keep him safe somewhere in Europe and the second need is to get rid of these 3000+ people (in Iraq). As far as I know Rajavi, he is probably planning to expend the lives of these 3000 people for the American secret services to somehow push forward the American agenda in Iraq with their lives; for example chemicals, bombing, poison or similar activities. At the end of the day he would need to get rid of them for good and blame the Iraqi government so that the Iraqi government would be forced to offer some kind of compensation to the Americans and in return the Americans would accept to give him, Rajavi, a place in Europe where he can be kept pickled for a day when he may be useful again”.

Since responsibility for Camp Ashraf was transferred from the American forces to the Iraqis, the Mojahedin Khalq’s line of action has consistently been to engage in violence with whatever means possible face to face with the Iraqi forces in charge of the security of the camp. The Iraqi government has for years tried to pursue the peaceful transfer of this destructive cult from the country with the utmost care and patience. The transfer of Rajavi’s forces from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty, a transit camp, only started after the intervention of the United Nations and Hilary Clinton, then US Secretary of State, who at that time promised the MEK that if they accepted to be transferred peacefully, the United States would remove them from its list of terrorist groups. This was the first step toward transferring them to 3rd countries according to the agreements drawn up between the UN, the Iraqi Government and the MEK. But Rajavi, acting against all that he had accepted, kept some of the forces in Camp Ashraf with the excuse that they should remain to sell any MEK belongings which remained in the camp. At the same time Rajavi every day rejected all and every proposition from potential buyers and then started demanding that his forces be brought back from the transit camp to Camp Ashraf. It is noteworthy that this camp was originally call “Khalis Garrison” and belonged to the Iraqi army under Saddam Hussein, who had illegally given it to Rajavi who later on forcefully confiscated the agricultural lands adjacent to the camp and added them to the garrison.

The Iraqi government has tried to resolve the problem of Camp Ashraf peacefully and according to the agreements made and according to court judgements which specify that the land of the garrison should repossessed, but the leaders of cult have prevented Iraqi officials from entering the camp and declared it to be their property in spite of the court rulings. It is worth mentioning that Camp Ashraf is the only place in Iraq that after 10 years still belongs to Saddam Hussein and has not been entered and investigated and is not under the control of the Iraqi government. It is also worth mentioning that Rajavi has forbidden his forces from using the words “transit” and/or “3rd countries” even though these were part of his own agreement with the UN and its representative Martin Kobler. Rajavi later accused Mr Kobler of being an agent of the Iranian regime.

As the negotiations between the Iraqi government and the leaders of the Mojahedin Khalq were continuing, we at Sahar Family Foundation warned repeatedly that many people have been affected by the crimes committed by this cult, that many people have lost their land and many have lost families and children and are after revenge. We have repeatedly emphasised that Iraq is not a safe place for the members of this cult and they should be cooperating with the United Nations to be taken out of Iraq. Rajavi knows all this but deliberately wanted to keep them in Iraq and especially in Camp Ashraf, which is of course much more unsafe than Camp Liberty. He needed their blood.

The Mojahedin Khalq leaders have repeatedly emphasized that in order to keep Camp Ashraf they need blood. In the April 8, 2011 incident, when Iraqi forces entered the north part of the camp, the leaders had told the members that they should not worry or be afraid and they should go forward and attack the soldiers with whatever they could because the army had not brought any live bullets with them and the bullets they do use are blanks. They deliberately wanted the number of casualties to increase. Survivors of the cult can testify that the leaders of Mojahedin Khalq constantly emphasize that they need blood and constantly encouraged members to create conflict.

What should we expect from a cult and its leader who deliberately sends his follower to their deaths, looks upon them as disposable soldiers, gives them orders to burn themselves and sends them to war without training and arms? In July 17th 2003 when they gave the order for self-immolations , they had promised the victims that they would intervene and extinguish the fire once it was started. But they didn’t, they stood aside and took films. According to many who have managed to escape the cult, they killed many of their own disaffected members by shooting them from the back and then registered them as martyrs from during the bombardment of the coalition forces.

Pictures of this latest incident distributed by the Rajavi cult show how the residents have been handcuffed from behind and then murdered. If it was the Iraqi government, would it not make sense that they would finish it all and not leave someone to take pictures to send to the H.Q. of the cult so that they would broadcast it within such a short time all over the world? Is it not the case that the picture taking and other facilities were prepared in advance?

The reasons behind this can be deduced from recent events in Iraq’s political situation and the Iraqi government’s stand in front of the Americans’ aggressive policies in Syria. That the Mojahedin Khalq leaders kill the members is not a new phenomenon. Killing disaffected members and adding them to the list of martyrs is not new.

The Iraqi government had notified the Rajavi cult that they are running out of patience and will have to take back the camp but Rajavi has acted in advance and this massacre is with no doubt his work and the work of those on his payroll. To place the Iraqi government under international pressure was a favour to the Americans and he also now has fresh new blood to feed his propaganda machine.

If Rajavi dies and comes back to this world a thousand times, it is not enough to pay back what he has done. The first victims of any cult are its own members; individuals who have wasted the last 3 decades of their lives for Massoud Rajavi now have become the victims of a joint cultish and imperialistic game.

We again ask all international organisations to intervene to save the lives of the hostages taken by Rajavi and prevent more bloodshed in future.

Translated by Iran Interlink

September 4, 2013 0 comments

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