MEK Camp Ashraf

Mortars hit MKO’s Ashraf Camp in Iraq

Two mortars have struck the Ashraf Camp, the base of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in Iraq’s Diyala province near the Iranian border, according to the Iraqi military.

"Two mortars landed on Ashraf Camp and we cannot identify the number of casualties because we are not allowed to enter the camp," said an Iraqi military official Sunday on the condition of anonymity.

A statement issued by MKO representatives in the camp confirmed the incident but did not mention any possible casualties.

No party has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

The mortar strike comes just days after the Iraqi government agreed to a UN plea to extend by six months a year-end deadline to shut down the headquarters of the anti-Iran terrorist group on its soil.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced at a news conference last Wednesday that the move follows a request by the UN to postpone the closure of the camp located northeast of the capital, Baghdad.

Also on Saturday, an Iraqi security official revealed that ten members of the terrorist group had escaped from the camp due to harsh conditions of suppression within the camp by MKO authorities and pleaded with Iraqi officials to help them leave the country.

The Ashraf Camp, about 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) west of the Iranian border, houses more the 3,000 MKO members.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986 where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein and set up the Ashraf Camp near the Iranian border.

The group is known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and is responsible for numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and officials back in the 1980s as well as anti-Saddam Iraqi civilians mostly in the 1990s.

Iraq considers the MKO base and its residents a threat to its national security but, has been pressured due to US-led efforts to extend the existence of the camp on its soil.
Mon Dec 26, 2011
http://presstv.com/detail/217743.html

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Iraq

Iraq agrees to U.N.-brokered deal on fate of MEK exiles

Iraq’s leaders agreed Sunday to a U.N.-brokered deal that could lead to the peaceful emigration of thousands of Iranian dissidents who have lived in the country under U.S. protection since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein eight years ago.Iraq agrees to U.N.-brokered deal on fate of MEK exiles

But the agreement, confirmed by Obama administration officials, has not yet been accepted by the Iranian exiles, who have repeatedly insisted on a U.S. troop presence to guard against possible attacks by Iraqis. Dozens of members of the dissident group, known as the Mujaheddin-e Khalq, have been killed by Iraqis since 2009 in assaults on the desert enclave where they have lived since being invited to Iraq by Hussein in 1986.

With the departure of U.S. troops from Iraq this month, American officials fear further bloodshed if the exiles — who are backed by numerous prominent political figures in the United States — refuse to accept the deal.

“There is mistrust, if not hatred, between the MEK and many Iraqis,” said a senior State Department official involved in negotiations over the group’s fate. “The question is, does the MEK take a deal that is less than perfect, or reject it and get nothing?”

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatically sensitive negotiations, said the accord would allow the Iranian exiles to move from their remote enclave, known as Camp Ashraf, to the grounds of Camp Liberty, the former U.S. military base near the Baghdad airport. They could then apply for emigration to other countries while under constant watch by unarmed U.N. observers. The official said the Obama administration would separately provide “robust” monitoring of the camp but would not deploy U.S. troops there, as the MEK has requested.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised the agreement, saying in a statement late Sunday that the United States “welcome[s] this important step toward a humane resolution to the ongoing situation at Ashraf. The UN effort has our full support.”

Shahin Ghobadi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the MEK’s political wing, cautioned late Sunday that “we are . . . waiting to see the official document . . . [for] clarifications for the residents of Camp Ashraf. We hope that it would officially include the minimum assurances so that it would be acceptable to Ashraf residents.”

“Of course, in what has been published,” the MEK spokesman added, “the Secretary General’s Special Representative has underscored that in any event, this is a voluntary and not a forcible relocation. Ashraf residents had repeatedly emphasized that they would in no way accept forcible relocation.”

If accepted by the MEK, the deal could spell the end of a years-long standoff over the fate of the controversial group, which the State Department has officially listed as a terrorist group because of its alleged role in the slayings of six Americans in the 1970s. To many Iraqis, the MEK is a hated cult, forever tied to Hussein and his oppression. But many powerful politicians and security officials in Washington view the group’s members as freedom fighters who deserve continued U.S. protection.

U.S. and U.N. officials have been scrambling to resolve the fate of the estimated 3,400 residents of Camp Ashraf. But the officials say the MEK and its backers have complicated matters by insisting on U.S. protection. The possibility that American troops would be ordered back into Iraq to guard the dissidents is remote, at best, said a second senior State Department official involved in the talks.

“It’s not going to happen,” said the official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Lobbying campaign in U.S.

The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which has sought for years to disband the dissident group, decreed this year that the MEK must vacate the camp by Dec. 31.

But after two turbulent years in which dozens of Ashraf residents have been killed in clashes with Iraqi security forces, the MEK insists that it will leave only on its terms, with Iraqi police kept far away and U.S. troops present to provide security. To argue its case, the dissidents turned to their powerful allies in the United States — a who’s-who list of political and security figures that have served both Republican and Democratic administrations.

A lobbying campaign launched on the MEK’s behalf has included advertisements in newspapers and on the sides of Metro buses in Washington. On Oct. 16, an “open letter” to the Obama administration appeared in newspapers bearing the names of 14 politicians and security officials, including Republicans such as former homeland security secretary Tom Ridge and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, as well as former Democratic governors Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania and Howard Dean of Vermont.

“We call on you to provide U.S. troops to protect the [U.N.] monitors and the residents,” the letter stated.

Some of these officials have previously appeared on panels sponsored by MEK-affiliated organizations, often for speaking fees in the tens of thousands of dollars. At the events and in broadcast interviews, the MEK’s backers have urged U.S. support for Camp Ashraf’s residents as fierce opponents of the Islamic clerics who rule Iran. The MEK does not disclose its funding sources, but members say much of the money comes from Iranian nationals living in the West.

A checkered history

The MEK’s critics are equally forceful. The State Department’s decision to designate the group as terrorists stemmed from a string of attacks in the 1970s, when the MEK established itself as an Islamic-Marxist group that opposed the U.S.-backed rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. After the shah was overthrown, U.S. officials say, MEK leaders supported the taking of American hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. Later, the group split with Iran’s emerging Islamic rulers and went into exile. MEK spokesmen attribute the six American deaths to a splinter group.

The MEK was given sanctuary by Hussein and used Iraq as a platform for plotting attacks against the Iranian government. U.S. officials have asserted in documents that the opposition group — armed and equipped by Hussein — supported the Iraqi dictator in his repression of opponents, including the country’s Shiite and Kurdish populations.

After the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, the group gave up its weapons and received active American military protection until 2009.

Outside investigators have repeatedly accused the group of human rights abuses against its own members and recruits, including deceptive recruiting practices and repressive policies that in the past included mandatory divorce for married couples as well as beatings and torture.

“We cannot rule out the possibility that there may be some people still being held in the camp unwillingly,” said Bill Frelick, refugee program director for Human Rights Watch.

MEK officials have denied the abuse reports as a fiction perpetuated by enemies. A spokesman for the group said last week that it was the Iraqi government that has committed abuses.

By Joby Warrick,

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USA

Hillary Clinton on Situation at Ashraf

Today, the United Nations and the Government of Iraq signed an important agreement on the temporary relocation and eventual resettlement of the more than 3,000 residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq. We commend the Government of Iraq for its work with United Nations Special Hillary Clinton remarks on Camp Ashraf sutiationRepresentative Ambassador Martin Kobler, and welcome this important step toward a humane resolution to the ongoing situation at Ashraf. The UN effort has our full support.

The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding represents significant progress on this issue and outlines steps necessary to achieve a peaceful and viable solution for the residents of Ashraf, including their temporary relocation to Camp Liberty, a former U.S. military base near the Baghdad International Airport. At this new location, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) will be able to conduct refugee status determinations for the residents of Ashraf — a necessary first step toward resettlement to third countries.

We are encouraged by the Iraqi government’s willingness to commit to this plan, and expect it to fulfill all its responsibilities, especially the elements of the MOU that provide for the safety and security of Ashraf’s residents. We welcome the agreement by the Government of Iraq to allow the United Nations to station monitors at this new location around the clock and to observe the move from Ashraf to this new location. In addition, officials from U.S. Embassy Baghdad will visit regularly and frequently. We also welcome the Iraqi government’s willingness to delay the final closure of Camp Ashraf to give this plan time for implementation.

To be successful, this resettlement must also have the full support of the Camp’s residents, and we urge them to work with the UN to implement this relocation. All those who want to see the people at Camp Ashraf safe and secure should work together to see that the agreed upon plan is carried out.

Press Statement
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC

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Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

US Troops Guarded Terrorist MEK Camp in Iraq

In a move that almost defies belief, is so brazen and hypocritical many will not believe it no matter how many State Department officials confirm it, the US has been guarding a terrorist training camp inside Iraq with US troops and is planning to relocated them, possibly in a freshly US Troops Guarded Terrorist MEK Camp in Iraqabandoned US military base in Iraq while D.C. lobbyists work feverishly to have them de-listed, armed, and sent to conduct terrorist operations in Iran.

MEK. Admittedly a terrorist organization, listed by the US State Department as being such, it is fully funded, armed, and backed by the United States, based in France and US-occupied Iraq, and allowed to conduct terrorist operations against the Iranian people. The “War on Terror” is a fraud.

….
Foreign Policy Magazine has reported in their article, “State Department scrambling to move the MEK — to a former U.S. military base?” fully admits that Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK) is a terrorist organization used by Saddam Hussein to attack Iran in the 80′s and was responsible for the death of US military personnel and civilians. Foreign Policy reports that efforts by the Iraqi Army to evict MEK has resulted in armed clashes.

Foreign Policy then reports the United Nations “Assistance Mission in Iraq” (UNAMI) is working with the US State Department to relocate the terrorists within Iraq and possibly at a US military base near Baghdad’s airport.

Despite being listed as a terrorist organization by the US State Department (#28 listed as “Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization”) its leadership is harbored in Paris, its rank and file harbored by US troops in Iraq, and the US State Department itself overseeing their continued existence and the continuation of their armed terrorist campaign. Foreign Policy also notes a huge lobbying movement in Washington working to de-list MEK as a terrorist organization, including:

Congressman John Lewis (D-GA),
former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell,
former FBI Director Louis Freeh,
former Sen. Robert Torricelli,
Rep. Patrick Kennedy,
former CIA Deputy Director of Clandestine Operations John Sano,
former National Security Advisor James Jones,
former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean,
former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani,
former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard Myers,
former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card,
Gen. Wesley Clark,
former Rep. Lee Hamilton,
former CIA Director Porter Goss,
senior advisor to the Romney campaign Mitchell Reiss,
Gen. Anthony Zinni,
former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge,
former Sen. Evan Bayh

Indeed, warmongering Islamophobist cheerleader Rudolph Giuliani is taking money from a genuine terrorist organization and lobbying the US government to have it removed from the US State Department list. Tom Ridge is also listed as coddling MEK terrorists, ironically after being named the first “Homeland Security Secretary” from 2003-2005. Lee Hamilton, the vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, is perhaps the most alarming name listed, as it casts serious doubts over the objectivity, integrity, and veracity with which he conducted his “investigation” of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Though it isn’t money alone that motivates this eager throng of traitors to remove MEK from the US State Department Foreign Terrorist Organization list, it is their desire to see MEK worked with more closely, armed, trained, and sent into Iran, with open, rather than covert American support, just as Saddam had done decades ago to conduct a campaign of terror against the Iranian people.

MEK has been considered by the Fortune 500-funded Brookings Institution as a prime candidate for US-backing in an effort to undermine and remove the Iranian government. In Brookings’ 2009 report, “Which Path to Perisa?” it is stated:

“Perhaps the most prominent (and certainly the most controversial) opposition group that has attracted attention as a potential U.S. proxy is the NCRI (National Council of Resistance of Iran), the political movement established by the MEK (Mujahedin-e Khalq). Critics believe the group to be undemocratic and unpopular, and indeed anti-American.

In contrast, the group’s champions contend that the movement’s long-standing opposition to the Iranian regime and record of successful attacks on and intelligence-gathering operations against the regime make it worthy of U.S. support. They also argue that the group is no longer anti-American and question the merit of earlier accusations. Raymond Tanter, one of the group’s supporters in the United States, contends that the MEK and the NCRI are allies for regime change in Tehran and also act as a useful proxy for gathering intelligence. The MEK’s greatest intelligence coup was the provision of intelligence in 2002 that led to the discovery of a secret site in Iran for enriching uranium.

Despite its defenders’ claims, the MEK remains on the U.S. government list of foreign terrorist organizations. In the 1970s, the group killed three U.S. officers and three civilian contractors in Iran. During the 1979-1980 hostage crisis, the group praised the decision to take America hostages and Elaine Sciolino reported that while group leaders publicly condemned the 9/11 attacks, within the group celebrations were widespread.

Undeniably, the group has conducted terrorist attacks—often excused by the MEK’s advocates because they are directed against the Iranian government. For example, in 1981, the group bombed the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party, which was then the clerical leadership’s main political organization, killing an estimated 70 senior officials. More recently, the group has claimed credit for over a dozen mortar attacks, assassinations, and other assaults on Iranian civilian and military targets between 1998 and 2001. At the very least, to work more closely with the group (at least in an overt manner), Washington would need to remove it from the list of foreign terrorist organizations.” page 117-118 of “Which Path to Persia?” Brookings Institution, 2009

Readers may also be shocked to find out that not only has this been proposed, but long ago approved. This was revealed in Seymour Hersh’s 2008 New Yorker article “Preparing the Battlefield,” which stated:

“The M.E.K. has been on the State Department’s terrorist list for more than a decade, yet in recent years the group has received arms and intelligence, directly or indirectly, from the United States. Some of the newly authorized covert funds, the Pentagon consultant told me, may well end up in M.E.K. coffers. “The new task force will work with the M.E.K. The Administration is desperate for results.” He added, “The M.E.K. has no C.P.A. auditing the books, and its leaders are thought to have been lining their pockets for years. If people only knew what the M.E.K. is getting, and how much is going to its bank accounts—and yet it is almost useless for the purposes the Administration intends.”

And as moves are being made to get MEK de-listed as a terrorist organization by the US State Department so that even more aid can be rendered to this admitted terrorist organization, Seymore Hersh in an NPR interview, also claims that select MEK members have already received training in the US.

Quite clearly this reveals that not only is the “War on Terror” an absolute fraud, but so are the politicians, policy wonks, and military “leaders” who have promoted it, pinned medals on their own chests for “fighting” it, and have made immense fortunes and power grabs while burying the American people in unprecedented debt, tyranny, and economic catastrophe in the process. Let’s not forget the thousands of dead US troops duped into fighting this war and the hundreds of thousands maimed and broken, both physically and mentally, for what was essentially a gimmick to justify ravaging and looting the Middle East – a campaign that is still ongoing.

And while the new gimmick is utilizing terrorist groups like MEK or Libya’s LIFG to sow violence within a target country and then send NATO to “rescue” them from the nation’s attempt to defend itself, the “terrorist” card is still in play regarding Iran. It is clear then, that America’s greatest threat is its own “leadership,” bought and paid for by Wall Street and London’s corporate-financier interests and pursuing their agenda at the cost of the rest of humanity. We must identify these interests, boycott them out of business, and replace them entirely with local, pragmatic solutions.

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Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Families’ presence guarantees Ashraf residents’ release

Hundreds of families picketing in front of Camp Ashraf held a protest rally on Friday December 23rd and called on the Camp leaders to release their loved ones held as hostages by the leaders.
Families of Ashraf residents started the rally, walking from northern side of the camp to western side and chanted slogans in front of Asad Gate. They vigorously urged on visiting their children.
Relatives of Ashraf prisoners are ready to endanger their life to help with salvation of their family members imprisoned in the cult of Rajavi.
They also played audio messages recorded by some of dissociated members of the MKO, via loudspeakers.
At the end of the gathering families appreciated the cooperation made by all those who make efforts for release of Ashraf residents including, Iraqi, Iranian and American government.
Families presence guarantees Ashraf residents release
Families presence guarantees Ashraf residents release
Families presence guarantees Ashraf residents release
Families presence guarantees Ashraf residents release
Families presence guarantees Ashraf residents release
Families presence guarantees Ashraf residents release
Families presence guarantees Ashraf residents release
Families presence guarantees Ashraf residents release
Families presence guarantees Ashraf residents release
Families presence guarantees Ashraf residents release

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MEK Camp Ashraf

The Life of Camp Ashraf

Mojahedin-e Khalq – Victims of Many Masters

Product Description
The fascinating story of the controversial life of Camp Ashraf in Iraq from its foundation in 1986 to the present day is told in this book. Originally created to accommodate the Iranian opposition group Mojahedin-e Khalq (aka MEK, MKO, PMOI, Rajavi cult) and its leader Massoud Rajavi for coordinating the violent overthrow of the regime in Iran, Camp Ashraf became the MEK’s main military and ideological training base. The MEK later became known as Saddam’s Private Army as it became an integral element in the Iraqi dictator’s repressive apparatus.

But, even years after the fall of Saddam the MEK still has the support and backing of many in the West and is therefore able to resist opening its doors to the outside world. It is the hidden life inside Camp Ashraf which renders it so controversial. The isolated garrison became the experimental ground for Rajavi to turn his group into a dangerous, destructive mind control cult.

Rajavi keeps the rank and file in the camp in a state of modern slavery to perform acts of terrorism and to fulfill propaganda roles in Western countries for the group’s many masters.
Massoud Rajavi’s methods of enthralling his followers include banning marriage and having children, instilling irrational phobic reactions to external factors, denying any contact with the outside world through radio, television, letters or telephones. In particular members must have no contact with their families. This book exposes the hidden life of the camp and its inhabitants. It speaks for the silent victims of the Rajavi cult and for the families who wait outside the camp for news of their loved ones.

In conclusion, the book examines the ways to deal with the problem of how to dismantle a dangerous destructive mind control cult and free its members as various parties vie for control over the group for their own agendas.

CONTENTS Page

INTRODUCTION 1
1965 – 1986 THE MEK AND IRAQ 4
1986 – 1991 THE GOLDEN AGE 18
1988 – 1993 THE IDEOLOGICAL PHASE 37
1991 GULF WAR ONE 50
1991 – 1997 THE MEK’S DECLINE 61
1997 – 2003 CAMP ASHRAF PRISON – NO EXIT 84
2003 – 2007 THE MEK PLACED ON LIFE SUPPORT 104
2007 – 2009 A GROWING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS 130
2009 INEVITABLE CHANGE 153
CAMP ASHRAF – PAST ITS ‘BEST BEFORE’ DATE 174
CONCLUSION 196
APPENDICES 201

INTRODUCTION
The controversial life of Camp Ashraf from its foundation to the present day makes a fascinating story in itself. The camp was created by Saddam Hussein in 1986 to accommodate the Iranian opposition group Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and its leader Massoud Rajavi. Founded in 1965 the MEK first took up arms to try to oust the Shah. Two years after the 1979 Iranian revolution Rajavi tried to engineer a coup against Ayatollah Khomeini. It failed and he fled to Paris in 1981. Rajavi then tried to conduct his armed struggle against the new Islamic Republic from Paris but when this failed he was given succour in Iraq where Camp Ashraf became the MEK’s main military and ideological training base.

The close relationship between Saddam and Rajavi led to the MEK being dubbed Saddam’s Private Army; Camp Ashraf played an integral role in the survival of the Iraqi dictator after the First Gulf war when Rajavi used his forces to help crush the Kurdish and Shiite uprisings. In 2003 Camp Ashraf became an enemy target for the Multi National Forces when Operation Iraq Freedom removed Saddam Hussein from power. Then in a paradoxical move the US Government provided military protection for Camp Ashraf for eight years while its inhabitants remained on the US Terrorism List.

Camp Ashraf came under the control of the democratically elected Government of Iraq in January 2009 (under the Status of Forces Agreement). After that time it was inevitable that the camp would close. Successive Iraqi governments since 2003 insisted that the Americans close Camp Ashraf and expel the foreign terrorist group Mojahedin-e Khalq from the country because of the group’s history of terrible crimes against the people of Iraq.

In the course of twenty five years Camp Ashraf has seen many changes. But the real story of course is not about the camp but about the lives of the people who inhabited it; how they came to be there and why they must now leave.

In its forty five year history, the MEK organisation has undergone many public image changes; from guerrilla fighters, resistance army, terrorist entity to feminist democratic opposition. The man who has led the group through all these superficial incarnations is Massoud Rajavi. And behind the glamorous advertisements of a sophisticated and relentless propaganda machine, his single-minded pursuit of power at any cost and his fundamental belief in the use of violence to achieve this aim of power, has not changed one iota in all this time.

Rajavi was a charismatic speaker and skilled psychological manipulator. He discovered in himself a talent for totalitarian control which matched his narcissistic ambition for power. Although he began to convert the Mojahedin-e Khalq organisation into a cult while still in Paris, it was the acquisition of the isolated, closed world of Camp Ashraf which provided the perfect crucible to extend his experiment. In Camp Ashraf he has forced the MEK members along a most extraordinary route of mental and physical anguish to meet his needs.

Over the years former members who escaped from Camp Ashraf have told their stories to a world unwilling or unable to listen. Thousands of them consistently and courageously described the conditions of the internal revolutions and Rajavi’s bizarre requirements for members to divorce and to remove all the children from the camp; to undergo the daily humiliations of public self-confessions which enforce the celibacy and gender apartheid; to suffer micro-management of their every waking moment which imposed deliberately exhausting work schedules and disorienting indoctrination sessions; to be deprived of any information from and contact with the outside world and their families. Rajavi did all this to keep his members from leaving. When this failed, he imprisoned them.

Camp Ashraf is now a double prison for the residents. They are trapped by Rajavi’s psychological manipulations which engender paralysing fear in everyone behind the barbed wire fences which he has had erected to keep them physically inside. But they are trapped ultimately by the misguided ignorance and misplaced sympathy of all those external agencies which could take action to free them but don’t.

The life of Camp Ashraf has reached a critical juncture. It must close. The residents must leave. But over and above Massoud Rajavi’s refusal to leave, there are a host of third parties with their own agendas which militate against closure. The main players are the Americans and the Iranians who have developed their own narratives and myths around the MEK in order to use it as a tool to aggravate and intensify their thirty year enmity. Between the ‘bomb Iran, regime change’ pundits in America and the ‘crackdown on foreign backed violent opposition’ proponents in Iran, all the bases are covered.

It is these voices which dominate political debates and media reporting on Camp Ashraf. But the political and security issues are a decoy to avoid answering the fundamental question. After twenty five years of testimony describing severe human rights abuses why do the individual residents of Camp Ashraf still have no voice? Why do people continue to escape the camp even in spite of the severe restrictions? At the time of Saddam Hussein perhaps these questions could be ignored. But now?

The original inspiration to write the story of Camp Ashraf came from witnessing the determination of the families of the camp’s residents to rescue their loved ones. Since 2003 they braved bombs and bullets to reach the gate of Camp Ashraf in the hope of finding their relatives. They refused to give up, refused to take no for an answer. Even when the MEK began to pelt missiles at them they refused to give up. Their extraordinary love and courage needs to be voiced and this voice needs to reach above the cacophony of the false hand wringing and political wailing to those who are in a position to help.

But as the story unfolded it became obvious that the really voiceless victims of Camp Ashraf are its residents. As the stories of individual members emerged it was clear that many had died and many more had suffered before their information could reach the public domain. Currently around 3500 people continue trapped and held hostage to the callous whims of the various pitiless powerful political forces who do not care about their individual fates. This book must speak out on their behalf.

This book therefore is an attempt to tell their story in the hope that this will halt the diversion of this issue to everything else except this fundamental question – why are people risking everything to run away from Camp Ashraf and the MEK and why is no one listening to them?

By Anne Singleton and Massoud Khodabandeh
First published September 2011 by IRAN-INTERLINK

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Download The Life of Camp Ashraf

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The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraqis demand promised MKO expulsion

Thousands of Iraqi people held a demonstration in Tahrir square in central Baghdad to demand the immediate expulsion of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from their country.

Thousands of Iraqi people held a demonstration in Tahrir square

Condemning MKO acts of terror, Iraqi protesters on Friday gathered outside Camp Ashraf, the base of the exiled group, to urge the government to close the notorious camp as scheduled for December 31.

The protest rally came one day after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rejected a UN appeal for the extension of the year-end deadline to shut down Camp Ashraf, saying that the Iraqi government cannot permit a criminal gang to remain in the country.

Baghdad considers Camp Ashraf and its residents as a threat to its national security and insists it is determined to close down the terrorist base by the end of 2011.

Camp Ashraf, about 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) west of the Iranian border, houses some 3,400 MKO members. The terrorist group has carried out numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and government officials after they fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

The terrorist group is also known to have collaborated with Saddam in the bloody repression of the 1991 Shia Muslims in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds in the country’s north.
Iran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, but the US has been blocking the expulsion by mounting pressure on the Iraqi government.

While the MKO is designated as a terrorist organization under the United States law, and has been described by State Department officials as a repressive cult, The New York Times recently reported that Washington is mulling over removing the MKO from its terrorist watch list and giving refuge to its members.

Last month, European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said she would urge EU member states to accept the residents of Camp Ashraf.
Download Iraqis demand promised MKO expulsion

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Former members of the MEK

MKO has ruined my life

Expressing his abhorrence of the deceits of MKO ringleaders during the years of his captivity in Ashraf garrison, one of the former MKO members who has been recently escaped from Camp Ashraf, MKO terrorists’ headquarters in Iraq, stated that 23 years of his life “was ruined in hell”.

According to Habilian Association database (families of terror victims in Iran), the ex-MKO member fled Mojahedin-e Khalq garrison on 23rd November and put an end to 23 years of captivity in the terrorist cult of Rajavi.

“Fessing up to having done wrong is not a sin, and people can make significant changes through willpower and determination at any age,” said the defected member of the MKO terrorist organization.

“I was wrong for more than two decades and I was deceived by Rajavi’s mottos; when I found out his deceptive and manipulative nature I found myself stuck in a hell with no way back.”

“My youth, spirit, feelings, family, freedom, soil and even my humanity have been sacrificed for MKO and their interests,” he stated.

“Those damn leaders did not acknowledge that they have reached a dead end, that they have gone a wrong route from the very beginning, and left hundreds of unanswerable questions of deceived members of the cult unanswered forever.

“I’m glad that finally I regained my freedom and I didn’t get lost in this mirage,” the defected member of MKO cult added.

“Turning back on my dark and bitter past I have high hopes of a nice and glamorous future,” he said in the end.

Saturday, 24 December 2011 Habilian

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Iran

Price of hosting MKO too high for EU

A senior Iranian lawmaker says no European country is willing to accept the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) because the cost of hosting them will be too high.

Parviz Sorouri, who is a member of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on Saturday that based on creditable documents, the MKO has committed about 14,000 acts of terror in Iran.

“But the European Union (EU) under US pressure and disregarding the said documents has removed the MKO from its blacklist, replacing it with [anti-Israeli] resistance groups such as [the Lebanese] Hezbollah and Hamas,” he added.

Sorouri said that while the EU has removed the MKO from its list of terrorist organizations to appease the US, no European country is ready to host them because they know that hosting this notorious group will be very costly.

He went on to say that the US wants to use the MKO as a tool to exert more pressure on Iran.
The lawmaker said Washington’s double standard policies towards the MKO were kept hidden until recently when the decline of the US brought them into the light.

“America is trying to put pressure on the…independent states through world bodies such as the [International Atomic Energy] Agency and the UN Human Rights Council, but the continuation of this bullying will be certainly hazardous and cost them dearly,” Sorouri added.

On December 22, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) upheld a decision to remove the notorious MKO from the EU’s list of terrorist organizations.

In 2008, the ECJ’s Court of First Instance ruled that the EU had been wrong in listing the MKO as a terrorist organization, since it had failed to provide the group with evidence that formed the basis of a decision to keep it on the terrorism list. Following the court’s ruling, the EU removed the MKO from its list of terrorist organizations in 2009.

France appealed against the decision, saying some of Paris’ closest allies still list the MKO as a terrorist organization. The ECJ, however, rejected the appeal.

Last month, EU’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said she would urge member states to accept the residents of Camp Ashraf.

The MKO is designated as a terrorist organization under the United States law, and has been described by State Department officials as a repressive cult.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator, Saddam Hussein.

The MKO is also known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds. The group has carried out numerous acts of violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.

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MEK Camp Ashraf

Camp Ashraf Impasse Requires All Parties’ Cooperation

All parties involved with the UN plan to resolve the situation of Camp Ashraf residents should work to make sure it is carried out safely and effectively, Human Rights Watch said today. Camp Ashraf Impasse Requires All Parties’ CooperationEveryone involved, especially the Iraqi authorities and the Mojahedin-e Khalq organization, should guarantee the safe transfer of Camp Ashraf residents to a protected site for refugee status determinations.

“Both Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and MEK leader Maryam Rajavi have issued statements suggesting they agree, in principle, to the UN plan, but both sides remain far apart on the details,” said Bill Frelick, refugee program director at Human Rights Watch. “Successful implementation of the UN plan requires good faith negotiations by all sides, including the Iraqi government and the leadership of the Mojahedin-e Khalq.”

On December 21, 2011,Maliki announced that the closing of Camp Ashraf would be delayed for six months if the MEK agrees to a Memorandum of Understanding for the relocation of the Camp Ashraf residents. However, a December 20 statement from Rajavi, which also agreed to the transfer in principle, set out conditions that have not been agreed upon. Because of the impasse, the prospect still looms that Iraq will stick to its December 31 deadline and use force to close the camp, raising fears for the safety of the approximately 3,200 residents.

Human Rights Watch sent letters on December 15 and 16, 2011, to the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Sweden seeking their support for the appeal by Martin Kobler, the United Nations special envoy for Iraq,to the Iraqi government to extend a December 31 deadline for closing Camp Ashraf. Human Rights Watch also urged the governments to help ensure the safe transfer of camp residents for individual refugee status interviews, and respond quickly and positively to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s call for UN member states to indicate their willingness to accept Camp Ashraf residents for resettlement.

“Resolution of the Camp Ashraf situation requires the active involvement by other major players like the United States and the EU who can play a critical role in resettling Camp Ashraf residents and monitoring to make sure they are safe and are treated fairly,” said Frelick.

The Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) was founded in 1965 as an armed group to challenge the Shah of Iran’s government. In 1981, two years after the Iranian revolution, the group went underground after trying to foment an armed uprising against Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the former Supreme Leader of Iran. After a period of exile in France, most of the group’s leaders relocated to Iraq in 1986 and established Camp Ashraf, although its top leadership remains in France.

Human Rights Watch called on all parties to allow international diplomats, UN agencies, and independent observers to be present to monitor every step of the transfer of these residents to a protected transit site, such as the former Camp Liberty at Baghdad’s international airport. Human Rights Watch also urged the UN to continue monitoring the human rights and humanitarian situation after camp residents have been relocated to the transit site.

Human Rights Watch previously appealed to both the Iraqi government and the leadership of the MEK to cooperate fully with the UN to ensure the protection and safety of Camp Ashraf residents. Tension and mistrust between the MEK leadership and Iraqi security forces remain high following two violent incidents involving Iraqi security forces that led to the deaths of more than 40 Camp Ashraf residents, in July 2009and April 2011. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly called on Iraqi authorities to refrain from using excessive force against Camp Ashraf residents, and for independent and transparent investigations to investigate the two incidents and any crimes committed during them.

The Iraqi government has not opened investigations into these incidents.

The UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials states that “law enforcement officials may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty.” The UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms provide that law enforcement officials “shall, as far as possible, apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force” and may use force “only if other means remain ineffective.” When the use of force is unavoidable, law enforcement officials must “exercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offence.”

Human Rights Watch has also called on the Iraqi government not to return the exiles to Iran against their will.

As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iraq is bound to apply the principle of nonrefoulement. The UN’s Human Rights Committee, which interprets the covenant, has explained this obligation[..].

The Iraqi government has assured Washington that it would not forcibly transfer any member of the group to a country where they face a risk of torture.

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