Page 576 – Nejat Society

The criminalization of speech since 9/11

Prosecution for "material support" has expanded under Obama. Where does it leave the First Amendment?
Last week, a 24-year-old Virginia man named Jubair Ahmad was arrested and charged with providing "material support" to an officially designated terrorist organization, the Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

But Ahmad is not accused of sending money or weapons to LeT, or scouting out targets for the group. What had Ahmad allegedly done? Uploaded a "propaganda video to YouTube on behalf of LeT" that showed "so-called jihadi martyrs and armored trucks exploding after having been hit by improvised explosive devices," according to the Justice Department. Ahmad allegedly had spoken to the son of an LeT figure about making the video.

The case is an example of prosecutors’ aggressive use, in the decade after Sept. 11, of the preexisting law that bars providing "material support" to officially designated terrorist groups. In a landmark case last year, the Supreme Court endorsed the government’s broad interpretation of the material-support law in a way that critics say criminalizes speech.
The expanded use of the material-support law is an important part of the legacy of 9/11 and the legal regime erected in response to the attacks. To learn more about the history and use of the material-support statute, I spoke with Hina Shamsi, the director of the National Security Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.

What does the material-support law say, exactly?
It gives the government the power to designate non-U.S. groups as foreign terrorist organizations based on very broad criteria. That includes whether the group has used or threatened to use a weapon against personal property; whether the group’s activities undermine our national defense, foreign relations or economic interests. What is most problematic about the law, though, is "material support" has been interpreted so broadly. It is used regardless of whether the provider has the intent to support terrorism, or whether any specific act of terrorism has taken place or is being planned, and even to include pure speech and advocacy.

How and how much has this statute been used in the decade since Sept. 11?
The material-support law is the statute prosecutors most use in suspected terrorism cases, including not just in our federal courts but also in military commissions. It is now the most far-reaching statute prosecutors use in suspected terrorism cases. Its use, and its use specifically in this Lashkar-e-Taiba case, shows just how the grave the implications are for Americans’ free speech rights. That’s how it is that what appears to be purely First Amendment-protected activity here is being criminalized.The government has a legitimate and compelling interest in protecting the nation from terrorism and in stopping material support that actually furthers unlawful and violent acts.

Is this a post-9/11 law?
No, the law existed pre-9/11. But its broad interpretation both by the government and the courts has expanded dramatically. The Supreme Court held in a 1969 case called Brandenburg v. Ohio that even advocacy of violence can be criminalized only when it is intended to result in imminent criminal conduct and if it is likely to produce imminent criminal conduct. That reflects the importance of First Amendment protections to our democracy — that speech the government may disagree with is nevertheless part of the marketplace of ideas, the recognition that advocacy and speech itself can serve as a safety valve for the expression of dissent, and the fundamental fact that the government cannot and should not criminalize beliefs and ideology, although it can and should criminalize violent conduct.
But in a Supreme Court case last year which has emboldened prosecutors, the court held for the first time ever that the government can in fact criminalize speech, including speech that advocates only lawful activity, in part on the theory that speech might legitimize a terrorist group. This is the case of Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project. The broader implication of this ruling is that it thwarts the efforts of human rights and humanitarian groups to persuade violent actors to renounce violence or cease human rights abuses. As a result, a law that is aimed at putting an end to terrorism, actually threatens peaceful advocacy groups.

What were the facts of that Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project case?
A human rights organization and nonprofit groups wanted to assist the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka by teaching them how to bring human rights claims in the United Nations. The plaintiffs wanted to teach international law and nonviolent means to promote peace. After the U.S. designated the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the LTTE as foreign terrorist organizations, that kind of advocacy from human rights and other nonprofit groups became a crime, according to the government. What the plaintiffs went to court to say was, ‘We would like to help promote peaceful resolutions.’ The court came back and said, doing so in connection with a foreign terrorist organization would violate the material-support law.

I wrote earlier this week about a public relations campaign on behalf of the Iranian group the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), also a designated foreign terrorist organization. Some of the people involved in that debate argue the material support is being applied in a selective, politicized way, depending on the type of supporters a given terrorist group has. What do you think?
That certainly appears to be happening now, and that’s part of the danger of criminalizing speech and advocacy in this way. It allows the government to pick and choose whose speech and whose advocacy it favors.

Is this all a settled matter of law at this point, or is anyone planning any challenges?
We’re gravely concerned about the consequences of the Humanitarian Law Project decision, and we are following what’s happening and looking to see what challenges might be brought when the government moves to criminalize pure speech. Especially I think when it seeks to do so with respect to domestic organizations.

Justin Elliott / War Room / Salon.com

September 18, 2011 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq 's Terrorism

Families of MKO targets at Int’l Victims of Terrorism Conference

The International Victims of Terrorism Conference in Paris is largely a forum for nations to make others aware of terrorist efforts to subvert their state.

This year family members of people killed by the People’s Mojaheddin Organization of Iran, known as the MKO, were invited to testify about the suffering wrought by a group that aims to overthrow the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The MKO are almost universally denounced by Iranians around the world and are regarded as a terrorist group by Iranian, American and other national and international governments.

The group’s headquarters are in Ashraf, Iraq, where they aided Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War and then went on to take part in his deadly operations against Kurds and as well as Iraqi Shia.

As a result of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 the MKO tried to relocate their headquarters to France. But then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy approved a raid of the group’s compound outside Paris, saying that the MKO was trying to turn French soil into an international terrorist base. 10 MKO supporters then set themselves on fire in protest, shocking Europe.

In recent years, the MKO has undertaken a massive propaganda campaign to rebrand themselves as a human rights group. The tens of thousands of victims of the MKO and their families strongly disagree.

Speaking to heads of state, ambassadors, and other international leaders, the victims of the MKO were given a major platform to discuss their suffering. They urged listeners to continue to regard the MKO as a threat and to oppose their efforts to rewrite history.

Download Families of MKO targets at Int’l Victims of Terrorism Conference

September 17, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

senior Iraqi cleric: MKO must leave Iraq by 2012

Leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Ammar Hakim, has said that the members of the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) based in Iraq must leave the country by the end of 2011.

Leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Ammar Hakim Hakim, who had travelled to Iran to attend the fifth meeting of the Ahl al-Bayt World Assembly, made the remarks during a meeting with Grand Ayatollah Abdul Karim Mousavi Ardebili in the holy city of Qom on Friday.

Hakim also said that Tehran has announced the names of 100 MKO members who must stand trial if they return to Iran.
Commenting on the formation of the government in Iraq, he stated that despite the pressure being exerted on the country, Baghdad could move through that crucial stage thanks to public support.
He also said that the enemies of Iraq are incessantly making efforts to create stumbling blocks to the country.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Hakim stated that the security situation in Iraq has improved and the Iraqi forces have become more equipped and are capable of identifying terrorists.
And the death toll from terrorist attacks in Iraq has decreased, he added.
He also said that efforts are underway to create understanding among various political groups in Iraq and to help them reach a consensus on internal and external issues.
On the developments occurring in certain regional countries, the ISC leader stated that Iraq is keeping a close eye on the events unfolding in the countries which have been experiencing pro-democracy uprisings and has made efforts to help stabilize the situation in Syria as well.
Hakim also held separate meetings with a number of other grand ayatollahs based in Qom, including Lotfollah Safi Golpayegani, Nasser Makarem Shirazi, Hossein Nouri Hamedani, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Sadeq Hosseini Shirazi, Mohammad Javad Alavi Tabataba’i Boroujerdi, and Hossein Vahid Khorasani on Friday.
Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani, in his meeting with Hakim, said that various political groups in Iraq should put aside differences.
In his meeting with Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, Hakim said it is necessary that all Iraqi officials stand by each other and make endeavors to serve the people.

September 17, 2011 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

MKO is a Cult and should remain in the list

VOA Interviews Dr. Rasool Nafisi , academic and Middle East expert

Siamak Dehqanpour: a group of political activists have recently written a letter to call for keeping MKO in the terrorist list. You were one of the signatories of the letter. Why do you believe that MKO should remain in the list of the State Department and what kind of organization is the MKO?

Rasoul Nafisi: firstly I’d say that the letter was not signed by political activists. None of them were political activists but all of those 38 people are well-educated experts on Middle East affairs. I had a personal reason to sign the letter.

In my opinion, delisting the MKO is harmful to the youth in the US. Why? Unleashing the group opens the way for them to deceive the Iranian youth– a lot of whom have no information on the history of Iran. The organization has had a awkward life .They have always been imprudent, they have never cared about people’s lives, and the example was the operation “Eternal Light”( Forough-e-Javidan)
Neither am I a member of an organization, nor a political activist.

I am a scholar. I don’t have political idea or goal. I’m not paid by anyone. And I don’t pay anyone either.

I am morally concerned about the MKO as a guilty, imprudent organization that simply plays with people’s lives. In the infamous case of “Forough-e Javidan”, 600 foreign passports were found. MKO was basically established on political –military basis. It has a military ideology although it claims to be democratic. Furthermore, the problem about the MKO is that it [has held] a large number of Iranian youth in a country which was Iran’s enemy. The MKO sided with Saddam Hossein in a very very sensitive time, when he wanted to occupy Iranian soil.

Now the MKO’s problem is that Saddam Hossein has been collapsed but the MKO’s trained army remained in Iraq. No one knows what to do with them. If you want to move them to another country , I don’t think any country accepts them. If you want to send them individually to other countries, the MKO doesn’t accept the option.

The research done by RAND Corporation in 2009 indicated that about 70 percent of Ashraf residents are kept there against their will. Besides, when the American forces wanted to enter the camp in order to disarm them completely, hey were threatened to mass suicide [by the MKO].
I’d like to mention that they are a “cult”. A cult has some criteria;

– It has religious background
– They adore a personality
– They don’t accept any opinion from outside the group
– All decisions are made inside the group
– Most cults recommend their members to commit suicide. For instance, the case of James Jones. He made the 500 followers under his control commit suicide when finally he was stuck in a cul-de-sack …

I’d like to view this group from sociological point of view. There are good books about it. I think one of the best ones is the book by Ervand Abrahamian, the prominent Iranian historians who investigates the MKO’s history really impartially and even he has some sympathy for the group. He describes how a socially-politically founded organization finally turns into a cult.

Siamak Dehqanpour: there is an important point, the MKO has declined to annihilation several times since 1965 but each time they could stand up again and restart their activities. What’s the secret of such a thing?

Dr. Rasoul Nafisi: first of all, we should admit that the MKO is really well-organized. We have recently witnessed examples of it. They paid hundreds of thousands dollars to American military and political personalities, brought them to public to speak in favor of them. Unfortunately most of them were from right-wing. Again and again the MKO reconstructs itself. In a cult-like organization, all problems are in the system and the main cause of the system is its survival and its power and nothing else, that’s why it can survive.

Siamak Dehqanpour; do you think, it will be a crushing defeat [for the MKO] if Ashraf is shutdown?

Rasoul Nafisi: I actually see Ashraf as a wealth in hand of the MKO’s leadership. They use it to raise funds from the countries in the region. Some of military supporters of the group in the US officially say that “We want to use the group to destabilize Iran”! It is much to be regretted that. I mean the history has shown that the MKO is ready to do [what the US wants] as they allied with Saddam Hussein. They will absolutely ally with anyone else. They claim that they are democratic and tolerant because they are now in a weak condition.

I always consider groups, people and their words when they are in power, when they have the upper hand. See what they did with their allies in the council [National Council of Resistance] and in other cases.

Translated by Nejat Society

September 15, 2011 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq 's Terrorism

Don’t be fooled: MEK is a terrorist group

Is it possible that a terrorist organization that has killed Americans and tortures its own members could organize a massive lobbying campaign to manipulate U.S. national security decisions?
It’s happening before our very eyes.
Jamal Abdi is the policy director of the National Iranian American Council, the largest grassroots organization representing the Iranian-American community in the United States. He previously worked in Congress as a policy adviser on foreign affairs issues. He is based in Washington Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to decide soon whether the Iranian Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) should remain on the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations or be delisted and free to raise taxpayer support for their operations.
The State Department says that throughout the 1970s, the MEK staged terrorist attacks inside Iran, and killed several U.S. military personnel and civilians working on defense projects in Tehran. It also says MEK members participated in the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
But while the MEK remains designated as a terrorist group, it has managed to leverage a caustic political environment in the United States, a humanitarian crisis in Iraq for which it bears significant responsibility and bundles of cash to pull off one of the most insidious pressure campaigns Washington has seen.

Recently, it came to light that many of about 33 former U.S. officials who have advocated delisting the MEK have been paid to speak at events sponsored by Iranian groups that want it off the list. Some of the officials have since quietly backed away, professing ignorance about the group that had presented itself innocuously as an "Iranian opposition movement."
Others, like Michael Mukasey and Howard Dean, have redoubled their efforts in the midst of criticism and recalibrated their message to urge for delisting on humanitarian grounds. But while there is certainly a humanitarian crisis for MEK members, the organization’s leadership is directly culpable.
Opposing view: MEK is not a terror group and must be delisted
While the MEK’s core leadership is based comfortably in Paris, some 3,400 of its rank-and-file members are based in the organization’s Iraq compound, Camp Ashraf, along the Iranian border. There, they are held hostage to the MEK leadership’s efforts to gain international support.
MEK advocates who claim support for the group on humanitarian grounds have not answered key questions about the group’s inhumane practices, outlined by Human Rights Watch, including MEK’s repeated threats of suicide as a negotiating tactic, according to a RAND Corp. study.
The study, commissioned for the Pentagon, says that 70% of the people at Camp Ashraf joined after the group moved to Iraq, and a "substantial number of these MEK members were lured to Iraq under false pretenses or did not have a clear understanding of the group’s goals and methods of operation — particularly with respect to its cult behavior — and many have been forced to remain against their will."
Human Rights Watch has documented torture by MEK of members who have tried to flee. Those who have managed to escape report that the MEK prevents those in Ashraf from accessing telephones, television, Internet or any form of outside communication .
But the MEK leadership has cleverly leveraged its antagonism with the Iranian regime to exploit U.S.-Iran enmity and convince policymakers that the "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." In so doing, they have largely managed to deflect attention away from the MEK’s shadowy practices and human rights abuses in Ashraf.
The MEK leadership in Paris has seized on deplorable actions by the Iraqi government, which views the MEK warily because of its close ties it had with Saddam Hussein, to argue for delisting.
Under pressure from Iran, Iraq has waged incursions into Ashraf that have resulted in shameful losses of life — up to 34 killed. But instead of pursuing a true humanitarian solution, MEK leadership cynically used these events as public relations tools while obstructing serious proposals, because they would likely address MEK’s own abuses.
The MEK has argued against any proposal that would let its members to leave the group. The New York Times reports that U.S. efforts to facilitate a humanitarian solution have been blocked by residents refusing to leave. The U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees has publicly offered to facilitate a refugee resettlement process but has stated that individuals at Ashraf have refused to renounce violence, a prerequisite to participating.
Ultimately, the driving force behind the MEK’s campaign in the U.S. has come from the same circles that championed supposed dissidents such as Ahmad Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress to build a groundswell of support for the U.S. to invade Iraq. Like those Iraqi exiles, the MEK enjoys no domestic legitimacy, yet claims to be Iran’s "main opposition." Most of the officials who repeat this have no idea that the MEK is among the most reviled groups in Iran.
[…]
Any doubts about this violent agenda were dispelled last week at a pro-MEK conference that revealed in starkest terms yet how a delisted MEK would be used. "We need a very active tit-for-tat policy," said Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney. "So every time they kill Americans, they have an accident in Iran."
"I know that may sound too militaristic," agreed former CIA official John Sano, "but you have to go with what your enemy understands."
Clearly, delisting the MEK has little to do with humanitarian concern or support for a democratic Iran but is instead a push for another disastrous war of choice in the Middle East.

Editor’s note: Jamal Abdi is the policy director of the National Iranian American Council, the largest grassroots organization representing the Iranian-American community in the United States. He previously worked in Congress as a policy adviser on foreign affairs issues. He is based in Washington.

September 14, 2011 0 comments

Open letter to Mr. Ad Melkert , head of delegation of the UN in Iraq

The media related to pmoi quoted by you, claimed that you ,as the head of delegation of the United Nations in Iraq , are reluctant and opposed to the expelling pmoi from Iraq which will happen till end of 2011. We do not know that such quotation and remark by you is true or not.
The members of Kanoon Iran Ghalam Association ,who some of them have more than 20 years of membership and activity inside pmoi relations in Iraq and Europe and at present time they are in Europe as separated members, political critics and experts of this organization ,would like to draw your attention to the following facts:

1. You Know by now that the name of this organization stayed in the terrorist list of the US state department for 2011.

2. In this terrorist list, there is a de facto emphasis of undemocratic relations against the members of this organization which is existing in their internal relations.

3. The members of this organization are deprived of their fundamental rights which is written and mentioned in the United Nations Charter, like right of marriage, right of meeting with their loved ones and their parents freely.

4. This organization has kept their members as prisoners and captives and in this regard the pmoi operatives do not let the dissident members leave the organization.

5. Under these circumstances according to the United Nations’ humanitarian and organizational duties, the United Nations should intervene and prevent any kind of violent activities, abuse and exploitation of those stranded members.

Honorable Mr. Ad Melkert
You should be informed that the pmoi operatives are trying their best to stay in Iraq on purpose and their desire is to keep their organization intact, in this regard they have begun deceiving the public opinion to show themselves as innocent people to prevent their stranded members from reaching to their desires which is freedom and justice.
Recently the Guardian Newspaper wrote that ¨ the pmoi operatives had given money to the former American officials for their participation and speech in pmoi rallies¨, and in this regard the Voice of America quoted by Huffington Post reported that ¨ propaganda in favor of pmoi is a good source for the US former politicians to fill their pockets with millions of dollars¨
Mr. Ad Melkert
Unfortunately we should inform you that between the financial abuses and captivity of those stranded members in that organization , Ashraf in Iraq , there is a logical and direct connection. You should know that the premiere objective of keeping those stranded members in that organization on Iraq soil is to defend and protect the life of Massoud Rajavi, the pmoi spiritual leader who is still in Iraq. Those stranded members have been used as cannon fodder and human shields by pmoi operatives to protect him and confront with any unpredictable events. The pmoi internal relations, character and its leadership substantially is not equivalent to any democratic parties.
This organization is run and controlled like a religious cult. A cult which does not believe in freedom of thoughts and free elections and it indoctrinates its beliefs on its members.
The leadership in pmoi is not a political matter on the contrary it is totally a religious and sacred position which is comparable with the leadership in Al Qaida and Massoud Rajavi’s position in pmoi is the same as Ben Laden’s in Al Qaida.
You, as the head of the UN delegation in Iraq, are in your last days of your mission, we are expecting you to think about the trampled rights of those pmoi stranded members one more time and you know perfectly that the choice of a free life is their legitimate and fundamental right which has been taken from them. We are urging you to convey our letter to your successor in UN office in Baghdad.
Kanoon Iran Ghalam is delighted to inform you and your honorable colleagues more on this subject which is about the pmoi internal relations and systematic suppression and oppression of pmoi members in Iraq and Europe. Preventing more abuses and suppression of those stranded members in pmoi, it is better to shut down the Ashraf garrison, the container of pmoi cruelty, systematic suppression, terrorism and violence in Iraq, as soon as possible and the pmoi stranded members’ rights should be recognized and respected individually by the United Nations and they should have a chance to live in the free world.
Respectfully

Iran Ghalam Association

September 14, 2011 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq 's Terrorism

MKO Plans to Assassinate Jalal Talabani, Ayatollah Hakim

A defected member of the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization unveiled that MKO ringleaders had issued an order to assassinate Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and former Head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq Ayatollah Seyed Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim.
The defected MKO member said that the ringleaders of the terrorist group, specially Massoud Rajavi, had called on the members to be ready to assassinate the two renowned Iraqi opposition figures 18 years ago.
The defected member also revealed that the MKO leaders hired a number of spies to chase the defected members and find their living place to assassinate them as well.
Defection has increased in the MKO in recent years. Earlier another defected member of the MKO unveiled that the ringleaders of the group are using every means within their reach to control their dissident members, including life threats, to keep members in the group’s main stronghold in Northern Iraq.
"Massoud Rajavi (the main ringleader of the MKO) has announced many times that if anybody wants to escape from (the camp) Ashraf (in Iraq), he/she will be killed or executed," Abdollatif Chahardari said in April.
Also in March, another defected member of the MKO revealed that the female members of the group have been living under captivity for more than 25 years and are not even allowed to appear in public places alone.
"It can be firmly said that 95% of the women in Ashraf Camp (the terrorist group’s resort in Iraq) have not even been allowed to step in Iraq’s public and recreational places alone all throughout the last 25 years," the defected member said.
The former member of the MKO also revealed that nearly 70% of the female members of the terrorist group are single and have not been allowed to marry anyone in or outside the group.
And only a total 10% of the married members have been allowed to have children, he added.
The MKO has been in Iraq’s Diyala province since the 1980s.
Iraqi security forces took control of the training base of the MKO at Camp Ashraf – about 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad – in 2009 and detained dozens of the members of the terrorist group.
The Iraqi authority also changed the name of the military center from Camp Ashraf to the Camp of New Iraq.
Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.
A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.
According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.
Numerous articles and letters posted on the Internet by family members of MKO recruits confirm reports of the horrific abuse that the group inflicts on its own members and the alluring recruitment methods it uses.
The most shocking of such stories includes accounts given by former British MKO member Ann Singleton and Mustafa Mohammadi — the father of an Iranian-Canadian girl who was drawn into the group during an MKO recruitment campaign in Canada.
Mohammadi recounts his desperate efforts to contact his daughter, who disappeared several years ago – a result of what the MKO called a ‘two-month tour’ of Camp Ashraf for teenagers.
He also explains how the group forces the families of its recruits to take part in pro-MKO demonstrations in Western countries by threatening to kill their loved ones.
Lacking a foothold in Iran, the terrorist group recruits ill-informed teens from Iranian immigrant communities in Western states and blocks their departure afterwards.
The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.
Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.
The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).
Iraq had announced earlier this month that members of the terrorist group must leave by the end of 2011.

September 13, 2011 0 comments

Nejat Publications

Pars Brief – Issue No.61

1. Iraq orders MKO terrorist group to return occupied land

2. From U.S. Silent on Raids against PJAK to aggressive lobbying for MKO

3. Inside Mujahidin-e Khalq’s Massive Lobbying Push

4. An Iranian Cult and Its American Friends

5. Mujahedin Khalq Machine vs. the Iranian-American Community

6. Why Are Prominent Americans Lobbying for an MKO Terrorist Group?

7. Attendees Bused Into MEK Rally, Some of Whom ‘Don’t Really Understand What The MEK Is’

8. The Lobbying that Shouldn’t be Happening

Download Pars Brief – Issue No.61
Download Pars Brief – Issue No.61

September 13, 2011 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

WikiLeaks Releases involving Mojahedin Khalq

U.S. government cables revealed by Wikileaks include numerous references to the Mujahaddin e-Khalq (MEK). Details include:

Wikileaks

•MEK threatens mass suicide as bargaining chip: “The group’s leadership at Camp Ashraf is prepared to order residents to kill themselves to protest any arrests of Ashraf residents…”
•Evidence of paramilitary activities: “They continue to practice small unit military tactics and maneuvers under cover of darkness.”
•Cases of forced detention at Ashraf: “The MEK was also violating human rights by holding residents at Ashraf against their will.”
•Examples of human rights abuses:”MEK defectors told stories of regular self-denunciations, intimidation, forced hysterectomies, brainwashing, and isolation from family members.”
•False public claims by MEK: “While publicly touting itself as a democratic alternative to the current regime in Tehran, the MEK’s cult-like pattern of psychological and physical abuse of its members suggests otherwise.”
•Repeated instances of cult-like practices: MEK is a”cult-like organization that thrives on maintaining control of its members and those lured to Ashraf under false pretenses.”
•Analsysis of policmakers being fooled by MEK disinformation: U.S. on MEK: “The most powerful myth the MEK has been able to lodge in the minds of most supporters is that they are the democratic alternative to the current regime in Tehran…The majority of Iranians do not regard the MEK as a legitimate force for democratic change in Iran.”
Below, are the relevant excerpts, including details of the 2009 reaffirmation of the MEK’s designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. All excerpts are direct quotes (emphases added):

MEK UPDATE: DEFECTOR CLAIMS MEK HAS CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR MASS SUICIDE (1/15/2009)

“A defector from Camp Ashraf, home to the Mujahedin e-Khalq (MeK) in Iraq, says the group’s leadership at Camp Ashraf is prepared to order residents to kill themselves to protest any arrests of Ashraf residents”

“They claim to have turned over all their arms to U.S. forces in 2003, and their camp 60 miles from Baghdad looks more like a relatively affluent Iraqi village than a military garrison. However, until the end of 2008, residents wore military-style uniforms and flew pre-revolution Iranian flags, and U.S. forces stationed at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Grizzly on the periphery of the camp report that they continue to practice small unit military tactics and maneuvers under cover of darkness.”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF NEA FELTMAN DISCUSSES MEK (12/15/2010)

“In a meeting on December 14 with NEA A/S Feltman, the Minister of Human Rights, Wijdan Selim…expressed frustration that she was caught in the middle of the GOI-MEK struggle because many in the GOI wanted to resettle the MEK regardless of the merits, but that the MEK was also violating human rights by holding residents at Ashraf against their will.” Ashraf residents “revealed psychological and physical harm experienced at the hands of MEK”, MEK is a“cult-like organization that thrives on maintaining control of its members and those lured to Ashraf under false pretenses”, they continue to practice small unit military tactics and maneuvers under cover of darkness”,

MEK DEFECTORS ON LIFE IN ASHRAF AND RESETTLEMENT (9/18/2009)

“Many revealed psychological and physical harm experienced at the hands of the MEK and reaffirmed existing perceptions of the MEK as a cult-like organization that thrives on maintaining control of its members and those lured to Ashraf under false pretenses.”

“In explaining their motivations for leaving Ashraf, nearly all the defectors felt betrayed by the MEK and dismayed by their psychological and physical degradation at the hands of the organization. One man asked for help in retrieving his confiscated papers and other personal documents, including passport and Iranian identification documents, including passport and Iranian identification cards, from Ashraf.”

“Many of the defectors alleged psychological and physical harm at the hands of the MEK, including solitary confinement in MEK jails in Ashraf. One man in a wheelchair spoke passionately about how the MEK”crushed our personalities”and threatened to turn them over to the Saddam regime if they refused to join the organization.”

“Twenty-year resident [of Ashraf]; self-declared freedom fighter opposed to Iran; left MEK after”their lies were revealed”; considers MEK”the most disgusting and devious organization in the world.”

MEK FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION (FTO) DESIGNATION MAINTAINED (1/8/2008)

“The Secretary [Rice] found that the MEK remains (1) a foreign organization, (2) that engages in terrorist activity or terrorism, or retains the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism, as those terms are defined under relevant statutes, and (3) the terrorist activity or terrorism of the group threatens U.S. national security or the security of U.S. nationals. Further, the Secretary concluded that U.S. national security does not on its own warrant revocation. She therefore determined that the MEK’s FTO designation will be maintained. The determination was effective upon signature on January 7, 2009.”

“We do not view the MEK as a credible advocate for either democracy or human rights in Iran, given its record of terrorism and the abuse suffered by many of its the MEK,s own members. While we have serious concerns about the policies of the Iranian government, we do not condone acts of terrorism under any circumstances.

It is important to keep in mind, however, that the MEK’s advocacy, and our view that such advocacy is not credible, is not germane to the Secretary’s determination”

“(C) While publicly touting itself as a democratic alternative to the current regime in Tehran, the MEK’s cult-like pattern of psychological and physical abuse of its members suggests otherwise. Under the leadership of the husband-wife team of Maryam and Masud Rajavi, the MEK is a largely female-driven organization that promotes equal rights for women but fails to respect the basic human rights of its members, female or male. While Maryam and Massoud are married, MEK rank and file are forced to divorce and are forbidden from having normal male-female relationships or personal friendships of any kind. No children reside at Camp Ashraf. MEK defectors tell stories of regular self-denunciations, intimidation, forced hysterectomies, brainwashing, and isolation from family members.”

“The most powerful myth the MEK has been able to lodge in the minds of most supporters is that they are the democratic alternative to the current regime in Tehran. While we have serious concerns about the policies of the Iranian government, the MEK’s four-decade-long record of terrorism and cult-like repression of its members demonstrates that the MEK is not a credible advocate for democracy or human rights. Furthermore, the majority of Iranians do not regard the MEK as a legitimate force for democratic change in Iran. The Secretary’s decision to maintain the MEK’s FTO designation sends a clear signal that the U.S. Government does not condone the organization’s terrorist activity.”

PM MALIKI, CODEL LEVIN DISCUSS FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN IRAQ, AUGUST 19 BOMBINGS (12/9/2010)

“Responding to Sen. Reed’s question about how the GOI would deal with the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), Maliki said

“We wish they would go in peace to any other state to eliminate the excuse for intervention that their presence here affords Iran.”He stressed that the GOI does not want to force MEK members to return to Iran; however, he emphasized the threat the group posed and claimed an individual involved in the August 19 bombing of the Ministry of Finance was a MEK member.”

EU LIFTS MEK SANCTIONS; SECRETARIAT REQUESTS USG ASSISTANCE (1/27/2009)

“France has an active request for the EU to re-list on a strengthened domestic investigation basis and is appealing the December 4 EU court ruling. Belgium, normally an outspoken human rights advocate in these decision-making circles, has raised security concerns in support of re-listing; thus France will not stand alone despite misgivings of UK or other countries.”

“[EU Council Secretariat Director General Robert] Cooper then asserted that EU Member States actually do consider the MEK a terrorist group, but the EU still must refer to a decision by a”competent authority”to ground an EU designation of the MEK. Cooper proposed to USEU Charge that the USG request the EU to designate the MEK and relist it as a terrorist organization”

IRAN: MEK SUPPORTERS IN PLAN TO PRESS HMG, USG, ICJ ON BEHALF OF CAMP ASHRAF RESIDENTS (3/2/2009)

“As always, the positions of the MEK and its supporters are characterized by hyperbole and distortion. London Iran Watcher has not attempted to engage with MEK supporters (and still less with members), but has kept FCO briefed on current USG public guidance on Camp Ashraf. The MEK, however, remains an issue on which HMG senior levels are fatigued and jumpy, and only too glad to shelter behind the tough line the USG has maintained on the MEK (ref).”

GOI TO ASSUME REPONSIBILITY FOR CAMP ASHRAF JANUARY 1; SECURITY TRANSITION BEGINS (12/22/2008)

U.S. Baghdad embassy says:

“No Delisting of MEK

While Washington considers whether to keep the MEK organization on the U.S. FTO list, as the Embassy deals with the MEK at Camp Ashraf it is our view that for our dealings it is important that the organization remain listed. Delisting the MEK could hinder our cooperation with the GOI (which considers the MEK to be a terrorist organization) and would encourage the [Camp Ashraf residents] to continue to stall the determination of their legal status in Iraq.”

IRAN: UK GOVERNMENT APPEALS MEK DE-LISTING ORDER (12/4/2007)

“The suit had been brought by several of the MEK,s fervent sympathizers in Parliament seeking POAC’s review of the MEK listing. HMG: Leopard Has Not Changed Spots”

Delisting MEK “weakens UK counter terrorism efforts”

September 11, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq to resolve the Camp Ashraf file by end of the year

During a meeting of the Committee on Foreign Relations in the Dutch parliament, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari iterated Iraq’s decision to end the crucial file [Camp Ashraf] by the end of the year.

A copy of the Foreign Ministry statement received by AllIraqNews on Thursday said, "Zebari met yesterday at the headquarters of the Dutch Parliament Foreign Relations Committee in which Zebari confirms Iraq will resolve the Camp Ashraf file by end of the year meeting the developments of the internal situation and the continuous improvement of the security situation in Iraq were reviewed."

"Interactive dialogue also took place to assess the level of bilateral relations and areas of cooperation between the two countries based on political and diplomatic relations developed between them," noting that "the need to promote this cooperation to the level of the historical relations between the two countries on the one hand and to the position of the Netherlands’ outstanding support of the process of Iraq’s political and democratic transformation that took place on the other was stressed.

The statement continued, "There was a focus on the importance of this cooperation to expand the area of investment in energy to other issues of economics, trade and in particular management of water resources, as well as the importance of working for the creation of better relations between the Iraqi Council of Representatives and the Dutch parliament."

Zebari addressed "the developments and changes taking place in the Arab region, and that what Iraq has accomplished in its changes towards democracy has now become one of the most important demands of the peoples of the region who seek reform and change."

It is noteworthy that the presence of an Iranian opposition group in Iraqi territory is in contradiction to the terms of the Iraqi constitution and most political communities, but that some in the United Nations and the European Union and U.S. forces are demanding the survival of the organization and provide support and stability to it.

"After clashes earlier between Iraqi security forces and members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (aka PMOI) led to the injury of a number of employees of the Iraqi security forces, the Iraqi government decided to close the camp by the end of this year and called on the Iranian government to issue amnesty for the members of this organization. "

“Referred to as the ‘Camp Ashraf fighters of the Mojahedin-e Khalq on Iraqi soil’, it is well known that this organization is classified as a terrorist organization and that it is prohibited to have dealings with it.”

All Iraq News, Baghdad, Translated by Iran Interlink

September 11, 2011 0 comments

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