Page 759 – Nejat Society

What kind of city is Camp Ashraf?

Mr. Hassan Piransar arrived in Europe a few weeks ago. He is one of the former executive members of the MKO who managed to escape Camp Ashraf by taking refuge with American forces in the TIPF which was established to help people escape the cult. When TIPF was closed earlier this year, Mr Piransar made his way through Iraqi Kurdistan and on to freedom in the west where he is now a political refugee due to his opposition to the MKO and the IRI.

As one of the executive members, he has experienced and witnessed the many abuses and deceptions practiced by the Rajavis not only toward outsiders but in particular against their own members. He attended a meeting of the Iran Delegation of the European Parliament on September 9, 2008 to ask that Camp Ashraf be opened up to humanitarian bodies and that the people trapped inside be rescued. He emphasised that mass of misinformation issued by the Rajavis and their backers such as Robin Corbett, Paulo Casaca and Struan Stevenson, is aimed at keeping human rights organisations out of Camp Ashraf so that Massoud and Maryam Rajavi can continue their inhuman mistreatment of their captives behind closed doors.

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October 4, 2008 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Learning prohibited in the Cult of Mojahedin

Almost all MKO former members unanimously report that the organization leaders are opposed to further extra organizational studies. They reason that members have to give priority to practical considerations rather than Learning prohibited within PMOI theoretical ones. Absolute pragmatism constitutes one of the main parts of controlling system in MKO. It bans any kind of study aiming at improving theoretical political knowledge. Before reviewing the statements made by Mojahedin ex-members concerning such an approach, it is tried to evaluate it with regard to the new executed value system within MKO after the development of the ideological revolution. The reason why Rajavi, MKO leader, prevents members of obtaining theoretical knowledge has its roots in his worldview and ideological objectives.

Absolute submission to leadership is considered to be one of the inseparable aspects of all political cults and that of MKO. Mojahedin’s theoreticians have focused on such a feature and calling Rajavi the man of ideology within MKO, point to blind obedience of members as their sole way of salvation. According to Mojahedin leaders, organizational improvement is achieved through absolute submission rather than obtaining political and theoretical knowledge. Taking a brief look at the statements of some MKO former members may prove this claim. It is said that before the initiation of the ideological revolution in MKO, members were qualified according to the following factors:

Ideological instructions aiming at achieving ideological unity between members and the organization; political-social instructions to make members familiar with experiences of other revolutions; ability to make political analysis and familiarity with political and strategic stances of the organization; economic instructions for detecting the roots of economic crises and their solution and also finding an appropriate economic system; organizational and security instructions to make members aware of the principles of the organization, its internal challenges, how to solve these challenges, and how to act in cases concerned with security considerations. (1)

In other words practical as well as theoretical competencies were taken into considerations simultaneously as practiced in all political groups and organizations. However, after the start of the ideological revolution, parallel to the change of the value system within MKO, all such criteria change and were replaced with just one criterion, namely blind obedience to leadership. Rajavi asked the members not to speak but act according to what they were ordered to do with no questioning. In fact they needed no further study since they needed no knowledge and understanding. Anne Singleton, an MKO ex-member, refers to this aspect of the ideological revolution and says:

He pushed the members to work harder and not to ask questions. He changed the ethos of the organisation by passing messages down to the membership of what he expected of them. The major theme of the time was that ‘ideology is what you do, not what you say’. In other words, don’t speak, act. (2)

She further compares and contrasts the organization attitude toward members before and after the ideological revolution as follows:

The major change too was in what was meant by ideological competence. In the original Mojahedin organisation this meant someone who had political, social and moral knowledge and experience. Someone who had undergone ideological instruction as had the first members way back in the 1960s. Since the Ideological Revolution, however, it came to mean someone who is, more than others, unquestioningly obedient to Rajavi, with no ability or desire to think for themselves, who will suppress any previous knowledge or experience they had in order to parrot what Rajavi requires of them. (3)

Another former member quotes Rajavi putting forth the new criterion for organizational advancement:

Rajavi told us: ‘You are not capable enough for political discussions and analysis and may go astray. You’d better let me do it, there is no need for you to pursue political events and analyze them, I will do it for you and tell you the results. If not, you may be disappointed since you have no political knowledge. There is no need to be anxious and pour out your heart to others; it is out of your business to know whether the ways are open or not. (4)

In order to develop a deeper understanding of this controlling process in MKO it has to be noted that one of the inherent aspects of all absolutist ideological trends is that they classify outsiders as either friends or enemies. Such a viewpoint has many consequences one of which is their focus on absolute submission of members. According to one of the theoreticians of Mojahedin:

One of the features of groups with ideological absolutism is that in establishing relation with outsiders close to them, they recognize no independence. In other words, the system’s rules necessitate it to have just two options regarding political outsiders, either absolute agreement or absolute opposition. (5)

It is not possible to understand how organizational limitations and prohibitions result in controlling members unless the value system of the organization is understood since the structure of mojahedin ideological revolution is very complex and intermingled and there is a kind of cause and effect relationship between its strategies and procedures. Therefore, a deep knowledge about the ideological revolution and its consequences is needed in order to evaluate the course of events within MKO.

References:

1. Niyabati, Bijan, A different look at the ideological revolution within MKO.

2. Singleton, Anne, Saddam’s private army

3. ibid

4. Shams-e Haeri, Hadi, The swamp

5. Niyabati, Bijan, A different look at the ideological revolution within MKO.

October 4, 2008 0 comments

Auver-sur-Oise

A Camp Ashraf in France

Once and following the French police raid against MKO’s HQs in Auvers-sur-Oise, M. Bousquet de Florian, the director of French counter-intelligence, confirmed that many MKO leaders had returned to France since the American intervention in Iraq to turn “Auvers-sur-Oise into an operational headquarters for terrorism”. It was hard to believe what he meant. The Camp Ashraf once turned into a bastion of terrorist plots and operational headquarters heavily supported by Saddam, now MKO needed new HQs the patron being fallen.

Reported by VO news on 24 September 2008, a number of elected representatives of Val-d’Oise gathered to support the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). As the report states, “sixty mayors of Val-d’Oise support the PMOI, main opposition to the regime to the mullahs in Tehran. All are demanding the withdrawal of the Iranian Resistance from the list of terrorist organizations of the European Union”.

In its 8 October 2006 edition, the paper Al Irak Al-Yom wrote: "72 sheikhs and leaders of the tribes in the vicinity of Ashraf City, while supporting the charter of honor of the tribal sheikhs of all the Province of Diyali which states that the People’s Mojahedin are honorary citizens and members of their tribes, signed a new charter in which they undertake the defense of Ashraf City against all threats constituted from the ruling regime in Iran. They emphasized that any attack against the People’s Mojahedin and Ashraf City amounted to an attack against themselves, their families and their tribes".

Now the Province of Diyali in Iraq becomes known as Val-d’Oise in France in the same way that the mayors of Val-d’Oise replace the Iraqi sheikhs and tribe leaders. Has France really accented to the formation of another Camp Ashraf in the heart of the country?

October 4, 2008 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

US citizenship for 16 key MKO figures

The US has granted citizenship to 16 leading members of the blacklisted Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), Iraqi security officials say.

An Iraqi deputy told Fars news agency that the MKO members who were given US citizenship were directly engaged in acts of terror against Iranians and the Iraqi people.

According to the lawmaker, the terrorists, who had earlier exited Camp Ashraf, were reportedly transferred to a former Iraqi air force base near the capital, Baghdad.

The US had earlier relocated selected members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization after Iraqi authorities took control of their camp in Diyala province in August. The act was aimed at preventing MKO members from falling into the hands of the Iraqi government.

The deputy said, however, that the US had denied support for a certain number of MKO members in the Camp after accessing their records.

He added that documents, including tapes of MKO espionage acts against the Iranian government, have been delivered from the camp to US military forces in Iraq.

His remarks come as Ali al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi security official, told Fars that there were documents available on the group’s cooperation with al-Qaeda and Baath regime in their acts of violence.

He added the US was studying the records of certain MKO members willing to join American troops to select those useful to American forces in their anti-Iran goals.

The MKO, blacklisted by many international bodies, is responsible for many acts of terrorism against Iranian civilians and government officials.

The MKO terrorist group moved to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He provided the group with arms and military equipment to launch attacks against the Islamic Republic during the Iraq- war with Iran (1980-88).

The group launched operations against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war from Camp Ashraf, their headquarters and training site, and later assisted Saddam in violently suppressing the Iraqi Kurds during the 1991 uprising.

After the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the fall of Saddam Hussein, the group is now directly supported by the United States.

October 4, 2008 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Swiss judges examine the funding of PMOI

Iranian exiles arrested in France, Switzerland

About 10 people close to a banned Iranian opposition group were arrested last week in France and Switzerland in connection with a money-laundering investigation, judicial sources and the group’s lawyer said. Iranian exiles arrested in France,Switzerland

Several of the people close to the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) — listed as a terrorist group in the European Union and United States — were in police custody on both sides of the border on Monday, the sources said.

The police swoop was coordinated between French and Swiss officials who were acting at the request of Swiss judges examining the funding of a group linked to the PMOI.

One of the PMOI’s lawyers, William Bourdon, said the investigation was unfounded and was aimed at covering up what he said was the failure of an existing French probe.

"The Swiss case file is empty, and there is every reason to believe that the same is true in France and that this second judicial front has been opened to try to hide the first file’s certain collapse," he said.

In June 2003, police arrested 167 people in the Paris suburb of Auvers-sur-Oise where the PMOI is based.

Of those arrested, 17 were placed under formal investigation, including Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the PMOI’s political wing, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), on suspicion of "associating with wrongdoers in relation with a terrorist undertaking".

That judicial probe has lost momentum and many of the restrictions on the suspects’ movement were lifted in 2006.

Earlier this year the PMOI called on the EU to remove it from its list of banned terrorist organisations after the British parliament upheld in June a court ruling that its inclusion on a list of banned groups in Britain was wrong.

But the EU said in July it was keeping the PMOI on its blacklist, adding it saw no grounds for amending the listing of 48 groups subject to asset freezes and other sanctions in Europe.

A French source said then that Paris — a major player in diplomatic negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme and the current holder of the EU’s rotating presidency — came forward with grounds for the group to remain on the list. (Reporting by Thierry Leveque; writing by Francois Murphy; editing by Janet Lawrence)

Reuters News, Sep 29, 2008

—————————————————————-

Iranians connected to PMOI detained in money laundering probe

Several people close to a banned Iranian opposition group have been arrested in Switzerland and France in connection with a money-laundering investigation.

The group of about ten detainees has connections to the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), which is listed as a terrorist group in the European Union and United States. They were arrested last week and are still in custody, judicial sources and the group’s lawyer said.

The police swoop was coordinated between French and Swiss officials who were acting at the request of Swiss judges examining the funding of a group linked to the PMOI.

The Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that an investigation was ongoing in this context but did not give precise details of the number of people being detained.

Earlier this year the PMOI called on the EU to remove it from its list of banned terrorist organisations after the British parliament upheld a court ruling in June that its inclusion on a list of banned groups in Britain was wrong.

But the EU said in July it was keeping the PMOI on its blacklist, adding it saw no grounds for amending the listing of 48 groups subject to asset freezes and other sanctions in Europe.

swissinfo.ch

October 2, 2008 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Camp Ashraf, a heavily controlled cult haven

Of the most common controlling techniques within MKO is that of collective control. Camp Ashraf plays an important role in keeping full all-out control over all members as well as carrying out brainwashing mechanisms. Strengthening security systems within Ashraf to prevent the members’ exit, resistance against transferring Mojahedin to other places and such activities imply the necessity of collective life for Mojahedin. The first consequence of dispersion of MKO members may be the destruction of intra-organizational controlling systems. Although lifestyle of members located in Ashraf is similar to that of Auvers-Sur-Oise and early headquarters of the organization in Iran, it is better to review the history of the formation of Ashraf in order to gain a better understanding of its strategic significance.

Before the formation of Ashraf, MKO members lived separately in Iran, Europe, Kurdistan and other countries and cities; therefore, it was impossible for the leadership to develop a collective life. It is not clear whether Ashraf was formed due to predefined ideological objectives or its formation was the inevitable consequence of some events like the disintegration of resistance cells of Mojahedin within Iran, and Europe’s disagreement for the collective settlement of Mojahedin. However, it can be claimed that Rajavi made an informed decision to keep the integrity of his organizational running for many years.

strategic failures of Mojahedin, their expulsion from France, Rajavi’s meeting with Tariq Aziz were some main factors that lead to the true prediction that Rajavi was planning to form a camp consisting of Mojahedin’s military and organizational members in order to prevent members’ passivity and disintegration of the organization. Considering Ashraf as the symbol of Mojahedin and a utopia proves the above claims. Ashraf, as the location of the development of the ideological revolution, may be regarded as the controlling lever against dissidents too. Taking a brief look at the labels defined for Ashraf may lead to a better understanding of its strategic role. In this regard, it is said:

Mojahedin’s Heart (Camp Ashraf) is called by a woman’s name, a woman who is to have a major role in the internal ideological revolution of Mojahedin. (1)

There is a kind of dialectic relationship between camp Ashraf and the ideological revolution of Mojahedin:

There is no doubt that the considerable resistance of Ashraf under the hegemony of Mojahed women had its roots in the internal ideological revolution within MKO. (2)

Although Rajavi justified his decision to move to Iraq under the pretext of changing strategy and being close to Iranian soil, his main objective was keeping full control over members. The consequences of the development of the ideological revolution such as the increase of dissidence among members were another factor to make such a decision. The dispersion of members would result in their opposition to leaders’ policies and decisions; however, living in Ashraf would reduce this probability.

It has to be pointed out that Camp Ashraf prepared the grounds for application of brainwashing mechanisms as well as physical control of members by means of the prisons formed within it. The statements made by the MKO ex-members imply the fact that resorting to mental and physical pressures against dissident members were common activities in Ashraf. Taking a look at the security considerations in Ashraf and calling it as Mojahedin’s symbol, laboratory, heart, utopia, etc may clarify this point. An MKO former member describes collective life in Ashraf and says:

Camp Ashraf turned to a laboratory for testing Rajavi’s theories and members turned to guinea pigs. (3)

He also refers to Ashraf as the Mojahedin utopia in which collective life paves the way for winning full control over the members:

Camp Ashraf is a model of Mojahedin’s utopia promised by Rajavi. Organizational hierarchy is developed based on ranking officials and inferior rank-and-files. There is no separation or collection among members; every one is connected to the ideology. Every one has to obey his superior who is more ideological. Every one needs a leader. Masoul is a person connecting members to leader. The relationship between Masoul and members inferior to him/her is like that of water and a thirsty person in which the latter can not live without the former. In MKO each Masoul is subordinate to his/her Masoul too up to Rajavi at the peak of the organizational pyramid. (4)

The running lifestyle in Ashraf is under full control. Internal as well as external relations of Mojahedin are monitored and controlled using various controlling levers:

Camp Ashraf is located out of the city and is surrounded by barbed wire. Members never leave it except for visiting doctors and accompanied by another Masoul. It resembles military camps in which members are imprisoned voluntarily. Most members have been there for an average of ten years except for military maneuvers. No one visits it but some Iraqi officials. (5)

In a nutshell, according to the supporters and sympathizers of the ideological revolution, Camp Ashraf is a must, a model focusing on collective life due to the ideological considerations. As a result, the significance of such a social life is based on an all-out control over the members and their full submission. In other words, in MKO collective life grants a chance for further monitoring and control of members. Camp Ashraf has been described as follows:

After the strategic settlement of Mojahedin in Iraq, their leader had the chance to test his revolutionary theories in a small society under his own control and free from the outside value systems. Such a society had to be a micro model of a real society consisting of government, president, the parliament in exile, armed forces, police forces, prison, court, mass media, diplomatic relations, economical and logistic systems. (6)

Collective life is common in almost all historical cults and a number of American cults. The place where these cults are located is so significant that sometimes the name of the cult is derived from the name of their location like Alamout castle and the cult called Alamout led by Hasan Sabbah. Likewise Ashraf and Mojahedin have the same connotation today. What is of importance is the fact that all such considerations are taken aiming to control members and to give cultist identity to them.

References:

1. Niyabati, Bijan, Another look at the ideological revolution within MKO

2. ibid

3. Shams-e Haeri, Hadi, The Swamp

4. ibid

5. ibid

6. Niyabati, Bijan, Another look at the ideological revolution within MKO

September 30, 2008 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO members arrested in Europe

Members of the notorious Mujahedin Khalq Organization have been arrested in France and Switzerland on charges of money laundering.

Ten people close to the MKO were in police custody on Monday on both sides of the border, Reuters reported without citing any sources.

Swiss and French officials jointly conducted the arrests on the request of Swiss judges examining the funding of the group.

The group, which has been listed as a terrorist organization in Iran, the European Union and the United States, has a long and bloody history of targeting Iranian civilians and government officials.

It also reportedly assisted the deposed Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, in the massacre of thousands of innocent Iraqis and is responsible for several acts of terror in Iran including the 1994 bombing of a revered Shia shrine in Mashhad, eastern Iran.

In 2003, French anti-terrorist police arrested 165 members in Paris, including Maryam Rajavi one of the leaders of the group, for ‘associating with wrongdoers in relation with a terrorist undertaking.’

In a recent move, Britain removed the banned MKO from its blacklist of terror organizations.

According to the Iranian Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Britain has been provided with ample evidence of MKO involvement in terrorist operations against the Iranian nation.

"They have even met with some of the victims of the MKO terrorist acts. Still, the London Appeals Court has permitted a dangerous terrorist group to operate in Britain," reads a letter by the Head of the Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi to his counterpart in the British parliament, Mike Gapes.

September 30, 2008 0 comments

Missions of Nejat Society

Nejat Society Delegation in Geneva

A delegation from Nejat Society traveled to Geneva to participate the meeting of United Nations Human Rights Council and to visit the delegation from other international human rights organizations in order to prevent the political abuse of the remaining captives in Camp Ashraf, and guarantee the individual rights of those who basically deny terrorism and are willing to return to the society. Nejat Society delegation includes:

Mr. Babak Amin, Mr. Arash Sametipour, Mrs. Marjan Malek, Mrs. Ronak Dashti.

Nejat Society Delegation in Geneva

September 28, 2008 0 comments

Terrorist groups and the MEK

MKO, another version of al-Qaeda

A spokesman for the family members of terrorism victims in Iran says the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) is simply an earlier version of al-Qaeda.

Iraj Moradi, the spokesman for the Edaalat Society, which represents over 12,000 relatives of Iranian victims of terrorism, said the MKO and al-Qaeda use the same methods to lure their members into carrying out terrorist attacks.

Iraj is the son of Ebrahim Moradi, a blacksmith who was assassinated by the MKO in June 1984.

The Mujahedin Khalq Organization is a terrorist group banned by many countries including the US. It has claimed responsibility for numerous terror attacks inside Iran and Iraq since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

At a recent UN human rights conference in Geneva, Edaalat Society revealed documents highlighting the extent of MKO activities in Iran as well as the group’s cooperation with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The MKO has long been charged with assisting Saddam in the massacre of thousands of Iraqi civilians.

A British envoy, who has received the documents, asked the delegation to shed light on MKO crimes in a visit to the UK – where a British court has dropped the MKO from its blacklist of terrorist organizations.

“Edaalat Society does not seek revenge,”said Sepehri, the daughter of another Iranian victim.

“Branding some terrorists ‘good’ and some ‘bad’ would legitimize their actions and provide a pretext for their existence,”she said referring to the recent UK court ruling.

She added that is why the MKO has continued its existence.

According to Sepehri who is the official spokesman for the Edaalat Society, terrorists are sick people who are suffering from hallucinations due to the cult-like structure of their organizations and could be cured if they were freed from the mind-control tactics of their leaders.

A delegation of the Edaalat (Justice) Society has recently visited Geneva to attend the UN human rights summit and meet NGOs and rights groups.

September 28, 2008 0 comments

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