Mr. Jalil Abdi escaped Camp Ashraf, Iraq.
After years of slavery under the terrorist Cult of Rajavi, Mr. Abdi could manage to leave the Camp and join the families who are on strike at Ashraf gates.
More information on Mr. Abdi’s defection will be published later.
Nejat Society sends congratulations to Mr. Abdi and his family as well as all picketing families in front of Camp Ashraf on his salvation.
On Saturday 11th of December 2010, thousands of families of the Rajavi cult members trapped inside Ashraf garrison, Iraqi officials and tribe leaders, International and Iraqi reporters, and representatives of parties and organizations from various parts of Iraq gathered in front of Ashraf gate in order to protest against the violation of the most basic human rights by the US backed Rajavi cult in Iraq.
The families who are picketing outside Ashraf garrison for almost 11 months merely wish to visit their loved ones whom they have not seen for many years. This demand of course has been rejected by the cult leaders despite continuous call by the international and Iraqi bodies.
This gathering had a good coverage in International and Iraqi media and two television channels had live reports on that.
1. Sweden FRII warns citizens not to donate to MKO terrorist fraudulent front organizations
2. Ahmad Razani a member of Mojahedin Khalq (MKO, MEK, NCRI, Rajavi cult) killed in Camp Ashraf
3. Iraqi civic organizations demonstrating in front of Camp Ashraf
4. MKO Supporters in Congress Turn up Pressure on Administration to Take Group off Terrorist List
5. MKO denies ailing member; Elham Fardipour to access medical care
6. MKO Ringleaders Cut Medical Supplies to Dissidents in Iraqi Camp Ashraf
7. MKO hand behind Diyala terror attacks
8. Mossad and Mujahadeen e-Khalq, Partners in Assassination Campaign
9. Five Canadian lobbyist MPs defend their holiday trip to Paris paid by MKO terrorist group
Download Pars Brief – Issue No.56
Download Pars Brief – Issue No.56
On the occasion of Christian’s New Year, charity organizations all over the world become more active to collect donations for the poor. The act of benefactors who are concerned about human’s needs is really praiseworthy but there is also a dark side for such activities. There are some fraudulent organizations that misuse the opportunity to raise their own funds by soliciting people. Mujahedin Khalq Organization has a long record of such deceitful activities. 
The first time MKO and its front organization were investigated for fraudulent fund raising activities, was in 1996 in Britain. UK Charity Commission which is a governmental body to supervise charity institutes began investigation on Iran Aid Charity that was then proved to be a front group of MKO Cult. In 1997, UK Charity Commission closed Iran Aid Charity after it was proved to be linked to Mujahedin Khalq Organization.[1]
In September 2000, Simon Gillespie, director of operation at UK Charity commission told news media," after two years’ investigation, Iran Aid has failed to give us verifiable evidence that money donated by British public was actually spent on charitable work in Iran."[2]
About a year after UK’s probe against MKO, in March 2001,"five Iranian nationals and two Iranian Americans appeared in federal court in Los Angeles on charges of raising more than $1 million to fund terrorist activities abroad," reported Los Angeles Times. The report clarifies that most of the money was solicited from unsuspecting travelers at LA International Airport and sent to bank accounts in Turkey controlled by MKO. James V. De Sarno Jr. an authority of FBI Los Angeles office said that the "suspected money has been used to buy arms.” The travelers were shown photos of starving children and victims of alleged Iranian government atrocities and told the money was used to support refugees, according to LA Times.[3]
In 2009 Federal Bureau of Investigation of Los Angeles reported the seven arrested MKO members were pleaded guilty by US District Court, Judge David O.Carter. The seven defendants admitted that they knowingly raised funds to support the activities of the MEK by collecting money from MEK supporters and soliciting money from unwilling donors at public locations such as Los Angeles International airport, according to Department of Justice Press Release.[4]
MKO’s deceptive fund raising activities did not end in US District Court. The opportunists of Rajavi’s Cult also use human disasters as an appropriate channel to funnel money in to the cult’s pocket. In January 2004, after the catastrophic earthquake in Bam, Iran, Mujahedin Khalq held their so called "night of solidarity with Bam Survivors."FBI agents attended the event because they doubted legitimacy of the event, and the next day the Treasury Department froze the assets of the event’s prime organizer, the Iranian – American Community of Northern Virginia.[5]Jackie Flowers who was asked about the events relation with bam earthquake is a spokesman for the Red Cross. She told Glenn Kessler of Washington Post that “the relief agency had been contacted by the sponsors about receiving funds raised at the event several weeks before it took place. But the Red Cross decided to reject the proceeds once it became aware that the event was ‘political in nature’, specifically the promotion of regime change.” [6]
The money laundry projects in MKO have always been active. In January 2010, a disastrous earthquake struck Haiti that paved a new way for MKO to raise their funds . Since MKO agents are more active in Scandinavian countries, their propaganda and fund raising champagnes have a network of front organizations in those countries to lead the group’s tactics. Following the earthquake in Haiti Swedish people were among the top donators to contribute Haiti earthquake victims but the fraudulent groups like MKO were ready to manipulate people’s emotional feelings. Thus, the Swedish government body, Council of funds raised by volunteer charity organization of Sweden (FRII) ( Frivilligorganisationernas Insamlingsråd ) published a list in the country’s media to prevent such organizations misuse people’s donations. MKO was among those untrustworthy-considered organizations: Mojahedin’s Sympathizers Society (MSF),the Promotion of Iranian Culture (FIK) and Association for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran (FDMRI) are the three front groups affiliated to MKO that are listed by Sweden.
On the eve of Christmas Sweden government once more published that warning list to prevent financial abuse committed by those deceitful groups. In the updated list you may find again the name of Mujahedin front groups.[7]
Erik Zachrison from that Swedish Council told about the list:" I don’t know their nationality and they have not managed to present a registered number for their organization. I just know they are active all over Sweden and they do not own the account "ninety" and they have never asked to register for one. They stop people in the streets, showing brochures or pictures and for example ask them if they know Amnesty Intentional and then ask for financial help. A lot of people think they are helping that mentioned international body." [8][Account ninety is a bank account allocated to charity organizations that are lawful in Sweden].
MKO’s nonstop deception campaign was also recognized in Germany. DZI, German General Institute for social issues, warned German nationals in a press release to watch their donations to these three institutes:
Association for people and Freedom (VMF), Association for the hope of future (VHZ), Human Rights Association for migrants that according to DZI are associated with Mujahedin Khalq terrorist organization advertize with street collection campaign, with letters and even home visits for donations by often highly moving and gruesome images of tortured and killed people. DZI declared that it had received a lot of letters of complaint from parties which were visited for personal interviews in their houses and offices. They were requested to donate high, four-digit sums of money to their alleged human right organization. [9] On December 9th, 2010, DZI updates its monitoring report maintaining the name of the three above-mentioned front groups.[10]
Deceptive charity actively is a way to launder money which is often used by terrorists and criminals. Their illegal activity can also include, smuggling trafficking, extortion and corruption. MKO terrorists have to launder the proceeds from their fund raising activities in order to be able to use them to run their propaganda machine and terror campagne. Fighting against corruptive financial activities should be a mission for all governments, especially western countries who are mostly at risk of being manipulated by MKO agents since their true face is known to Iranians but not for them. Western citizens must be informed about peril of transacting with front organizations actually linked to a destructive terrorist cult because the group’s consequent terrorist acts constitute threats to their safety and security.
References:
[1] Iran-interlink, Mojahedin (Rajavi cult) Time Line
http://www.iran-interlink.org/files/child%20pages/Timeline.htm
[2] The Free Library, Charity closed after probe, September2000
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Charity+closed+after+probe.-a065265054
[3| McDERMOTT, TERRY and SARHADDI NELSON, SORAYA, Los Angeles Times, 7 Accused of Raising Funds for Terrorists, March 01, 2001
http://articles.latimes.com/2001/mar/01/news/mn-31811
[4]Los Angeles FBI Office, United States Attorney’s Office, Department of Justice Press Release, Seven Plead Guilty to Providing Material Support to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, April 28, 2009
http://losangeles.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/la042809a.htm
[5] Kessler, Glenn, Washington Post ,Charity Event May Have Terrorist Link, January 29, 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A58296-2004Jan28?language=printer
[6]ibid
[7] Link to Swedish webpage:
http://www.frii.se/7_varning.shtml
[8] New View Website, Translated by Nejat Society
https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/3406
[9] Link to DZI 2009 warning (in German):
http://www.dzi.de/pressemitteilungen/DZI-PM_16Dez2009.pdf
[10] Link to DZI 2010 warning (in German):
http://www.dzi.de/pressemitteilungen/DZI-PM_9Dez2010.pdf
By Mazda Parsi
Recently a number of families from Nejat Society Mazandaran branch went to Camp Ashraf, Iraq to visit their beloved ones. Although they couldn’t manage to convince MKO cult leaders to allow them meet their relatives, the travel had several enlightening consequences.
The families understood more than ever about the ruthlessness, brutality and fraudulency of the MKO Cult leaders. They shocked as they witnessed the situation and realized the facts they didn’t know before.
Now families are worried much more than before about the condition, health and security as well as future of their relatives. They are trying to make their voice heard to the UNAMI, Iraqi Government and Humanitarian Organizations.
The Ashraf residents’ family members urge the international community to take effective measures to stop the violations of human rights by the Rajavi Cult.
In this regard a number of families gathered together and shared their experiences and views on the issue and discussed ways how to liberate their beloved ones being held captive by MKO leaders.
The Families oath not to stop their activities and not to leave the gates of Ashraf until they release all the hostages from the MKO’s garrison.
A forty-people of family members of Ashraf residents who are representatives of Nejat NGO Office in Shiraz, Fars, traveled to Camp Ashraf Iraq to join other families awaiting there. They are
hopeful to visit their loved ones who are captives of MKO terrorist Cult.
So far large groups of families from various Iranian provinces including Golestan, Azarbayjan, Markazi, and Khuzestan have gone to Iraq to urge the Cult leaders to allow them visit their beloved children in a free atmosphere. They have been bearing the worst condition for almost a year.
More than one hundred individuals have lost their lives inside Ashraf during recent years in different ways and due to cult like tendencies of the leaders of the organization. There are many cases of murder in the file of the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation and its head Massoud Rajavi, 
among them one can name Hanif Emami, Hamid Reza Zamani, Saeed Noruzi, Akbari Nasab, Alan Muhammadi, … and the most recent victims of the ruthless leaders of the cult : Ahmad Razani and Mehi Fathi.
Ms. Elham Fardipour and other innocent ailing members would be victimized as well if MKO leaders continue preventing them from accessing medical treatments.
All these killings have been under the direct order of MKO Cult’s leader, Massoud Rajavi as he threatened several times that if he cannot go out of the current stalemate, and reaches the end of the line he will create "species of Ashura" for the members. That is to victimize all members of his cult by ordering the members to commit mass suicide or self immolations and the like as many cults like David Koresh in Texas and Jim Jones in Guyana did in the past. This is not far from MKO nature as it has at least once occurred in the group when in June 2003 the members were ordered and intrigued to set themselves on fire following the arrest of Maryam Rajavi by French Police. The result was death of two women.
We, the families of MKO hostages declare our deepest concerns over the security of our beloved ones kept captive behind the bars of MKO Camp Ashraf call on all humanitarian and international organizations to break silence, step forward and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe occurring inside Ashraf garrison and within the cult.
The Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO) and other Ba’ath remnants in Iraq continue to be upset about the newly re-appointed Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki. And for good reason—al-Maliki doesn’t like them and doesn’t want them, and this opinion threatens their wretched existence. Nouri al-Maliki’s opinion stems from his recognition of the true nature of the MKO, a terrorist cult who have resided in Iraq for more than three decades. Leadership of the MKO had their members help Saddam Hussein, who was their main financial and military sponsor, exterminate thousands of Iraqis. The MKO took part in the massacre of Shia communities in Iraq’s south and the Kurdish communities in the north. And al-Maliki is appalled at the role they played under the Ba’athist regime. Al-Maliki happens to be a Shia, and naturally—and from a purely religious standpoint—he maintains respect and admiration for the Shia religious leader, Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei.
This is not good news for the MKO who has about 3,000 resident members currently living in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. For these residents and their cult of personality leadership, none of whom are voting Iraqi citizens, and who have wild dreams of replacing the Iranian government with their own people, the re-election of al-Maliki is a total defeat. As far as Iraqi officials are concerned, the MKO’s presence in Iraq has been an issue of contention for a long time; Al-Maliki has been totally opposed, and according to polls, so is the majority of the population. [1] And for good reason—al-Maliki feels friendly relations with neighboring Iran is critical, and those friendly relations won’t include the MKO.
After al-Maliki’s re-election, the Iraqi people are now hopeful that they are going to have a more stable government in which all political factions share the ruling system. In a White House press statement, President Barack Obama said he is “encouraged by the substantial progress that has been made in forging an inclusive government that represents the Iraqi people and the results of this year’s election.”[2] The statement was followed by a meeting where a US congressional delegation, led by US Senator John McCain, met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Iraq and the United States discussed”the development of bilateral relations and the ongoing political process,”reported Aswat al-Iraq.[3] Al-Maliki, stated that he “understands the importance of boosting ties with Washington in all fields, and the signed strategic agreement.”[4] It is no coincidence that Senator John McCain led this meeting. Historically John McCain’s track record shows he is well aware of the MKO, who have lobbied US and European politicians strongly for decades.
McCain is no stranger as to why al-Maliki’s holds a strong opposition to harboring the MKO on Iraqi soil any longer. In the record of the US war on terrorism, John McCain’s effort can be traced back nearly two decades when he stood against the MKO, whose name, alongside al-Qaida is firm on the US State Department’s designated terrorist organization list. In June 1993, Senator McCain wrote a letter, among many on the group, to Janet Reno, who was at the time the Department of Justice secretary. McCain called for prompt investigation into the MKO and said they were”a major lobbying group”whose members “solicit political support and funds from the Congress, American citizens, and Iranian exiles on US soil under the guise of being a democratic coalition and human rights advocate when it remains an extreme leftist group whose secret agenda opposes American values and the security of Israel.”[5]
McCain stressed that,”anyone can use the rhetoric of democracy. Anyone can hide behind the flag of human rights.”[6] And that’s exactly what the MKO is still doing. But in Iraq they posit a slightly different rhetoric—a desperate, hostile one—in which they demonize al-Maliki, and praise former Ba’athist Tariq Aziz, who in October 2010, received a death sentence. [7]
Now that the MKO and their strategic container, Camp Ashraf, are under Iraqi sovereignty, the group leaders need to be cooperating with the Iraqi government, but they are not. The fact that they are a known violent terrorist group is bound to create obstacles, and their temporary refugee status has been exhausted.
The MKO commandants, as they continue to lobby US and European politicians, hope to gain full support from the West, and hope to be removed from the State Department’s designated terrorist list. The message the MKO preaches in Iraq, so they can keep their stronghold at Ashraf, is meant to cause division and crisis and the group needs to be watched, as they are acting boldly against the Iraqi government. The few sympathizers they have are old supporters of Saddam Hussein, and naïve Western politicians who believe the MKO is some sort of human rights group.
Perhaps the MKO knows they have used their last shot at surviving in the region. Perhaps they know they are heading toward self-destruction. After all, Camp Ashraf is physically the closest location for them to be near Iran, their desired final destination. As for al-Maliki’s opinion, although he’s a Shia Muslim, it doesn’t mean he takes orders from Iran, nor does it mean that he would judge the nature of the MKO based on how the leadership in Iran feels. Al-Maliki has more than enough reason and documentation established inside Iraq to justify getting rid of the MKO, a dismal group of failing terrorists who no one wants.
References:
[1] Recently, the Iraqi al-Sumaria TV channel website posted a survey on
whether people there are in favor of ousting the MKO. The result of the poll
is still available on the website. About 64% of the audience voted “yes”.
See http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/opinion-polls-iraq-118.html
[2] Allen, JoAnne.”Reuters US Edition.”*Reuters.com*. 11 NOV 2010. Web. 21
Dec 2010. <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1123266420101112>.
[3] Aswat al-Iraq, Al-Maliki meets U.S. congressional delegation
Nov 10, 2010
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=138788
[4] ibid
[5] Proceedings and Debates of the 103rd Congress, First Session, Thursday,
January 21, 1993 SUPPORTING THE RIGHT OPPOSITION GROUPS IN IRAN AND IRAQ (Document
Citation: 139 Congressional Record, page S172-03)
Also found online on the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) website:
http://www.fas.org/irp/congrss/1993_cr/s930629_terror_pmoi.htm
[6] ibid
[7] CNN Wire Staff.”Iraqi court sentences Tariq Aziz to death.”*CNN.com*26 OCT 2010: Web. 21 Dec 2010. <
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-26/world/iraq.aziz.sentence_1_iraqi-high-tribunal-death-sentence-malcolm-smart?_s=PM:WORLD
By Mazda Parsi
The word “cult” is a term with various meanings; the sentiment of the word is nonetheless perplexing. “Cult” has gone through a rather insignificant linguistic evolution. As early as 1617, the word shows up in both Latin and French meaning to worship or care for; it also shows up with the meaning to tend, till (the earth), or cultivate. After the 17th century, the word seemed to wane from usage, and is not found in many texts until it surfaced again in the mid 19th century where it has become to some extent symbolic with bizarre religious groups, ancient or primitive rituals. In 1829 a definition surfaced which signified it with “devotion to a particular person or thing.” More recently the meaning has expanded especially in the West and has come to incorporate a more positive vibe as it refers to films or people with rock-star-type fame. With such development of the word, sociologists have backed away from using the term too specifically in academia, although it is still widely used by the general public.
As terminology has tended to become more specific in the social sciences, experts agree that the word “cult” is a rather loose term and for the most part needs to be explicitly defined. Leona Furnari of International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) first used a new term which subverts the word*cult * and replaces it with the more specific”closed high-demand group”or CHDG.
CHDG’s are abusive, manipulative groups or relationships in which deception and mind control are used to gain power over members or individuals.”[1]
As a former member of a CHDG, Furnari determines some common characteristics of these groups:
– Members are expected to be excessively zealous and unquestioning in their commitment to the identity and leadership of the group. Personal beliefs and values must be replaced with those of the group.
– Members are manipulated and exploited and may give up their education, career and families to work excessively long hours at group –directed tasks such as selling a quota of candy and books, fund raising, recruiting and proselytizing .
– Harm and threat of harm may come to members, their families and/or society due to inadequate medical care, poor nutrition, psychological, physical or sexual abuse, sleep, deprivation, criminal activities, etc. [2]
Furnari’s unique perspective and knowledge qualifies her to act as an authority on the subject of CHDG’s, and as a result she has become one of the leading experts on CHDC’s. (She currently runs a practice to help people who have been subjected to the exploitive methods of CHDG’s. )
Having determined a clear definition of a CHDG for the purpose of my argument, it is important to know that CHDG’s are not unique to any particular culture, religion, or political group. I’d like to discuss one group in particular who meets the criteria of a CHDG, and whose group shadows many of the socio-political, and cultural-religious aspects of the societies in which they are located, in which they are influenced by, and in which they would like to influence. This group is the Mujahedin-e Kalq Organization, also known as the MEK, MKO, NCRI, and numerous other front names which they come up with in order to confuse the public, and in order to mask their shrewd, dirty practices. The MKO is made up of members (mostly Iranians who do not live in Iran) who have been deceived into believing that the leaders of the MKO, Maryam and Massoud Rajavi, are a viable alternative to the leadership of the current Iranian government.
(While Iran maintains a tainted reputation in the West, mostly for resisting the pressure to conform the West’s ideals, its internal problems, like any other nation, are going to be solved by the population who knows it best—by the intelligent people who live there. Iran has had a long and complicated, highly misunderstood history which for the past 50 years has been exacerbated by propaganda from the West. Iranians feel that the West does not understand Iran, and most people living there feel that the demise of relations comes from a track record of a misinformed media, and a long-standing, unacknowledged grudge for the destabilizing atrocities that the US committed against Iran as it was moving naturally towards a modern political state.) The truth is that the MKO is a closed high demand group and its practices are identical to the criteria that Leona Furnari has proposed. The MKO spends an enormous amount of time and energy conjuring stories to hide its ugly practices and propagate its intention of taking over Iran. For the time being I am going to concentrate on some of the MKO’s CHDG practices for the sake of exposure. The group is dangerous. They have conducted various terrorist attacks over the decades which have literally killed thousands of innocent Iranian citizens and government officials. They are not so much a threat to the Iranian government—but to the members who have been duped into dedicating their lives in one way or another to the MKO. It is important to expose the MKO now, and continue to expose them, because Iran has become, or will soon become a target for the West, and needless to say, enough people have already died because of the MKO—no more need to. The MKO is disguised as an architect of human rights and blind supporters need to know the truth about the group. For this reason, and for the sake of members who have been sadly been tricked into giving up their lives for the MKO’s false hope, I will therefore list a short series of incidents which I feel clearly indicate that the MKO is a CHDG.
One former member of the MKO, Ann Singleton, who now lives in the UK, describes the organization as a “dangerous cult because it believes in using violence to achieve its stated aims. It is destructive because it destroys the lives, minds and spirits of its membership. The majority of the members are held incommunicado, with no access at all to the outside world. Within this isolation they are subjected to a systematic daily regime of psychological manipulation and coercion.”[3]
An example of this violence drew attention in June 2003, following the arrest by French Police of the MKO leader, Maryam Rajavi. Following the arrest, a number of MKO members in various large cities set themselves on fire. People around the world questioned the motivation behind the self immolations. The *National Post* (Canada) reported that after Maryam’s arrest, “the MEK had responded by mobilizing its international network of supporters, ordering them to take to the streets in protest. At the French embassy in London, an Ottawa woman named Neda Hassani died after setting herself on fire.”[4] Her father later told reports that Neda “loved [Maryam Rajavi] dearly.”
In 2005, Human Rights Watch (HRW) interviewed five MKO members who were able to completely defect from the group. HRW reported in an article titled “No Exit” that the defectors’ “testimonies, together with testimonies collected from seven other former MKO members, paint a grim picture of how the organization treated its members.”Furthermore,”the MKO former members reported abuses ranging from detention and persecution of ordinary members wishing to leave the organization, to lengthy solitary confinement, severe beatings, and torture of dissident members.”[5]
The US State Department has documented that main objective of the group’s leaders is to gain power and this is done by having Maryam and Massoud Rajavi sustain a system that maintains a Cult of Personality. But total devotion to the leaders has physically maimed and traumatized some of the members for life. In October 2008, Nasrin (Batoul) Ebrahimi disclosed some of the MKO’s human rights violations. Being an ex-member of the MKO’s so-called elite “Leadership Council” Ebrahimi had both witnessed and experienced some of the worst human violations possible. In her speech at the European Parliament, she revealed an MKO practice called the”Ideal Summit Operation”which was basically a hysterectomy ordered on women members. The operation is done by a doctor named Nafiseh Badamchi, an MKO physician. [6]
Another former member of the group, Batoul Soltani, who also participated in the group’s “Leadership Council”, spoke out about a bizarre manipulative practice called the “Salvation Dance” in which women members were required to dance nude in front of the leaders. Soltani asserts that during the “Salvation Dance,” the women are indoctrinated by their superiors—they are told to remove their clothes in front of Massoud Rajavi who then says he will lead them to heaven and God. Ms. Soltani recalls that she noticed “Maryam and some other high ranking members were monitoring us and trying to convince those of us who hesitated to remove their underwear.”[7]
Members of MKO who live at Camp Ashraf, Iraq have been kept in an atmosphere of horror and isolated from the outside world—especially since the collapse of Saddam Hussein. The group was disarmed by coalition forces and their leader, Massoud Rajavi disappeared—fearing for his life, as he was a close ally of Saddam Hussein—going as far as helping the Ba’athist government exterminate hundreds of Kurds as well as plant bombs against the Iranian people. Members are so highly controlled that they are not able to trust their own families. Ann Singleton writes that “one of the most potent tools used by cult leaders to control their members is through the inculcation of irrational fears, or phobias, in the minds of the cult members.” Singleton believes that today MKO members’ phobias consist of many things, but mostly that, people who want to help them—mostly family members—get out of the cult are somehow coerced by”the agent of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry.”She furthers that “no empirical evidence is required as the phrase works exactly to arouse irrational, not real, fear.”[8] Consistently over time the cult’s leaders have abused MKO members’ rights, and labeled MKO members’ family members as agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Because of this, members of the group are not allowed to visit their families. For more information about MKO human right abuse, please refer to the following website of the United Nations Refugee Agency:
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/
country,,HRW,COUNTRYREP,IRN,,45d085002,0.html
References:
[1]Furnari, Leona.”Born or Raised in High-Demand Groups: Developmental
Considerations.”*ICSA International Cultic Studies Association* 4.3 (2005):
Web. 16 Dec 2010. <
http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_articles/
furnari_leona_bornraised_en0403.html>
[2] ibid
[3] Singleton, Ann.”Fear and Slavery in the Mojahedin-e Khalq cult.”*
Iran-Interlink* (2009): Web.16 Dec 2010. <
http://www.iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=7192>.
[4] National Post.”Father’s Sacrifice.”*canada.com* Sep. 26, 2006: Web. 16
Dec 2010. <
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html
?id=eb5a4184-ebee-4e44-93ce-b9b8485efa33&k=51167>.
This is the third part in a series of five articles by the National Post
investigative team. National Post investigators found the outlawed terrorist
group Mujahedin-e Khalq recruited teenagers in Canada and sent them abroad
to overthrow the Iranian government by force. In this article, a Canadian
family got deeply involved with the guerrillas — and now regrets it.
[5] Human Rights Watch.* *”No Exit: Human Rights Abuses Inside the
Mojahedin Khalq Camps.”18 May 2005: Web. 16 Dec 2010. <
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2005/05/18/no-exit>.
[6]Fars News Agency. “The Ideal Summit Mujahedin Khalq makes women
unfertile.” 15 October 2008
Web: 16 December 2010. <http://iran-interlink.org/fa/?mod=view&id=5257>
[7]NEJAT BLOGGERS. “PMOI Leadership Council’s women SALVATION DANCE.” 19
August 2010. Web: 16 December 16, 2010 <
https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/3261>
[8]Singleton, Ann.”Fear and Slavery in the Mojahedin-e Khalq cult.”*
Iran-Interlink* NOV 2009: Web. 16 Dec 2010. <
http://www.iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=7192>
By Mazda Parsi
The former Iraqi foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, who was also a close ally and personal advisor of Saddam Hussein, has recently been sentenced to death. A CNN report of the news states that he was “one of the best-known faces of the Iraqi government for more than two decades.” [1] But this well-known face was not known for his good deeds. The Iraqi tribunal had decided on a 
death sentence because of his crimes which include his role in eradicating rival political-religious parties while holding power during the Ba’athist regime. Aziz had been on trial in a long-running case in which he was accused of being part of a campaign of persecuting, killing and torturing members of the Shiite opposition and other banned parties. [2]
For the Shiite population especially, Aziz’s death sentence means a step toward justice, and the majority of Iranians would agree. But for the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), a bizarre Iranian opposition group led by self-appointed husband and wife, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, news of Aziz’s sentence prompted a statement of condemnation. Tariq Aziz was both their friend and ally. Before Saddam Hussein bankrolled the MKO, Iranians remember clearly in 1983 when Massoud Rajavi signed a treasonous pact with Aziz—a pact which enabled the MKO to become heavily armed and shortly thereafter violently turn against their own countrymen. A detailed report on the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MKO) published by the US Department of State in 1994 points out how Massoud Rajavi’s alliance with Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist Regime was formed while Iran was being invaded by Iraq during the 1980’s:
*In Paris; the non-Mojahedin members of the NCR encountered the autocratic style of Rajavi. In particular, Rajavi’s unilateral decision to tie the Council to Iraq alienated the others, who viewed the alliance as a traitor’s deed. The Council’s most important participant, former president Bani Sadr [sic], formally split in 1984, castigating Rajavi as "a pawning [sic] the settlement of the Iran-Iraq conflict." (Bani Sadr [sic] asserts that the first formal pact between the Mojahedin and Iraq was negotiated during a January 1983 meeting between Rajavi and Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz in Fragce [sic]. Mojahedin publications also confirm this meeting.)* [3]
Rajavi’s seditious meeting with Tariq Aziz was the starting point of a long-lasting alliance with the former Iraqi dictatorship. The State Department report concludes that "government-controlled Iraqi media accounts of recent Saddam-Rajavi contacts provide further insight into the MKO’s current relationship with Baghdad. Meeting [sic] between the two are announced to buttress Saddam’s isolated position or to send a message to the government of Iran. For example: On July 31, 1994, Rajavi sent Saddam a ‘message of congratulations.’ On January 26, 1994, Rajavi met with Saddam and Tariq Aziz, Iraq’s deputy prime minister."[4]
The State Department’s conclusion regarding the association is confirmed by another source, the former Iranian president, Dr. Abulhassan Banisadr. Banisadr refers to Massoud Rajavi as a "power addict" in his interview with Pen Club’s representative, Muhammad Hussein Sobhani. During the interview, which took place in Farsi, Banisadr recalls the time Rajavi was planning to meet with Tariq Aziz:
*I told him [Rajavi] now that you accepted to visit him [Aziz], you should treat him the way our Iranian Emperor Shahpour the First treated the Roman Valerian. Our Emperor humiliated the invader to our country. He [Aziz] should’ve understood that he has invaded a country which has national pride.
I advised him [Rajavi]: You shouldn’t let the visit last more than half an hour.**He said, Ok, I will but instead of behaving like what he was supposed to, the meeting lasted five hours so that the following day Le Monde newspaper wrote that Mr. Tariq Aziz bought Mr. Rajavi or something like that […]. **After that visit, Rajavi’s behavior changed and changed. **[5]*
*Aziz, the MKO, and France*
Tariq Aziz has been under a microscope for a number of years by justice seeking-Iranians, and accordingly the official report of his death sentence comes as a small victory. Many French citizens would agree. Aziz’s relationship with the MKO—whose European headquarters is located in Paris—has always been a political thorn for the French where the MKO is heavily scrutinized because of their cult mindset and their violent terrorist activities. Geoff Hutchison interviewed Amir Taheri, a French–Iranian affairs analyst, in June 2003 following the arrest of Maryam Rajavi and 160 other MKO members, who were located at the MKO compound in Ouver Sur d’Oise, Paris. After the arrest by French police, Taheri suggested two reasons for France’s decision on taking MKO terrorists into custody.
Taheri said that interior minister at the time, Nicolas Sarkozy, "is trying to appear very tough, especially against illegal immigrants and the Mujahedin have been running a racket of political asylum and so-on for many years. The second reason is that the presence of the Mujahedin in France was negotiated by Tariq Aziz, number two of Saddam Hussein in 1981, and now with the fall of the Iraqi regime there is no reason for the presence of the Mujahedin on French soil."[6]
The accounts of MKO activities are agreeably and accurately documented by the governments of France, the United States, and Iran. All have the same opinion that the noteworthy initial visit with the MKO’s Masoud Rajavi and Tariq Aziz signifies a precise turning point in the history of MKO endeavors. That meeting was the start of a long-term strategy in which Rajavi lassoed power and led the group into a bizarre existence as he became an autocratic ideological leader with a cult of personality. For Banisadr, who was one of the main founders of the National Council of Resistance, the meeting was fundamentally immoral. Banisadr points out in his interview that three basic principles, “independence, freedom and non-existence of hegemony” [7] were needed in order to generate positive results in the cause. Massoud Rajavi’s treasonous pact was a contradictory element for Banisadr and others because it violated the most important principles of the NCR. In taking part in this act of treason Rajavi dedicated the NCR’s capacity to act, and his warped vision led the MKO to become a mercenary force for Saddam Hussein. As Rajavi proceeded he rejected the integrity of the NCR, but more importantly, in doing so, he rejected the people of Iran. Rajavi cultivated and broadened hegemony over all the members of the NCR. Many groups did not agree with him and they were excluded. Eventually the NCR consisted only of MKO supporters. Other opposition groups simply left the organization, feeling tainted by the MKO.
Although it has been three decades since the MKO hijacked the National Council of Resistance, it still exists, and still the MKO assumes total control. The MKO is very tight-lipped about synonymy with the NCR and they would rather not disclose that the two are essentially under the same management. This is an important and little known reality for the masses in the West. What is surprising is that the Rajavis decided that the NCR needed to publicly lament the news of the Tariq Aziz’s death sentence. Their website states “the Iranian resistance strongly condemns the death sentence against Tariq Aziz." [8] The statement is a puzzling response from a group who, since the Iraq war started, has been trying to sanitize their image in the West. It’s highly conceivable that the statement is a part of a new strategy to justify the fact that they turned against Iran. Perhaps they are just taking advantage of the fact that the West is still largely unaware of the murderous atrocities the MKO committed against not only their own Iranian countrymen, but against Americans.
Mostly likely the MKO is seeking publicity and they want to make a statement in order to prepare for hitchhiking on the much-anticipated execution of Tariq Aziz. Whatever the case, the MKO knows the world will be watching. The power hungry MKO-controlled NCR has a plan up its sleeve, and it is not in the best interest of the people of Iran; it is for themselves. That much is for sure.
References:
[1] CNN Wire Staff. "Iraqi court sentences Tariq Aziz to death." *CNN* 26
Oct 2010: Web. 17 Nov 2010. <
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-26/world/
iraq.aziz.sentence_1_iraqi-high-tribunal-death
-sentence-malcolm-smart?_s=PM:WORLD>.
[2] AP. *CTV News* 26 Oct 2010: Web. 17 Nov 2010. <
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20101026/
tariq-aziz-death-sentence-101026/>.
[3] Note: In 1981, the Mojahedin leadership fled to France and with other
Iranian opposition movements formed the National Council of Resistance
(NCR).
Katzman, Kenneth. US State Department Report, Library of Congress.
Congressional Research Service. The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.
Washington, Nov 1992. Doc. call no.: M-U 42953-1 no.92-824F as posted on the
Iran-interlink.org website:
http://www.iran-interlink.org/files/child%20pages/USstatedept.htm
See also: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
website: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4ac9c2c52.pdf.
See also: CORI (Country of Origin Research and Information) website:
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4ac9c2c52.pdf
[4] Ibid
[5] Iranian Pen Club. "The outset of Rajavi’s longtime treason." *NEJAT
Society* 06 Nov 2010: Web. 17 Nov 2010. <
https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/3339>.
See also original interview in Farsi: Banisadr, Abulhassan interviewed by
Mohammad Hossein Sobhani
http://www.iran-interlink.org/fa/index.php?mod=view&id=8888
[6] “France targets Mujahedin e-Khalq." (transcript) *Current Affairs*.
Geoff Hutchinson Amir Taheri in Brussels. Australian Broadcasting Company:
702 ABC, Sydney, AM – Wednesday, 18 June, 2003 08:11:05 Radio. 17 Nov 2010.
<http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2003/s882312.htm
[7] Iranian Pen Club. "The outset of Rajavi’s longtime treason." *NEJAT
Society* 06 Nov 2010: Web. 17 Nov 2010. <
https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/3339>.
See also original interview in Farsi: Banisadr, Abulhassan interviewed by
Mohammad Hossein Sobhani
http://www.iran-interlink.org/fa/index.php?mod=view&id=8888
[8] NCR Website
By Mazda Parsi
