Articles

MKO Should Be listed a Terrorist Group

Expounded by Sattar Orangi on April 19, 2008, the poisonous Barren Land that has devastated many lives of its own inhabitants and was the main terrorist bastion in accomplice with Saddam to plot against Iranian people cannot possibly bloom flowers of peace and democracy. The piece of land the ousted dictator once granted to the vipers is still the focus of a global dispute; cooperating with Saddam Hussein ironically called a city of resistance, Camp Ashraf is now the prison of about 3,500 MKO’s members who are held against their will under the protection of the coalition forces. How can a military camp that its leaders violate and disrespect all principles of freedom and democracy can be called a bastion of freedom as Brian Binley, a Member of Parliament from the British Conservative Party, claims?

In an article published in The Middle East Times, he claims that Camp Ashraf stands as a symbol of democratic freedom in the middle of Iraq’s barren land. Surprisingly, he further states that “very little has been heard here in the West about this bastion of freedom which shines as a beacon for the Iranian people and lovers of democracy worldwide. In other words we have a duty to defend and protect Ashraf not only for the sake of the Iranians who continue to oppose the evil regime in Tehran but also for our own sake”.

He might be right that little has been heard there in the West about such forlorn bastion of freedom but the torments of a remarkable number of human souls that are putting up with the most unbearable cult-like conditions and pressures within the walls of the oddest bastion of freedom is a reality no conscious soul can ever overlook. Thus, for sure some people are concerned about the plights of these enslaved human beings under the auspices of their occupying forces when their related courts decide that it would be unjust to rule in any way that might lead to the freedom of these forgotten people.

As reported by the International Herald Tribune publishing an Associated Press news release, the British Court of Appeal on Wednesday affirmed a lower court ruling that Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO/MEK/PMOI) should not be listed as a terrorist organization. Reportedly, three justices led by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Philips, rejected an appeal by the Home Office against a lower court ruling in November in favor of the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran.

"An organization that has temporarily ceased from terrorist activities for tactical reasons is to be contrasted with an organization that has decided to attempt to achieve its aims by other than violent means," the judge said. "The latter cannot be said to be ‘concerned in terrorism,’ even if the possibility exists that it might decide to revert to terrorism in the future," he said.

Then, as the judges have concluded, the current act of inflicting unbearable torments by the organization in the question on its own insiders kept against their will in the heart of a desert can in no way be regarded an act of terrorism. They believe that MKO is terrorist only if it targets Westerners or blast bombs in their cities. A truth to be digested by the unaware is that terrorism is innate the organization’s ideology and it can never split the natural instinct off in the same way a leopard cannot change its spots.

Mojahedi.ws – May 8, 2008

May 8, 2008 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Camp Ashraf residents victims in latest propaganda

Camp Ashraf residents victims in latest propaganda move by Mojahedin-e Khalq

According to a Court of Appeal ruling, the UK Government is now being urged to recognize the Mojahedin-e Khalq as an organisation which does not believe in violence to achieve its political aims – although the MKO has never formally announced in either English or Farsi that it intends to renounce violence.

Iran-Interlink reported from Iraq in February about the plight of MKO members trapped in Camp Ashraf under American protection. The report highlighted the Iraqi Government’s insistence that the foreign terrorist group be expelled from Iraq. The problem was that western countries also classified the group as terrorist. With the MKO de-proscribed in the UK, moves should immediately be underway to have the Camp Ashraf militants moved to safety in the UK where they can continue their peaceful opposition to the Iranian regime. The MKO’s supporters in the UK parliament will no doubt be active in this respect. They have used the group for thirty years and cannot now abandon them.

At present, the prisoners in Camp Ashraf will be being congratulated on their huge victory over the Iranian regime and told that they will ‘soon be in Tehran’, although nobody will tell them how this is to be achieved. Iran-Interlink, May 7, 2008

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Iranian resistance wins ruling against UK ban

By Mark Trevelyan

Reuters, May 7, 2008

LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) – An Iranian resistance group claimed victory on Wednesday in a seven-year legal battle when three top judges upheld a ruling that the British government was wrong to ban it as a terrorist organisation.

The judges at the Court of Appeal threw out a government challenge to a ruling last November that its refusal to remove the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) from its list of proscribed terrorist organisations was perverse.

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Nicholas Phillips, said the appeal bid by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith had "no reasonable prospect of success", and added: "The appropriate course is to dismiss her application."

Maryam Rajavi, head of the PMOI’s political wing, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, told Reuters: "The ruling proves the terror label against the PMOI was unjust."

In a telephone interview from Paris, she said: "Western governments and the UK owe the Iranian people and the resistance an apology for this disgraceful labelling. It’s time for them to recognise the Iranian people’s struggle for democracy."

Removal from the British list will unblock frozen assets of the PMOI and enable it to raise funds from supporters in Britain, Rajavi said, adding that she hoped the ruling would lead to the end of similar sanctions by the European Union.

Britain and the EU should recognise and open negotiations with the Iranian resistance, she said.

"Regime change by the Iranian people and organised resistance is the only option to confront the increasing threat of the mullahs’ regime."

The PMOI began as a leftist-Islamist opposition to the late Shah of Iran but fell out with Shi’ite clerics who took power after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Western analysts say it has little support in Iran because it joined Iraqi forces fighting Iran during the two countries’ 1980-88 war.

Rajavi rejected that view, saying Iranians were not free to show their real support for the movement and that Tehran’s concerns about it were a sign of its strength. (Editing by Keith Weir)

May 7, 2008 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MEK and the Terror Lists

Following my response to Patrick Clawson’s piece of April 25, I received several inquiries about my views of MEK and its recent launching of a massive deceptive campaign aiming to remove the group from the list of the Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) published and maintained by the State Department in the United States. This article is intended to clarify my views on MEK and that why the US and EU need to maintain the group in their respective terror lists.

Whether you refer to them as MEK, MKO, PMOI, OMPI, NCR, NCRI, or NLA etc., you are essentially referring to the same entity with diverse multiple aliases. When the NCRI’s office was shut in Washington, MEK challenged the State Department in court. MEK argued that NCRI (National Council of Resistance of Iran) is a different entity than MEK, and that MEK’s designation as an FTO should not have been extended to the NCRI. On April 2, 2004 the US Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia heard the MEK arguments, and on July 9, 2004 denied MEK’s petition for review. The court noted: “after an extensive investigation of MEK and NCRI… the NCRI is not a separate organization, but is instead, and has been, an integral part of MEK at all relevant times.” [362 U.S. App. D.C. 143; 373 F.3d 152, &158; 2004 U.S. App.]

NCRI has portrayed itself as a pervasive coalition of which MEK is just a member. In the same opinion, the above court noted: “Contrary to NCRI’s portrayal of itself as an umbrella organization, of which the MEK was just one member… it is NCRI that is the political branch of MEK.”

Much to my regret, the EU has failed to recognize this symbiotic existence of the two, and consequently has banned only the MEK. In my opinion, EU needs to recognize that NCRI is just a vanity for MEK to legitimize its existence on EU soil. I know that our president, Mr. Sarkozy, is personally aware of this fact, and has refused to meet with any representatives of the MEK under the disguise of the NCRI. Nevertheless the EU needs to understand this as well in order to enlist the NCRI in the terror list. It is also noteworthy to mention that the Farsi version of the NCRI’s constitution refers to violence as the pivotal means by which the regime change will come about.

Denouncing Terrorism!

The pivotal arguments favoring de-proscribing MEK from the terror list revolve around two factors: Alleged MEK denouncement of terrorism; and lack of violent activity in the last 5 years. To understand the trickery and even demagoguery in such arguments, one needs to be familiar with the culture and lingo of terror groups. Like many recognized cultic organizations, MEK has its own definitions of words and terms commonly used in everyday conversations. For example, MEK has never acknowledged his involvement in terrorism. Indeed it claims to be the “victim” of the regime’s terrorist operations. Therefore when MEK privately denounces terrorism, it is not referring to its own actions. Instead, it merely condemns actions deemed as terrorism in its own narrow vision. MEK has labeled its terrorist activities as “revolutionary military resistance” since June 20, 1981. This is true for almost all terror groups like MEK. They never agree with objective reviews of their actions labeled as terrorism. Even the current regime in Tehran, rightly known as the godfather of terrorism, routinely denounces terrorism, and considers itself as the “victim” of such acts. The disingenuous denouncement of terrorism by MEK and other terror groups can be easily countered by asking a few direct questions from such claimants- Do you believe that MEK was involved in terrorism in the past, say prior to 2003? If so, when, where, and how? A logical follow up question would be, has MEK publicly announced such denouncement in its Farsi Language publications? If so, where is the evidence? The truth of the matter is, not only has MEK refused to denounce violence in its Farsi publications, but a review of its recent Farsi materials reveals the opposite. A true denouncement of terrorism should start with a publicly-stated commitment to peaceful and non-violent agenda in the group’s mainstream media, and in its native language (remember that Iranians speak in Farsi as their main language, and MEK publishes its materials mainly in Farsi). To whisper anti-terror statements with non-Iranian audience without first defining terrorism, and yet publicly glorifying violence under the façade of “revolutionary military resistance” is a known deceptive tactic for those familiar with terror groups.

When PLO decided to abandon its military campaign against Israel, and before it was taken seriously by the international community, they publicly announced the shift in their views for their own people in their native tongue, Arabic. PLO also publicly vouched for its commitment to peaceful settlement of its conflicts with Israel followed by announcing its readiness to join the negotiation table. This is a good paradigm to gauge MEK’s sincerity in its non-violent and peaceful approach, if indeed such commitment exists.

With regard to the absence of terror activities by MEK in the past five years (supposedly the threshold period for removal from the FTO list), it would suffice to keep in mind the English maxim that “the wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature.” Violence is, and has always been, the MEK’s pivotal form of settling conflicts with others. A glance at the group emblem and logo make it clear what the group is all about. As seen in the picture below, there is a Koran verse that sits on top of a globe. The informal translation of this verse is that “God has given His priority and special blessings to the warriors (Mujahedin) of His path than the non-warriors (sitters).” This crystallises MEK’s core ideology to establish a world under the Islamic laws. The Earth meridian on the left side of the globe emphasises MEK’s internationalism. Also as evident in the emblem, the term Mojahed has graphically metamorphosed into an arm bearing a gun. This is meant to portray MEK’s core philosophy that military might is the only means of achieving the organization’s goals. I can’t help but to say no wonder that the MEK has reportedly been favored by individuals known to many as war-mongers, George Bush, Dick Chaney, and Dick Armey, to name just a few. In short, use of violence and terror is in the core existence of MEK as portrayed in their organizational logo. Therefore, it is natural to say that “the wolf” has kept his nature, and only the gullible would drift into its deceptive tactics.

It is prudent to maintain the MEK in the terror list to better monitor its activities. It is a naiveté to accept the group’s private statements as a real commitment to a peaceful and non-violent agenda. A true departure from violence starts with an honest review of one’s past, admitting to past mistakes, defining terrorism, and a public pledge to a peaceful and non-violent campaign.

By Ahmad Baaraan, Paris
ABaaraan@yahoo.fr

May 6, 2008 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Bush: Thou shalt kill Iranians

US President George W. Bush has reportedly authorized a covert operation to set the stage for a military offensive against Iran. According to Counterpunch magazine, President Bush signed a secret finding in March authorizing a covert offensive against Iran, which those familiar with its contents believe to be ‘unprecedented in its scope’. Actions permitted under the secret directive include ‘the assassination of targeted officials’ along with operations across an extensive geographic area from Lebanon to Afghanistan. The ruling is believed to be an initiative in line with President Bush’s sweeping chief executive powers, which will enable him to arm and fund terrorist groups such as the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) and the Jundullah (army of god) militants stationed across the Afghan border in Baluchistan. Furthermore, efforts to destabilize the Syrian government and operations against the Hezbollah Movement in Lebanon will be stepped up, the report says. An initial outlay of $300 million has reportedly been approved to finance the implementation of the clandestine operation. Observers believe the former Centcom Commander Admiral William Fallon, who fiercely opposed a Bush military strike on Iran, was the main obstacle in the way of Washington’s policies against the Islamic Republic. Following Fallon’s resignation in March and with Bush’s favorite general David Petraeus set to assume his position, speculation is high that Middle Eastern nations should prepare for yet another war in the region. May 4, 2008

May 4, 2008 0 comments

USA

The Cult of Mojahedin; Fit to Be an Alternative?

The anatomy of the contemporary political build indicates that the U.S has been always using oppositions as an internal tool in order to maintain its presence in other countries. Following a new doctrine named neocolonialism as a modern colonization, this policy has even encouraged some expansionist countries to use the oppositions as the tool in some cases. Adopting this policy mostly contributes to the abolition of various systems such as direct interference, military revolts, conducting campaigns based on true or false pretexts, and changes in military and political equilibriums and relations. In contrast to the past when the U.S replaced Alende and the Chile’s legitimate government with Pinochet using direct military coup d’etat, today they replace seemingly democratic alternatives with governments and dictators under the pretext of the development of democracy or by using similar tools that are likely to be even more appealing to the public. Considering whether the U.S is in all honesty and what is lying behind, is not the subject of this article, but is to consider the various aspects of how much the U.S can count on the oppositions such as Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO/MEK/PMOI) in order to subvert the Islamic Republic.

There are many instances of the US’s neo-colonialism meddling the last of which is the Iraq’s crisis; it would not be wrong to say that the existing crises in Iraq rocketed as a result of Ahmad Chalabi’s providing the US with disinformation. Not taking this case into consideration, yet there are discords within the U.S administration disputing whether to use the oppositions as a tool. In the present article it has been tried to evaluate the contingencies and hypotheses about the subject based upon the opposition’s current conditions and the U.S strategic aims in the region. Before any further discussion, it has to be pointed out that there are some factors and criterions that each opposition group should met to be appraised as an instrumental opposition by the US in the accomplishment of the objectives.

Now it has to be investigated that does MKO meet these standards to become a liable alternative to aid the US achieve its aims concerning Iran? These factors and criteria can be enumerated as the follow:

1. Having a sense of affinity with American political idealism

2. Holding a minimum of internal legitimacy

3. Being a reliable and trustful group

4. Having records of preceding collaboration with the US

5. Benefiting an international legitimacy

6. A minimum obligation of respecting the principles of human rights

7. Holding democratic capacity

8. Taking unambiguous position toward the left and Marxism

9. Standing by moral and ethical obligations

It is certain that these factors are contemplated outwardly whereas there are probably some other factors and unwritten parameters lying behind. For the present we just want to see to what degree MKO meet each of the mentioned criteria.

Having a sense of affinity with American political idealism

Considering the prolongation of the U.S interests as the first proviso of choosing an alternative, the most important proviso for the U.S or any other state is its affinity with that alternative in both politics and thoughts. In the past (dividing camps into Eastern and Western or capitalism and communism), The US was always seeking the choices which were inclined to be perceptible close in politics and thoughts with capitalism. This attitude was being adopted as opposed to leftist and radical tendencies regarding capitalism. It is worth mentioning that MKO from the very beginning recognized the US as the symbol of the capitalist camp and an imperialist. Besides, MKO ideologically considered imperialism opposing to its eclectic ideology and believed imperialism was historically doomed to annihilation.

In their early pamphlet and leader’s speeches Mojahein-e Khalq strongly denounced imperialism and capitalism. Being tried in Pahlavi’s court after his arrest, Massoud Rajavi in his testimonies stated that:

… most of the world’s problems had been created by imperialism; that the developing countries were exploited by Western banks and multinational corporations; and that the United States was propping up reactionary regimes in Vietnam, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. He continued by arguing that US imperialism was undoubtedly the main enemy of Iran, in part because it had overthrown Mosaddeq, and in part because it had armed the bloodthirsty regime that had perpetrated the crimes of June 1963. ‘Thus’, Rajavi insisted, ‘the main goal now is to free Iran of US imperialism.’ [1]

The state department of the U.S. in its first report on The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran in 1994 openly discussed the group’s ideology:

The MKO’s embrace of armed struggle flows from the group’s ideology. Its conceptual framework was painstakingly developed through years of study and discourse and aggressively disseminated throughout Tehran. A renowned scholar of the Mojahedin defines the group’s ideology as:”a combination of Muslim themes: Shi’a notions of martyrdom: classical Marxist theories of class struggle and historical determinism: and neo-Marxist concepts of armed struggle, guerrilla warfare and revolutionary heroism.”8 The adoption of Marxist tenets distinguished the Mojahedin from other Iranian opposition movements: the Mojahedin argued that the struggle against the Shah was part of a larger struggle against imperialism led by the,”world-devouring”United States. [2]

In fact, both the U.S. and Mojahedin are well aware of each other’s political and ideological orientation, that is, Imperialism and anti-Imperialism respectively. Therefore, it is self-evident that the U.S. never submits to the selection of its antithesis as an alternative and MKO hardly meets the first criterion.

Holding a minimum of internal legitimacy

In today’s international political relations, no legitimate alternative can lead on unless winning a minimum of public support. That is just the case with Iraq’s today situation. Therefore the U.S has to rely on an opposition that is in a relatively good position among the public. In addition it would be much more appreciated if the opposition is having a good position among intelligentsias and the educated class. In Iran, for sure, MKO is not the least supported by people in spite of falsely made claims. Based on the U.S. State Department’s report of 30 April,2007, Mojahedin suffer the loss of social support among Iranian people as well as other political opposition parties in Iran and abroad:

Following its participation in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the group rapidly fell out of favor with the Iranian people. The new Iranian government under Supreme Leader Khomeini systematically arrested and targeted many MEK members, causing most MEK leadership to flee to Europe. [3]

In addition, Yan Richard, an Islamic scholar in I.F.R.I centre of France, expounds on the position of Mojahedin in Iran and writes:

Very much a fringe movement on the Iranian political scene, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran have always demonstrated their incapacity to take power by classical democratic means (votes, electoral campaigns, etc,). In their political logic, there is no other way to achieve their goal but by revolution, just as Mao foresaw. [4]

Exactly under the eyes of many westerners, MKO started a bloody chapter in Iran’s contemporary history following declaration of an armed struggle since it could not tolerate a widespread public rejection. It is still under illusion to gain what has long lost:

In their frenzied rejection of what they were politically and of the things they did in the context of their fight, the Mojahedin are trying to recreate a long lost virginity. They want to appear to public opinion as acceptable and legitimate. It is precisely this legitimacy that they lack in Iran. So they do everything to find it, especially in Europe. Yet they still have to jettison a heavy past. It betrays them in the present and echoes down the future. [5]

A variety of Investigations have been done on the position of MKO among Iranian intelligentsias and technocrats; there is a consensus that for sure would not be the alternative. A casual glance at the opposition-run media outside the country reveals that in case there would be any change in Iran, the Iranian demands would be far above the capacity of MKO to fulfil. Besides, there is a general belief that the life of ideological regimes like that of MKO has ended in Iran forever As a result, it is evident that the US will never turn to such an illegitimate and cultist opposition as a capable alternative.

References:

1. ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN; The Iranian Mojahedin, Yale University Press New Haven and London, p. 134.

2. The US State Department Report on The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, by Kenneth Katzman. Washington, Nov 1992. 6 p.

(Doc. call no.: M-U 42953-1 no.92-824F)

3. The U.S. state department report on 30 April.

4. Gessler, Antoine; the autopsy of an ideological drift, p. 116.

5. Ibid, p. 62.

Research Bureau – Mojahedin.ws – May 3, 2008

May 3, 2008 0 comments

Duplicity of the MEK nature

A response to Patrick Clawson

Patrick Clawson in his article titled “ A Roadmap for the Foreign Terrorist Organization List ” dated April 25, 2008, rightfully questions a lack of objective criteria for de-listing an organization deemed at some point to be a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). A direct reference to Mojahedin-e Khalgh Organization with its diverse aliases such as MEK, MKO, PMOI, OPMI, NCR, NCRI, NLA, to name just a few, draw my attention to the Clawson’s views. I was nudged by further curiosity when I noticed that a Farsi translation of Clawson’s article had appeared on MEK’s propaganda apparatus even before its seemingly original English version was published. Although MEK has a long history in using deceptive tactics, here I have no intention to draw a conclusion that Patrick Clawson is somehow linked to the MEK’s demagoguery.

My close proximity to MEK’s headquarter in Paris, France, and my direct access to inside information of this group made it hard for me not to respond to Clawson’s article and the serious flaws in his views; nor could I resist my desire to reveal the true nature of MEK and its unbridled terrorism at the core of its existence.

Clawson complains about absence of clarity in the process of revocation of an FTO designee “even after the organizations have denounced terrorism for many years….” He then goes on to contest the designation of MEK as an FTO, and in doing so refers to irrefutable evidence about the group’s history as irrelevant. [Even at this point I am still resisting the link between Clawson and MEK]. However, I feel confident to say that Clawson is much misinformed about MEK and his views of the group depict a serious lack of good judgment about its nature and deceptive tactics.

1- I challenge Clawson to produce even one credible evidence that shows MEK has publicly denounced violence and terrorism. MEK has always maintained that he has never involved in terrorism rather they use the term “revolutionary resistance.” The true question that MEK and Clawson need to answer is this: Do you believe that MEK has engaged in terrorist activities in the past? If so, when and how? And if the answer to this question is affirmative, when did MEK publicly denounce such acts?

2- MEK deserves to remain as an FTO due to its cultic and violence-loving nature evident by the treatment of its own members, its close cooperation with the former Iraqi dictator, and its participation in killing scores of innocent civilians in the name of “revolutionary resistance.

3- After the 1979 revolution in Iran MEK routinely questioned the Islamic regime for their lack of Anti US zeal. They argued that it was MEK and its supporters who took over the US embassy in Tehran but the Islamic republic took credit for it. They publicly touted their killing of US service men and wrote poems about the killing, and yet they shamelessly deny they did that today. What is even more pathetic is that Clawson has fallen for such demagogy.

4- I also challenge Clawson on his view of the European Court ruling in December 2006. I have serious doubts that if the author has bothered to read the actual ruling. In that, the Court denied MEK’s request to nullify the EU’s list of terror group in which MEK is remained for years. Yet, the group falsely claims the reverse. I have repeatedly asked MEK to translate the court’s ruling into Farsi and publish it publicly in its entirety, they have refused to do so. They have only done so for the favorable part of the ruling in which the court had ordered unfreezing of their assets due to lack of due process. The court never concluded that MEK should be removed of the EU’s terror list. To prove my point, I invite Mr. Clawson to a public debate about his views on MEK. I am confident to have little difficulty to prove Clawson’s lack of familiarity with MEK and its deceptive propaganda.

5- I support a regime change in Iran. However, I do not see a major difference between the MEK, its fanatic anti US nature, violence-driven motives, and its unbridled terrorism than those of the ruling Mullahs. Iranians historically have been a peace-loving nation. They detest the MEK.

6- The US Court of appeals has ruled many times that MEK by its own admission has been actively involved in terrorist activities. Alas and alack, Clawson has never bothered to review such legal decisions, instead has referred himself to some false information propagated by MEK with the intention to deceive its audience.

In short, de-classification of MEK from the evidence-based terror group takes more than just private whispering of anti-terrorism statements with no real substance in practice. It demands a sincere review of the past terrorist activities coupled with a public commitment to a declaration of non-violence and peaceful activities. Moreover, it requires recognizing and honoring the basic human rights of MEK’s members, and unobstructed access to the free world and family members, something that MEK has denied its members for years. MEK’s current publications are full of glorification of violence and support for terrorism for their Farsi speaking audience. This is a clear contradiction to what Clawson has claimed that the group has denounced terrorism for years. The roadmap to de-proscribing of terror list cannot be based on false and misleading information let alone demagogy.

By Ahmad Baaraan, Paris
ABaaraan@yahoo.fr

May 1, 2008 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Mojahedin Khalq Threatens Ex-members

Extremely frustrated by the interviews given by a number of separated members in Paris, the MKO in the editorial of its publication Mojahed issue 902, threatened the separated members with physical retribution. It is typical of the MKO to threaten its dissidents and ex-members to physical harassment and even liquidation. Massoud Rajavi, the MKO’s guru and leader who lives in hiding, has repeatedly and unequivocally warned dissidents of a violent backlash. The editorial, too, refers to Massoud Rajavi’s message delivered from his hideout on July 3 saying:

"I will to remind you, wherever you are, of the standards, bench-marks, red-lines and national demarcations, and the necessity of guarding them. In relation to individuals, if they respect the same demarcations and red-lines, they are welcome and give your life for them. But if they, whoever they might have been, with any rank and responsibility, fail to hold the red-lines in confrontation with the evil regime and walk in the same line with it through shedding even a drop of blood, blocking a step or breaking a pen, they are mean traitors who have to be avoided. He has to be forsaken, repulsed and boycotted. He will be an outcast who can no longer bear the trust entrusted to him by the martyred."

The red line Rajavi delineates to distinguish between a sympathizer and an opponent is not the Iranian regime but the extent to which a person rejects or submits to his hegemony. Massoud Rajavi’s message clearly presents the MKO’s belligerent attitude adopted for the control of opponents and former members. The Mojahedin in an attempt to maintain its hegemonic control over opponents and critics applies a variety of instruments and levers such as launching aggressive attacks against dissidents’ gatherings, spreading disinformation, and even indulges in acts of labelling, harassment and intimidation.

April 30, 2008 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Legal Measures to Combat Cult Violence

Infiltrating the cults & Building a public awareness to resist influence and unethical abuse of cults There are cults in our midst, more than the average citizen realizes, and these powerful groups infiltrate many areas of our lives. (Margaret Thaler Singer; Cults in Our Midst)

Public’s peripheral and private life is always susceptible to being infiltrated by a variety of cults that might threaten the social health through psychological damages or appalling cult-oriented operations. In the same way, infiltrating cults can to a great extent decrease their threats and stop whatever deliberate violence, criminal activities and other anti-social behavior plotted by the cults. Furthermore, majority of cult recruits are deceived by what cults falsely advertize and is totally different with what is actually practiced within the cults.

Cult-defined values and standards are usually kept concealed from the new Cult Violence recruits so as not to make a free approval and disapproval of the cult they are invited to join. If the targets are to join and exist in the cult, they must conform to the rules even if they are not privately accepted. Once joined, the targets have to conform to the cult’s standards regardless of having developed an awareness of the existing discrepancy between personal and social standards and those of the cult’s.

A well informed infiltrated agent may secretly help targets to develop awareness for a timely decision. But the greater jeopardy seems to be when cults plan to threaten the society with their menacing activities. It is even worse when the cult reveals to have an infrastructural terrorist nature. The Iranian Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO/MEK/PMOI), for instance, is a terrorist cult that had proved to be a big threat for Pahlavi’s monarch before its fall following Iranian Islamic revolution. In one instance, infiltration into the organization not only stopped its terrorist operations but also led to the apprehension of almost all leading members and thus, immunizing the regime against the group’s threats for a while. Explaining on the event, Masoud Banisadr, a MKO’s ex-member, has said:

Masud Banisadr Mojahedin began their military operations in August 1971. Their first operations were designed to disrupt the extravagant celebrations of the 25-century anniversary of the monarchy. SAVAK [the Monarchy’s security-information apparatus] through one of the old member of Tudeh party, who was recruited by them, could infiltrate into Mojahedin and soon was able to arrest another sixty-six members. In the subsequent months, the group lost the whole of its original leadership through executions or street battles. 1

In spite of infiltrations into the organization to decrease the risk of its terrorist operations, it was a heavy cost for Iran’s revolutionary regime and the people as well. However, it has not been an unproductive preventive measure as another ex-member explains:

Another problem for the Mojahedin has been infiltration. The military attempts are failing due to the desperation of their recruitment policy, which has led to heavy infiltration of their ranks. The organisation is now so thoroughly infiltrated, that out of four recent terrorist attempts, three teams were immediately arrested at the border and the other one before they were able to undertake any action, because of intelligence that reached the regime via these infiltrators. 2

As cults have indeed influenced all types of people and infiltrated different aspects and contexts of social life, a public awareness deems necessary as another preventive measure against the spread of cults’ threats.

Considering it a duty, many established NGOs and groups, mainly formed by those who have suffered, that is to say, ex-members, parents and families, perceive themselves as caring and experienced in the suffering that cults inflict upon members. They are much more concerned about the dangers threatening society at large, as evidenced by the violence, criminal activities and other anti-social behavior in which cults have indulged. These groups can be of a great help in collaboration with legislative and judicial bodies to control cult activities and minimize their threats.

The relative balance of influence that these key groups play varies from country to country and is constantly changing according to the number of active cults and the degree of their threat. It has been suggested that these groups are primarily concerned about the dangers that cults pose for individuals and society, but they play an influential role for a widespread public awareness against destructive cults. Generally, the society blames the victims themselves who have been entrapped by the cults. As best explained by Singer:

We all are being influenced all the time. And we all are potentially vulnerable to a cult’s pitch, especially as our society becomes more and more commercialized, violent and alienating, dishonest and corrupt, polarized and without structure. To counter the blaming mentality, we must, as a society, seek educational and informational preventive programs to teach about open versus deceptive recruitment and to expose the manipulative and unethical techniques used by various cults to keep members guiltily bound to the group. If you buy a pair of shoes that don’t fit, you can usually return them. But once you join a cult, it may be years before you get out. 3

The established NGOs can draw on the stories of worried, anxious relatives and even the unconventional ethical ideological practices within the cults to attract the attention of the media. If the media accept and reinforce the image of the reported cults and let the public picture them as intrinsically and typically sinister, bizarre, and a dangerous threat, such an image will become accepted as part of the conventional, taken for granted wisdom of the general population. This can lead to encouraging the public opinion to react in an increasingly negative fashion which can fan the flames of escalating antagonisms on the cults. The public need to be concerned about the threats of cults and as Singer concludes:

The psychotechnology of thought reform is not going away. It is also not harmless, as the apologists and cult spokespeople would have us believe. We have, in fact, seen cult techniques of persuasion and control become more skillful, more subtle, and damaging during the past two decades. Education, information, and vigilance are constantly needed to keep us, and our minds, free. 4

Unfortunately, sometimes the number of active cults and the propaganda machine run by them exceed the counter-cult associations and NGOs and the mass media show little interest to cover the related reports and news as it is a generally adopted policy not to talk of the cults. It is only when a cult has indulged in a task of unconventional nature or immolation for some religious or political end that the media dash to cover it. It was only early this month that the news came out with the reports of the removal of a total number of about 416 children, mostly teens, from a polygamist remote compound Ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a breakaway Mormon sect. Hardly had anybody heard of the cult endangering the life of many innocent children abused in different ways by the cult.

It is not the first and will not be the last report of the children being abused by a cult. Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization also has long abused children and has separated them from their parents sending them away to countries far from their parents. Nothing is known about the whereabouts of these children and their names have almost sunk into the oblivion since rarely anywhere they are talked about.

It is not enough to bring general public awareness of cults through news reports of numerous bizarre crimes and acts of terrorism committed by members of some notorious cults and organizations. Although through these reports the public become somewhat educated as to the extraordinary social organization, practices, and techniques of influence employed by the cults and the groups associated with the crimes, much more has to be done to prevent outburst of such cult events.

1- Masoud Banisadr; Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel.

2- Anne Singleton; Saddam’s Private Army, Iran-Interlink, 2003

3- Thaler Singer, Margaret; Cults in Our Midst, p. 28.

4- Ibid, p.103.

Research Bureau – Mojahedin.ws – April 28, 2008

April 28, 2008 0 comments

France

The EU Presidency and Terrorism

France is already preparing for its EU Presidency which is scheduled for July-December 2008. For sure, France has identified a number of key policy areas on which to focus when it assumes the presidency. The first issue that is of great importance for the country members of the EU is security and preventive measures against terrorism and its global threat, a responsibility all the countries have a share to fulfill. The first measure is to identify any group that may pose even a minimum of threat and the sensible precautionary measure is not to unleash those already under the control.

Residing long in France, the blacklisted MKO has proven how dangerous it will be if granted a bit of freedom. France never forgets the group’s cult-like self-immolation operations in June 2003 with the case of terrorist allegation still open and investigated in French courts. The recently held seminar in Strasburg organized by the terrorist MKO was not merely an attempt to gather support for the removal of its terrorist tag. MKO’s she-guru Maryam Rajavi anticipated that there are signs that France has adopted a firm policy against Iran, particularly on the nuclear issue. As a result, it has fostered hope in her that France will show more leniency toward Iranian opposition.

Even if France for any reason has adopted a hard policy against Iran, it does not necessarily mean that it consents to the rule of terrorism and prescribes it for another country as a trusted means to establish democracy. No doubt, the French presidency of the EU from 1 July will not be a backsliding to the appeasement of terrorism particularly one of the most notorious ones that France is well acquainted with its nature.

Self Immolation

The EU presidency and Terrorism

Mojahedin.ws – April 27, 2008

April 27, 2008 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Continuous monitoring of the individuals active in cults

Legal Measures to Combat Cult Violence: Continuous monitoring of the individuals active in cults Since the cults spread their threat among the societies throughout the world and nations experienced a great cult scare, the need to establish agencies and regulating laws to monitor the activities of suspicious groups and cults seemed to be an inevitable preventive measure. From the Manson family to the Moonies, the Waco sect to the Jonestown massacre, the activities of cults prompt great public concern and many NGOs and government-run agencies have devoted their resources to monitoring the activities of deviant groups. In the US alone the media continually warn of the dangers of cultic brainwashing strategies and the FBI continues to monitor closely religious groups they perceive to be potential dangers. Despite the great public and governmental attention afforded to detect destructive cults and sects, however, still a great number escape unnoticed.

The role of government to establish effective procedures besides constant monitoring of the individuals that are known to be active in certain cults is of great importance. Moreover, to ascertain the social security and build a protective wall against the threat of the cults, the government might maintain a militant protection which thereby obligates it to monitor and, if necessary, take action against destructive cults operating in a country. Indeed, it is not in any way against the practice of democracy to determine which cult or organizations or associated members have to come under the scope of a cult-monitoring activity since the society may suffer irreparable damages after unwarned, psychopathic attack or operation of a cult. In fact, it is people’s right to know and be informed of possible threats of cults and as Singer states:

Without the citizenry being aware of the power and control certain cults are wielding, democracy and freedom can be curbed one step at a time. 1

It has to be noted that because of unsettling presence of cults more people are susceptible to the threats of cults and in the same way it requires strenuous task to monitor the activists and activities. Moreover, in some occasions cults take advantage of existing flaws in the law to evade prosecution. For instance, Japan’s Aum Supreme Truth cult, responsible for a Tokyo subway gas attack which killed 12 people and injured thousands, escaped outlaw under Japan’s anti-subversion laws in January 1997 because a legal panel ruled there was no reason to believe it could still be a threat to society. Although Japan’s Public Security Investigation Agency later in 1999 conducted further investigations and began close monitoring of the cult activities with a view to re-apply for anti-subversion laws, there was no guarantee that the cult would not engage in further destructive and menacing operations.

In Iran, because of hypocritical nature of Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO/MEK), the organization managed to escape security scrutiny of the newly established government. The result was irremediable for the government and the nation. It cost Iran at least two tragic explosions in the prime minister’s office and the main office of the Islamic Republic Party killing the late president Rajaee and his prime minister and more than seventy key Iranian figures. Expelled from Iran, MKO continued its clandestine activities in other countries. In Germany, for example, it was after a two-year close monitoring of the government that the group’s illegal fundraising activities were discovered:

In Germany, the government uncovered the Mojahedin’s financial activities. After a two year investigation, the German High Court on 21st December 2001 closed the Mojahedin ‘shop’ – twenty-five houses and bases – after evidence was found of misuse of Social Security and fraud. 2

Then, it becomes evident that fundraising activities of the cults, although seemingly harmless at the first look, helps equipping the cult, if it is a terrorist cult like MKO, with sophisticated, destructive arms for military operations. The devoted members of cults are motivated to engage in fundraising activities with remarkable results. As Anne Singleton, a Briton ex-member of MKO, explains:

When Maryam came to Europe in 1993, she brought with her a totally dedicated force who undertook any task required. They set about taking over from the supporters’ role of fundraising. With their bullying tactics, their productivity far exceeded anything seen before. Some were able to return up to 1500 pounds sterling, per day. But even before this, in one year alone, Iran Aid charity in the UK had a declared income of 5 million pounds. Its undeclared income has been estimated at over twice this, making a total of over 15 million pounds in one year. If this amount is multiplied for just ten countries: UK, USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, then an annual amount of 150 million pounds can be estimated to have made its way to the Mojahedin organisation. If this is multiplied over ten years, then the figure of 1.5 billion pounds gives a rough estimate of the resources which Massoud Rajavi has amassed through the efforts of his devoted followers only in the streets of the West. 3

In France too, it cost the government a high price before discovering the threatening, cult nature of MKO residing there in Paris. Suspecting that MKO’s headquarters acted as the cells of plotting terrorist and cult-like activities, the French police raided its headquarters in the vicinity of Paris and arrested its leader, Maryam Rajavi, and a number of her accomplices. Reported by the Figaro after the police’s raid:

The PMOI has carried out a number of activities on French soil that are clandestine, sectarian, delinquent, and even seriously criminal. In France, tile organisation has two or three hundred militants and sympathisers. Its ‘hard nucleus’ is made up of a few dozen militants. 4

The following shocking activities by the members of MKO proved that the police had acted on the basis of confidential reports; more than twenty members set themselves on fire in the streets of Paris and other European cities with two consequent deaths. The danger of cultism isn’t always restricted to be suspicious of a cult but activities and its members whose monitoring can sound the alarm before it is too late.

Self Immolation self Immolation of The Cult of Rajavi

References:

1. Thaler Singer, Margaret; Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace, introduction, XXVIII.

2. Anne Singleton; Saddam’s Private Army, Iran-Interlink, 2003.

3. ibid.

4. Antoine Gessler; Autopsy of an Ideological Drift, Translated by Thomas R. Forstenzer, 2004, p. 95.

April 25, 2008 0 comments

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