Letters

Rajavi relocates Camp Ashraf to France

Open letter of Iran – Ghalam Association to the honorable Mayors, Former French Representatives and the Deans of Universities in France

It is completely understandable from the current pmoi propaganda( people’s Mujahedin Open letter of Iran - Ghalam Association Organization ) in their Media which this cult is trying its best to transfer and convey its activities from Iraq to the French soil , specially after their strategic failure and impasse in Iraq , now they have targeted the Mayors from different cities in Paris and Val d’Oise province as well as some of the former representatives and members of French parliament by their propaganda.

The members of Iran – Ghalam Association who had been the members of pmoi for a long period of time and fortunately they have succeeded to rescue themselves from the cultic subjective and physical barriers and obstacles and they are currently living in Europe countries such as France, would like to inform the honorable French politicians and warn them about the connection which this cult ( Rajavi cult) wants to have with them.

If the French politicians do not pay enough attention to the vital experiences which these former members of pmoi have about the pmoi threats , allure and propaganda, it does not take long that the same current problem which is about dealing with the presence of this terrorist cult on Iraq soil, will happen on French soil and its politicians as well. For this reason we are urging all French politicians , the former representatives of French parliament and the deans of the French universities to listen to our compassionate warnings and pay enough attention to them.

As you know , after the fall of Saddam Hussein , the former dictator of Iraq , some of the terrorist cults and sects which had regional and universal activities, lost their supporter and their sponsor, one of those cults is pmoi( People’s Mujahedin Organization ).

Pmoi did not have any tolerance to listen to any dissents and criticisms which the dissidents and critics had in their relations in pmoi , and for that reason they were sent to prison to show others a lesson that any objection and criticism against the pmoi leadership will end up in prison. There are many people who tolerated the harsh tortures and long incarcerations in the prisons of Mr and Mrs Rajavi and beyond that the leader of National Council of resistance ( NCR) , the pmoi political wing based in France , has approved and authorized killing and assassination of the dissidents and critics as well.

We would like to pose some questions to the French politicians and the people who have been targeted unilaterally by the pmoi propaganda ;

1. Why is the compulsory divorce , marriage and family ban in pmoi?

2. Why up to now the leaders of pmoi such as Mrs. Maryam Rajavi who is currently living in Auvers Sur Oise , Paris outskirts, have not mentioned anything about the outcome of their strategy of violence and war which terrorized and killed thousands of Iranians ?

3. Why are the members of this cult forced to participate every night in the sessions which is called current mission( Amaliyateh Jari)and they have to reveal their thoughts , imaginations , even their dreams about the opposite sex in those sessions to be ridiculed , insulted , slandered, blamed and punished ?

4. Why in those brainwashing sessions which are the most unethical tactics to put psychological pressure on members to force them to obey and surrender themselves to any illogical demands?

We would like also to mention that all cults need an isolated place with high walls to carry out and implement the brainwashing technique on their members , the Ashraf castle in Iraq and Auvers sur Oise castle in France have provided for such purpose for pmoi terrorist cult .

At the end we would like all the French politicians , the former representatives and members of French parliament and the deans of the French universities, according to the pmoi regional and universal threats to pay enough attention to the vital points and facts which mentioned above.

Respectfully
Iran Ghalam Association

Transcript
-The mayors of France
– The representatives and members of the French parliament
– The deans of Paris universities
-The French presidential office

Ghalam Association,

December 21, 2011 0 comments

Human Rights Abuse in the MEK

Open letter to Michelle Bachelet on Women in MKO

ADVT’s Letter to Executive Director of UN Women

In a letter to Ms. Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism depicted the deplorable condition of women in Mojahedin-e Khalq cult.

Dear Ms. Michelle Bachelet:

Executive Director of UN Women

There is a global consensus on the necessity of implementation of the rights of women and the establishment of justice, equity, freedom and dignity for them. However, despite all the efforts made for this purpose, there are still many women who undergo violence and discrimination just for being female. In this regard, the approaches adopted by some cults towards women are the source of the worst types of oppression against them. Based on international reports and documents (including German Federal Office 2003, FBI 2004, Human Rights Watch 2005, RAND 2009, US Department of State 2009, 2010 annual report of the Human Rights Office of UN Assistance Mission in Iraq,…) and the confessions of Mojahedin-e Khalq’s (MKO/MEK/PMOI) defected members, this terrorist cult is one of the worst violator of women’s rights. We, the members of the Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism of Middle East consider it necessary to draw the attention of the officials of international institutions to the crimes being committed against women in Mojahedin-e Khalq cult. May the preparations for the release of the members of this group be made and all of them specially women can return to their families.

Deplorable conditions of women in this cult: The issue which has raised many concerns is the way of treating women in this cult. Leaders of this terrorist cell have deprived their female members from the rights of marriage, having child, loving their family members, using cosmetics or choosing their own way of life. The surprising point is that women even do not have the right to think about the opposite gender and the violators of this law would deserve prison and punishment. This is while Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.

Involuntary divorce: a report issued by American National Defense Institute (RAND) reads:” As a part of the “ideological revolution,” the Rajavis mandated divorce and celibacy. Compulsory divorce required couples to place their wedding rings in a bowl and renounce their affections for one another.” However, the rules do not apply to the leaders. This is while section 1 of the Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of human Rights says “Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.” Since 1985 no one has got married in this cult and this right just applies for the leader. However based on Massoud Rajavi’s decree, all females belong to him and they should not think about any other men.

Separating children from their parents: Most of the female members of the MKO, who had a child before entering into the group, handed over their children to the organization and promised to never think about them. After separating children from their parents, the organization transfers children to other countries and relocates them in charity institutes and through introducing them as orphans raises fund.

Gender separation: Despite MeK’s claim of supporting gender equality and giving leadership roles to women, men and women are kept strictly apart in MeK camps. Housing is segregated by gender, and in other buildings, lines are painted down the middle of hallways, separating them into men’s and women’s sides. The MeK holds daily, weekly, and monthly “sessions” that involve forced public confessions aimed at expelling deviant thoughts and behaviors that are believed to undermine group coherence.

Denying the Right to Motherhood: Referring to the prohibition against giving birth since 1985, defected members of the organization disclosed that most of the female members involuntarily gone under hysterectomy surgery.

Self-immolation: applying brainwashing and mind-manipulation techniques, MKO leads members to death. One of the evidences is the self- immolations of 2003 in which three female members of the MKO (Marzieh Babakhani, Seddigheh Mojaveri and Neda Hassani) set themselves on fire. One of them was 25 years old.

Revealing the sufferings of the families of terrorism victims, Association for Defending Victims of terrorism intends to prevent the innocent men and women from being deceptively recruited by terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and Mojahedin-e Khalq. The deplorable situation of 1000 female residents of Ashraf Camp hurts the hearts of all liberals and women’ rights supporters. Therefore, we would like to ask your Excellency to immediately take the necessary steps for returning the imprisoned women of MKO to the bosom of their society and family and avoid their further brain washing by the cruel leaders of Mojahedin-e Khalq cult.

December 7, 2011 0 comments

European Union

Open Letter to Catherine Ashton

Dear High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Mrs. Ashton,

Dear Foreign Ministers of the EU-Member States, We want to warn you explicit to avoid a harum-scarum acceptance of MEK

During the 1 December session of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussls, the situation of the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI) and their base “Camp Ashraf” in Iraq, will surely come up.

The clashes between Iraqi security forces and Camp Ashraf residents in the past, as the imminent bloodshed during the announced closing of the camp on 31 December led you, Mrs. Ashton, to appoint Mr. Jean de Ruyt as advisor in this special issue.

Following the Press, the acceptance in the member countries of some of the Iranians living in Camp Ashraf will be discussed at the 1 December session.

We want to warn you explicit to avoid a harum-scarum acceptance of those people.

The Camp Ashraf inhabitants are part of a cult-like Organisation with a personality cult on the leaders Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. In the last decades they were separated from the outer world, especially from their families, to put their lives completely at the service of the organisation. Most of them are not at the height of technology and even do not know, how to use a cell phone or the internet. To wrench those people out of “their world” and put them in a foreign country and in an unknown world, will tighten them to the organisation.

The UNHCR told that in order to determinate their refugee status, individual interviews will need to take place in a safe, neutral and confidential location. Also the Iraqi government has signalled to support this procedure.

We would suggest, bringing the people from Camp Ashraf in contact to their families in connection with this interviews.

Based on the fact, that nearly 70% the Ashraf inhabitants live there because of the pressure and under the influence of the PMOI propaganda, several even against their will, bringing them in contact to their families could be a possibility to solve the problem.

The return to Iran, witch is vehement preached by the PMOI to be no option, could be a possibility for the people to reunite with their families and free from the influence of the PMOI.

The ICRC has repatriated several hundred Ashraf defectors to Iran during the last years, without them being persecuted or oppressed by the Iranian regime.

Only up to 350 of the 3400 people in Camp Ashraf are facing a persecution by Iranian or Iraqi law enforcement agencies, which those people are committed cadres and PMOI leaders.
There are whispers, that the organization is working on “evacuating” their leaders from Camp Ashraf and bring them through Turkey to the EU illegal,while the other members should be immolated as “Martyrs” in the battle against the Iraqi troops.

To prevent such a bloodshed we are convinced, that it is necessary to offer the Ashraf residents the contact to their families and the “real world” outside the organization and the gates of Camp Ashraf, to reveal them alternatives to the violent fight for Camp Ashraf, which they presumably do not beware of because of the PMOI propaganda and indoctrination.

We want to give the people in Camp Ashraf the possibility to recognize, that they can decide on themselves, if they want to get back home to their families, or try to get asylum in other countries or fight for Camp Ashraf.

Certainly it will be necessary to accept a certain number of people in the EU and we urge each EU member country to do their bit to a humanitarian solution of this problem. But to prevent the Ashraf residents from the PMOI influence, it is essential to bring them together with their families and show them, the reality is not like the PMOI has constituted it since decades.

For some time past, there is a network of PMOI defectors, families of Ashraf residents and several NGOs who work hand in hand with the Iraqi government and so were able to bring PMOI defectors, who managed to escape from Camp Ashraf by their own, back to their families. The UNHCR and the EU can fall back to this network to make this way possible to all people in Camp Ashraf.

On this reason we urge you to take a stand for this way at the session of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 1 December and discuss it as a serious option and as a preliminary step to a resettlement to third countries.

With best regards
Ali A. Rastgou
Cologne, November 28, 2011

November 28, 2011 0 comments

New documents and testimonies from Inside Camp Ashraf

Letter from Sahar Family Foundation to the UN Secretary General

Dear Mr. Secretary General

We wish hereby to apprise you of some information and suggestions as follows:

According to information received from inside Ashraf cultic garrison in Iraq about the April 8, 2011 incident (documents and testimonies are attached), Ms. Sediqeh Hosseini, then Secretary General of the MKO, gives instructions to Ms. Fereshteh Shoja, one of commanders of the NLA

based in Ashraf garrison in Iraq, as follows:

“… The Iraqis have informed us that on April 8 they want to take back some parts of the north of Ashraf and return it to the farmers in the nearby village, which were confiscated in the time of Saddam Hussein and given to the MKO to expand Ashraf garrison. They have told us that they are informing us in advance to show that they have no other aim and they want to prevent any violent action and bloodshed on that day. But in this regard we have to arrange things in such a manner that we have some casualties. Also, there should be cameras ready to produce photos and films to record that day. The leader has instructed us that we must take political advantage as much as possible on that day. He has said that this is very important for our survival.”

Fereshteh Shoja calls her personnel and without informing them of the Iraqi’s ultimatum and their plans that they only want to peacefully take back some farm land back based on Iraqi court verdicts, and tells them:

“… There have been instructions from higher levels for a state of alert since the Iraqis are moving a unit and adding to their forces and information we received indicates that the Iranian regime’s elements are along the Iraqi forces which aim to attack our base and capture some people and take them to Iran where they would be tortured and executed. Therefore we all have to be on alert and do not let the Iraqi forces get into the garrison and fulfill their goal.”

On the day of incident (April 8, 2011), the Iraqi forces moved into the garrison from the northern part in order to divide the farmers’ lands which ended in conflict and 36 people were killed and some wounded. Beforehand Fereshteh Shoja had said to her combatants that:

“The Iraqis are using gas cartridges just to frighten you and capture you therefore you should not be afraid of anything. Move forward and stop them by any means you can even using stone and wood, and do not let them enter the garrison and arrest you and hand you over to the elements of the Iranian regime who are with them under any circumstances.”

The inhabitants of Ashraf garrison did not know that the Iraqis merely want to take a part on the north of the garrison according to the Iraqi court verdicts and return them to their rightful owners. They also did not know that the leaders were informed beforehand. The leaders of the garrison had deceived the inhabitants and let them believe that the Iraqis intended to arrest some and send them to Iran to be tortured and executed. Apparently the Iraqis’ policy to give the leaders prior knowledge of their intention in order to stop violence and bloodshed worked to the opposite and they let the leaders of the MKO arrange things for more casualties and they managed to film the incident and take pictures for their political and propaganda interests.

Accurate assessments made about the atmosphere inside Ashraf garrison show that at least 80% of the inhabitants are there against their own will and if the situation is ready and they have the freedom to make an independent decision they would definitely leave the organization. These people have no motivation to resist against the Iraqi authorities and not to disobey the verdicts of the Iraqi courts. They have been deceived and forced to do so and some have lost their lives in this way for nothing.

It is worth mentioning that the MKO did not send its higher level members for this conflict and tried to send discontented and lower level members through deception and giving false information and by using the phobia of being arrested and sent to Iran. The MKO leaders wanted to get rid of the opposing members and also to use their blood for propaganda. Of course it must be said that the majority of the members did not accept to counter the Iraqi forces entering the base.
What was mentioned above is not a secret to the American forces and the international authorities and they all know the situation well, but some international political interests are at stake which want the garrison to stay intact at any cost and for many to stay in captivity and isolation for many more years. Those who do not fulfill their international duty in this regards are surely responsible toward the confined inhabitants of the garrison and their suffering families. Sooner or later Ashraf garrison will be dissolved and the cult members will be freed and then those who kept silent against Rajavi’s crimes and supported him openly and covertly, and still consider him, despite many documents that he has held the members as hostages inside the garrison, as the representative of the captives will be ashamed of themselves.

Anyway, what we think is essential to be said in order to save the lives of the inhabitants of Ashraf inhabitants and to stop more people being sacrificed by Rajavi and to prevent a human catastrophe are mentioned briefly below:

– An overall assessment must be made of the internal situation of the garrison by making thorough interviews by international authorities of those who recently managed to escape from the garrison taking grave risks. It must be made clear whether the inhabitants of Ashraf are there voluntarily or whether Ashraf is a huge confinement camp that the individuals have to escape from at any cost.

– The asylum procedure of Ashraf inhabitants must be conducted individually and without the presence of any MKO officials. The main reason for the present deadlock is that during the past 8 years both the American forces and the international authorities and organizations, in order to keep the MKO intact, have had their contacts with the leaders and they did not approach the rank and file members at all. The MKO members based in Ashraf have no idea of the outside world and what is happening there.

– Any misleading with the cost of the blood of the hostages held by Rajavi inside the garrison must be prevented. Also Rajavi and his deeds must not be justified by treating him as the representative of the hostages inside the garrison.

– The deeds of Rajavi and other leaders of the MKO as hostage takers and those who still, after their sponsor Saddam Hussein has fallen, do not open the gates of the garrison and do not let the captives have access to the outside world must be revealed. They did not hesitate to kill and let die and put members in solitary confinement and under torture.

– In a realistic approach and solution seeking, the sovereignty of Iraq and its nation and government must be recognized. Accepting the natural right and demand of the government and parliament of Iraq and respect for the deadline which is quite seriously followed is part of the responsibility of the international community. Naturally disregarding and challenging this just and lawful demand would put the Iraqi government in a situation that has to decide exclusively and the international organizations who did not intervene and did not give assistance will bear the responsibility.

We are looking forward to your reply.

Sahar Family Foundation
Baghdad, 8 November, 2011

November 13, 2011 0 comments

ADVT’s Letter to Martin Kobler, UN Special Representative for Iraq

Concerns over Ashraf Camp; MKO Leaders Attempts for Saving a Cultic Structure ADVT's Letter to Martin Kobler, UN Special Representative for Iraq
Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism (ADVT) is a non-governmental, cultural institute, whose members are the families and children of terrorism victims. Taking into account a humanitarian approach, ADVT presents a more comprehensive definition of terrorism; we believe that other than the direct victims of terrorism who have lost their lives in terrorist attacks, the people who have unwillingly and forcefully been trapped in the cultic structures of terrorist groups are also victims of terrorism.

Sending a letter to Martin Kobler, UN Special Representative for Iraq, Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism explained some issues regarding with the situation of Ashraf Camp. In this letter we read:

Approaching the deadline appointed for the closure of Ashraf Camp coincides with the widespread efforts of Mojahedin-e Khalq (MKO) leaders for delaying the longstanding demand of Iraqi people and government. Along with these measures, the cult leaders managed to run a propaganda atmosphere in which they could show themselves as oppressed people and accordingly get the support of some of the officials. For a better understanding of the issue, some points are needed to be mentioned:

The first critical question that comes into our mind is that whether the concerns and apprehensions of MKO leaders are related to keeping the cultic structure of Ashraf Camp or it is about the residents and members of Ashraf? Whether the concerns are the voices of Ashraf residents or they have been made by leaders of this organization? Can we regard the commanders of Ashraf as the truthful relaters of the demands of Ashraf inhabitants? And the last question is that what is the main objective of the cult leaders for protecting and keeping Ashraf base? Responding these questions would lead us to make a correct decision about Ashraf Camp and its future.
Analyzing the statements of Mojahedin-e Khalq leaders in various meetings and under different topics, makes it clear that the concerns of its leaders are only limited to protecting the cultic structure of Ashraf Camp and occasional reference to the members is just for achieving this aim. In fact, In spite of the widespread propaganda of the MKO on freedom, democracy and human rights, the members of Ashraf garrison are deprived from their globally recognized principle rights. This issue is totally confirmed by the reports of independent institutes including Human Rights Watch, RAND and confessions of former MKO members. According to the confessions of Maryam Sanjabi (former member of MKO and NCRI Leadership Council), Barat Keykhaii and Abdollatif Chardori (former MKO members) who have recently managed to defect the cult, members of this organization have been mentally exploited and denied from their primary rights as human beings.

In addition, comparing the demands and statements of organization leaders in international scenes and their propaganda activities, with the remarks of defected members, we can find very significant contradictions between the demands of Ashraf residents and leaders’ claims. The interviews made with some members of MKO who have managed to flee from the Camp, can be regarded as the evidences of this claim. [1]

Responding the question about the real purpose of MKO leaders in saving the Ashraf garrison, we have to refer to the cultic structure of this group. Gender separation, obligatory divorce as well as keeping the MKO members within mental and social limitations, brainwashing them, imposing celibacy, even cutting off their relations with family and friends, dividing them from society, and finally imposing their own wills on the members, are among the cases that occur frequently in Ashraf base. [2] In fact, the commanders of MKO are completely aware that only through keeping the members within the fences of Ashraf; they can prevent the dissolution of their group. For this reason, they have conditioned the closure of Ashraf on getting collective political asylum for all members. With this introduction, let’s consider some of the human rights violations in Ashraf camp and reveal the cultic feature governing this organization, through describing the type of relations between members and leaders:

Denying the Right to Life
The right to life is the clearest indisputable right of every human being. Section 1 of Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights asserts that “Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life. “This is while the Mojahedin-e Khalq cult has completely ignored this right. This cult has murder 12000 people in Iran; we have to add the murder of thousands of Iraqis and seven American military advisors to this figure. Denying the right to life, which is the gross violation of human rights, implies that this cult does not believe in any other principle rights of human beings including the right to freedom of expression.

But the cases of human rights violation are not just limited to taking the lives of its opponents. The members of this organization, who are imprisoned in the military bases, are also deprived from their principle human rights. Undoubtedly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights along with two other International Covenants of civil and Political Rights and the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are among the most important international instruments in the field of Human Rights. Other conventions including the Convention on the Rights of Child, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and various conventions on genocide, torture and imprisonment were all violated by MKO.

Violation of Women’s Rights
Other than the women killed by this terrorist group, the women who have undergone brainwashing in this organization are considered as victims too. According to international reports like Red Cross, Human Rights Watch (May 2005) and RAND report (2009), these women are even deprived from their basic human rights including marriage and having children. Loving anyone other than MKO leaders would deserve punishment as well.

In contrary with Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights, Article 10 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Article 23 of the International Covenant on civil and Political Rights, MKO considers the formation of a family as the biggest threat for the existence of the organization. Therefore, marriage is forbidden for members and getting divorce for married ones is obligatory.

Women are forced to do intolerable tasks and military exercises. They have to refrain from any emotional feelings. Women are not allowed to use cosmetics; faces of the females living in Ashraf lack any sign of femininity and looks like men’s appearance. According to the confessions of the MKO defected members, about 150 women’s wombs are being removed involuntarily by surgical operation.

These conditions have led to the escape of some MKO female members. In the case of being unable to flee from the organization, some have even committed suicide. Now the question is that why the international organizations have kept silence and do not act for releasing the women imprisoned by MKO.

Hostage taking, violent behavior and torture
More than half of the all civilian-members of the organization are living in the MKO camp by force. This is clearly mentioned in the reports published by US Department of Defense (RAND, 2009) and Human Rights watch (May, 2005). Studying these impartially compiled reports can demonstrate an obvious picture of the anti-human behavior of the MKO cult.

Another case of gross violation of human rights by Mojahedin-e Khalq includes compelling members to commit self-immolation (as the one occurred in June 2003 in European cities). In fact, MKO leadership considers the lives of the members as the property of the organization; accordingly members are needed to sacrifice their lives for the organization. Torturing and imprisoning the members who intend to leave the cult are other cases of breaching the human rights.

Denying Children’s Rights
The Children victims of the Mojahedin-e Khalq are divided into two groups: one group includes the children who have been assassinated before the eyes of their parents. In this regard, the Articles 14, 17,23,24,38 and 50 of the Forth Geneva Convention have explicitly emphasized on the observation of the Children’s rights during the war time and peace time. It has also condemned such violations and considered them prosecutable. The second category of children victims is the children whose parents are members of the organization. These children have to be parted from their parents due to cultic principles governing the organization. Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child refer to the separation of children from their parents and prohibit such acts. This is while MKO has prevented the members from having spouse or children. After separating children from their parents, the organization transfers them to other countries and relocates them in charity institutes and raises fund through introducing them as orphans. MKO also uses these children as leverage for forcing their parents to continue cooperation with terrorist activities of the organization.

Having all of the above- mentioned points in mind, we, the families of terrorism victims call on the international community and humanitarian organizations to identify the threats against these individuals and take the required measures for removing the grounds of human rights violations; we wish to see a day in which not any woman be deprived from the right to motherhood, not any child loose the loving bosom of the family and not any human being deny his individual identity for the sake of a cult leader.

Here, we also would like to appreciate Your Excellency’s humane approach in introducing the Ashraf Camp as 3300 individual human rights files and consider it as a positive step for releasing the residents of Ashraf from the cultic framework governing on it. At the end, we hope that your mediatory measures, as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, in terminating the Human Rights violations in Ashraf Camp, can lead to the release and freedom of all MKO members.

———————————————————-

[1] For this purpose, you can compare the reports and interviews published by Human Rights Watch and RAND (attached to the e-mail) with the claims of cult leaders published in the website of the MKO

[2] These points have been mentioned in the 2010 annual report of the Human Rights Office of UN Assistance Mission in Iraq too:
http://www.uniraq.org/documents/UNAMI_
HR%20Report_English_FINAL_1Aug11.pdf

November 9, 2011 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Open Letter to Ashton on hostages in Camp Ashraf

Dear Mrs Ashton,
Anne Singleton, Middle East Strategy Consultants
It is interesting and entirely predictable that at the same time you replied to Iran that the six major powers – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia – are willing to meet within weeks if Iran is prepared to "engage seriously in meaningful discussions" over concerns about its nuclear programme, we have seen a flurry of activity by the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) to skew perceptions of the issue with misinformation and self-aggrandising propaganda.

Paid MEK activists held yet another demonstration in front of the White House on Saturday with the irrelevant demand that the US government remove the MEK from its terrorism list. In Brussels Maryam Rajavi, wife of the MEK’s leader, was given a platform to promote terrorism in the European Parliament. Conflating the totally irrelevant issue of Camp Ashraf in Iraq with the problems posed by Iran’s nuclear programme and the MEK’s terrorist listing in the US, she was given a platform to verbally attack and insult Iraqis and their elected government from a parliamentary building.

The MEK is certainly highly proficient in advertising itself as a tool for anti-Iran elements to use and it is unfortunate that Europe’s corridors of power are being so casually exploited to promote Washington’s favourite terrorists. The intended signal is that Europe will brandish a stick to open negotiations with Iran over the nuclear issue. Does the European Commission represent European interests in this respect or do you represent the agenda of only the extreme right wings of USA and Israeli politics?

But as much as we believe this is against your interests, these are political issues and we do not wish to take any position in this respect. Our first and foremost concern is that you do not allow the issue of Camp Ashraf and its sick and aging population to be used as a political football for everyone to kick around for their own game.

It has been reported that Mrs Rajavi conveyed her thanks to you for taking the side of the MEK against the government of Iraq. If this is true it is highly unfortunate that your office has been manipulated to look as though you are taking a position of backing the head of a terrorist cult instead of the victims.

Mrs Rajavi like her fugitive husband Massoud Rajavi does not represent the individuals trapped inside Camp Ashraf. The Rajavis do not represent anybody’s interests but their own.
The Government of Iraq has frequently advised representatives of the European Union not to use the MEK to push their agendas in Iraq, to the point of issuing written and verbal complaints against interference in the internal affairs of their country, including their elections, and have warned against using elements of terrorism to push their agendas. However, these political issues must be addressed in another arena by other parties. We are specifically interested that you have now taken responsibility for dealing with Camp Ashraf.

As you are aware, around 3400 Iranian individuals remain trapped in a dangerous, destructive mind control cult, the Mojahedin-e Khalq, by its leader Massoud Rajavi inside Camp Ashraf in Diayla province of Iraq.

Since the MEK was confined to and protected in the camp by the US military in 2003, Rajavi has resisted all efforts to allow any external agencies to free these individuals in a peaceful and humane manner. Rajavi is holding the residents as hostages to guarantee his safe future, to avoid prosecution for war crimes and crimes against humanity brought against him by the government of Iraq and the international community.

You are also aware that since February 2009, many of the families of these hostages have taken turns to stay just outside the camp in an effort to find and meet their loved ones and to prevent the MEK from further harming them. Now, as a new contingent of families from Gilan province in Iran have arrived at the camp, we are writing to you on behalf of the families of the captives of the MEK and its Western backers in Washington, London and Brussels. (Such ordinary Iranians find themselves voiceless in Western political and media circles due to the virulently anti-Iranian attitude which prevails in these circles.) They wish first and foremost to remind you that they are part of the solution, not the problem.

You have demonstrated your particular interest in this issue by appointing Mr Jean De Ruyt, a former Belgian ambassador to the EU, as your advisor on Camp Ashraf. He will no doubt be investigating and examining whatever approaches are available to resolve the situation. By situation I refer to the standoff between the constitutional and legal demand of the elected government of the sovereign nation of Iraq, and the illegal and irrational demands of a cult leader as the hostage taker who represents nobody but his own interests and who is prepared to kill others to this end.

The government of Iraq demands that the MEK leave Iraq before the end of the year, certainly before American troops are withdrawn. For this reason, there is an urgent need to find an effective solution. On two occasions, August 2009 and April 2011, when Iraqi security forces have attempted to enter the camp to impose the rule of law on the camp, Massoud Rajavi ordered his special forces, his fedayeen, to force the brainwashed residents to confront these efforts with a suicidal resistance which led to the deaths and injuries of many rank and file members as well as injuries to Iraqi security forces. Iraq is working hard to avoid a similar confrontation in future and is expecting cooperation from the international community in this respect. Soon after the second of these incidents I visited the camp and interviewed the responsible authorities and gathered enough evidence which is available for any party who would like to know. Since 2008 three reports have described the situation of the camp and two books have been written on the subject.

Mr Jean De Ruyt, who will liaise with EU states and organizations including the United Nations, says that a peaceful and realistic solution and the security and safety of residents are his priority. For this reason the families are very optimistic now that you have taken over responsibility from the Americans. With the appointment of this advisor the families now believe your office has a mandate to help Iraq, the UN and ICRC to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

The families are asking that you coordinate with the Iraqi authorities to help them to protect their relatives when the leaders are finally forced to open the gate of the camp and allow external agencies in. This is the first step before the UNHCR can take the residents out of the garrison and interview them individually without MEK minders present. It is at this time of maximum confrontation that they fear Massoud Rajavi will order the deaths of the residents.

Once the gates of the camp are finally opened safely, the residents will of course be able to access the facts and information which have been denied them for decades about their true situation and the possibilities for their future. Whatever their choices, their families are on hand to offer them protection and support. Of course, not all the families can be in Iraq at the same time, but all are willing to travel there to help their loved ones when their individual circumstances demand.

The MEK is designated as a terrorist organisation by Iraq based on its activities in their country against their citizens – the MEK has killed 25,000 Iraqi civilians over two decades. In contrast, the EU does not regard the MEK as a terrorist entity. This should make it possible for residents of Camp Ashraf – in addition to those who already have citizen or residency rights – to be brought to Europe as refugees under the auspices of the UNHCR. (Due to the peculiarities of American law, delisting the MEK in the USA would play no part whatsoever in helping the people in Camp Ashraf.)

Considering that the US military has deliberately helped the MEK to keep the gates closed and the residents trapped inside, the opportunity now exists for you to act as a go-between for the US and MEK and thus ensure that the camp is opened up at the earliest opportunity so that work can start to relocate the hostages. Certainly the government of Iraq is happy to help facilitate this outcome on the understanding that if this process is not begun by the end of the year, the international community has obliged them to take unilateral decisions regarding the camp and its residents.

Above all else, the families outside have travelled from far and wide to rescue their loved ones and are more than happy to ensure a swift and peaceful outcome. There can be no possible objection or obstacles to helping them.
Anne Singleton
(Author of Saddam’s Private Army, 2003 and co-author of The Life of Camp Ashraf, 2011)
Iran-Interlink
MESC Ltd
U.K.

October 26, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

Ashraf residents’ families letter to Mr. Al-Maliki

Dear Mr. Nouri Al-Maliki
We are a number of families of Ashraf residents. We really appreciate you for allowing us to enter your country and come to Camp Ashraf in order to find the track of our children who have been kept at the Camp for years.

Mr. Prime Minister,
Unfortunately, every time we come here, not only didn’t the leaders of the Camp allow us to visit our children, but also they insulted us and replied by throwing stones at us. But we are proud of our resistance against them and our emotional revealing words that caused a number of imprisoned members of the Camp find the courage to escape the cult and step in the free world.
The clarifications made by these defectors have made us more seriously concerned about the fate of our children. They revealed that the leaders of the Camp threaten and terrify members, suppress them regularly in order to force them to stay there.

Mr. Maliki,
We have been awaiting the day that the Camp (prison) is shut down and our loved ones are released to join us. Now that your government has decided to shut down the Camp by the end of 2011, this opportunity is provided for families of Ashraf residents but the leaders of the MKO are trying to bar your decision by using tactics like threat, chantage, and crisis in the European countries. And the outcome of such chaos is nothing except prolonging the imprisonment of our children.

Thus we humbly ask you to insist on your right decision so that our children will be liberated and these crisis- mongers will be wiped off your territory.

October 16, 2011 0 comments

European Union

The real victims of Rajavi have no voice

Letter of the Sahar Family Foundation to the EU envoy for Ashraf Camp:

After Mr. Jean De Ruyt was appointed by Baroness Catherine Ashton to prepare a report about Ashraf Camp in Iraq for the European Union, the SFF wrote a letter to him which is as follows:

The captives inside Ashraf Camp and their suffering families have no representative and no voice internationally and no one is reflecting their concerns and demands.

Dear Mr. Jean De Ruyt
Brussels, EU

As we wrote in our letter to the UN General Secretary (a copy is attached), Massoud Rajavi, the cultic leader of the MKO, addressed his followers in Ashraf Camp via Skype during sessions from dusk till dawn during the month of Ramadan. Attending these boring sessions was compulsory for all Ashraf residents. Rajavi emphasized in these sessions that he is determined to keep his forces at any cost. He described giving asylum to Ashraf residents individually a conspiracy to dissolve the organization. He did not give a reason for that but it is obvious that he is aiming to establish another Ashraf Camp in another place (if it happens that he loses the present one), in order to continue keeping the inhabitants captive.
We remember in the past that by submitting his arms to the allied forces in 2003, Rajavi managed to keep Ashraf intact and kept his followers bonded. This time his major goal is to keep his forces too even though he might think that he cannot keep Ashraf any longer.

During these sessions, Rajavi demanded that his forces sign a commitment to be loyal to him to the end. Practically he obliged all his men and women to promise him they would not escape under any circumstances. It is worth mentioning that so far 7 individuals have escaped from Ashraf Camp despite these obligations.

After a few members of the MKO all-female leadership council managed to escape and revealed Rajavi’s immoral behavior, sensitivity over fleeing the leadership council has increased and a greater risk to their lives is concerned. Ms. Zahra Mirbagheri a member of the leadership council who managed to escape some time ago says that Rajavi had ordered all members of the leadership council to watch each other closely and if one attempted to flee others must stop her and it is quite accepted if ten of them are killed to stop one. Ms. Mirbagheri managed to escape miraculously and had she delayed a few moments before reaching the Iraqis she would have been dead since some of the high ranking members of the leadership council were chasing her.

News received from within the Ashraf Camp indicates that all members were armed with slings, catapults and cold weapons and they have loaded a lot of stones and metal pieces on the roofs. Eye witnesses say that when the Iraqi units approached the Camp last April to take back the confiscated lands of the farmers, some MKO committed self-immolation by the direct order of the leaders and at least one person was killed in this manner. Also some deliberately dropped themselves under the Iraqi vehicles and at least one person was killed like this. Some MKO dissidents were shot and killed by the MKO, misusing the situation to eliminate internal opponents. It is significant that those who were more discontented were those who apparently fought against the Iraqis and were killed.

During last April’s incidents, according to eye witnesses, the Iraqis were shooting either into the air or at the ground to stop the aggressors from advancing. In this situation the commanders were encouraging the members to go forward saying the bullets aren’t real and no one should be afraid. But later they claimed that the Iraqi firing killed the victims. It is also said that the MKO had manufactured a shelling device to fire stones using a motor and a tank. Many members of the MKO who were inside the Camp in that time and managed to escape are willing to give their testimony to anyone concerned.

One of those who were announced as dead by the MKO during that event was Morteza Beheshti. He left his wife and his infant child back in Tehran 10 years ago to go to Turkey to find a job to finance his family. But he was deceived into going to Iraq and Ashraf Camp and was kept captive there. His sisters Narges and Laila Beheshti were amongst the families picketing outside Ashraf Camp demanding visits with their loved ones, a request which was denied by the MKO leaders. The sisters investigated the matter with the help of the SFF. Some bodies including that of Morteza were moved to Ba’quba hospital near Ashraf. Morteza’s body was there for at least 40 days and the hospital officials refused to give it to the family. But later the MKO managed to get hold of the body illegally using its influence and spending a lot of money. The hospital report indicates that Morteza was shot in his forehead and his chest. But everyone knows that the Iraqis were shooting into the air or at the ground and according to the MKO leaders they were not using real bullets. The MKO announced Morteza’s death a few days after the incident. Many are willing to witness that Morteza was dissatisfied and wanted to leave. There are other similar cases which can be presented in detail.

Unfortunately the prime victims and inmates inside Ashraf have no representative and no voice and no one is reflecting their interests. They are threatened by Rajavi that if they only try to escape they will face court martial and execution. Some political interests demand that the residents should be held captive inside Ashraf and their families are those who suffer most. This situation will not last for long as Rajavi himself has realized. Rajavi and his supporters in the west cannot keep Ashraf and the forces there, and it is better that those who insist on keeping them there stop making the families suffer any longer.

We wonder why international organizations including the UN are silent about the case. The UNAMI team in Baghdad invites the Iraqi government to respect the principals of human rights in relation to Camp Ashraf, but no one is trying to learn what Rajavi is doing to his own people inside the Camp. The inside of the Camp has never been searched or inspected. As everyone is warning against a human catastrophe by the leaders, some international officials continue with Rajavi’s game and do not take the alerts seriously.

We urge you to meet representatives of Sahar Family Foundation whenever you come to Baghdad and visit in particular the dozens of individuals who escaped the Camp recently and listen to what they have to say first hand.

Sahar Family Foundation
Baghdad, 1 October 2011

List of attachments
List of recipients

October 4, 2011 0 comments

The Iranian Pen Club Letter to the UNHCR

Fortunately we got informed that UNHCR finally accepted to review the refuge and asylum request of the stranded members of the most dangerous religious cult in the whole Middle East which carries the name of pmoi ,individually and not collectively which is based on the manifest published on 13 September 2011 , this organization, UNHCR, has begun the procedure and reviewing of their political refugee cases which they demanded .

We the human rights activists who have been pursuing and following the freedom and well being of those stranded members for years would like to inform you that those members have been deceived by the name of struggle and fight for the Iranian people by their leadership during past years . They had been sold to Saddam Hussein and his government for millions of dollars . They had been exploited horribly and they had been deprived of the their essential and fundamental rights as human being for years in captivity.

These stranded and hopeless members who are demanding and requesting a free life, have been utilized as toys by the international plots and their leader , Massoud Rajavi has exploited them with a modern brainwashing methods for years and he has exploited the women sexually inside his cult and there is no doubt that Massoud Rajavi is the main and number one official of pmoi who is responsible for all those atrocities toward the stranded members inside his cult.

According to our precise recognition of the real entity of this organization and as a result of the painful life of those stranded captives inside the Ashraf Garrison , we would like to draw your attention to the following facts:

1. First of all those stranded captives should be separated from their cultic container, new Iraq garrison, so they can think freely and make up their minds about their future without any interference of their leadership. It is impossible for them to continue their refuge and asylum seeking process freely inside Ashraf camp(new Iraq garrison) which is totally surrounded by the cultic regulations and atmosphere and is under direct supervision of the cult leadership. That is going to be a moral and juridical paradox.

2. When those stranded members submit their refuge and asylum seeking request applications to the UNHCR representatives , they should be transferred to the camps which are designated for refugees by the Iraqi government ,like the policy of the other countries in dealing with the asylum seekers ,and they should be protected by the host country , Iraq, and UNHCR as well in those designated camps. Their security and safety and their well being should be taken care of by the Iraqi government.

It is obvious that with staying in such terrorist container , New Iraq garrison (Ashraf camp) , the UNHCR and foreign countries can not follow their refugee cases conveniently while the asylum seeking applicants are staying in the terrorist garrison.

3. As you are well informed that Iraqi government has a rule of law which according to that the new Iraq garrison should be shut down and be closed completely for ever till the end of 2011, so we are urging you that in parallel with shutting down the new Iraq garrison at the end of 2011 , the stranded members of pmoi should be transferred to the refuge designated camps and in there their request for political asylum should be taken care of and they should be waiting for their result of their request while they are residing in those camps till UNHCR finds suitable countries to accept them as a refuge.

4. There should be a good connection as well as a very good behavior with those stranded members who are like sick people who need special cares while they come to those designated camps because they have been far away on purpose for many decades from the affection of their loved ones such as their parents , families , and worse of all they have been kept separated from their own family such as their children and their wives and husbands for many years forcibly .

5. In the UNHCR formal manifest like Iraq statements regarding the name of this garrison( the new Iraq garrison in stead of Ashraf) which was a gift to pmoi by the ex dictator of Iraq , Saddam Hussein, has been mentioned and emphasized precisely and exactly, the new Iraq garrison, but it has infuriated the pmoi leadership and they believe that the UNHCR has confirmed the new Iraq garrison as an imposition and gavel to the Iraq popular and elected prime minister , Mr. Nori Al Maleki who is a mercenary in pmoi point of view , and it worries us.

6. It is also worth mentioning that during last week and after the announcement of the statement by the UNHCR, many critics of the Mojahedin Khalq (MKO, MEK, PMOI) warned that the Mojahedin will resort to every possible means to throw a spanner in the works of the UNHCR. Now Maryam Rajavi the wife of the leader of the Mojahedin has issued the following clear statement from her HQ in France:

“ … we will not allow the line of the mercenaries Maliki and Barezani and the strategy of their masters, the Iranian regime, to prevail under the pretext of interviewing people one by one and …” and she continues “… all the Mojahedin members should only be taken for interviews using helicopters …” and this of course means that in order to interview the people trapped in the camp she expects over seven thousand sorties to take place and this is of course only a small part of the difficulties and barriers that the highest leading members of the organisation are creating in order to force all the efforts by UNHCR to end in failure.

7. The UNHCR manifest regarding asylum seeking policy precisely emphasizes that there is no way and it is impossible that those pmoi members can go through the asylum and refuge process collectively , but it seems that this UNHCR manifest in this regard infuriated the leadership of pmoi and as a result of that the leadership of pmoi has begun slandering and insulting the UNHCR.

Paragraph 5 and 6 and the pmoi leadership reaction to this subject worries the human rights activists because we think that the leadership of pmoi has begun its unwillingness to go through the asylum process according to the UNHCR manifest.

We the human rights activists and the family of those stranded members in the new Iraq garrison thank you for all your endeavors to help those members to conquer the dead end of their destiny.

Respectfully

October 1, 2011 0 comments

Warning against violation of human rights in Ashraf

Letter of Sahar Family Foundation to the UN General Secretary

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the honorable UN general secretary

On the tenth anniversary of the grave terrorist catastrophe in the US, which was the act of a destructive mind control cult under the guise of Islam, we on behalf of the families of the captives in the Ashraf cult garrison and freed members of the Rajavi destructive mind control cult wish to acquaint you and all human rights activists and international organizations with the following:

According to the news received from within Ashraf garrison, Massoud Rajavi had arranged for a series of extremely boring sessions with all members in the holy month of Ramadan, between dusk till dawn, via internet. Participating in these sessions was compulsory for all members and those refusing to join were reprimanded and disciplined. Even hospitalized and imprisoned persons were taken to the meetings.

In these sessions, Massoud Rajavi clearly announced that leaving the organization and attempting to escape from Ashraf is a political offense and betrayal and the penalty for just trying is death. He admitted that discontentment is mounting in his cult and that the internal situation of Ashraf is explosive. Rajavi specified in these meetings that not only losing Ashraf garrison is passing a red line, but also escaping is also an un-crossable line and if one managed to flee, all the commanders and residents of Ashraf are responsible. In many cases when one succeeds in escaping, all commanders and members of the person’s unit are penalized.

As you know, the report of the American RAND Institute indicates that around 70% of Ashraf inhabitants are there against their own will and if they have the right to choose they would definitely leave the organization. Rajavi indicated in his meetings with the members to the problem of retaining and controlling the members. At the moment the commanders have detained the unhappy residents of Ashraf using all sorts of barriers and fences and adopting tight security and control techniques.

The information received shows that Rajavi has instructed his cult’s commanders to prevent any escape attempt no matter what the cost and they must stop them even if they have to shoot them. What is certain is that one of the most brutal and constant examples of violation of human rights is going on in Ashraf garrison and unfortunately for some delusional political interests, there is no reaction against it.

One can ask why Rajavi is so scared of the free access of his followers to their families and the outside world, why granting political refugee status to the individuals and the direct contact of international organizations such as the Red Cross is considered as dissolving the organization, and why the UN and personalities and organizations defending human rights are silent in the face of these crimes. The truth is that Ashraf is a notorious and dreadful prison unique in the whole world. In this prison, which is run using the most sophisticated and modern tools and equipment, no one has the right to be visited and the penalty for attempting to escape is death. The members inside the garrison are subject to systematic mind manipulation and psychological and physical torture which are imposed continuously. Unfortunately there is no observation of what is going on and what is happening inside there.

We are certain that one day with the will of God and help of the families picketing outside Ashraf, its doors will be opened and the captives would be freed. Then those who supported the Rajavi cult and international officials who stood silent against these crimes should be held responsible by the families since they have practically joined Rajavi in his misconduct and caused the continuation of the suffering of both the members and their families.

We urge you as the Secretary General of the UN to adopt means to firstly prevent external interference against the Iraqi government imposing its rule over its land and secondly arrange some sort of international observance of what is happening inside Ashraf garrison by the leaders of the Rajavi cult. There are many documents filed in the Iraqi judicial system showing what is exactly happening which is so unpleasant. Most of these documents are recorded by eye witnesses who managed to escape from Ashraf.

We are awaiting your answer.

Sahar Family Foundation
Baghdad, 11 September 2011

Attachments:
– The report of the American RAND institute
– The report of Amnesty International
– The report of Human Rights Watch

Copy to:
– The UN office in Iraq (UNAMI)
– The ICRC
– AI
– HRW
– Iraqi ministry of human rights
– The US embassy in Baghdad
– The commander in chief of the US forces in Iraq

September 19, 2011 0 comments

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