In response to the recent message of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO)’s leader, in which he ordered the group’s terror cells to initiate widespread assassinations throughout Iran, families of Iranian victims of terrorism have written a letter to the international institutions of the European Union calling for legal proceedings against this terrorist group.
“The families of terror victims in Iran call on all international authorities and institutions in the European Union to, along with restricting the activities of this group in Europe, prosecute the leaders of this terrorist group in an international court with the presence of their victims,” the letter read.
According to this letter, the MKO leader’s order demonstrates adoption of a violent strategy towards the judicial process and the court hearing on March 8 and 9, 2021 where a large number of former members filed a complaint about years of torture and violation of human rights by this group.
As the open letter points out: “the group’s recent move to establish terror cells in Iran and their acts of sabotage and violence, which is officially admitted and prompted by the group, proved that the MeK is still a militant cult and a far cry from becoming an opposition group.”
Referring to The MKO’s location in Europe and freely activity of its members in European countries, families of Iranian terror victims warned that the group’s previous crimes and the violent threats its leader made on March 8 as well as any upcoming terrorist acts and assassinations in Iran, are partly the responsibility of the countries which have sheltered this group.
Read the full text of the letter below:
We are the families of the victims of assassinations and violence of the terrorist group Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (aka MKO, MeK, PMOI) who lost our children, parents and grandparents in targeted and blind operations of this group. We have repeatedly protested against the negligence of international institutions in carrying out their obligations such as restraining this group and taking necessary measures to start prosecuting its leaders for their terrorist acts and crimes against humanity.
In our earlier correspondence, we had warned that ignoring their violent acts and behaviors would lead to this group’s return to violence and aggression.
As a result of this negligence, on March 8, Massoud Rajavi, leader of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization who has been living in hiding for nearly two decades due to fear of criminal prosecution and has been leaving occasional voice messages for members of his cult, broadcast a message to members of his terror cells known as”rebel centers”in which he ordered them to make use of weapons and initiate widespread assassinations throughout Iran.
This order of the MKO leader clearly demonstrates adoption of a violent strategy towards the judicial process and the court hearing on March 8 and 9, 2021 where a large number of former members filed a complaint about years of torture and violation of human rights by this group.
Fearing that ex-members of his cult sue him in court in Tehran and disregarding dozens of international documents on MeK crimes, terrorist acts and violation of human rights, Massoud Rajavi has escaped forward and invited Iranian officials to appear in an international court. On the other hand, former members and survivors of this terrorist group demand to go to an international court of law along with Massoud Rajavi and other leaders of this group to be fairly judged. Do Massoud Rajavi and his wife, as leaders of this cult, dare to appear in an international court of law before the victims of the crimes they have committed? And are EU officials and international institutions based in this continent ready to hold such a trial? This is the legal obligation of European officials and institutions. The MeK is located in Europe and its members travel freely in it. Therefore, the group’s previous crimes and the violent threats its leader made on March 8 as well as any upcoming terrorist acts and assassinations in Iran, are partly the responsibility of the countries which have sheltered this group.
In his message which promoted violence, leader of the MeK called on his elements to provide his rebel centers, with names and addresses of employees of Iran’s military, security and judicial institutions so that for what he calls the”Great Day of Justice”, weapons can be fired at their chests! In the message, Rajavi made mention of the early years after the 1979 revolution when his group’s death squads assassinated Iranian civilians and officials. He requested the rebel centers to do the same.
As mentioned, numerous reports have been published by the research centers, governmental institutions and western intelligence agencies about this cult and its threats.
The FBI’s 1987 report; a Court of Appeals document on June 25, 1999, based on a CIA Report; US Government Statement in 1997; a report by Canada’s SIRC in 1992; US Department of Justice’s report in April 2009; State Department’s Reports in 2004, 2005, and 2006; Executive Order No. 13224 by the US Secretary of State on Terrorist Financing of the National Council of Resistance and the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization in August 2003; US Court of Appeals’ verdicts in 1999, 2005, and 2009; FBI’s reports in August 2002 and November 2004; a report by the American Institute for Political Studies (IPS) in 2012; a 2005 Human Rights Watch report named No Exit; German BfV agency’s reports in 2004 and 2005; a document regarding the MEK’s inclusion in the European Union terrorist list printed in the Official Journal of the Union in December 2007; a report by security service of North Rhine-Westphalia State in October 2005; the 2008 North Rhine-Westphalia State Protection Office’s Report; Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament’s report in July 2003; the British Foreign Relations Committee’s report in July 2004; official Statement by the UK Foreign Secretary in May 2008; Statement by the French Minister for Justice in June 2003; Swedish Government Resolution on 2 September 2004, and Swedish Immigration Office Decision against the MEK; EU Declaration on 5 April 2002; the US Deputy Secretary of State’s reports to Congress and the Foreign Affairs Committee of House of Representatives in October 1994; the 2009 Rand Corporation’s report; Saban Center for Middle East Policy’s report in June 2009; Columbia Court of Appeals’ report in 2010; and US Council on Foreign Relations’ report in July 2014.
These documents, reports and verdicts are only part of what proves the violence and terrorism of the Mojahedin. The group, which was disarmed in 2003 as a militant group affiliated with Saddam Hussein’s regime following the US invasion of Iraq, has since acted in Europe, pretending itself as a political group opposed to the Iranian government. However, the group’s recent move to establish terror cells in Iran and their acts of sabotage and violence, which is officially admitted and prompted by the group, proved that the MeK is still a militant cult and a far cry from becoming an opposition group. One should add to it the recent order of Massoud Rajavi to the terror cells to identify Iranian citizens working in judicial and military institutions and “execute justice on them”.
The families of terror victims in Iran once again call on all international authorities and institutions in the European Union to, along with restricting the activities of this group in Europe, prosecute the leaders of this terrorist group in an international court with the presence of their victims. We also declare our full readiness to cooperate in this process by providing the required documents to the responsible institutions.
To:
European Commission
Council of the European Union
European parliament
Secretariat of the European Parliament
European Court of Human Rights
Court of Justice of the European Union
Council of Europe Committee on Counter-Terrorism
Sincerely yours,
Habilian Association (Families of Iranian victims of terrorism)
March 12, 2021