It was earlier discussed that Maryam Rajavi’s announced readiness to take care of 1,000 Iraqi orphans and pay for all their expenses in Camp Ashraf is supposed to be a bid to attain certain political interests and especially to strengthen her group’s foothold in Iraqi soil. Hardly can it be considered a humanitarian move since Mojahedin’s phased ideological revolution had already targeted destabilizing relative emotional attachments of the insiders and conceptualizing the idea that the leadership is the focal point of absolute love and devotion. Conjugal attachments and familial affections had to be sacrificed for the leader; the outcome was forced ideological divorce of the spouses and separation of children from their parents.
Suppose that MKO’s suggestion is for a good and humanitarian cause. There are globally adopted minimum standards that had to be met for children foster care and guardianship is subject to certain rules. According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, “States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision”. Thus, any individual or organization that intends to take care of children has to meet required benchmarks according to adopted laws of a country concerning child care and welfare.
Although in some details different because of the regional, cultural, and religious considerations, countries in their jurisdiction consider sever qualifying regulations for the guardians and custodians. There is a unanimous agreement that they have to be subject to no limitation and entitled to no especial protection and assistance. Moreover, they should be liable to no prosecution for charges against them and accused of no criminal acts and abuse particularly done against children. Above all, they should be financially eligible and it has to be ensured that the guardianship does not result in improper financial gain for those involved in it.
Considering the least qualifications for the custody of children, now the question is that are Mojahedin qualified enough to take care of Iraqi children? First, they have to be subject to no limitation and entitled to no especial protection and assistance. It is broadly known that Mojahedin’s members are restricted in Camp Ashraf that is regarded as a military camp rather than a residential complex. At the present, no child lives in the camp and all children have been already evacuated to Western countries and most of the members are held against their will. Even their stay at the camp is transient since the Iraqi government is determined to expel all the members who are under the supervision of Coalition Forces that designated the members as “protected persons” under the Geneva Convention and posted guards at their bases since 2003.
In respect of criminal acts and charges, regardless of many instances of inter-organizational liquidations, MKO has committed many hundreds of assassinations and political killings as well as shedding blood of many innocent children and civilians according to its own officially issued military communiqué. Its globally proscription as a terrorist group by the State Department, the EU’s country members and some other countries is a telling evidence of its countless perpetrated atrocities. There are also evidences of the members’ children receiving ideological and cult educations and harsh military trainings in MKO-run hostels and basis scattered in Western countries.
Is MKO eligible financially to foster Iraqi orphans? According to the State Department’s report, “Before Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003, the MEK received all of its military assistance and most of its financial support from Saddam Hussein. The fall of Saddam’s regime has led MEK to increasingly rely on front organizations to solicit contributions from expatriate Iranian communities”. French prosecutor general had earlier on March 19 requested the anti-terror court to add new charges against MKO and the leader of the group Maryam Rajavi. The new charges are reported to be money laundering and fraud charges added to the previous case which includes connection with terrorism and saboteur groups. In Germany, the government investigations uncovered Mojahedin’s illegal financial activities where it abused the members’ children, who had been evacuated during the first Gulf War, to beg in the streets. In general, the group’s funds are the pile of no clean money.
Now, does MKO meet minimum standards that are required to qualify it for the custody of Iraqi children? Where the MKO members’ children were illegally deprived of their rights and even their identity and freedom, for which the leaders have to stand trial, how the cult’s leader presumptuously announces readiness to take care of innocent Iraqi orphans? Of course, that is clear that the Iraqis never consent to see their orphans out of frying pan into the fire.
Bahar Irani – Mojahedin.ws – August 8, 2007