Former members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) are not only familiar with the history and background of this organization through documents and media but also, they provide a first-hand and unmediated account of this undemocratic and totalitarian structure that simply negates the possibility of this organization being an alternative to the Iranian government.
Zhina (Zeinab) Hosseinnejad, a former child soldier of the MEK who spent her childhood and youth in the organization, although she is now a staunch opponent of the Islamic Republic, tries to inform Iranian public opinion about the nature of this destructive cult by occasionally publishing accounts of her time as a member of the cult. She is one of the former child soldiers of the MEK who testified against the MEK in the Hamburg court in Amin Gol Maryami’s case. She was also interviewed by some journalists and filmmakers in Europe.
In a recent post on her Facebook account, Zhina wrote about the concept of “constructive criticism” in the MEK. Reading this section of Zhina Hosseinnejad’s memoirs make it clear that criticism, even constructive criticism, is forbidden in the MEK’s ruling structure. Criticism leads to torture and harm to the critic, and this is proven repeatedly and in various situations in Zhina’s post.
Zhina’s account of constructive criticism within the MEK can be considered credible evidence to make any political force that thinks it can interact with the MEK reconsider. This is a part of her post on constructive criticism:
Whenever I hear the word “constructive criticism” about reactionary opposition groups, I recall the events in Albania, the days when I still believed in the change of the Mujahedin.
When we arrived in Albania, the atmosphere of suffocation had become a little less than in Iraq, so I was able to write explicit internal criticism reports regarding censorship, repression, psychological torture, and forced confessions in women’s meetings, and I demanded that the officials of the organization be held accountable to the public.
One of the so-called bright and “good police” officials told me; “Our apparatus still does not have the capacity to respond to criticism, since we are not the government, our system will collapse and weaken.”
But I still do not understand why at the time of repression, torture, corruption, and violation of people’s rights, they were the government, but when it came to accountability, they were not the government… Let’s move on.
After months of psychological pressure sessions, which finally led me to leave the organization, one day I told an MEK agent who was visiting my controlled apartment in Tirana; “I want to open a Facebook page and write the reason for my departure from the organization and post my criticisms publicly and constructively.”
As if the official was struck by electricity, she said; “No, no, don’t do it! Let me ask the higher officials.”
In short, from that day on, every night and every morning, sometimes even late, they came to me, saying things, threatening and tempting, that I was shocked, but all they did was to prevent me from opening a political page.
And the more I asked; what’s wrong with “constructive criticism”? The more they said; “Absolutely! Don’t write even a single comment! Go and live your life.”
“life” that from years until that moment before leaving Ashraf was a taboo. Life was shame, it was disgrace, it was betrayal and it made you deserve trial! All of a sudden it became good, it became important, it became necessary, it became gold!
And you know very well what criticism will turn into when they don’t let you make “constructive criticism” in time… and it did.
When the issue of some of us was brought to the European media and the German courts, some MEK accounts came to my direct message and wrote: “Don’t step on the blood of your mother and uncles! If you have criticism, make it constructive criticism! Why did you bring the issue to the media and the court?!”
I said; Oh No! what happened? Constructive criticism became good? You came a little late! Sweet Heart!
In short, we, the new generation of MEK, were not given the space and the right to even the slightest “constructive criticism” until the issue was brought to the media and the court.
