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Five Points About Removal Of MeK From US Terror Blacklist

The recent announcement by the United States Department of State about removing the notorious Mujahedin-e Khalq (MeK) Organization from its blacklist of terrorist organizations on September 28, 2012, has been followed by many analytical accounts. They ranged from many media analyses provided by the Western and Iranian experts who were opposed to the decision, to admiring accounts by former American politicians. The proponents of the move among former US politicians were mostly those whose palms had been greased by the MeK through accepting hefty financial contributions from the organization. They had, therefore, organized extensive campaigns and lobbies across the United States in order to take the name of the organization out of the list of terrorist organizations.

Iran
This article does not actually mean to put renewed emphasis on this grave mistake which has been committed by the US government. It is already too late and the United States has provided the group with considerable maneuvering room. (A secondary point here: given the behavior of the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and its government in the past years, especially in the past few months, it is almost certain that Ottawa will soon remove the MeK from its list of terrorist organizations in order not to lag behind the United States and the European countries in this regard!)

This paper only means to remind Western politicians of a few characteristics of this terrorist organization as defined by firsthand Western sources. Let’s hope that this would help the Americans to realize that delisting the MeK is not just a simple delisting of an organization from the long list of 52 organizations designated as terrorist entities by the US Department of State. This delisting, however, will have consequences and implications which may prove to be quite different from what they may seem at a first glance.

1. The issue of weird and cult-like conduct of the leaders of this organization and their bizarre treatment of other members has been acknowledged by many Western sources. A special case was a report released by RAND (Research and Development) Corporation in 2009, entitled “The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq: A Policy Conundrum,” (1) in which a special part had been dedicated to “Cultic Characteristics of the MeK.” Under that title, the report says, “… [MeK’s] subsequent exile undermined its optimism and openness. In France, Masoud Rajavi dramatically changed the nature of the organization. In 1985, he announced that Maryam Azodanlu, the wife of his close associate Mehdi Abrishamchi and the younger sister of a senior MeK member, would assume the position of MeK co-leader. Rajavi divorced his second wife, the daughter of former Iranian president, Abol-Hasan Banisadr, Rajavi’s ally, and announced that Maryam would divorce her husband and marry him. These actions would advance a new “ideological revolution.”

The Rajavis claimed that their new revolution was meant to highlight the equality of women, an idea that the IRI [Islamic Republic of Iran] found threatening. Although the MeK did promote women to leadership positions, which constituted a reversal of tradition in Iranian society, the marriage and the subsequent aggrandizement of Masoud Rajavi’s leadership role marked the beginning of an organizational transformation into a cult of personality. Initial changes included increased mandated study, enforced communal living arrangements, and imposed supervision of the group’s membership in exile throughout Europe.”

Elsewhere in the same document, it says, “After the MeK moved to Iraq in 1986, the Rajavis created the NLA [National Liberation Army], which included nearly the entire MeK contingent in Iraq, and they used its militaristic structure to consolidate their control.

Following the failure of Operation Eternal Light, the Rajavis initiated a series of policy changes that continued the transformation of the increasingly insular organization into a cult. While rarely admitting total failure, Rajavi implied in his speeches that the operation had not achieved its goals due to insufficient devotion to the overthrow of the IRI among the MeK rank and file, who were instead distracted by sexual interests as a result of their coeducational housing. To enforce a new “military” discipline, rank-and-file members were instructed not just to move into gender-segregated housing but also to divorce their spouses, maintain complete celibacy, and even cut off communication with friends and family, both within and beyond MeK compounds. Love for the Rajavis was to replace love for spouses and family. In addition, the Rajavis used funding provided by Saddam to construct self-sufficient camps that included schools, medical clinics, training centers, and prisons (often called “reeducation centers”) so that the population had little need for contact with the society beyond its walls.”

Three years after the RAND report was released, that behavior still continues within the ranks of the organization. Many examples of it can be found in the weblogs run by ex-members who have succeeded to escape the clutches of this organization. The authors of the RAND report have also noted in the conclusion part of their report that, “MeK leaders and supporters … allege that former MeK members and critics of the MeK are either Iranian agents or their dupes. However, interviews with US military and civilian officials, information voluntarily furnished by former MeK members at the ARC, and visits to Camp Ashraf suggest that these denials are not credible.”

2. The MeK is also no favorite with major human rights organizations. A great number of documents on frequent instances of human rights violations within the ranks of this cultic organization can be found here: Human Rights Watch, No Exit: Human Rights Abuses inside the MKO Camps, New York, May 2005.

3. The United States, put the MeK, or as better known in Iran as ‘Monafeqin (hypocrites)’, on its list of terrorist organizations in 1997 and delisted them in 2012. The Council of Europe also listed the MeK as a terrorist organization in 2001 and delisted it in 2009. Britain, likewise, put the MeK on its terror list in 2001 and delisted it in 2008. Such periods of being “listed” and “delisted” have been seldom repeated for any other terrorist organization. Many such organizations have stayed on the terrors lists of the United States, the UK, or the European Union for many long years. It would be very ridiculous to assume that this development followed a decision by members of this group to really give up terrorism, regret their past deeds and try to go for more democratic approaches. Therefore no other explanation for this measure may occur to an analyst, except for the direct role of political decisions and expediencies, topped by the decision to use the MeK as a means of exerting pressure on Iran. The independent observers have, as such, considered this issue as a proof to the fact that the United States’ judiciary is not a truly independent power.

4. Last year, the UN special rapporteur on human rights for Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, submitted his first report to the UN Human Rights Council in which had had pointed to 17,000 names given to him by an Iranian nongovernmental organization in writing as the names of those killed in terrorist operations by the MeK. The Iranian nation will never forget two facts about this group. The first fact is countless cases of blind assassinations carried out by MeK members in early post-revolution years which were mostly carried out by members of this group in desolate streets and places and targeted people who were only suspected of being connected in some way to the nascent establishment of the Islamic Republic. They included many shoemakers, workers, bakers, teachers and civil servants. The second fact is their unbridled cooperation with the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during his imposed war against Iran. Without a doubt, it will be impossible for the Iranian nation, regardless of their political tendencies for or against the Islamic establishment, to imagine that the United States does not consider this group as a terrorist group anymore.

5. From 2003 onward and after this terrorist group lost its support from Saddam, its members lived in limbo at Camp Ashraf. The internal cult-like rules of the organization considered escaping to Iran by its members as a great treachery which was punishable by death. However, since 2005, many of them have returned to Iran voluntarily and through mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Perhaps, removing the MeK from the US Department of State’s list of terrorist organizations will make it possible for its members to interact more freely with the ICRC, or return to their families in Iran with more ease. In that case and if the MeK actually decided to stop its overt activities as well as covert terrorist operations against Iran and accept a more democratic structure in order not to be listed as a terrorist organization again, it would perhaps die in a few years. The reason is that the MeK owes its identity to its strange, clichéd, cultic, and inflexible rules and any kind of compromise in that regard will totally change its identity. There is a Persian proverb which says that “at times a remedy works just the opposite of what it is intended to do.”

By Mahmoud Reza Golshanpazhooh Executive Editor of Iran Review , Eurasia Review

Notes:

(1) http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG871.html

October 6, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

48 Years After Formation of MKO

MKO lacks the least political support among the Iranian people and opposition

This September, Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO, MEK, PMOI, NCR, NLA) commemorates 48th anniversary of its formation. Now on the list of designated terrorist organizations, there is no denying that it shares many characteristics and similar terrorist and violent tactics employed by any of the same groups and entities on the list. However, hardly any of other terrorist groups can be identified even close to it in utilizing tactics in pursuit of overall strategies that have oftentimes changed in degree and frequency; a make-believe shift from an absolute violent to a presumably pro-democracy group, an opportunistic and ambivalent shift from the ultra-left to ultra-right, and turning into an enthusiastic pro-imperialist after being initially and inherently recognized an ardent anti-imperialist.

As an opposition lasting for nearly half a century in Iranian temporary history, MKO is known to have had the most destructive impact on other campaigning freedom-seeking and ideological groups. In contrast to genuine sincerity and righteous causes of the early founders of the organization, as many believe, the subsequent unsavory assumption of power as the leader by Massoud Rajavi actually led the organization to a different path of deviation that so far has challenged it. It does not mean that the early founders like Muhammad Hanifnejad were totally free from mistakes and errors in decision makings that were somehow a natural impact of other active political, ideological and mainly Marxist groups’ activities, but Rajavi’s persistence to walk on a more tortuous path of mistakes led many to doubt the honesty and veracity of the early founders in their claimed campaign.

Benefiting a wide range of public support for its ideological and religious believes MKO was holding at the beginning, it did not take long, only a decade later, for the group to be totally divested of majority of its publically reputed figures who were superseded by pro-leftists. In fact, MKO has failed to remain an un-diverted group and has often been realigning itself with leftist ideologies and has undergone a thorough change both in its membership make up and political interaction with the world outside. Now nearly after five decades of its formation, MKO is facing strong opposition from a variety of other opposition groups that are drawing firm lines of demarcation between genuine and sham ideological, political and strategic policies practiced by MKO and themselves. Here are some examples of these oppositions’ perception of MKO.

– A front of opposition believes that the formation of MKO was engineered by under-the-curtain hands to carry through imperialist, freemason and capitalist ends and to confront genuine Islamic movements. Based on questionable, historical analyses and evidences, this front argues that the formation of MKO followed a tactic of forming a trend at the expense of Islamic movements but at the service of imperialism interests.

– There are others who are of the opinion that MKO was principally a devoted Islamic group but the strong impact of Marxist movements on Iranian campaigning intelligentsia at the time impelled the leaders to nest fallacies in reasoning to make impetuous decisions. These seriously made miscalculations are known to be the root of the consequent organizational and eclectic deviations lasted so far.

– Another group believes that surviving intellectuals of the early Mojahedin like Taqi Shahram and Bahram Aram, who had concealed their Marxist inclination as they joined the organization, were the subset to lead the organization to a full derailment. They are said to have established close collaboration with SAVAK, Pahlavi’s Intelligence Agency, and CIA to deflect the organization from its main path by open declaration of conversion to Marxism when the top leaders were arrested and executed.

– A fourth group observes that transformation of MKO into a deviated terrorist cult is the result of Massoud Rajavi’s hegemonic and ideological leadership. Rajavi’s plotted ideological revolution was in itself a result of the organization’s failures during 1981-1985 and a process that turned to be the major cause behind all deviations and failures of organization.

– The end of the bipolar order is generally associated with the collapse of the USSR that had its great impact on revolutionary Marxism. As a result, majority of left-oriented groups building their struggle on revolutionary and violent underground militarism encountered shocking failed strategies. The claiming revolutionary MKO was not an exception; compelled to undergo a change, MKO is presumed a pro-democratic, non-violent group with no actual reformation of its old infrastructure.

– And a last group of commentators conclude that MKO is considered a good case for historical studies concerning idealist, revolutionary and militant groups turning into non-democratic cults acting under a pro-democratic guise.

Frankly speaking, no campaigning group can be found in Iranian contemporary history so controversial as MKO. The group’s blind assassinations and bloody terrorist operations under a false flag of freedom and democracy repelled Iranian people and made MKO disappointed of availing itself of the determinative public element inside the country to face absolute public rejection. The supporters of a once claiming revolutionary group at the moment are neither the internal or the external oppositions but state-sponsored warmonger Western parties and a few retired and former Western personalities in need of MKO’s money.

September 15, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization

Hidden sources of MKO funds revealed

Qorban Ali Husseini Nezhad, a former high ranking member of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO) on foreign affairs escaped the group after 30 years of organizational membership. Mr. Husseini Nezhad declared his defection from the MKO after he ran away from Temporary Transit Location (Camp Liberty) on Wednesday April25, 2012. It is worth mentioning that he had been terribly condemned by Massoud Rajavi in the group’s brainwashing meetings because he had written a criticizing paper against Massoud. Massoud in his turn accused him of distributing announcements against the organization. And this was a crime, according to Rajavi!!!
Mr. Husseini Nezhad declares his separation from the MKO in a letter:

I am Qorban Ali Husseini Nezhad, nicknamed Qolam in the MKO. I declare my defection from the traitor criminal Cult of Rajavi known as Mujahedin Khalq Organization. As a top Arabic interpreter, I was in fact imprisoned in the cult for over 30 years.

I used to translate all the MKO’s books, journals, announcements, letters, statements and websites to Arabic, and to teach many others in my field. I have a long record of involvement with the MKO as a sympathizer, activist and an exiled member. When I saw the MKO’s deviation from true Islam and the first founders’ ideals of 40 years ago, I decided to leave the group. I attempted to escape the organizational prison of the cult several times inside Iran, abroad and even when I was kept in Ashraf garrison in Iraq but because of the severe oppressive control over the members and my family problems I couldn’t leave it. Finally, at mid-day of Wednesday April25, 2011 I succeeded to leave the cult by the help of human rights monitoring delegation of UNAMI who were visiting Camp liberty. They could break through serious supervision and intelligence control by the cult leaders over Camp Ashraf and Liberty.

In the early days of Iranian Revolution, I didn’t admit to the call by some of my friends and ex-commanders in Shah’s prison who urged me to professionally join the MKO. Instead, I cooperated with transitional government of Mehdi Bazargan so I became the governor of my town (Mianeh in North Western of Iran). I opposed the MKO riot and crisis mongering actions. I declared my independence candidacy for the first parliament election after the revolution. All religious intellectuals and even the MKO supported my candidacy in my town. I failed to be elected in the parliament.

So I got back to my own job as a teacher in Karaj.

In the summer of 1981, the MKO had created a horrible condition in Iran, committing acts of terror. The authorities of the MKO urged me to go into hiding. So I entered the organization. They sent me and my wife and my only child abroad. I worked for the MKO in Europe for a few years and then they sent me and my family to Iraq in 1987 after the group leadership moved to Iraq.
In Iraq, I worked for the cult for over twenty years. I was the assistant of a battalion commander – although I haven’t accepted the so-called ideological revolution. I was working as an interpreter and because of my job, I witnessed Rajavi’s services and spying acts for Saddam Hussein and his regime and even for American occupiers.

Rajavi’s entire leadership structure was a part of Iraqi intelligence service and his so-called National Liberation army (NLA) was a part of Iraqi military. In his last visit with Saddam Hussein in August 2000, he asked Hussein to increase his oil share up to 100 thousand barrels a day (3 million barrels a month), according to the documents and letters I translated or reports composed by his closest comrades that I was able to read. Rajavi received his oil share in coupons which were then sent to Europe to be changed into dollars. Rajavi’s quota from Iraqi oil was 50 to 70 thousand barrels before the visit. This amount was not included in many other million barrels of oil that was offered to him out of oil for food program.
This is the multi-million financial source of the MKO. Rajavi has invested these large amounts in Western countries under the cover of front companies. Today the outcomes of such investment are spent for Maryam’s expenses in her Parisian Palace and her various fashionable clothes, as well as the group’s conferences and luxurious parties in Europe and the US. The money is also used to pay their speakers including former American intelligence, military and security officials. The MKO also spends it to buy lobbying firms and to run expensive advertisements in American, Iraqi and European newspapers as well as their TV channels.

They have bought thousands of Western attorneys and dozens of Iraqi mercenaries in order to maintain their hostages in their cult and to prevent the collapse of the cult. They spent their money to suppress, torture, kill and ruin the lives of a large number of youth of the Iranian nation and to beg United States to delist them. “Their overthrow Strategy is stuck behind the list”!

As we see, Rajavi’s claims of Iranians’ financial support for the group and all his tricks in fundraising programs are shallow and just like a cover to hide the oil resources they plundered from Iraqi people; like a justification to whiten their multi-million operating cost. Besides, they received dozens of thousands of arms and thousands of tons of munitions from Iraq. A few months before the American invasion in 2003, they took their oil quota for the next 6 months (18 million barrels) in advance due to the probability of American invasion .After the invasion they handed the arms and munitions to American occupiers.

After the fall of Saddam as I was a translator I closely witnessed the MKO’s systematic intervention in Iraqi affairs and their spying acts in side of American forces against Iraqi people aiming to maintain their cult in Iraq. I eye witnessed preparation and translation of a large number of fake statements, letters, speeches, interviews with so-called Iraqi tribe leaders, authorities and communities.

Some people were paid to sign the so-called letters and fill out the so-called forms millions of times! They made efforts to instigate crisis and division among ethnic groups and political parties in Iraq particularly in Diala Province where Camp Ashraf was located. Ultimatey they failed in their extended campaign to overthrow the Iraqi government!
They formed an operation chamber for Iraqi election in order to influence the election result.

Inside the cult, suppression and excessive control over members, their relation and even their thoughts were increased. Daily criticism meetings and weekly sexual torture meeting were held to brainwash the members.

Two individuals were forbidden to talk to each other. They were totally isolated, cut from the outside world, deprived from any contact with family, friends and even media. Members were imprisoned inside units. I myself was imprisoned in a prison called “Exit” because I had individually talked to Iraqis. I was accused of immoral acts that I will explain in details in my further interviews.

After I left Camp liberty, I visited Mr. Kobler, UN special representative in Iraq. I described the conditions at camp Liberty where the group leaders created another “Ashraf”. There, they have started their strict supervision system, they continued brainwashing sessions. I told Mr. Kobler that most members were willing to leave the cult. I asked him to facilitate necessary possibilities for their exit from TTL. Mr. Kobler promised to pursue their case, saying that my testimonies confirmed what other former members of the MKO have revealed about the group.

I send congratulations to all survivors released from the terrorist inhumane cult of Rajavi.

I ask my other colleagues who left the group to denounce it in a united challenging effort by the help of media, Iraqi government and international bodies, particularly UNAMI in order to release our imprisoned brothers and sisters in the cult of Rajavi.

Translated by Nejat Society

June 2, 2012 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

The Shell of MKO Cracked Open

For the escapees of Ashraf, MKO’s cracked shell is no more a serious impediment to freedom

The escape of more than a score of MKO’s members from its military base, Camp Ashraf, while being transferred to a temporary transit center near Baghdad has faced the group with another For the escapees of Ashraf, MKO’s cracked shell is no more a serious impediment to freedom grave crisis among many other that have already challenged it. Even more overwhelming, majority of them are old, experienced veterans and ranking members of the group. But what is particularly noteworthy about these escapes is that neither the group makes any allusion to them nor takes any antagonistic position, as did in the past, to call them infiltrated Iranian agents or other names. However, as they had provoked an angry backlash from the group, it directed its anger at other people and bodies cooperating in the process of relocation. For instance, we witnessed a new wave of strong condemnation of Martin Kobler, UN representative in Iraq, ICRC, UNHRC, and even the US State Department and being labeled of collaborating with Tehran against MKO. Silly as it may seem, the group even squawked about the UNHRC processing of individuals at Temporary Transit Location (TTL) and blamed it for asking tendentious questions that the group believed to be totally irrelevant to the individuals’ refugee status.

No doubt, these escapes are the consequence of the internal functioning of a terrorist group in terms of dynamics that are typical of a cult. Rajavi, as the leader of the cult, had already anticipated what would happen if a crack in the internal relations of the organization would appear. As a result, he would insist to safeguard the internal relations of the group from any outside interference. The first step, after the fall of Saddam, was to reach at an agreement with American forces in Iraq to keep its internal structure intact.

Rajavi has repeatedly announced in his meetings with the group’s leadership council that his organization has solved problems with American forces; they are free to do what they will in Camp Ashraf and in return, they have promised to “leave us to ourselves” and have no interference in our internal relations. In fact, when MKO surrendered its arms, it knew what precious reward it was being granted in return. It could do nothing more with the arms, but having the control of Ashraf in its own hands could well guarantee the survival of an organization destined to fall.

In contrast to Americans, the Iraqis are well aware where to target to destabilize the group. And that is why MKO’s leader insisted to have the control of Ashraf returned to American forces and strongly reacted against the transfer of the camp’s security to Iraqi forces in January 2009. Since the transfer of Camp Ashraf’s security from the US military forces to Iraqi government, there has been an ongoing wave of clashes between the insiders and Iraqi forces mainly because the former have insisted to penetrate into the camp to take the internal control of Ashraf in their hands, a move that seriously threatened the internal cultic relations and which provoked insiders into violent reaction that left tragic casualties.

Rajavi did anything in his power to protect and save its ideological-cult bastion, to keep members altogether under his cultic spells and practices inside the camp. But the best means at hand were always the members of the organization themselves who have been victimized as human-shields to bulwark Rajavi’s cult bastion. The watching and controlling measures that monitor the members even in their privacy never permit any risk of leaving a member alone with an outsider, be it a health caretaker or a member of his/her own family. That is why Rajavi has so far objected to letting the members out of the camp or meeting their families alone and unsupervised.

Despite raising huge fuss about its internal ideological revolution as the group’s greatest achievement, the flimsy, fragile walls of the group’s post-revolution framework have become even thinner. In fact, its structure can be analogized to a spider‘s house as the most feeble; a high-wind will sweeps it away altogether. And there are winds of crises blowing one after another. Now the control of Ashraf being removed through the process of transfer of the members to TTL, the members find an opportunity to breathe a fresh air they have long been deprived of. The thinned wall of the closed egg shutting them up from the free world outside is just before them to crack and pop it open. And there have been braves among them to try it out. For sure, there will be more escapes as the number of the encouraged is growing and the thin, cracked shell of the organization is no more a serious impediment to freedom.

May 24, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

US violates law – provides material support for MEK

U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) helped train, arm, equip and arrange for travel of members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (M.E.K.) at a secretive site in US violates law – provides material support for MEK Nevada from 2005 to at least 2007, as reported by Seymour M. Hersh at The New Yorker.

M.E.K. has been listed as a “foreign terrorist organization” since 1997.

It is a felony in U.S. law to knowingly provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.

Five Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated since 2007.

Early last month two senior Obama officials said that the attacks were the work of M.E.K. and that the group is "financed, trained and armed by Israel’s secret service [i.e. Mossad].

In 2002 M.E.K. publicly revealed that Iran had begun enriching uranium at a secret underground location and the information was provided by Mossad, according to then-head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei.

From The New Yorker:

The M.E.K.’s ties with Western intelligence deepened after the fall of the Iraqi regime in 2003, and JSOC began operating inside Iran in an effort to substantiate the Bush Administration’s fears that Iran was building the bomb at one or more secret underground locations. Funds were covertly passed to a number of dissident organizations, for intelligence collection and, ultimately, for anti-regime terrorist activities. Directly, or indirectly, the M.E.K. ended up with resources like arms and intelligence.

The training in the U.S. took place at the secretive Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site, located about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

A retired four-star general told Hersh that the Iranians received standard training for about six months that included bomb making, communications, cryptography, small-unit tactics and weaponry.

Last month the senior Obama officials lied to the American public about any U.S. involvement in the M.E.K. assassinations, but a former senior intelligence official told Hersh that the U.S. provides intelligence for M.E.K. operations. “The US broke international laws, helped finance terrorism that was responsible for the death of innocent civilians in Iran”, said Bob Smith of Charlotte, N.C. in a telephone conversation, who claims the Special Forces units involved in training the MEK terrorists came from Ft. Bragg, N.C.

"How can the U.S. train those on State’s foreign terrorist list, when others face criminal penalties for providing a nickel to the same organization?”, says Allan Gerson, a Washington attorney for the M.E.K., pointed out the total hypocrisy of simultaneously listing the group as a terrorist organization and training them. I wonder what that says about a lawyer who defends them?

The People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK, also PMOI, MKO) founded in September 5, 1965 by a group of leftist Iranian university students as an Islamic and Marxist political mass movement MEK was originally devoted to armed struggle against the Shah of Iran, capitalism, and Western imperialism. In the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the MEK and the Tudeh Party at first chose to side with the clerics led by Ayatollah Khomeini against the liberals, nationalists and other moderate forces within the revolution. A power struggle ensued, and by mid-1981, MEK was fighting street battles against the Islamic Revolutionary Guards.[7][8][9] During the Iran-Iraq War, the group was given refuge by Saddam Hussein and mounted attacks on Iran from within Iraqi territory. Government sources claim that over 17,000 Iranians were killed by the MEK.

The group claims to have renounced violence in 2001 and today it is the main component organization of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an "umbrella coalition" calling itself the "parliament-in-exile dedicated to a democratic, secular and coalition government in Iran. The group has had thousands of its members for many years in bases in Iraq, but according to the British Broadcasting Corporation "they were disarmed in the wake of the US-led invasion and are said to have adhered to a ceasefire."

The United States, Canada, Iraq and Iran have designated the MEK a terrorist organization.

“The US used taxpayer funds to train these terrorists”, said one Charlotte, N.C. veteran. “I would like to see those prosecuted for this crime”, he said. The veteran stopped short of calling for prosecution of members of the Pentagon and senior military officials who carried out what was an “illegal act”. “Soldiers follow orders sometimes. They cannot disobey. They should be excused for their crimes. I more interested in the senior military commanders who went along with this”, he said.

“The possibility that anyone will be prosecuted for helping train terrorists is highly unlikely”, said one retired FBI agent from Charlotte, who declined to be named in this report. “I don’t like what our government does sometimes but I am in no position to do anything about it”, he said.

This is generally the attitude of people I talked to about this incident. From officials at Ft. Bragg who refused to discuss it, to former Special Forces members who claim they just follow orders, to Administration officials who indicated the US is right for funding people who murder and kill people in Iran. They all offer excuses.

On December 14, 2006, Time Magazine published an article about MEK and reported: "In 2003, French anti-terrorist police raided Maryam Rajavi’s place in Auvers-sur-Oise, securing millions of euros and taking Maryam Rajavi and some of her collaborators into custody. Several of Rajavi’s followers set themselves on fire to protest her arrest, confirming official French concerns about the cultish nature of the group."

On September 14, 1981, Time Magazine published an article about MEK and reported: "The Mujahedin platform focused on anticapitalist, anti-Western slogans. It demanded the nationalization of all foreign businesses run by Iranians and continuation of the anti-imperialist struggle, especially against the U.S. Western intelligence sources doubt that the Mujahedin, though superbly organized, have as many followers as they claim. "They are not a popular movement," one analyst asserts. "Their ideology is not understood by the masses. They are capable, of carrying out terror operations but not of governing Iran."

On April 21, 1997, Time Magazine published an article about MEK and reported:

"There is a cult of personality around Massoud Rajavi and Maryam Rajavi that is unhealthy,"

says Michael Eisenstadt, an Iran expert at the Washington Institute on Near East Policy. "If they were to achieve power, it is unlikely they would give it up."

On August 28, 1988, New York Times published an article that after chemical attacks by MEK against western Iranian cities, Alireza Jafarzadeh as then public spokesman for MEK in the United States said:

"Mujahedeen have learned to take proper tactics when and if necessary. We have always adjusted tactics in our fighting. The form of fighting is secondary."

The Mujahedeen claimed to have inflicted 40,000 Iranian casualties.

On July 13, 2003, New York Times published an article that in 1991 when Saddam Hussein used the MEK and its tanks as advance forces to crush the Iraqi Kurdish people in the north and the Iraqi Shia people in the south, Maryam Rajavi as then leader of MEK’s army forces commanded:

"Take the Kurds under your tanks, and save your bullets for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards."

On December 14, 2006, Time Magazine published an article about MEK and reported: "By the mid-1980s, the group (MEK) had cozied up to Saddam Hussein, who provided them with funds and a compound, Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad. The U.S. government has accused the group of helping Saddam brutally put down Iraqi Kurdish people in the early 1990s, and of launching numerous attacks inside Iran."

On January 5, 2009, Time Magazine published an article about MEK and reported: "Despite its position on the U.S. terrorist list since 1997, and reports by former members of abusive and cultlike practices at Ashraf, the MEK has gathered support from some surprising places abroad — especially since the U.S. invasion — by pitching itself as a viable opposition to the regime in Tehran.”They have been extremely clever and very, very effective in their propaganda and lobbying of members of Congress," says Gary Sick, a Persian Gulf expert at Columbia University’s Middle East Institute and the author of All Fall Down: America’s Tragic Encounter With Iran. "They get all sorts of people to sign their petitions. Many times the Congressmen don’t know what they’re signing." But others, Sick adds, "are quite aware of the fact that this is a designated terrorist organization, and they are quite willing to look the other way for a group that they think is a democratic alternative to the Iranian regime."

On May 18, 2005, Newsweek published an article about MEK and reported: "Human Rights Watch alleges that the Iranian exile group known as Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) has a history of cultlike practices that include forcing members to divorce their spouses and to engage in extended self-criticism sessions. More dramatically, the report states, former MEK members told Human Rights Watch that when they protested MEK policies or tried to leave the organization, they were arrested, in some cases violently abused and in other instances imprisoned. They were held in solitary confinement for years in a camp operated by MEK in Iraq under the protection of Saddam Hussein. MEK representatives in the United States and France, where MEK is headquartered, did not respond to NEWSWEEK phone calls and an e-mail requesting comment. The new Human Rights Watch report does allege strange and sometimes brutal behavior by the group’s leaders and internal security apparatus. According to Human Rights Watch, following this 1988 military defeat, the Rajavi’s leadership of MEK became increasingly authoritarian and cultlike. According to an MEK defector’s memoir, Rajavi claimed to have a mystical relationship with a prophet known as Imam Zaman, who is Shia Islam’s version of the long-awaited Messiah. In order to better cement their relationship with their leader, and hence ultimately their Messiah, Rajavi then instructed his followers to divorce their spouses. The group had already established a practice of "self criticism," under which members were asked to undergo their own personal "ideological revolution" by confessing personal inadequacies in cultlike confession sessions. Human Rights Watch says the testimony of former MEK prisoners paints a grim picture of how the organization treated its members, particularly those who held dissenting opinions or expressed an intent to leave the organization. Other witnesses told Human Rights Watch claimed it was the practice of MEK interrogators to tie thick ropes around prisoners’ necks and drag them along the ground. One witness told investigators: "Sometimes prisoners returned to the cell with extremely swollen necks–their head and neck as big as a pillow." In a statement accompanying its investigative report, Joe Stork, a Human Rights Watch expert on the Middle East, commented:

"… it would be a mistake to promote an opposition group that is responsible for serious human rights abuses."

In 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) listed the MEK as a terrorist entity (see: http://www.american.com/archive/2011/FBI%20-%20REPORT.pdf

Among the charges the FBI accused the MEK of committing was murder of US citizen Paul Grimm, a Texaco executive in 1978 and participating in the student takeover of the US embassy in Iran. A list of the charges would take 42 pages to list

The FBI field office in Kansas City, Missouri refused comment on this story.

See also article: Hersh: US facilitates MEK terror in Iran

by Robert Tilford ,Exminer

May 22, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

US provided material support for MEK foreign terrorists in Nevada

U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) helped train, arm, equip and arrange for travel of members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (M.E.K.) at a secretive site in Nevada from 2005 to at least 2007, as reported by Seymour M. Hersh at The New Yorker.

M.E.K. has been listed as a “foreign terrorist organization” since 1997.

It is a felony in U.S. law to knowingly provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.

Five Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated since 2007.

Early last month two senior Obama officials said that the attacks were the work of M.E.K. and that the group is "financed, trained and armed by Israel’s secret service [i.e. Mossad]."

From The New Yorker:

The training in the U.S. took place at the secretive Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site, located about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

A retired four-star general told Hersh that the Iranians received standard training for about six months that included bomb making, communications, cryptography, small-unit tactics and weaponry.

The People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK, also PMOI, MKO) founded in September 5, 1965 by a group of leftist Iranian university students as an Islamic and Marxist political mass movement. MEK was originally devoted to armed struggle against the Shah of Iran, capitalism, and Western imperialism. In the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the MEK and the Tudeh Party at first chose to side with the clerics led by Ayatollah Khomeini against the liberals, nationalists and other moderate forces within the revolution. A power struggle ensued, and by mid-1981, MEK was fighting street battles against the Islamic Revolutionary Guards.[7][8][9] During the Iran-Iraq War, the group was given refuge by Saddam Hussein and mounted attacks on Iran from within Iraqi territory. Government sources claim that over 17,000 Iranians were killed by the MEK.

The United States, Canada, Iraq and Iran have designated the MEK a terrorist organization.

On April 21, 1997, Time Magazine published an article about MEK and reported:

"There is a cult of personality around Massoud Rajavi and Maryam Rajavi that is unhealthy,"

says Michael Eisenstadt, an Iran expert at the Washington Institute on Near East Policy. "If they were to achieve power, it is unlikely they would give it up."

“Mujahedeen have learned to take proper tactics when and if necessary. We have always adjusted tactics in our fighting. The form of fighting is secondary."

The Mujahedeen claimed to have inflicted 40,000 Iranian casualties.

"Take the Kurds under your tanks, and save your bullets for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards."

On January 5, 2009, Time Magazine published an article about MEK and reported: "Despite its position on the U.S. terrorist list since 1997, and reports by former members of abusive and cultlike practices at Ashraf, the MEK has gathered support from some surprising places abroad — especially since the U.S. invasion — by pitching itself as a viable opposition to the regime in Tehran. "They have been extremely clever and very, very effective in their propaganda and lobbying of members of Congress," says Gary Sick, a Persian Gulf expert at Columbia University’s Middle East Institute and the author of All Fall Down: America’s Tragic Encounter With Iran. "They get all sorts of people to sign their petitions. Many times the Congressmen don’t know what they’re signing." But others, Sick adds, "are quite aware of the fact that this is a designated terrorist organization, and they are quite willing to look the other way for a group that they think is a democratic alternative to the Iranian regime."

".. it would be a mistake to promote an opposition group that is responsible for serious human rights abuses."

In 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) listed the MEK as a terrorist entity (see: http://www.american.com/archive/2011/FBI%20-%20REPORT.pdf

The FBI field office in Charlotte, N.C. refused to comment on news reports of Special Forces training MEK terrorists. According to a spokesman “The US doesn’t commit terrorist acts and US Special Forces don’t train terrorists”, the FBI agent declined request to be named in this report and hung up on us. The US Justice Department have not responded to email asking for a comment in this matter…

See also article: Hersh: US facilitates MEK terror in Iran

Robert Tilford – Examiner.com

April 29, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization

MKO hanging in a vague future and past !!!! (Part2)

The followings are some methods used by the MKO to cope with dissident members who opposed the MKO’s move to Iraq:

They were killed under the scenario designated by some of their extremist comrades
They were shot by their own comrades who had no idea who they were shooting at.(like what happened in Al-Shaabania Operation)
They were sent on armed mission inside Iran and then the group leaders would betray their haven to the Iranian government.
They were imprisoned in prisons in Camp Ashraf, where they were tortured to give up their disagreement with the group otherwise they would be transfered to abu Quraib prison.

Most of the defectors of the group who had first joined it before Islamic Revolution, stated that they were shocked by the deviations took place in the organization after its leadership was excluded to Massoud Rajavi.

This man has highly obsessive ideas against males. He replaced all male members of their Elite Council with female members. At the present time the top number two and three of the organization are two women respectively Maryam Rajavi and Mahvash Sepehri. Even the commander of Camp Ashraf is a woman called Mozhgan Parsaiee. One of the female defectors of the group, Batoul Soltani says:” when Massoud Rajavi had a meeting with a woman, no man was allowed to enter. Men became Minor to women after the ideological revolution. This woman-holic is so smart; he has a deep insight that has so far helped him maintain his activities.”

About Massoud Rajavi, she says:”all dictators around the world believe in at least a few limitations for themselves. For example, some dictators try to preserve their dignity and pride and say,’ I don’t make relations with America or Soviet Union’. But Massoud Rajavi had links with the US and other Western countries while he claimed to struggle against Imperialism, at the same time he was connected to the Soviet Union too. No ideological limits prevented him from working with either of them.”

One can accurately grant Massoud Rajavi the title “political genius” because of his methods of controlling bodies and minds of his group members hence no one is found in the organization, who is not afraid of him, even if members hate him whole-heartedly.

Before going to his manipulation methods to control bodies and soles, let’s have a look on his recruitment methods:

They recruit the 17 to 22 year-old youth by chanting slogans , they claim that they struggle against religious extremism and reactionary Islam and for freedom of Iranian nation.
They trap young Iranians under the pretext of transferring to Europe. A large number of human smugglers who worked for the MKO in Turkey and Pakistan had been cooperating with two travel agencies called Nabtia and Delta, according to a document obtained from Intelligence Service of former Iraqi Baath regime. Based on the document, when an Iranian young wanted to immigrate to Europe, the smuggler would convince him to go there via Baghdad and Jordan. They would be transferred to Iraq through Jordan without having any official document, just with the help of both countries’ security services.

However, keeping these individuals in the organization required some procedures and tactics used by the group.

1 – Exhausting Labour
All members work (physically active) 16 to 18 hours a day so that they find no time to think. I refer to one of Rajavi’s quotes in a meeting with his Elite Council:” I ask you to turn them into skinny and boney guys in order that they are not able to oppose."

2 – Physical and mental surveillance
In Camp Ashraf nobody is allowed to traverse alone. Every member has to be in company with a superior or inferior comrade. In Auver sur d’Oise the MKO base in France, the number reaches three.
a. Individual exercising is forbidden.
b. Thinking is forbidden. Everyone who sits somewhere alone for a few moments has to then confess all his thoughts to his superior official.
c. Everyone has to supervise his or her comrades
d. No family contact is allowed
e. Government forces: in former Iraqi regime, security forces used to arrest those members who wanted to escape the camp. After the fall of that regime, such a thing didn’t happen anymore. About Auver Sur d’Oise, the police have the responsibility.

3 – Hostage taking
Holding children as hostages: before 1991, organizational marriages took place in the organization. Members had to marry the spouse that was assigned for them by the group leaders. In 1991 when the first gulf war started the children who were the fruit of those marriages, were transferred to Europe. Seven hundred children were sent to European countries under the pretext of “dangerous war situation". The kids were moved there under the cover of human rights organization that were actually front organization of the MKO with fake passports, then they would be delivered to European mothers. After the gulf war ended, all spouses were ordered to divorce under the title” Ideological Revolution”. The organization held their children as hostages in order that members did not dare to escape.

4 – Fear and intimidation
a. Every member who attempts to leave or escape the base will be tortured and imposed severe peer pressure. Tens of his comrades will verbally and physically abuse him.
b. The members are all the time inculcated that if they escape the camp. They will be arrested and executed by Iranian forces. Here, I would cite a famous quote from Rajavi that is a significant proof of his notorious ideas:”we should all the time implement axe, bullet and pistol on the members.”

By Mohammad Saad / Almurakeb-al-Iraqi

to be continued

January 11, 2012 0 comments

Europe

To the judges of European supreme court of justice

Honorable and distinguished judges of European supreme court of justice

Respectfully,
We are a group of former members of pmoi( People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran) who had spent a great deal of their lives in Ashraf garrison and the other bases of this organization in Iraq and during those years we had been witnessing horrifying incidents and events which were all related to human rights and sentimental issues. Around 2 weeks ago on 21 of December 2011 ,you rejected the French government appeal of the European union verdict of 4 of December 2008 related to revoking terrorist label against pmoi and you emphasized and reiterated over delisting of this organization from the terrorist list and you called the French appeal request as an invalid request. In issuing of this verdict the role of Mrs. Shariston as the attorney of this file and dossier is very clear.

We know perfectly that most human rights issues as well as juridical and humanitarian issues throughout the world are contaminated to the wrong policies and any humanitarian principles are trampled easily for the sake of political and economical interests and the only thing which has lost its value is humanitarian and human rights values.

We know also that sometimes listing and delisting of the terrorist organizations has been affected by the contaminated and wrong policies and politics and if everything was implemented and carried out justly ,there was no need to put this organization(pmoi) in the European and US terrorist list in long interval from each other, because the performance of this organization during past 30 years is not covert for anyone.

Honorable judges

You are confronted with the organization which during the first years of the beginning of arm struggle had done hundreds assassinations on the streets ,so called revolutionary executions, and they have assassinated and slain more than hundreds of Iranian people by using bombs and automatic submachine guns ,in the pretext of their cooperation and involvement with the different Islamic republic organizations, on the streets and in mosques .

You are confronted with the organization ,which from 1981 till few years after the Kuwait war, has bombed and exploded governmental buildings and oil pipes and other places which as a result of that many innocent people have been killed and slain by them.

You are confronted with the organization which has implemented and carried out more than hundreds mortar attacks and missile operations on the streets of Tehran and other cities of Iran just few years before the fall of Saddam Hussein and they have targeted the buildings which both military personnel and ordinary innocent people ,like women and children, were in it.

You are confronted with the organization which has assassinated few American military advisers during the shah’s time in 70,s and had participated in hostage taking of American Embassy in Teheran ( they had a significant role in that operation which some video clips related to that event is available in YouTube).

You are confronted with the organization which its spiritual leader ,Massoud Rajavi, declared in official gathering that he will assassinate and slay the pmoi separated members and his critics on the streets of Europe if he does not succeed and fail in his cultic plans.

Honorable judges

You are on the position of judgment and many eyes are watching you. if one of those terrorist military operations happened and occurred in European cities , you would have silenced? Have not you condemned it as a terrorist act ?

Had not the leader of this organization , Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, declared self immolation order to her own members in the heart of Europe in 2003 and because of that order more than ten people set themselves on fire for her release? Do you know that simultaneously with Europe also in Ashraf Garrison the pmoi operatives had recruited for self immolation? Do not you think that these brutal and savage actions are not a terrorist danger for the future of Europe?

Honorable judges

Each one of us has lost one or more members of our families during these 30 years and also we have sacrificed and spent many years of our lives in this organization to fight against Islamic republic … we know well that the brutal and bloody policies of Massoud Rajavi during past 30 years has been precisely against the peaceful struggle and demanding democracy of Iranian people . we know very well that if any person who has perpetrated many crimes ,he or she can not be punished or killed on the alley or street by the order and the will of some one else without going to the court of law and without any trial and official judgment and this brutal action be called as a revolutionary execution and they call it as a street trial . you as the professionals in your position in judicial and juridical affaires know very well that these kind of brutal actions are the clear and apparent breach of human rights rules. No one can be punished without the trial and substantiation of the crime but the leaders of pmoi are not committed to such international rules and they have not showed any remorse of their brutal and bloody past in nowhere.

You honorable judges know that we had been members of this cult in the past and forcibly we knew such actions ( specially in the cold war which was the era of arm struggles) as an legitimate and lawful action because we did not have any idea about the breach of human rights , juridical and lawful issues because our thoughts were formed by the things which our leaders were saying to us, but you in the free and democratic world and society knew that such actions do not have any lawful and juridical legitimacy and we expect you to review the past of this organization carefully one more time .

Do you know that colonel Sayad Shirazi was assassinated and killed right in front of the eyes of his child on the street by the direct order of pmoi leader ,Massoud Rajavi? Who had put this colonel on trial and sentenced him to be executed and killed without any court of law and any official verdict even if he had done many crimes ? In which court of law such verdict and maximum penalty, death by firing squad, has been issued? Do you accept that a criminal , any criminal , be executed or assassinated in front of his terrified eyes of his own child? This is just an example of hundreds assassinations that pmoi has done.

Most of the pmoi assassinations had happened on streets and inside the mosques . we do not judge about the crimes which had perpetrated by the people who were assassinated but we are talking about the way of handling those trials and the punishments . Do you know that inside of the mosques women and children were present and some of those innocent people also were wounded or killed by the assassins? what about those innocents, women and children, who were wounded and killed?

Some of us were present in the scuffles which happened after the Kuwait war in Iraq. many times the homes and the properties of the ordinary iraqi people were targeted in the cities such as Touz Khormatou and Soleymanbak and Kefri and women and children and elderly people got injured and they were crying and begging the pmoi operatives not to target their homes . Do not you think that such actions are terrorist act and crime against humanity?

Honorable judges

Do the leaders of this organization has changed their violent strategy and policy? if it is true where have they declared it officially? is their forcible disarmament the criteria of their change? If it is true why during past 2 years hundreds of the pmoi members who were equipped with hand made baton , club , archery and wooden shields were sent by Massoud Rajavi direct order to fight against Iraqi soldiers? why those pmoi members by the direct order of Massoud Rajavi throw rocks and pieces of iron and fireballs toward the elderly parents of those pmoi stranded members?

Do you ,as honorable judges ,have enough recognition of the leaders of this dangerous religious cult? Have you spoken with hundreds of separated members of this cult to find more vital facts about their internal relations?

There is no doubt that the politics may be contaminated to corruption and we hope that the European courts specially the European supreme court of justice will always be free of any politics But there is an ambiguity for us that for what reason the French government appeal has been rejected?

Do not you think that the leaders of this cult are terrorist so how do you call and see those terrorist actions which had been perpetrated by pmoi during past 30 years ? and if you think that the leadership of this cult has changed its strategy and behavior what is your criteria and how do you confirm it? Is Rajavi ready to say in the Press and the Media that he is remorseful of all terrorist actions that he ordered and he says officially that he is responsible and has made a mistake? If they do not want to say it , so with what criteria can you be completely confident and sure that after all these events and residing of Massoud Rajavi and some of pmoi operatives in Europe, again they do not begin their terrorist actions against their dissidents and critics?

Honorable judges

We ,as the former members of this dangerous religious cult , have been witnessing of many terrorist and criminal actions which have been planned by Massoud and Maryam Rajavi and we are ready to be present at any court of law that you mention to testify as witnesses . Most of those crimes has occurred against the dissidents and critic members and those crimes have been covert unfortunately . many members have lost their lives in Ashraf Garrison either under torture or by committing suicide and self immolation and more than hundreds of those members were incarcerated either in Ashraf garrison or Iraqi prisons such as Abughrib prison ,just because they were against the pmoi internal ideological revolution. Many of those pmoi incarcerated members in Iraqi prisons were exchanged as prisoners of war (POW) with Islamic republic. All those suicides which happened inside Ashraf garrison were because of inhumane pressures which the pmoi leadership exerted upon them.

So how is it possible to go through of all those facts without scrutiny and investigation and just by false claims of pmoi leadership and its officials, give the verdict? What about all those victims of pmoi terrorist actions , have they been mentioned in your verdict? Do not you think that before any verdict ,it was better to talk with some of those victims and let them share their views and experiences about pmoi with you? Have you been informed that during current year many pmoi members escaped from Ashraf garrison and took refuge in United Nation and among them there were women of leadership council ? was it not better for you and your verdict to talk with them first who are the most valuable sources and witness of the pmoi internal relations?

We are eager to see justice to what extent in the supreme court of justice and other European courts what comes first? We hope that with this verdict( which is only in favor of pmoi leaders and it does not solve any problems of those stranded members who have been victims of the pmoi leadership’s terrorist and inhumane policies) the future of the European youth will not be affected by the sectarianism and dangerous terrorist actions which may happen by the rise of religious cults and sects on European soil.

We, the former members of this dangerous religious cult, are ready to help you as much as possible to inform you more about these dangerous religious cults because we do not want that European youth like us become victims of such cults which are capable of brainwashing and forcing them to set themselves on fire and commit suicide for the sake of cultic thoughts and ideology. Fortunately the Iranian informed and intelligent girls and boys have shown perfectly during the recent years that they have recognized utterly these kind of cults, consequently for their own safety and security, they keep their distance from them as much as possible for that reason Rajavi has lost his hope on Iranian youth and instead he has counted on European youth.

Respectfully

The group of the former members of pmoi residing in Europe

Mohammad Razaghi
Hamed Sarrafpour
Batul Soltani
Jafar Ebrahimi
Batul Maleki
Hassan Piransar
Nader Naderi
Alireza Nasrollahi
Mahmoud Sepahi
Homayon kahzadi
Saeed Naseri
Mohammad Karami
Nasrin Ebrahimi
Ghafour Fatahiyan
Alireza Miraskari
Ali akbar Rastgo
Massoud Khodabandeh
Ali Ghashghavi
Mehdi Khoshhal
Millad Ariyaie
Anne Singleton
Mehdi Sojodi
Ali Jahani
Mehrdad Sagharchi
Mohammad Hussein Sobhani
Rohollah Tajbakhsh
Mohsen Abaslou
Majid Rohi
Behzad Alishahi
Karim Gholami
Amir Movasaghi
Hadi Shamshaeri
Edvard Termado
Abbas Sadeghi

Faryade Azadi, January 07 2012

January 8, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MEK remains on US FTO list after Camp Ashraf deal

In August I was one among several people who wrote about a well-funded lobbying campaign by the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) to get delisted from the US’s foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) list. The MEK is an exiled Iranian group that has killed US and Iranian citizens. It’s also described as a “cult” that has committed human rights abuses against its own members as documented by the Rand Corporation and Human Rights Watch.

Armed and supported by Saddam Hussein, the MEK helped him repress Iraqi Shias and Kurds and fought against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war. Many analysts including neoconservative Michael Rubin have urged against delisting, noting potential blowback and acknowledging that the group would not be able to implement regime change in Iran due to its unpopularity with most Iranians.

President Obama was put in a tough spot by the MEK’s lobbying blitz not only because of the political heavyweights that expressed differing degrees of endorsement after thousands were paid to them in “speaking fees“, but also because of the MEK’s dishonest merging of the humanitarian concerns at their Camp Ashraf base with their FTO listing. Many expected that the Obama administration would announce a decision in September after dragging its feet for over a year following a 2010 Court of Appeals rare order that the designation be reevaluated, but no final announcement has been made and to date the MEK remains FTO-listed.

Under increasing Iraqi pressure to relocate and from human rights organizations urging leader Maryam Rajavi to allow independent access to over 3,000 Iranians at the camp, many feared a humanitarian tragedy such as mass suicide. But progress has been made after the UN convinced Iraq to sign a memorandum of understanding to temporarily resettle the residents to a former US military base north of Baghdad. The Head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq Martin Kobler said relocation was voluntary.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday that the temporary solution had the U.S’s “full support” and that the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) would be conducting refugee status determinations for the members “toward resettlement to third countries.”

She also stressed that for the initiative to be “successful”, the camp’s residents would have to give their “full support” and urged them to “work with the UN”–an indication that resistance is expected from the MEK’s avid supporters (many are believed to be held against their will).

While the majority of MEK members have never left the camp, Rajavi has been living in Paris where she has successfully lobbied the group off the UK and EU FTO lists. The whereabouts of her husband Masoud are unknown, but some suspect he’s inside the camp. It will be interesting to see whether any new information about him is disclosed and if Maryam Rajavi will ultimately relinquish her hold on the group’s members.

So far there have been no independent confirmations of a MEK claim that Iranian rockets struck their camp on Sunday. We’ll also have to wait and see whether the residents allow themselves to be relocated out of Iraq. The only thing that’s certain is that these people–especially those who have been lured and born into Camp Ashraf–deserve a better life.

The following is an excerpt from the RAND report (pg. 38-9) for those who want to understand the MEK better.

The MeK as a Cult

From its earliest days, the MeK had had tight social bonds, but these began to be transformed into something more sinister during the mid- 1980s after the group’s leaders and many of its members had relocated to Paris. There, Masoud Rajavi began to undertake what he called an “ideological revolution,” requiring a new regimen of activities—at first demanding increased study and devotion to the cause but soon expanding into near-religious devotion to the Rajavis (Masoud and his wife, Maryam), public self-deprecation sessions, mandatory divorce, celibacy,enforced separation from family and friends, and gender segregation.

Prior to establishing an alliance with Saddam, the MeK had been a popular organization. However, once it settled in Iraq and fought against Iranian forces in alliance with Saddam, the group incurred the ire of the Iranian people and, as a result, faced a shortfall in volunteers. Thus began a campaign of disingenuous recruiting. The MeK naturally sought out Iranian dissidents, but it also approached Iranian economic migrants in such countries as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates with false promises of employment, land, aid in applying for asylum in Western countries, and even marriage, to attract them to Iraq. Relatives of members were given free trips to visit the MeK’s camps. Most of these “recruits” were brought into Iraq illegally and then required to hand over their identity documents for “safekeeping.” Thus, they were effectively trapped.

Another recruiting tactic was arranged with the assistance of Saddam’s government. Iranian prisoners from the Iran-Iraq War were offered the choice of going to MeK camps and being repatriated or remaining in Iraqi prison camps. Hundreds of prisoners went to MeK camps, where they languished. No repatriation efforts were made.

For coalition forces, the MeK’s cult behavior and questionable recruiting practices are significant insofar as they affect both the daily operations at the camp and the strategic disposition options available to the group. The leadership is unlikely to cooperate with policies that would undermine its ability to exert direct control over its members. Indeed, Human Rights Watch reports that the MeK long ago instituted a complicated process to retain members who expressed a desire to leave, which included a “trial,” forced confessions of disloyalty, and even torture. Although this process has been modified since the group was consolidated at Camp Ashraf, would-be walkaways are still “debriefed” for days or even weeks while held in some form of solitary confinement, during which they are encouraged to change their minds.

Conversely, the long-term indoctrination and isolation experienced by MeK members are likely to have instilled an exaggerated sense of loyalty, causing them to reject offers to separate themselves from their leaders. This would apply in particular to repatriation to Iran, where the expectation of persecution has been dramatically instilled in their minds.

Jasmin Ramsey

December 28, 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

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