Camp Ashraf Inhabitants

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Once again Khuzestani families at Ashraf gates

The families of Ashraf residents from Khuzestan engaged for release of their children once more.
They went to Camp Ashraf Iraq to assure their loved ones – held as hostages by the cult of Rajavi- that they would do everything possible to help them release from the notorious camp Ashraf.

They are determined to disgrace the MKO, revealing the evil nature of the Rajavis who are making efforts in the west these days, paying large amounts of money to politicians to help prevent the Iraqi government from expelling the MKO.

The families wrote letters to Ms. Catherine Ashton, the EU’s High Representative for foreign affairs, and Iraqi Prime Minister, Mr. Nouri Al-Maliki, regarding the true substance of the cult of Rajavi.

October 12, 2011 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Concerns over the Plight of Camp Ashraf

“A fictional world of female worker bees”, this is how Elizabeth Rubin, a contributor to New York Times, describes camp Ashraf, the Mujahedin Khalq (MKO) base in Iraq.[1] Concerns over the Plight of Camp Ashraf

In recent weeks this “fictional world” has been in the Western media’s limelight as the fate of about three thousand (mostly Iranian) residents of the camp has been discussed. The fate of these members has been a controversial issue since 2003 when the Iraqi former dictator Saddam Hussein fell and the camp was left in the hands of Americans, who protected them. The camp is full of former Saddam Hussein mercenaries whose leaders have strategically instructed them to interact with US forces in a peaceful manner. But even with apparently docile conduct, Iraq still doesn’t want them. And the fact that most are Iranians, doesn’t necessarily make them a welcome sight in Iran because ultimately, the public sees them as traitors, despite the fact that the Iranian Government has a special program to help ex-cult members reintegrate. But the group has caught the ear of the international community.

In the first place, one should know what kind of a place Camp Ashraf is. The most recent description about the camp was presented by Elizabeth Rubin in August 2011. She also authored an extended article on the group in 2003 after she visited camp Ashraf, Iraq. In the former article, she notes, “Everywhere I saw women dressed exactly alike, in Khaki uniforms and mud-colored head scarves, driving back and forth in white pickup trucks, starting ahead in a daze as if they were working at a factory in Maoist China. I met dozens of young women buried in the mouths of tanks, busily tinkering with the engines. One by one, the girls bounded up to me and my two minders to recite their transformations from human beings to acolytes of Ms. Rajavi.”[2]

Without including Iran’s input, how can the international community help resolve the complicated issue which will, in due course, either provide a path of freedom or otherwise for the members in the camp? Rajavi’s cult of personality has maintained its brainwashed army there in isolation for decades. For starters, the European Union has named a senior Belgian diplomat to work with the United Nations, Iraq and others to help resolve the plight of more than three thousand opponents of the Iranian government living at a Camp in Iraq, according to Reuters. [3] Jean De Ruyt, a former Belgian ambassador to the EU, will act as an advisor to EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton on Camp Ashraf, reported Reuters. [4]

The real challenge for international officials is not about the fate of these members, but how to deal with the cult leaders, Maryam and Massoud Rajavi. This challenge will continue until the day the Rajavi’s allow cult members choose their own futures, and unfortunately that day might never occur. But last week, Barbara Slavin of IPS reported that Vincent Cochetel, a Washington representative for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said that an agreement was reached about 10 days ago through the MKO’s legal counsel in London. [5] "They have agreed to individual screening” he told IPS. “We have offered an alternative location near Ashraf.”[6]

The news sounds good because MKO leaders have so far refused a similar suggestion offered by a US Ambassador, Lawrence Butler.[7] Slavin reports that “in the past, the MEK leadership has refused to allow most residents of Camp Ashraf to apply for refugee status or to speak with UNHCR representatives without MEK officials present.” [8]

The real problem here is not the future of the MKO, who are beefing up their media campaign to legitimize themselves by burying their terrorist background, but the future of the individual residents. The group of MKO members, are in fact being held hostage at Camp Ashraf by the cult leaders, and certainly they deserve pity. The international community should be concerned about their fate because according to a 2007 RAND Corporation study on the MKO, up to 70 percent of the group’s members are held in the Camp against their wills.[9] What the international community needs to do is decide the fate of the criminal cult leaders, because once members’ testimony is revealed, it will further add to the enormous amount of evidence that the Rajavi’s are power hungry monsters with absolutely no moral backbones.

The role and input of the Iraqi government is crucial, because Camp Ashraf as a part of Iraqi territory has been in existence and occupied by the MKO for over thirty years. During the past month, Iraqi authorities have taken strong stances against the MKO’s presence in Iraq. In his meeting with Ms. Catherine Ashton, Hoshyar Zebari, Iraqi Foreign Minister expressed that his government is committed to close Camp Ashraf by the end of this year. [10]

Most Iraqi authorities and civilians oppose the presence of foreign forces in their country. Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, now the leader of Iraqi Shiite coalition, announced that a judicial ruling has been issued for a number of members of the cult. He says that lawsuits have been filed against a number of the members of the terrorist MKO group and rulings have been issued. He notes that, ”it has been emphasized that their presence in Iraq is illegal.”[11]

Iraq is no more an appropriate place for the MKO, and perhaps that’s why the Rajavis are pressing for residents to apply for refugee status, which—as part of the application process—requires them to be interviewed individually. The leaders’ decision to allow un-chaperoned interviews however is bizarre given their history as a cult. The decision indicates a strong change in an undercurrent of member oppression. Barbara Slavin has documented that the “[MKO] leaders insist that they have renounced terrorism and now advocate a democratic government for Iran. But their literature continues to treat their leader, Maryam Rajavi, who lives outside Paris, as the object of a personality cult."She continues that “the whereabouts of Mrs. Rajavi’s husband, Massoud, who led the group into exile, is unknown.”[12]

If members of the MKO are granted refugee status, which country would accept them? “The challenge for us is to find countries to receive them,” Cochetel told IPS. “The likelihood that they can remain in Iraq is very limited.”[13]The MKO is still on the US State Department’s list of designated foreign terrorist organizations (FTO), so American law forbids the group’s presence. European countries are probably not so eager to receive a group of military trained cult members who may still be dedicated to their leaders.

A time will come when the fate of the members of the MKO is decided. What will be the result of those long years of isolation, indoctrination and brainwashing? What will happen to the existence of the MKO?

By Mazda Parsi

References:
[1] Rubin, Elizabeth, An Iranian cult and its American Friends, New York
Times Magazine, Augst13,2011
[2]ibid
[3]Reuters, EU names advisor to help resolve Camp Ashraf issue, September
26, 2011
[4]ibid
[5] Slavin, Barbara, Iranians in Iraqi camp seek refugee status, IPS
September29,2011
[6]ibid
[7]Arango, Tim, Iranian Exile Group Poses Vexing Issue for U.S. in Iraq, New
York Times, July22, 2011
[8]Slavin, Barbara, Iranians in Iraqi Camp Seek Refugee Status, IPS,
September29,2011
[9] Goulka, Jeremiah, Lydia Hansell, Elizabeth Wilke, and Judith Larson.
"Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq: A Policy Conundrum." *RAND National Defence
Research Institute* (2009): Web. 3 Nov 2010.
[10]Iraq Foreign Ministry, Iraq Objects to EU in the issue of Camp Ashraf
September22, 2011 (translated by Iran-Interlink)
[11] Mehr News Agency, Iraq- US. Security agreement will not be extended:
ex-PM September25, 2011
[12] Slavin, Barbara, Iranians in Iraqi Camp Seek Refugee Status, IPS,
September29, 2011
[13]ibid

October 11, 2011 0 comments

European Union

The real victims of Rajavi have no voice

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

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

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

Dear Mr. Jean De Ruyt
Brussels, EU

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sahar Family Foundation
Baghdad, 1 October 2011

List of attachments
List of recipients

October 4, 2011 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

MEK;Iranian dissidents in Iraq seek refugee status in ‘positive step’

More than 3,000 Iranian dissidents who’d been threatened with expulsion from Iraq on Dec. 31 have applied to the United Nations for refugee status, a move that could help clear up one of Rand study had concluded that most of the Camp Ashraf residents “were being held against their will” Iraq’s thorniest international problems from the era of dictator Saddam Hussein, U.N. and western diplomats said Sunday.

The U.N. High Commission for Refugees said it would review the 3,200 individual applications received in the last month from Iranian residents of Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad, which has been run by the paramilitary People’s Mujahidin of Iran.

“It’s a very positive step forward,” said a western diplomat, who couldn’t be named as he wasn’t authorized to speak on the record.

Although UNHCR won’t require the dissidents to disassociate from the group, it said in a recent statement that refugee status could be granted only to individuals and not to the group as a whole. In effect, the MEK, as its known by its Farsi language initials, appears to be on the verge of accepting the demand by U.S. Ambassador James Jeffrey in July to disband as a military formation.

The U.N. refugee agency has appealed to the Iraqi government to delay closure of Camp Ashraf by as much as six months, according to the Western diplomat. The U.S. Embassy hasn’t yet endorsed the request and is waiting for the refugee agency to present its plan for reviewing applications, an official said Sunday. Iraqi government spokesmen had no immediate comment.

The MEK had fought as a mechanized division in alliance with Saddam Hussein during the 1980-1988 war with Iran. But it was left stranded by the U.S. invasion in 2003 that toppled the dictator. Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has called MEK a terrorist group and demanded that Ashraf be dismantled and its members deported by the end of the year. Iraqi troops drove the point home in April in a military operation that cut the size of the camp by one-third and left at least 35 dead.

Until recently, the MEK had insisted on group refugee status, but it shifted its stance in late August following talks between Struan Stevenson, a Scottish conservative in the European parliament, and UNHCR High Commissioner Antonio Guterres in Geneva.

Stevenson said he hoped that individual requests for refugee status would lead to resettlement of Ashraf residents in the European Union and in third countries. “They have long since given up any pretense of being a military force and they have long abandoned any idea of remaining together,” he told McClatchy by email.

The U.S. government has characterized MEK as a cult and designated it a terrorist group in 1997, holding it responsible for the assassinations of three U.S. Army officers and three civilian contractors prior to the Iranian revolution. With funding from the Iranian diaspora, the MEK has mounted a major campaign in the U.S. and Europe and enlisted many top national security figures from mostly from Republican administrations as well as a number of prominent Democratic politicians to get its terrorist designation lifted.

Shahin Gobadi, the Paris-based MEK spokesman, told McClatchy that all residents of Ashraf, including the leadership, had applied for refugee status, with the exception those in hospital or holding travel documents from a third country.

Meanwhile, Iran has renewed its offer to repatriate the residents of Ashraf or provide documents so they can resettle in third countries.

“We are sure that 65 to 70 percent of the people who are living in Ashraf camp are captive of the other members,” Iran’s ambassador to Iraq, Hasan Daniaei-Far, told McClatchy in a recent interview. “Let them be free, let them choose their own destiny.”

“In case he or she wishes to go back to Iran … we will provide the necessary documents. Even if they wish to go to a third country, we will provide them the necessary documents,” he said. He said hundreds who had already returned to Iran “are conducting a normal life.”

The ambassador also reiterated that Iran had issued a mass pardon to the MEK members except for about 100 who have criminal charges pending against them.

Gobadi ridiculed the offer and called the assertion that MEK members were being held against their will “a big lie.”
“The claim that the clerical regime would provide documents to the individuals who wish to go to other countries is not a serious point worthy of a response,” he said.
He called the “claim” of a mass pardon “more of a joke” and said returning to Iran to live a normal life “means completely giving up the struggle, succumbing to the mullahs and absolute cooperation with the regime’s intelligence and suppressive organs.” He called it a “red line that Ashraf residents have rejected repeatedly.”

James Dobbins, a respected American diplomat now affiliated with the Rand Corp., a Pentagon-funded think tank, disputed the MEK spokesman. He said a recent Rand study had concluded that most of the Camp Ashraf residents “were being held against their will” and said there was no information that those who’d returned to Iran had been harassed by the authorities. “Are they enjoying a normal life? There’s no information available to the contrary,” he said.

By Roy Gutman

October 3, 2011 0 comments

The Iranian Pen Club Letter to the UNHCR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Respectfully

October 1, 2011 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

MEK in Iraqi Camp to Seek Refugee Status

In a development that could help resolve an eight-year-old diplomatic and humanitarian standoff, the Mujaheddin-e Khalq (MEK), an Iranian opposition group that has several thousand adherents at a military camp in Iraq, has agreed to allow residents to apply for refugee status and be interviewed individually by U.N. officials.

Vincent Cochetel, Washington representative for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told IPS Wednesday that an agreement was reached about 10 days ago through the MEK’s legal counsel in London.
"They have agreed to individual screening," he said. "We have offered an alternative location near Ashraf," the camp north of Baghdad where the MEK members reside.

The decision by the MEK could help resolve a crisis that has weighed heavily on the United States as it prepares to withdraw most of its remaining troops from Iraq. Iraqi officials are considering allowing a few thousand U.S. troops to stay in the country but only to provide training and other military assistance.

Mark Toner, deputy State Department spokesman, told IPS, "We fully support the international community’s efforts to resolve the situation at Ashraf."

There are about 3,300 Iranians left in the camp.

In the past, the MEK leadership has refused to allow most residents of Camp Ashraf to apply for refugee status or to speak with UNHCR representatives without MEK officials present.

Former members of the group, who contend that the MEK is a cult that fosters blind obedience to its leaders, say that many Ashraf inhabitants have been held against their will and would eagerly leave the camp if they could. There have been fears that the leaders would order members to commit suicide en masse rather than let them go.

The agreement with UNHCR is a necessary first step to close the camp – something the Iraqi government has long sought – but does not resolve the problem of where the residents find refuge.

"The challenge for us is to find countries to receive them," Cochetel said. "The likelihood that they can remain in Iraq is very limited."

The current Iraqi government, dominated by Shiites and Kurds, has tolerated the MEK camp only under U.S. and international pressure. The Iraqi leadership blames the MEK for allying with Saddam Hussein and participating in brutal crackdowns against Iraqi Kurds and Shiites following the 1991 Gulf War.

The George W. Bush administration initially promised to declare residents of Ashraf enemy combatants following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam’s regime. Instead, however, U.S. forces put the camp under their protection. Since 2008, when Iraq regained sovereignty over the camp, Iraqi troops have entered Ashraf several times in a futile effort to convince residents to leave. A few dozen people have been killed in skirmishes between the Iraqis and the Iranians.

Trita Parsi, head of the National Iranian American Council, told IPS the agreement with UNHCR "could potentially be a breakthrough", but that it remained unclear whether the MEK leadership would allow everyone in the camp to be interviewed.

"Hopefully, if given enough protection, camp residents will be able to be truthful about conditions in Ashraf and where they want to go," Parsi said.

Several hundred camp residents have managed to return to Iran since 2003 through the auspices of the International Red Cross. Many of those who remain would fear to go to Iran [..].
Originally a Marxist-Islamist group that helped overthrow the Shah of Iran, the MEK lost a power struggle with more Islamic-oriented factions following the 1979 revolution. The group has very little support within Iran because of its siding with Iraq in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. During the following decade, while Saddam remained in power, the MEK carried out assassinations of prominent officials and other attacks within Iran.

The U.S. State Department put the MEK on its list of foreign terrorist organisations in 1997 because of the group’s bloody record, which includes the assassination of six U.S. citizens in Iran during the 1970s.

MEK leaders insist that they have renounced terrorism and now advocate a democratic government for Iran. But their literature continues to treat their leader, Mariam Rajavi, who lives outside Paris, as the object of a personality cult. The whereabouts of Mrs. Rajavi’s husband, Massoud, who led the group into exile, are unknown.

In recent months, wealthy supporters of the MEK have waged an aggressive lobbying campaign to be removed from the U.S. terrorist list, paying tens of thousands of dollars apiece to prominent former U.S. officials to speak on the group’s behalf.

One argument advanced by MEK adherents has been that removal from the list would allow Ashraf residents to come to the United States. However, a State Department official told IPS last month that U.S. law forbids immigration to anyone with ties to a foreign terrorist organisation. He said this includes "those who provided material support to, or received military-type training from the group, as many MEK members have".

Asked if UNHCR was looking to Europe – where many Ashraf residents have relatives – to give refuge to camp residents, Cochetel said, "I can’t say at this point that their response has been overwhelming."

IPS – By Barbara Slavin

September 29, 2011 0 comments

Warning against violation of human rights in Ashraf

Letter of Sahar Family Foundation to the UN General Secretary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We are awaiting your answer.

Sahar Family Foundation
Baghdad, 11 September 2011

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

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

September 19, 2011 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Trapped in Camp Ashraf- Warning and an appeal

Trapped in Camp Ashraf- Warning and an appeal to the int’l community

We are approaching the end of year 2011; the deadline announced by the Iraqi government to evacuate Camp Ashraf. Over the past few months the USG’s diplomatic representative in Iraq Mr. Lawrence Butler has met seven times with the leaders of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation in the garrison to talk about the future of the group. His efforts have failed due to the stubborn resistance and rejection on the part of the Mojahedin-e Khalq. Some European countries have also have attempted to start a dialogue with the leaders of the group to convince them to allow the people inside to be sent individually to other countries under the supervision of the United Nations. But their efforts have also faced absolute intransigence on the part of the leaders of the group.

In addition, we have witnessed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealing to the international community to help the Iraqi government in this case. But no meaningful action has been offered.

The Government of the United States of America also in a clear and transparent way has warned the leaders in the camp that if they do not respond positively to the suggestions put forward, then the USG will no longer be able to act as a negotiator and that the consequences of such action would be entirely attributable to the leaders of the Mojahedin-e Khalq .

The people inside the camp are described as “non status” and they are not accepted as refugees or even asylum seekers. The Iraqi government is adamant it will carry out the decision to close the camp – which is one of the last remains of the Saddam regime – and on the other hand the leaders of the Mojahedin inside the camp insist on keeping the status quo without any logical, legitimate, legal or other reasons.

And in this situation, as advocates of human rights and as ex-members of this organisation, we are deeply concerned about how this camp will be dismantled and especially about the misuse of the people inside the camp by the leaders of the group.

According to witnesses inside camp Ashraf it is said that Massoud and Maryam Rajavi have ordered all the leaders of the MEK to arrange meetings for everybody and give the order to them that “We will go along with the American army to the point that there is no physical interaction but when it comes to the Iraqi government we will become physical and we will make them pay the highest price.”

Considering what the Rajavis have said, although we believe that the imposition of Iraqi sovereignty over this illegally occupied territory at this time is an indisputable right of the government of Iraq, we urge the government and the committee in charge of dismantlement of the camp to try, as they have done over the last past 8 years, to only use non-violent solutions to solve this problem.

Although we know that the existence of this camp in this country of Iraq has no logical or legal basis but we are concerned that the heads of the MEK cult will use the 3400+ people stranded there as human shields to pursue their illogical and illegal demands.

We are deeply concerned that, according to much evidence and many documents, not least the report by the RAND Institute, about 70% of the people inside the camp are kept there against their will, and if we add to this their loss of hope due to the grim and uncertain future they face, the lack of access to media and information and the resulting ignorance this brings, and the existence of never ending barriers and security provisions across the camp, if we add all these then the reasons behind the existence of such an isolated island can become clear.

We are deeply concerned that in a situation where the dismantlement of the camp has begun, the leader of the group would force the low level members and the ordinary people trapped inside to fight the security and law enforcement agencies of Iraq.

On top of our concern over the human rights as an indisputable right for every individual inside the camp we remind you that many of the signatories of this letter have a family member, father, mother, spouse, sibling or friend inside the camp as a hostage. Therefore the primary aim of the MEK in keeping the members trapped inside is nothing except using them as a tool and human shield to save the neck of the leader Massoud Rajavi who remains in Iraq.

We warn that considering that the leaders of the group have already rejected the intervention of the Americans and insist on the relocation of the whole organisation as a group to another country, while it is clear that according to international law, asylum can only be given to individuals, the leaders are placing this kind of suggestion on the table only to further reject any non-violent solution and therefore exploit the members and endanger their lives.

We must warn the international community and humanitarian organisations across the globe, time is running out. And we are witnessing that the US proposal is the only feasible and realistic solution during the remaining time. Therefore while we condemn the leaders of the group for their lack of cooperation with the American and Iraqi officials, we warn that the responsibility for any resistance to the decision of the Iraqi government and endangering the lives of the people is primarily on the shoulders of Massoud Rajavi and Maryam Rajavi and the other high ranking leaders of the group.

We also believe that dialogue can be the solution to dismantle camp Ashraf and there should be no need for violence. We ask the leaders of the group to stop their ridiculous behaviour and obduracy and return to the dialogue and negotiation table

The government of Iraq has repeatedly announced that, respecting international humanitarian laws, these people will not be deported to countries where they may face problems and it has shown its commitment to this day. Accommodating and facilitating the voluntary exit from the camp of nearly 100 individuals who have given themselves up to the Iraqi forces from 2009 to the present is clear evidence of this commitment.

Therefore we ask the international community and humanitarian organisations and all the people who are worried about the future of these people to use whatever communication and/or other tools at their disposal to convince the leaders of the group that after the fall of Saddam Hussein Iraq is no longer a place for them to stay and it is their responsibility to seek assistance from international bodies such as the ICRC and UNHCR to get themselves out of there.

We the signatories of this letter would like to bring this issue to the attention of the following:

– The office of the Prime Minister of Iraq (Committee in charge of dismantlement of Camp Ashraf, Baghdad)
– Lady Catherine Ashton and relevant MEPs in European Parliament
– US State Department
– Human Rights Watch, New York
– Amnesty International, London
– United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Ms Navi Pilay, Geneva

The signatories:
Ariaee Milad (Germany)
Abbassloo Mohsen (Austria)
Abdollahi N (Netherlands)
Ahmadi Ali (Sweden)
Alishahi Behzad (Netherlands)
Behboodi Nasrin (Netherlands)
Barati Farideh (Netherlands)
Barati Mahboobeh (Netherlands)
Ebrahimi Jafar (France)
Fatahian Ghafoor (France)
Ghashghavi Ali (Germany)
Ghiabi Fatemeh (Germany)
Gholami Karim (Germany)
Haghi Karim (Netherlands)
Haji Mahrokh (Canada)
Hoseinin Kazem (Netherlands)
Jabani Massoud (Netherlands)
Jahani Ali (Germany)
Kalani Visha (France)
Karami Mohammad (France)
Kazemi Fereshteh (Netherlands)
Khodabandeh Massoud (United Kingdom)
Khoshal Mehdi (Germany)
Kohzadi Homayoon (France)
Kord Rostami Amirhossain (Canada)
Maleki Batool (Switzerland)
Mirasgari Alireza (Germay)
Mirzaee Zahra (Netherlands)
Mohammadi Mona (Denmark)
Mohammadi Mostafa (Canada)
Mohammadi Zahra (Netherlands)
Mohammadi Mahboobeh (Canada)
Movasaghi Amir (Germany)
Naderi Nader (France)
Naghashzadeh Alireza (Austria)
Nasrollahi Alireza (France)
Naseri Saeed (France)
Nazari Mansoor (France)
Noroozi Elham (Canada)
Noroozi Simin (Canada)
Noroozi Soheila (Canada)
Noroozi soosan (Canada)
Piransar Hassan (France)
Rastgoo Ali Akbar (Germany)
Razaghi Mohammad (France)
Rezvani Naser (Sweden)
Roodgar Khodabakhsh (Canada)
Roohi Majid (Denmark)
Sadeghi nejad Abbass (Germany)
Sagharchi Merhdad (Germany)
Sajoodi Mehdi (Germany)
Sarafpoor Hamed (France)
Sepahi Mahmood (France)
Sepher Minoo (Netherlands)
Shahrokhi Robabeh (Sweden)
Shams Hayeri Hadi (Netherlands)
Singleton Anne (United Kingdom)
Sobhani Mohammad Hussein (Germany)
Soltani Batool (Germany)
Termado Edward (Germany)
Thomasini Nelly (Netherlands)
Yousefi Mitra (Sweden)

September 19, 2011 0 comments

Open letter to Mr. Ad Melkert , head of delegation of the UN in Iraq

The media related to pmoi quoted by you, claimed that you ,as the head of delegation of the United Nations in Iraq , are reluctant and opposed to the expelling pmoi from Iraq which will happen till end of 2011. We do not know that such quotation and remark by you is true or not.
The members of Kanoon Iran Ghalam Association ,who some of them have more than 20 years of membership and activity inside pmoi relations in Iraq and Europe and at present time they are in Europe as separated members, political critics and experts of this organization ,would like to draw your attention to the following facts:

1. You Know by now that the name of this organization stayed in the terrorist list of the US state department for 2011.

2. In this terrorist list, there is a de facto emphasis of undemocratic relations against the members of this organization which is existing in their internal relations.

3. The members of this organization are deprived of their fundamental rights which is written and mentioned in the United Nations Charter, like right of marriage, right of meeting with their loved ones and their parents freely.

4. This organization has kept their members as prisoners and captives and in this regard the pmoi operatives do not let the dissident members leave the organization.

5. Under these circumstances according to the United Nations’ humanitarian and organizational duties, the United Nations should intervene and prevent any kind of violent activities, abuse and exploitation of those stranded members.

Honorable Mr. Ad Melkert
You should be informed that the pmoi operatives are trying their best to stay in Iraq on purpose and their desire is to keep their organization intact, in this regard they have begun deceiving the public opinion to show themselves as innocent people to prevent their stranded members from reaching to their desires which is freedom and justice.
Recently the Guardian Newspaper wrote that ¨ the pmoi operatives had given money to the former American officials for their participation and speech in pmoi rallies¨, and in this regard the Voice of America quoted by Huffington Post reported that ¨ propaganda in favor of pmoi is a good source for the US former politicians to fill their pockets with millions of dollars¨
Mr. Ad Melkert
Unfortunately we should inform you that between the financial abuses and captivity of those stranded members in that organization , Ashraf in Iraq , there is a logical and direct connection. You should know that the premiere objective of keeping those stranded members in that organization on Iraq soil is to defend and protect the life of Massoud Rajavi, the pmoi spiritual leader who is still in Iraq. Those stranded members have been used as cannon fodder and human shields by pmoi operatives to protect him and confront with any unpredictable events. The pmoi internal relations, character and its leadership substantially is not equivalent to any democratic parties.
This organization is run and controlled like a religious cult. A cult which does not believe in freedom of thoughts and free elections and it indoctrinates its beliefs on its members.
The leadership in pmoi is not a political matter on the contrary it is totally a religious and sacred position which is comparable with the leadership in Al Qaida and Massoud Rajavi’s position in pmoi is the same as Ben Laden’s in Al Qaida.
You, as the head of the UN delegation in Iraq, are in your last days of your mission, we are expecting you to think about the trampled rights of those pmoi stranded members one more time and you know perfectly that the choice of a free life is their legitimate and fundamental right which has been taken from them. We are urging you to convey our letter to your successor in UN office in Baghdad.
Kanoon Iran Ghalam is delighted to inform you and your honorable colleagues more on this subject which is about the pmoi internal relations and systematic suppression and oppression of pmoi members in Iraq and Europe. Preventing more abuses and suppression of those stranded members in pmoi, it is better to shut down the Ashraf garrison, the container of pmoi cruelty, systematic suppression, terrorism and violence in Iraq, as soon as possible and the pmoi stranded members’ rights should be recognized and respected individually by the United Nations and they should have a chance to live in the free world.
Respectfully

Iran Ghalam Association

September 14, 2011 0 comments

Lord Corbett

Iran Fanous open letter to Lord Robin Corbett

Regarding to your recent and formal interview , we would like to inform you, as a representative of English people in the oldest Parliament which is known as the symbol of democracy for more than 500 years , of some important points.

Lord Corbett ! In this interview which had been implemented and carried out by the Persian section of the BBC, without contemplating of the news broadcasting and journalism prestige, you as pmoi lobby had reversed and censored all the realities which are existing inside the pmoi organization . your interview reminds us of the interviews of some characters of the eastern part of the world.

You are saying in this interview that you do not have any desire to know anything about the internal structure and problems of pmoi! And the only thing which is important for you is that pmoi is trying its best to finish and terminate the breach of human rights which is happening in Iran! But you do not answer why is not important for you the internal problems and structure of such organization? And it is more interesting that you do not want to know or hear anything about their internal problems and structure consequently it is very questionable.
Lord Corbett , you should know that we are the people who had lived more than you inside this organization, and our question is ,do you know that what is waiting for the people who have a chance to escape and leave the pmoi organization after 10 or 20 years?

Is it important in your culture the life of the people? and how do they live?

Where have you read or heard as a supporter and advocate of the human rights that the condition for supporting of an organization or a government , is just by supporting their slogans? Is not true that the first condition for supporting an organization or a government or ……etc is to survey and scrutinize the internal relations of such organization or government? Because slogans can be fake and unreal!

While the families of the pmoi members have been waiting behind the gates of Ashraf garrison for more than a year to see their loved ones and their request has been rejected up to now by the pmoi operatives and instead they have been slandered and insulted by the pmoi operatives, how can the leaders of such organization claim the democracy and human rights in their slogans?

Lord Corbett , the essence of fact finding should be existing in any person who claims supporting and advocating for freedom ,the human rights and democracy . This essence of fact finding begets more responsibilities and double your responsibility as a member of House of Lords and House of Representatives and we believe that your first priority as a member of House of Lords should be the fact finding .

Lord Corbett , what are you going to lose if you decide to have a conversation and exchanging views with the separated members of pmoi preferably in front of media? But please listen to our request one more time which is saying that you have judged unilaterally in your interview, but we as the victims of such organization who have inherited many pains and miseries of this organization ,pmoi, and we would like to share all those experiences with you and at the end we would like to hear your respond and opinion ,as a defender of human rights and democracy ,for all those miseries and painful moments that each one of us had experienced in that organization.

According to your speech , you do not receive any money from this passer , consequently you respect to the fact finding , so if in your country and in your capital , London, is not possible to have such meeting with you ,our association , Iran Lantern( Iran Fanoos) is inviting you to have this meeting with the separated members of pmoi in Germany.
Any endeavors and transparency in advancing and deepening the democracy and the freedom slogan has its own impacts and effects.

There is no need to be worried , you are doing your best for freedom and democracy and you can continue your admirable and holy duties after all! But we should say and emphasize that in the world of communication the fact finding will come to the reality much faster and the facts will be revealed at last .

Respectfully

Iran Fanous, Germany

September 7, 2011 0 comments

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