6 individuals ran away Temporary Transit Location during past three months.
These six survivals managed to release themselves from the bars of the Rajavis cult and stepped in a life of free will.
One of these newly defectors returned to his family and now lives near his beloved ones.
We hope all MKO hostages to be liberated and experience free life among their families.
Based on the Neday-e Haqiqat( Call of teh Truth) Website report
To Barak Obama, President of the United States of America
Dear President Obama,
We are a group of ex members of the People’s Mojahedin Khalq Organization (PMOI aka MEK, MKO, NCRI), 
who have been victims of this terrorist cult. We read your far reaching speech in the State Department Web site on September 10, 2014. We would like to express our highest appreciation and admiration for the deep understanding of the issue of terrorism and cults in the Middle East region shown in your speech.
You have precisely addressed the real roots of the formation of al-Qaida and ISIS, and expressed your deep sorrow for the barbaric crimes committed against innocent women and children by the terrorist ISIS in Iraq. You also mentioned their barbaric collective summary executions of soldiers.
Mr President,
The unfortunate existence of terrorist cults in the Middle East region and their anti-human behavior is a deep wound that its healing is only possible by preventing them from recruiting and from gaining financial, military and political power.
The al-Qaida and ISIS experience proves that the free world should be proactive rather than reactive, and such terrorist cults should be degraded and ultimately destroyed before the people of the world and the region especially women and children start paying the heavy price with their lives.
Therefore as you have mentioned, “these terrorists are unique in their brutality. They execute captured prisoners. They kill children. They enslave, rape, and force women into marriage.” There should be a unique and united policy towards all the terrorist cults. There should not be good and bad terrorists as some with the intention of opening room for future terrorist groups to form imply.
We believe there are a tremendous amount of similarities between the ISIS that was described in your speech, and the Iranian terrorist Mujahidin-e Khalq. Indeed, many experts on Iraq and Iran share the view that the Mujahidin in Iraq provide media and logistics support for ISIS.
Some of the common characteristics of the Mujahidin and ISIS are as follows:
1. The Mujahidin hide their anti-western and anti-democratic thinking from the general public. While they believe in religious lifelong leadership and Islamic Caliphate and have been practicing it within their cult for years, they pretend publicly to believe in democracy and free elections.
2. Whilst they deeply and strongly believe in armed struggle and the use of violence to achieve their goals, to win their case in a court in Europe, the leaders pretended to be against any violence and armed struggle. Even so, there is still a weapon in their emblem which is a sign that armed struggle is in their ideology.
3. The Mujahidin-e Khalq severely violate human rights. The dissident members were arrested, tortured, jailed in solitary confinement inside their barrack named Ashraf in Iraq and later transferred to Abu-Ghraib prison in Iraq. The Human Rights Watch report published in 2005, about the Mujahidin-e Khalq’s violations of human rights based on the victims’ direct evidence, clearly and strongly condemned their abuse of human rights. The victims are ready to testify to your administration or US Government officials in person. Also the reports of defecting and escaping members in recent years confirms still more the Human Rights Watch report.
4. The Mujahidin, in cooperation with Saddam Hussein’s army participated in the imprisonment and brainwashing and execution of the Iranian POWs in Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war.
5. Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the Mujahidin, ordered compulsory marriages inside their cult after the disastrous military attack on Iran from Iraq in 1988 which resulted in the deaths of 1400 of its members. During these forced marriages hundreds of women who had lost their husbands, had to marry male members not of their choosing.
6. Massoud Rajavi who considers himself as a caliph, a supreme religious and political leader of the people of the world, one year later ordered forced divorce of the Mujahidin families, and he later married himself to all these divorced women.
7. To pave the way toward marrying the divorced women members, he completely destroyed their families by separating even the children from their parents and sent them outside Iraq so there would be no common grounds for the divorced couple to meet or interact. Some of those children, who numbered about 800, aged 7 months to 8 years, were kept in Mujahidin bases in Europe and the USA where they were brainwashed so they would remain obedient and loyal to the cult. Later, clearly against the Geneva Conventions, some of those children aged 15-16 were sent back to Iraq to take part in military operations in which some were killed, and some are still in imprisoned inside camp Liberty. Some of these children have been seriously mentally and socially disordered due to separation from their families.
8. The defected women members of the Mujahidin who have successfully escaped from the Camp in Iraq and been able to reach the west, say that they have been systematically sexually abused by Massoud Rajavi. On the order of Massoud Rajavi and through the administration of Maryam Rajavi women members were forced to undergo needless hysterectomies as a means of destroying any hope they might have of returning to a normal and natural life. Many of such defected women members are ready to talk to any fact-finding body in person.
Dear President,
The Mujahedin was established with the strategy of destroying US led Imperialism. This is our knowledge after some 30 years inside the Mujahidin. Its pretence to be liberal and democratic is a tactic to help them reach power, after which their main strategy can be applied.
As we mentioned earlier in our letter there are no good terrorists, or safe terrorists. All are waiting for their own right time to spread as a cancer in the region or elsewhere.
Apparently the Mujahidin are considered good or safe terrorists so that their high ranking officials such as Mr Alireza Jafarzadeh and Ms Sona Samsami, who used to wear military uniform and commanded military operations, have an office in Washington DC and officially represent the Mujahidin (as their front organization the National Council of Resistance). For your information, Mr Alireza Jafarzadeh had requested in writing (see attached), to commit a suicide attack in order to prove his loyalty to Rajavi.
We wish you success in your fight against all forms of terrorism. We also greatly appreciate and thank you for reading our letter.
Most Respectfully,
1. Rabeae Shahrokhi
2.Nasrin Ebrahimi
3. Khodabakhsh Roodgar
4.Roohola Tajbakhsh
5.parvin Haji
6.Mohammad Hossein Sobhani
7. Alireza Nasrolahi
8.Ali Akbar Rastgou
9.Seyyed Amir Movaseghi
10. Edward Termado
11. Alireza Mirasgari
12: Ebrahim Khodabandeh
13.Ehsan Roshanzamir
14.Majid Roohi
15.Jafar Ebrahimi
16. Saeed Hazrati
17.Ghorban Ali Hosseinnejad
18.Ghafour Ftahiyan
19. Batoul Maleki
20.Homayoun Kohzadi
21.Mitra Yoosefi
22.Zahra Mirbagheri
23. Anne Singelton (Khodabandeh)
24.Ayoub Kordrostami
25.Karim Haghi
26.Masoud Khodabandeh
27. Mehdi Nikbakht
28. Mehdi Ahmadi
29. Ali Ghashghavi
30. Arash Sametipour
31.Mehdi Khoshal
32. Alireza Bashiri
33. Ali Hatami
34. Hamed Sarafpour
35. Naser Rezwani
36.Behzad Alishahi
37. Hamidreza Salmani
38. Shirzad Jalili
39.Milad Ariyaee
40. Karim Gholami
41. Mehrdad Sagharchie
42. Abbas Sadeghi
43.Farzad Frazinfar
44.Mehdi Sojoudi
45. Hamid Dehdar
46. Abdolkarim Ebrahimi
47. Ali Bidi
48.Mahboobe Hamze
49. Hassan Azizi
50. Ali Jahani
51. Mirbaghe Sedaghi
52. Nader Naderi
53.Mohammad Razaghi
54. Saeed Naseri
55. Mahmoud Sepahi
56.Mostafa Mohammadi
57. Mohammad Karami
Setaregan exposes MEK human rights abuses to delegates of the Human Rights Council Conference in Geneva
Members and representatives of Setaregan Association (Switzerland), gathered in Geneva for the 27th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The Association used leaflets and individual explanations to inform delegates to the Conference about the human rights abuses practiced by the Rajavis against members of their own organisation, the Mojahedin Khalq. Representatives of Setaregan, including Nasrin Ebrahimi, were able to relate personal testimony to inform delegates, a move which was highly effective.
Setaregan exposed the deceptive behaviour of the MEK. In particular they alerted delegates and officials at the UN to the presence of an individual by the name of Behzad Naziri, who is posing as a human rights activist for a bogus NGO. Naziri is actually a high ranking member of the MEK who is wanted in Iraq for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity there while he served as a high level MEK military commander, as an adjunct to the Saddam regime’s suppressive apparatus. Many former MEK members now living in Europe have personal experience of Naziri’s torture and mistreatment in the MEKs Iraqi camps.
Of particular concern was the mistreatment of women inside the MEK as well as the continued refusal of Maryam Rajavi to free the hostages in Camp Liberty in Iraq.
Members of the Association also gave evidence of the MEK’s support for ISIS and asked for an investigation into activities at the MEK’s headquarters in France and the role of Maryam Rajavi in supporting terrorism and extremism in Iraq and Syria.
Setaregan Association handed over a letter to officials at the HRC explaining these facts. This is produced below:
Behzad Naziri, Mojahedin Khalq military commander, infiltrates Geneva disguised as a human rights activist
BEHZAD NAZIRI
At the start of the 27th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, an agent of the Rajavi cult (Mojahedin Khalq, aka MKO, MEK, PMOI, NCRI), by the name of BEHZAD NAZIRI, has been dispatched to Geneva. Hiding behind the respectable guise of a suit and tie he pretends to belong to various NGOs to infiltrate his way into the buildings and meeting rooms. He is pretending to be a freedom lover and supporter of the rights of the people of Iran but in reality he is carrying out the direct orders of the Mojahedin Khalq (Rajavi cult).
Since the true nature of the Rajavi cult (aka Saddam’s Private Army) is known to all the human rights activists and organisations, the cult does not dare to use its real name to register or to enter meeting rooms. Hence it resorts to using its infamous agents like BEHZAD NAZIRI in disguise to do their job of lobbying by deception, lies and fabricated documents (which the MEK are famous for).
1- BEHZAD NAZIRI, who now hides his membership of the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation, is the same person who served in military uniform in Camp Ashraf as a commander of Saddam’s Private Army during the reign of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship.
2- BEHZAD NAZIRI is one of the closest commanders to Massoud Rajavi (the cult leader), who was deeply involved in the massacre of the Kurdish population of Iraq. Massoud Rajavi, whose existence was totally dependent on the existence of Saddam Hussein, participated fully in the suppression of the uprising of the Iraqi people, and BEHZAD NAZIRI was one of Rajavi’s military commanders who carried out his orders to commit crimes against humanity and war crimes.
3- Human rights organisation have repeatedly reported in detail the suppression of members of the Rajavi cult by their leaders over several decades and all agree that the human rights abuses inside the organisation have never stopped. Rajavi used these inhuman tactics to force the trapped members to carry out orders against their personal beliefs and will. BEHZAD NAZIRI has been and is one of these suppressors and commanders of the Mojahedin Khalq.
4- The Rajavi cult is one of the main collaborators with other terrorist organisations in the region and one of the vocal supporters of ISIS (ISIL or Islamic State). BEHZAD NAZIRI has been and is one of the commanders who is pushing the objectives of the cult leader of the Mojahedin Khalq terrorist organisation which is in line with its open support for the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL).
The one who has put on military clothes and sits in a tank to murder masses of civilian Iraqi Kurds only to extend the reign of a dictator like Saddam, and the one who has been engaged in the imprisonment, torture and execution of the internal critics of the Mojahedin Khalq terrorist organisation and the one who is now working in support of ISIS in the heart of Europe is not a “Freedom Lover” nor is he a “Supporter of the rights of people of Iran”.
BEHZAD NAZIRI, hiding behind the mask of “the people of Iran and freedom”, has been sent to push the MEK and Rajavi’s agenda. The leader of the cult is determined to keep its members (now mostly disaffected) in Iraq (currently in Camp Liberty), for as long as possible . His hope is that the victory of the ISIL against the government of Iraq will allow the cult to keep these people in Iraq and use them as he used them during the era of Saddam. BEHZAD NAZIRI has been, and remains, one of the key players in misinforming people that they are working for the human rights of the trapped people of Camp Liberty, when the real agenda is not to save them but to keep them there indefinitely.
We ask all the Human Rights organisations, ICRC, UNCHR and others, to stop BEHZAD NAZIRI as the main agent of the Mojahedin Khalq and the head of the group of agents who are now trying to push for the agenda of Massoud Rajavi (a fugitive since the fall of his benefactor Saddam Hussein), from entering meeting rooms, and not to fall into the trap of the disguise of a human rights abuser as a human rights activist. We ask these people and organisations to work to help free the trapped hostages of Rajavi’s cult (MEK) in Camp Liberty and facilitate their transfer to other countries, and we ask European countries to accept as many as they can in this respect. It is a documented fact that the leadership of this organisation is the main problem in creating obstacles to resolving this situation. Hence we ask you to open the closed gates of this camp to the families and loved ones of these hostages and to facilitate simple meetings between these families, some of whom have not seen one another for decades.
CC:
ICRC
UNCHR
HRW
AI
Other relevant parties.
Setargan Association, Geneva
Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Iran .
With most respectful greetings to the esteemed Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Iran, Dr. Ahmad Shaheed.
Your honor
With all due respect, we would like to inform you that Iran Ghalam Association ( Iranian Pen Club ) consists of ex-members of the Mojahedin-e- Khalgh that have succeeded in releasing themselves from mental and physical imprisonment of the Mojahedin lead by Masoud and Maryam Rajavi. Our goal is to help the other members who have not yet been able to release themselves from the above said Cult to be able to join their family in the free world and start a new life.
Whilst kanone Iran Galam greatly respects your endeavor in the Human Rights and Humanitarian issues, would like to bring the followings to your respectful attention:
1. We condemn any human right abuses in Iran and elsewhere. As you know very well in the contemporary world it is not only the Governments that abuse the Human Rights. But some political groups and organizations who pose as opposition to the governments also commit harsh abuses of Human Rights. Among them are groups in the former Yugoslavia, Russia and terrorist groups such as ISIS, al-Qaeda and Cult like group of Mujahidin e Khalg of Iran.
2. Unfortunately it has been reported that you are being feed by the sources that are linked to the Mujahidin Kalgh of Iran. Mujahidin of Iran lead by Masoud Rajavi and Maryam Rajavi pose as opposition to the Iranian Government, but in reality as far as human rights is concerned this cult greatly violates Human Rights inside and outside their group. Therefore we think that using such a group as a source for investigating the human rights violation would be wide of the mark.
3. In this respect we would like to bring to your respectful attention the International Human’s Right Watch report in 2005. The report titled “‘No Exit’ – Human Rights Abuses Inside the Mujahidin Khalq Camps – Human Rights Watch, May 2005” reflects extensive violation of the human rights, although it was a drop out of the ocean. The report is based on the direct testimonies of a dozen former MKO members, including five who were turned over to Iraqi security forces and held in Abu Ghraib prison under Saddam Hussein’s government. The report details how dissident members of the shadowy Mujahidin Khalq Organization (MKO) were tortured, beaten and held in solitary confinement for years at military camps in Iraq after they criticized the group’s policies and undemocratic practices, or indicated that they planned to leave the organization. Amongst them Mr. Mohammad Hussein Sobhani a dissident member of the MKO after 20 years of activity in the Organization was jailed for eight years which was later handed over to Saddam Hussein being jailed in Abu Ghorab Prison and experiences severe tortures and psychological and physical mistreatments. We also would like to point at the reports of Mr. Alibakhsh Afarinandeh which has recently been released from this Mujahidin Cult and published in the Pejwak website. Mr. Afarinandeh explaines his and other dissident members’ imprisonment and tortures in 1994 in great detail.
4. The report and the questions raised by Mr Iraj Mesdaghi who had been jailed for ten years in Iran for supporting the Mujahedin Khalq which having been released, joined them again in Europe, regarding the extent of the violation of the human rights in Mujahedin Khalq MKO
Your honor, are you aware of the violation of Human Rights in this Cult like Organization?
Amongst them:
-Sexual abuse of the women by Masoud Rajavi.
-Military use of the children.
-Prevention of the members from outside world even their children and families.
-Suppression of the dissident members, imprisonment, torture, and killing them at the time of Sadam Hossein the late Iraqi dictator.
-Force divorcing the members from their spouse and separating the children from their parents.
-Prevention of their members from leaving their Camps in unsecure Iraq which resulted in their death during different attacks on the Camps.
-Running systematic mind manipulation and inquisition sessions, against the members.
Your honor
Kanone Iran Ghalam( Iranian Pen Club ) members who are the victims of this terrorist cult group, which have spent most of the best years of our lives in this group, sincerely ask you the violation of the human rights in this organization be considered and light set on it for the sake of the basic rights of those still in custody of this group.
At the end we would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to your honor and thank you again for all your humanitarian activities.
With best regards
Kanone Iran Ghalam( Iranian Pen Club )
Cc:
– UN Secretary General
– Embassy of USA in Germany
– Ministers of Affairs of the EU-
– Relevant MEPs
-Office of Iraqi Prime Minister
Open letter from Setaregan Association to Pandeli Majko ( Albanian Prime Minister 1999 – 2002)
Dear Mr Pandeli Majko,
With respect.
Setaregan Association are a group of ex members of the Rajavi cult (Mojahedin Khalq, MEK), who have been working in that cult for many years. Hence we have exclusive first hand experience and information from the inside. We have been informed that unfortunately you have been used by the cult which, as usual, has provided you with false information in order to use your good name and reputation. We feel that at this point we should pass some of our knowledge and experience to your good self so that you would be a bit more familiar with the real nature of this cult and rescue your reputation by distancing yourself from this dangerous and inhumane group as soon as possible.
1 – Rajavi cult (Massoud and Maryam Rajavi) has two completely different faces. In the EU and US they are behaving like a chameleon and hide their true nature. For example, Mrs Rajavi pretends that she is leading a struggle against dictatorship. In reality, we have experienced ourselves that Massoud and Maryam Rajavi are nothing other than brutal dictators themselves.
2 – Someone who does not allow the smallest basic freedoms inside their organisation cannot claim to be struggling for freedom, can they? The Rajavis in this cult forced us to separate from our spouses. Massoud Rajavi banned any love except total love for the cult leaders, i.e. Massoud and Maryam. Any other relationship would be considered a serious crime. We were forcefully separated from our children and were told to forget them alongside our other family members. We were told that we are not allowed to even think or dream about them. Thinking about our family was a crime for which we would be brought up before an internal court and sentenced to imprisonment on the charges of betraying the leadership. Any prisoners who would still refuse to sacrifice their family for Massoud and Maryam would disappear or some would be tortured in front of others. Many of the witnesses who have managed to survive are ready to testify to this if needed. Would these people refrain from torturing and executing people if they come to power when they are already committing these crimes when they are not in power?
3 – There was strict segregation in their camps to the point that men and women were not even allowed to say hello to each other. Saying hello would be considered a crime for which you would be taken to court. Women were forced to wear strict hijab and had no right to choose anything. Many women have undergone forced hysterectomy in order to deprive them of any hope of a normal life and give them more reason to stay with the cult. Men were ordered give up their responsibilities so that women could replace them. Massoud Rajavi believes that he can more easily exert power over women. He believed, rightly or wrongly, that men would resist his inhuman orders and wouldn’t carry out these orders as obediently as women. He would tell women that “you are a bunch of useless people who were only good for looking after children, but now I have empowered you and given you responsibilities. You have nothing from yourselves and, if not because of me, you will again be nothing and you can only survive if you obey 100 percent every order I give you.” He would oblige women to carry out orders without question. Women were afraid of him and would not ask any questions. This is what he would call “taking responsibility”, and what he was expecting from women. This is what Maryam Rajavi means when she talks about “equality of men and women” (both submitting completely). Is this what the people of Iran want and should wait for?
4 – In the Rajavi cult, working to death is carried out in order to stop people from thinking and to keep them busy. There is of course no pay, even though during the rule of Saddam the Rajavis were getting paid lavishly for every one of us every month. Saddam would even give them a share of Iraq’s oil sales for every member they had. This money was never passed to the people and stayed in Rajavis accounts. I don’t know what is your perception of slavery, but this is what we experienced there. People whose fathers, mothers, spouses, children … have been taken away by force, they have no right to even think about anything and are engaged in forced hard labour in the heat and the cold. Really! What is your perception of slavery?
5 – Criticising the leader was equal to signing your own execution order. Criticising the leadership cadre and higher ranks were strictly forbidden and would be met with a crushing response. This of course extended to the National Council of Resistance as well. In the NCRI, the Rajavis label any critic as a mercenary and hence attack and character assassinate and dismiss them. Is this what Maryam Rajavi’s version of “freedom of speech” is, and is this what they are promising for the future of Iran?
6 – In this oppressive cult, people are constantly under pressure and criticism. It is like North Korea where everyone has to feel in debt to the leader every second of their lives. They should wait every day for their turn to sacrifice their lives in order the satisfy the leader. They should be ashamed of themselves for every day that they are alive and believe they would only satisfy the leader and become acceptable when they give their lives and become martyrs. We were forced every day to confess that we are causes of shame for the leader, etc. Does this not remind you of the Inquisition? Maryam Rajavi claimed that she would only rule for 6 months after they take over and then it is the people who would decide. In this case, why is Maryam Rajavi insisting on calling herself the President for the last couple of decades? In the last two decades, why has she not allowed the members to choose another head?
Anyone who has survived the cult has a few books to write about this cult. We are just mentioning some of this knowledge in passing with the hope that you would be encouraged to undertake your own independent investigation into this issue. Every one of us, the ex members and survivors, are of course more than happy to meet you personally and explain our experiences and provide you with documents and evidence. You will then see that why it is that the people of Iran and Iraq, and even the Iranians and Iraqis in Europe, hate this cult.
We urge you again to investigate deeper and distance yourself from this inhuman cult before any damage had been done to your dignity and integrity, especially with the people of Albania.
Yours faithfully,
Nassrin Ebrahimi
Mirbagher Sedaghi
Mehdi Nikbakht
Setaregan Association, Switzerland
Interview with Massoud Banisadr
In 1979, Masoud Banisadr was a young postgraduate maths student at Newcastle University, watching political 
upheaval in his homeland of Iran on the nightly news. After the fall of the Western-backed Shah, wanting to play his part in a new society he joined Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), an Islamic Marxist revolutionary organisation.
But a couple of years after the revolution, the MEK began to clash with Ayatollah Khomeini’s theocratic regime and were soon deemed an enemy of the new Iran. MEK suicide bombings and assassinations followed. In 1981, thousands of MEK members went into exile, and by 1986 had established a tight-knit paramilitary organisation in Iraq led by husband-and-wife team Masoud and Maryam Rajavi.
Banisadr became the MEK’s PR man, moving between Camp Ashraf, their headquarters in Iraq, Geneva and Washington DC, trying to win over Western politicians. He finally left the group in 1996, went into hiding and now lives back in England.
The United States removed MEK from its list of terrorist organisations in 2012, but Banisadr still considers it a fanatical cult acting under the warped leadership of the Rajavis. He argues that any terrorist organisation is either a cult or “has no option but to become one in order to survive”.
I spoke to Banisadr about the power of cults, and how this might help us understand why young men in the UK are vulnerable to joining the Islamic State and other extremist groups.
 |
| An MEK oath ceremony at Camp Ashraf in Iraq, taken around 2002 by a member who has since left and does not wish to be named. |
VICE: You were once a high-ranking member of MEK. Why do you now see the organisation as a cult?
Masoud Banisadr: There was a charismatic leader, Rajavi. There was a black-and-white world view imposed; followers cutting themselves off from family; followers losing their personality. There was mind manipulation. At Camp Ashraf in Iraq there were talks lasting for days on end. I remember one task where we had to write down our old personality in one column on a board, and the new personality in a different column. I remember a guy who said, “My brother works in the Iranian embassy in London. Before I loved him as my brother, now I hate him as my enemy. I am ready to kill him tomorrow, if necessary.” And everyone applauded.
How did you justify violence?
I was fortunate not to be involved in any violence. But all group members accepted MEK suicide bombings and killings in Iran to be revolutionary acts. This was the brainwashing. And later, in my role as official representative, I would justify and explain these acts as the only means we had to defend ourselves. I was a nice person, well-mannered, and could argue very rationally with politicians. So I was a good salesman.
Why did MEK members divorce their wives?
In 1990, Rajavi said all members must divorce their spouses. My own wife had already left the group by then. All members accepted these terms, and it [applied to] everyone except the leader and his wife Maryam. In a single day, everyone became celibate. Someone asked, “What about sex in the afterlife?” He replied, “I know your trick – you want to fantasise about the afterlife. But no – you must be prepared to forget about sex, about spouses, about love.”
No sex?
No sexual thoughts. The idea was that we were in a war to take back Iran, so you cannot have a family until the war is won. This was the excuse the outside world would hear, but inside we were told your spouses are a barrier between you and the leadership. We were ordered to surrender our soul, heart and mind to Rajavi and his wife.
 |
| Masoud meeting trade union leaders at an International Labour Conference in Geneva in 1987 (published in an MEK newspaper). |
How did you manage to leave the organisation?
What saved me was seeing my daughter. In 1996 I came to London to arrange some meetings. I saw my daughter, after many years of not seeing her. I had totally forgotten about the guy who was the father, the old Masoud. I only knew Masoud, the MEK member. The old Masoud wanted to hug her, but the group member – living under strict rules where men and women never interacted – knew he should not. I was fortunate that I had a bad back problem, so I was allowed to go and recuperate in hospital. And in those two weeks, being around ordinary people, seeing ordinary families, I allowed feelings for my own family to come back. And so, finally, I decided to leave the group.
Where did you go?
I had to go on the run for a time. I learned how to hide myself around the UK until they gave up looking for me.
What do you think it is that makes young people vulnerable to extremist causes?
Well, terrorism is like a virus. It attacks us through our weaknesses. It kills our personality, our individuality, like a cult. I think there are three stages. The first stage is the injustice of the world. Young Muslims see injustice, become angry and want to react. Then comes along a powerful ideology, and the Wahabi ideology offers a very simple, black-and-white world view, and a very narrow-minded interpretation of jihad, offered as a solution to young Muslims. But both these stages are not enough to make someone a terrorist, a human bomb or a fighter for a caliphate. A third stage is required: the mind manipulation, which robs someone of their personality, makes them identify entirely with the group and cuts them off from their parents and society.
So radical ideas alone aren’t enough to go off and fight for, say, the Islamic State?
If you’re a young Muslim and you feel like a nobody, it’s appealing to hear that we can return to the time of Prophet Mohammed – [that] we will be powerful again and feel proud of ourselves. This can make you radical – even prepared to be violent – but you will not stay a fighter or become a martyr without being entirely cut-off from family and the values of the society you were brought up in. That requires the mind-manipulation that goes on in a destructive cult.
Where does the Islamic State fit in? Do you consider it a cult as well as a terrorist organisation?
The signs are there. The leader – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – is charismatic and has unlimited ambition. He has been introduced as the leader of all Muslims, the Caliph. Normal leaders want political power. Cult leaders want something more than governing a city or country – they want to govern history. They want to change the structure of humanity. For a while they were calling themselves ISIL – Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.
They wanted control of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel. Now they call themselves the Islamic State. They want whatever they think was once part of the Islamic empire, so they claim Spain, Portugal, North Africa, India and part of China and Russia. They want the whole world, to make everyone Muslim. This is not normal leadership; this is heading towards cult. There is no limitation you can deal with, politically.
What would you say to British parents who have children fighting in Syria or Iraq?
It’s very difficult, very delicate. If a parent says anything critical against a radical preacher, or about an organisation like Islamic State, that’s when a person’s mind becomes defensive. It is difficult to argue rationally. So if a parent has contact, they should not try to talk about politics or religion. They should show only kindness and love. This is the member’s weakness. Feelings do not die away, even if personality has changed. So the parent has to let them know they will be there, waiting. There has to be a pathway back to a life where family love is there, something that has nothing do with ideological thinking. Unconditional love unlocks the mind manipulation that has taken place.
Thanks, Masoud.
Adam Forrest, Vice.com
Dr. Massoud Banisadr speech at London Press Conference; “Terrorism, Cult and mind manipulation”
Iran Interlink: Following is the trascript of the speech of Dr. Massoud Banisadr at the London Press Conference, August 2014
Terrorism, Cult and mind manipulation
After September 2001, there is not a single day without some sort of news about Terrorism, its atrocities and our vulnerabilities. These days we are witnessing thousands of people killed, maimed, kidnapped and imprisoned by various offshoots of terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, ISIS, or the Islamic State, in Iraq and Syria, Al Nusrah in Syria, Al-Shabaab in Somalia, Boko Haram in Nigeria and others in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen and elsewhere.
Even aside, the terrible traumas inflicted on hundreds of thousands or millions of individuals and their families by the destructive/terrorist cult leaders and the financial damage that they inflict on the society; there are also the further victims; i.e. members and followers of these groups.
In this very short speech, I want to explain what the relation between Terrorism and Cult is and explain how these violent groups recruit in our societies and how they can change normal, ordinary and even intellectual young people into a human bomb.
Terrorism
Terrorism in my view is some kind of a social virus similar to any other we know. We are all vulnerable to be infected by this virus mainly because of injustice, discrimination and double standards. Therefore, Terrorism has been with us since the beginning of civilization and unfortunately will remain with us as long as there is any kind of injustice in any society that makes people vulnerable toward it.
Like any other disease; for terrorism, we either can understand its characteristics and our vulnerabilities and immunise ourselves and our society against it, or fight its symptoms, prescribing a very strong painkiller that can harm healthy part of organism as well.
Unfortunately, as usual, governments have a habit of going for the latter one and only when they are forced by public opinion they will go for the former one. This is why most of government’s policies toward terrorism are aiming to face terrorists, rather than cause of terrorism.
Well I am not going to talk about terrorism in general but terrorist organisations in particular and their metamorphosis into destructive cults. Their victims and what can we do to stop them recruiting.
Terrorist Organisations
I will call an organization a terrorist organization if its only tactic, or at least its main tactic, dealing with outside world or for reaching its goal is an act of terrorism. According to this definition, I will not call any popular political organizations, even if they use terrorism to deal with their enemies, a terrorist organization because they are dealing with other problems of society as well; terrorism is not their sole tactic or the pillar of their actions in dealing with their daily problems and objectives. I argue any terrorist organization to survive; either is a destructive cult or has no choice but to change into one.
Change into a destructive cult
Let say virus of Terrorism like any other has only two principles, values and objectives: first to survive and then reproduce or expand its territory. Not being abided by any set of values, culture, custom or beliefs of the society is the main reason why terrorist organisations have to change into a destructive cult. After all their members are from the same society with the same set of values; therefore terrorist organisations either are able to change belief system, personality and individuality of their followers or will lose them for good and like other viruses without, let say hosts either they will fade away or will hibernate somewhere else. This is why soon or late they have to use some sort of mind manipulation technique to change their member’s set of beliefs and later their personality and their selfhood. This is their path toward changing into a destructive cult.
Here I assume everybody is familiar with definition of a cult and a destructive one, therefore I am not going to talk about that.
Vaccination is the solution:
As other viruses that attack live cells of our body and make us ill or even kill us, Destructive cults also attack our system of believe, our personality and individuality and they too will kill us, if not killing our body, certainly they will kill our personality and our individuality.
If we accept this analogy, then we might ask how we face a new deadly virus? Let say HIV or Ebola that we are facing these days. Do we bomb them or their victims? No. We certainly to stop spread of diseases will isolate victims but not killing them, we try to cure them.
We know that no virus or parasite (another analogy or metaphor for leaders of destructive and terrorist cults) can survive without a host. Therefore, instead of killing the Virus, we immunize potential hosts by vaccinating them against the virus, and without any available or substantial number of hosts, viruses soon or late will die away.
How can we vaccinate our people, and especially our young Muslims living in the west?
Three open gates or vulnerabilities of mind of young Muslims:
To prevent young people, especially young Muslims in Western countries, from being recruited, we should understand how terrorist cults use three vulnerabilities of their victims.
1- Injustice: We know that injustices are perpetrated all over the world against individuals and minorities, sometimes even against whole populations. Young people especially are particularly sensitive to these injustices and seek ways to put them right. This is their first ‘vulnerability’, or the first ‘open gate’ to their minds that terrorist cults can enter to infiltrate their thinking and ostensibly offer a solution to the problem. Governments, the media and politicians generally fail to understand and accept the nature and extent of injustice or to give young people ways to vent their anger and frustration about the sorry state of the world. Instead, they tend to turn a deliberate blind eye to wrongs and injustices and try to project a rosy picture of things. Hence, they aggravate and themselves become promoters of the problems, and it is left to the police to deal with protests and public unrest. Among young people, this creates resentment and hatred, not only towards the police and authorities but sometimes towards all of society. Rage leaves the ‘open gate’ of the minds of victims and sympathizers even wider for infiltration by terrorist recruiters.
2- Ideology or doctrine: Nowadays, positive nationalism, public ethics and morality, family traditions, cultural ties and tolerant religions are all diminishing in importance in the everyday lives of young people, especially in the West, and being displaced by pure individualism, celebrity worship and the assumption that, to be of value, you have to be talented, beautiful or rich. Young Muslims in the West are increasingly turning to religion as a cure for all their ills and dissatisfactions. This can be very positive and helpful, but, in the absence of intelligent and progressive preachers in the mosques who understand their frustrations and show them the tolerant and moderate face of religion, this merely opens the second ‘gate’ into the minds of the young devotees for terrorist recruiters and preachers (the main export of Saudi Arabia to other countries after oil). Using a few misrepresented and misinterpreted sentences of the Koran or the Bible, it is easy to radicalize them.
3- Mind manipulation: Unfortunately, schools and universities fail to educate young people about the dangers that destructive/terrorist cults pose to innocent minds unprepared to fend off their influence and their blandishments. Ex cult members, experts in this field can show the methods of mind manipulation that cults, terrorist cults in particular, use to alter young people’s personalities and make them capable of turning into slaves, and even suicide bombers. Lack of education and awareness about what freedom and slavery are in the modern world and how mind can be manipulated by a cult leader is the third vulnerability of these young people. Here we might be able to help; With such education, it might be possible to close this third ‘gate’ into young people’s minds.
How do I define Mind Manipulation?
According to my Mathematical model that I am not going to bore you with mathematical part, I have divided the mind manipulation in three stages:
The first stage is the use of rational and Influence techniques to engender a change of beliefs among new recruits. The next phase is to instil and stabilize the new beliefs and prevent the new recruit from returning to his previous belief system under the pressure of his pre-existing personality and his feelings towards his old way of life, family and friends. This is done mainly via isolation and forcing a change of behaviour, which I call it mind control (control of old feelings and control of behaviour). Finally, a destructive cult leader has to change a disciple’s personality into a collective cult personality; this is done mainly by the use of emotion, which I have called it brainwashing. If you are interested to know more, you can either refer to my articles on RIDC.info web site or see my new book that hopefully will come out next month: [Destructive/ Terrorist Cults are a new kind of Slavery]
What can we do?
How should we stop suicide bombers or punish them? By arresting them before they act? Or after their act, when they are in their own paradise? The first option goes against our values and principles, and risks fatal errors and the victimization of innocent people; the second is a joke and impossibility. However, we can and must stop people from becoming human bomb or a killing machine. Therefore, in my conclusion I suggest that we need, urgently and seriously, to conduct more research in order to understand the phenomena of destructive cults and mind manipulation. We need to inform and educate society and especially young people about these phenomena and the dangers they pose. We must criminalize the brainwashing and enslavement of people, just as we banned the old slavery. We need to help people who are on the road to killing their personality and individuality, just as we try to prevent would-be suicides. We have to help the families and friends of those who are enslaved in cults to rescue their loved ones, and encourage and give moral and financial support to those who want to escape cults. In this way, we will save many thousands of individuals from the new slavery and protect our modern way of life from the terrorism perpetrated by organizations that can only survive by changing into destructive cults.
Two former members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization returned Iran
Mr. Shir Ahmad Ruzrokh and Ali Mohammad Khatami who had left the MKO camp in Iraq earlier could manage to return to their hometowns where they joined their families.
Shir Ahmad Ruzrokh was a war prisoner when he was deceived by the MKO to join it. Then he found out the bitter reality of the world inside the cult but he had no way out for 27 years.
Ali Mohammad Khatami was in MKO camps for 27 years too. He also was a soldier when he was taken as war prisoner by Iraqi forces in 1987. He then was recruited by Rajavi’s fraudulent propaganda team.
Nejat Society offices in Golestan and Khorasan Razavi held welcome meetings for these two defectors.
Ali Mohamad Khatami who joined his family in Nejat Society office in Mashhad was very happy to see his parents after years of separation.
“I’m sorry and at the same time very happy”, he said. “I’m really ashamed to see my mother and father for the grieves I made them suffer for years.”
Nejat Society congratulates Mr. Ruzrokh and Mr. Khatami for being back home nearby their beloved families. And hopes the release of other ex-comrades who are still held as hostages in the MKO camps.
Open letter to MR. JOSE LUIS RODRIGUES ZAPATERO
The Most Honorable Jose Louis Rodriguez Zapatero
“…We know that freedom’s cause is our fair cause. We know that the fight for freedom is often painful, but it is worthwhile. Democracy
, true justice, and dignity do not accept the superiority of anyone. No faith, no interpretation of God, no culture is superior to human kind free will to live together.”
The above golden words are from your speech this year in a Paris gathering on the occasion of Mujahidin celebrating start of their so called armed struggle.
I do believe that these are the words of a Major Political Figure that deeply believes in every word he says. I believe this from your deeds: Among them the withdrawal of Spanish troops from the Iraq war, when you found it unjust to continue. On the other hand, the increase of Spanish troops in Afghanistan; when there was a true cause for supporting and fighting for freedom of human kind. Or your Sponsorship of Alliance of Civilizations, even reform of abortion law; your attempts for peace negotiation with ETA in your country, also the reform of various autonomous statutes, particularly the Statute of Catalonia and so on.
Your Honor,
It is unfortunate that as a senior member of the Mojahedin e Khalq for nearly 30 years and a member of National Council of Resistance of the Mojahedin, when it comes to Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and Mr. Masoud Rajavi, I have experienced quite the opposite.
How can a human being be called free when he or she cannot express his or her ideals, or practice her or his free will, cannot chose his or her cloth, her or his marital status, her or his source of information, her or his political status or party when there is an Imam (Masoud Rajavi) which does that for her or him?
Masoud and Maryam Rajavi talk about the democracy in the West, but dramatically deny the democracy inside and outside their cult and even in the national council of resistance.
Rajavies teach their members that, they are superior to every human being on the Earth. Although for the time being can only apply it within their cult, Rajavi thinks himself as Profit (Imam) sent by the God and represents the God on the whole Universe. To give Your Honor an example, Rajavi ordered all their members to divorce their wives, because Rajavi thought all the wives belong to him rather than their husbands. After the divorce, all the women had to marry Rajavi to be purified and freed from all impurities!
If anyone objected were met with harshest measures one could imagine. Some members who objected were jailed for years, some tortured and even killed. In the past, members were systematically handed over to the dictator of Iraq. The rest are systematically brainwashed in daily devastating general gatherings by senior members who collectively and brutally attack the subject in bitter words to make them convince or keep them silence.
Your Honor
Masoud and Maryam Rajavi do not tolerate any criticism. Criticism is taken as an act against the God. They do not tolerate freedom of individual, no one in the Mujahidin is allowed to any free literature, news or understandings of the free world. They are not allowed to communicate with anybody even their first degree relatives outside the Rajavies will.
They brand all the western political parties as corrupt that must be wiped from the face of the earth. This is hidden in the recent years that Masoud and Maryam Rajavi have escaped from Iran and then from Iraq to the West where can be reached by the Law.
Masoud Rajavi praised the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack as a revolutionary act against imperialism while watching the brutality live on the TV in a general gathering in Iraq.
Your Honor,
Masoud and Maryam Rajavi are hiding their real face. They are more dangerous and more brutal than ISIS.
Sincerely yours
Ehsan Roshanzamir
25.08.2014
Cult Experts Hold Press Conference at London College
Experts mingled with cult survivors and members of the press before launching into nearly two hours of presentations and questions at a press conference at London College in Notting Hill on August 22, 2014. These leading thinkers on extremist groups and cults spoke freely about the challenges faced by governments when tackling the risks posed by such groups.
London Press Meeting
Masoud Banisadar, a former MEK member (an Iranian terrorist organisation) said; “Terrorism is like any other virus. It attacks through our weaknesses.” He pointed out that as long as there are “open gates” that allow the virus to spread, cults and extremist groups will have a free hand to continue. What really needs to be tackled is the “undue influence” (mind manipulation) that enables such groups to thrive.
Lloyd Evans and Masoud Banisadar
All of the participants echoed this theme in their presentations.
Lloyd Evans Editor of JWsurvey.org focused on the “undue influence” of Jehovah’s Witnesses over their members. While acknowledging the right of religions to promote their unique set of beliefs, he argued that when some of those beliefs violate human rights there must be mechanisms in place for proper redress.
Linda Dubrow-Marshall
Linda Dubrow-Marshall is an academic researcher from Salford University. She focused on the special issues associated with individuals who are raised in cults and the challenges they face when they attempt to leave those groups. She mentioned that they may experience depression, grief, existential pain, disassociation, foggy thinking along with many other issues during their transition out of a cult. Because they will face special situations as they try to return to a more normal lifestyle, they need to be given support through an approach she called “re-entry therapy.”
Rod Dubrow-Marshall
The research context was touched on by Professor Rod Dubrow-Marshall, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Derby, who admitted that he had once been part of a “political cult.” He said the evidence of the psychological impact of such groups is clear. “It is essential that governments respond,” he emphasized. “In that sense a religion or ideology should not be a shield that people can hide behind – there should be accountability. All organisations should open up for scrutiny.”
Jon Atack
John Atack is a former Scientologist and author of the book Let’s Sell These People a Piece of Blue Sky. He gave a moving and clear presentation about the research he undertook to uncover the facts about the life of L. Ron Hubbard and the inner workings of the small cult Hubbard created known as Scientology. Mr. Atack’s efforts resulted in some personal costs due to facing litigation. He pointed out that there is a general misunderstanding of the realities of this cult – just in terms of its membership figures. While there are only about 25,000 Scientologists, the organisation makes huge amounts of money by “unduly influencing” its members and by promising them “super-human powers.”
Steve Hassan was the last to speak.
A former Moonie – he is one of the foremost authorities on cults and mind control. He has been involved in educating the public about mind control, controlling groups and destructive cults since 1976. Steve’s wrote
Combatting Cult Mind Control: The #1 Best Selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults (1988),
Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves (2000), and in July 2012, he published the paperback and e-book,
He wrapped up the session by explaining his work that was born out of previous research by such experts as Margaret Singer and Robert Lifton. He has expanded that research and taken it much further in the development of what he calls “the BITE model.”
Bo Juel and Steven Hassan
“People born into cults have an authentic suppressed self that they need to re-examine and recover,” he stated. “Through cloning, dependence, fear, and threats – the influence of extremist groups and cults is totalistic.”
A lively period of questions followed. Bo Juel, a former Jehovah’s Witness from Norway, asked how does this relate to “human trafficking.” Steven Hassan replied, “Human trafficking, sex and labor trafficking is a ‘commercial cult.’ Kidnapping, drugging, raping – it is along the same continuum up there with labour trafficking with political ends. The media needs to connect the dots.”
Professor Rod Dubrow-Marshall pointed out that the timing was now right to look deeper into the activities of these groups and they should be held to account for their actions.
In the final comments made while the questions were being asked, it was agreed that some in the media were beginning to look more seriously at what is really happening. But much more remains to be uncovered. We need a deeper understanding of exactly how “undue influence” is being used to recruit and retain membership within extremist groups and cults.
Now that governments have started an inquiry into the cover-ups of child abuse within public organizations (including churches and religious organizations), there was consensus among the panel that the time is ripe for abuses (like the “Trojan horse” situation within schools in Birmingham, UK) to be investigated, uncovered and addressed.
Workshops and group meetings will continue on Saturday and Sunday, August 23-24, 2014. We will provide updates on those gatherings in a future article.
Bo Juel and Steven Hassan Bo Juel and Steven Hassan Linda and Rob Dubrow-Marshall Linda and Rob Dubrow-Marshall Marc Latham and attendees Marc Latham and attendees
Press Meeting Press Meeting Richard Kelly Richard Kelly Jon Atack and Steven Hassan Jon Atack and Steven Hassan
