Defectors of Mujahedin khalq

Three Ashraf Residents Escape the Cult of Rajavi

On Friday December 2nd, 2011, three residents of Ashraf Garrison escaped their headquarters and submitted to Iraqi forces. They then joined the families picketing in front of Camp Ashraf, in Azadi installation. Family members of one of the defectors were among the picketing families.
He said that he had heard his sister’s voice via loudspeakers and had recognized her. Thus he was encouraged to endanger his life and ran away.

“Thank God, I could release myself” he said. He hugged and kissed his brother and sister. The three escapees were warmly welcomed by the families who had tears of happiness in their eyes.

The defectors said that a lot of Ashraf residents are waiting for an opportunity to flee the camp and set themselves free.

The names of the new separated members will be soon published if they are willing to.

Translated by Nejat Society

December 4, 2011 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Shahram Heidary, Declaration of Separation from the MKO

I am Shahram Heidary. I was born in Khuzestan, Iran in, 1966. I became an MKO sympathizer in 1987. I left Iran to join the MKO by the help of a human smuggler who was sent to me by the group. I arrived in Camp Ashraf in 2005. Shahram Heidary, Declaration of Separation from the MKO

I attempted to escape “Ashraf Prison” on September 15th, 2011 but I was arrested by the MKO guards. I was then tortured and interrogated severely. After a period of imprisonment, I went on hunger strike, which ultimately resulted in my release. They submitted me to the Iraqi Police.

When I was in Iran, I was manipulated by the MKO’s propaganda. I thought that it was every body’s desire to join the MKO in Ashraf but after a short while I found out that Ashraf was just a mirage. Once I realized the truth, I was captured in the cult and had no way back.

I scarified my wife and children for a deceitful organization. Although I lost everything, I could release myself from the terrifying hell of Rajavi.

I hope that my friends who are still under exploitation and imprisonment by the cult of Rajavi will be released from that nest of hypocrisy and deception with the help from the outside world as soon as possible.

Translated by Nejat Society

December 3, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

Terrorist MEK to be expelled from Iraq

A Conference in Baghdad University on Friday 25 November was organised by Al-Edalat Al-Iraqi Society, headed by Dr Nafe Al-Isa, which represents the families of 25,000 Iraqi victims of the MEK.
The Conference was held in Al-Hakim Conference Centre in Baghdad University and hundreds of tribal leaders, University lecturers, Governmental representatives and officials, NGOs and media representatives filled the salon. Although Camp Ashraf and the MEK is an issue specific to the government and citizens of Iraq, the Conference organisers made sure to invite Western agencies, such as the UN, EU and diplomats who have claimed or expressed an interest in Camp Ashraf. Unfortunately, however, any such invitees were apparently unable to leave the Green Zone to attend the Conference and talk to the delegates.
Opening the Conference, Dr Nafe, speaking on behalf of the families of victims of MEK violence, asked that those MEK leaders who were responsible for this violence be brought to justice before their deportation.
Speakers from the government and NGOs all emphasized that the deadline for deportation must be strictly adhered to and that Iraqi and international law against terrorism and crime must be upheld. Other speakers, in particular the tribal leaders spoke about the MEK’s crimes which they have witnessed in recent years in Diyala province. They were highly critical of the failure of the American military to dismantle the camp after 2003, and were scathing of the continued American backing which allowed the camp to be used for training and inciting terrorism against Iraqis.
On this theme, Jasem Al- Ebadi, Member of Parliament and member of the parliamentary Human Rights Commission used his speech to criticise EU efforts to keep the terrorist group intact and their opposition to the deportation process. He commented that if they are so in love with this terrorist group, why don’t they take them to their own countries?

(Mr. Al- Shahmani, MP)

Mr Adnan Al-Shahmani, head of the Parliamentary Committee to oversee the expulsion of the MEK announced in the Conference that the deadline would not be extended and that the camp will be closed by the end of the year. He also explained that the Iraqi Judiciary had issued its final verdict that the camp should be closed and the land handed back to the original owners.
Mr Al- Shahmani also criticized the West for its silence toward the crimes committed by the group against civilians, and asked international communities not to remain silent in the case of the abuse of the rights of the families of the victims of the MEK.

(Mr. Al- Shahmani, meeting families)

Mr Al-Shahmani also met with the representatives of the families of hostages inside Camp Ashraf and the delegation from European countries who are campaigning to ensure a peaceful outcome to the standoff at the camp.

(Mr. Khodabandeh)

Massoud Khodabandeh, from Middle East Strategy Consultants which is working with the Iraqi government to resolve the situation at Camp Ashraf, introduced his book ‘The Life of Camp Ashraf – Mojahedin-e Khalq Victims of Many Masters’ to the Conference. The book places the MEK in the context of its foreign ownership and concludes that these owners have invested heavily in the MEK’s ability to commit acts of violence and terrorism, and that this is the reason for western resistance to closing the camp. The book particularly highlights the MEK’s refusal to allow residents of the camp to have contact with their immediate families as a fundamental human rights abuse of every person in the camp.

(Ms. Abdollahi)

Ms Abdollahi represented the families and asked for help to release the hostages (including her own son) from the camp. Ms Abdollahi reminded the Conference that the families’ struggle to find their relatives had been going on since 2003 and that a permanent picket had been established two years ago. She stressed that when searching for a solution the families of course have the security and safety of all the residents as their utmost priority. The families have the simplest and easily granted request – to visit their loved ones who are in the camp. This does not depend on the removal of the MEK from Iraq and would be simple to do. The only barrier to this request is the order of the MEK leaders Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. They can easily resolve this issue by ordering that the families of MEK members be allowed to have free and unfettered contact with their loved ones.

(Ms. Sanjabi)

Ms Sanjabi is an ex-member of the MEK’s women only Leadership Council. She managed to escape from Camp Ashraf very recently, and explained the dire situation of the women inside the camp, detailing disturbing and shocking human rights abuses which are currently being carried out against the residents by the MEK leaders.

(Ms Mahdian)

Ms Mahdian, whose husband is a hostage inside the camp, explained how Saddam’s Intelligence services gave her husband to the MEK as a slave, even though he had been and is still a registered POW, captured at the start of the Iran-Iraq war. Ms Mahdian explained that her son has not seen his father for the past 25 years and the MEK would not allow this visit even after two years of picketing.

(Mr. Sadeghi)

Mr Sadeghi from Germany, who is one of the few members who managed to run away from the camp successfully during the time of Saddam Hussein, presented and explained evidence of recent MEK interference in the internal affairs of Iraq, their collaboration with Saddamists and other terrorist groups, and the MEK’s active role in intensifying the insurgency.

(Mr. Ghashghavi)

Mr Ghashghavi also from Germany, served eight years without trial in Saddam’s prisons including Abu Ghraib for refusing to carry out Massoud Rajavi’s orders to commit criminal acts. Mr Ghashghavi explained how Rajavi and Saddam would force people to either kill others or be sent to the torture chambers themselves and be killed.

(Mr. Ezati and Ms. Sanjabi)

Another ex-MEK member, Mr Ezati who now lives in the Netherlands, gave interviews to the media explaining the situation inside the camp and the constant abuse of human rights of the victims. Mr Ezati strongly criticized the unfortunate media silence over these human rights abuses which he ascribed to the pervasive influence of the MEK’s powerful backers who regard the MEK as “good terrorists”.

(Nejat delegation)

Tens of ex-MEK members who work with Nejat Association in Iran, also attended the Conference and were interviewed by the media. They explained that Nejat Association, which works closely with the families of the hostages, now has the capacity to help those survivors who wish to do so, to go back to their country under the amnesty which was granted by the Iranian authorities in 2003 (which is based on the understanding that the MEK members have been subjected to the coercion and control of cult leaders) and which to date has been upheld under the supervision of the ICRC.
Conference attendees were particularly interested in the testimony of three recently escaped camp residents who gave full and detailed explanations to the media about the harsh reality of being a captive inside Camp Ashraf. They spoke about the total information blackout and social and emotional isolation they experienced there. They emphasized that the leaders and the hostage takers lie constantly to the residents so that the captives have no idea about the outside world. They are made to believe that the MEK leaders are directly supported by the Americans and that if they tried to escape the camp they would be immediately shot, or now, after being tortured by the Iraqis they would be handed over to Iran to be executed without trial. They said that if they were given the true facts and information, there is not one person in the camp who would still want to stay in the desert of Iraq nearly nine years after disarmament. They urged international organizations, especially the US representatives and UNAMI, who are the only organizations with close relations with the hostage takers, to take advantage of their weekly meetings inside Camp Ashraf with the hostage takers, to persuade them to open up the flow of information and convince them to give people the right to family visits as well as normal means of communication such as writing and telephones, etc.
These recently escaped hostages also urged UNAMI not to present the hostage takers as the representatives of the hostages in the media outputs. Instead they should be clear that Rajavi is no one’s representative and as long as the negotiators have not met with the hostages without the presence of the MEK commanders – the hostage takers – outside the camp, they have no right to claim anything on their behalf. They said they believe that UNAMI and the American backers of the cult are in breach of international law for siding with the terrorists as these are people who have abused the human rights of over 3000 people for decades. The survivors of Camp Ashraf are now taking legal advice to claim compensation for their suffering and losses from the MEK leaders.

November 29, 2011 0 comments

European Union

Open Letter to Catherine Ashton

Dear High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Mrs. Ashton,

Dear Foreign Ministers of the EU-Member States, We want to warn you explicit to avoid a harum-scarum acceptance of MEK

During the 1 December session of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussls, the situation of the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI) and their base “Camp Ashraf” in Iraq, will surely come up.

The clashes between Iraqi security forces and Camp Ashraf residents in the past, as the imminent bloodshed during the announced closing of the camp on 31 December led you, Mrs. Ashton, to appoint Mr. Jean de Ruyt as advisor in this special issue.

Following the Press, the acceptance in the member countries of some of the Iranians living in Camp Ashraf will be discussed at the 1 December session.

We want to warn you explicit to avoid a harum-scarum acceptance of those people.

The Camp Ashraf inhabitants are part of a cult-like Organisation with a personality cult on the leaders Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. In the last decades they were separated from the outer world, especially from their families, to put their lives completely at the service of the organisation. Most of them are not at the height of technology and even do not know, how to use a cell phone or the internet. To wrench those people out of “their world” and put them in a foreign country and in an unknown world, will tighten them to the organisation.

The UNHCR told that in order to determinate their refugee status, individual interviews will need to take place in a safe, neutral and confidential location. Also the Iraqi government has signalled to support this procedure.

We would suggest, bringing the people from Camp Ashraf in contact to their families in connection with this interviews.

Based on the fact, that nearly 70% the Ashraf inhabitants live there because of the pressure and under the influence of the PMOI propaganda, several even against their will, bringing them in contact to their families could be a possibility to solve the problem.

The return to Iran, witch is vehement preached by the PMOI to be no option, could be a possibility for the people to reunite with their families and free from the influence of the PMOI.

The ICRC has repatriated several hundred Ashraf defectors to Iran during the last years, without them being persecuted or oppressed by the Iranian regime.

Only up to 350 of the 3400 people in Camp Ashraf are facing a persecution by Iranian or Iraqi law enforcement agencies, which those people are committed cadres and PMOI leaders.
There are whispers, that the organization is working on “evacuating” their leaders from Camp Ashraf and bring them through Turkey to the EU illegal,while the other members should be immolated as “Martyrs” in the battle against the Iraqi troops.

To prevent such a bloodshed we are convinced, that it is necessary to offer the Ashraf residents the contact to their families and the “real world” outside the organization and the gates of Camp Ashraf, to reveal them alternatives to the violent fight for Camp Ashraf, which they presumably do not beware of because of the PMOI propaganda and indoctrination.

We want to give the people in Camp Ashraf the possibility to recognize, that they can decide on themselves, if they want to get back home to their families, or try to get asylum in other countries or fight for Camp Ashraf.

Certainly it will be necessary to accept a certain number of people in the EU and we urge each EU member country to do their bit to a humanitarian solution of this problem. But to prevent the Ashraf residents from the PMOI influence, it is essential to bring them together with their families and show them, the reality is not like the PMOI has constituted it since decades.

For some time past, there is a network of PMOI defectors, families of Ashraf residents and several NGOs who work hand in hand with the Iraqi government and so were able to bring PMOI defectors, who managed to escape from Camp Ashraf by their own, back to their families. The UNHCR and the EU can fall back to this network to make this way possible to all people in Camp Ashraf.

On this reason we urge you to take a stand for this way at the session of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 1 December and discuss it as a serious option and as a preliminary step to a resettlement to third countries.

With best regards
Ali A. Rastgou
Cologne, November 28, 2011

November 28, 2011 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Mr. Rostami, MKO defector shares his experiences

My name is Mahmoud Rostami. I was born in 1966.i joined the Mujahedin Khalq in 1988. I escaped camp Ashraf on September17, 2011. I mean I was imprisoned in Ashraf for twenty-two years.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally I wasted the best and the most sensitive part of my life in the MKO but I’m very happy that I could finally find the free will and the power to make decision. I owe my freedom to many people especially my Mom who came to Ashraf gates, behind the fences and I had the chance to hear her voice and recognize her.

In fact, the fate of Ashraf residents includes a very bitter part of Iranian history. From the bottom of my heart, I wish the release of all individuals who are mentally and physically imprisoned by the organization. I hope that they find a way to get rid of this dirty, superstitious and poisonous propaganda they’re stack in.

This is not our fatal destination to be a toy in hands of a capricious person who ruins all human values. There should be an ending point for Rajavi’s and his supporters’ dirty game. They should be brought to justice before Iranian nation.

I really wish that any Ashraf residents in any rank or position would have the free will to think freely and choose for his fate.

End of 2011
After I left Camp Ashraf, I thought that I should leave everything behind me and think of a new life in the free world. But I was wrong.
I left Ashraf 41 days ago. I can swear that I almost all the time think of the fate the rest in the camp. I am concerned about their situation in the early January 2012.
As it was proved by experience, it can be imagined what will happen by the end of 2011. Again, the same as it happened in June 2009 and April 2011, a number of residents (of course more than the previous times) will be left dead. Then photos of dead and injured ones will be published on TV and newspapers accompanied with protests by personalities from all over the world as well as judicial and human rights interpretations that are nonsense.

They always delay the solution until after the problem gets crucial. Why, these incidents are inevitable? Is it really impossible to stop such incidents occurring again? Why the case of Ashraf has got so complicated?

I’d like to tell you a story of what happened this year in April 2011:

Among residents who were killed in Ashraf, in April, there was a young man named Morteza Beheshti. He was so good that once you got acquainted with him you would never like to stop the relationship. He was a noble, modest and really good-tempered guy. He always used to smile and talk very sociably.

Morteza had a brother named Milad who is also an Ashraf resident. Following the killings on April 17, as usual Maryam and Massoud Rajavi would praise the dead and injured members. This way they tried to motivate other members who were still alive.

Morteza had a heart-breaking death. Everyone was moved by his death. No one cared what Rajavi said. But Rajavi is skilled in abusing people’s emotions.
A few months after that date, I was standing guard in western side of the camp. I saw a young girl among the families who were picketing behind the fences (who were usually insulted and stoned by residents according to what they were ordered by commandants). She was carrying photos of Milad and Morteza. She looked so distressed and sad. She said,” for god’s sake, call me any name you like, call me “Criminal”, ”Henchman”, ”Intelligence Agent”, ”Mercenary”… just let me see my brother Milad for 5 minutes.”
Looking at such a scene would make any dignified human being upset. I myself automatically thought of my own sisters. After that, I would think about that woman for hours so I deeply doubted what Massoud Rajavi claimed as humanity.

There was only barbed wire and tears of a young girl who wished to visit her brother for only five minutes.

May God, history and society judge them?

We can prevent such bitter fates from happening. This story should be ended once forever. Our history is full of revolutions and revolutionary struggles as well as deviations and treasons. I swear to God, that the current path of Ashraf is not that of a struggle. Such situation is not chosen by Ashraf residents at all. This is only the result of mistakes and deviation made by a single self-contended individual who is supported by the West.

As a person who has spent 22 years of his life in Ashraf, I can assert that all Ashraf residents realize everything but they are imprisoned there.

Translated by Nejat Society

November 12, 2011 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

SFF interview Mahmoud Rostami, MKO defector

Mohammad Rostami escaped the cult of Rajavi on sep.17, 2011 after twenty-two years of membership in the MKO.

He met his parents on November 4th after years of separation. The Rostamis hugged and kissed their son warmly with tearful eyes. Other families picketing in front of Camp Ashraf witnessed the emotional scene, congratulating the Rostamis for visiting their beloved son after twenty-two years.

SFF: how do you feel visiting your parents after 23 years?
Mahmoud: (While kissing her mother’s hand), I’m very happy, I can’t describe my feeling. I’m sorry I hurt them and caused them too much trouble during those years. I hope that they forgive me.

to view more photos click here

SFF: How did you join the MKO?

Mahmoud: I was a prisoner of Iran-Iraq war. After years of imprisonment in Iraqi camps, I joined the group out of necessity.

SFF: how come you decided to escape Camp Ashraf?

Mahmoud: I have written a number of papers on the situation inside Ashraf and I have given them to Sahar Family Foundation. Briefly, I’d say that members in Camp Ashraf are brainwashed. Before Ramadan [the month of fasting in Islam] I heard my mother’s voice via loudspeakers of families picketing in front of Ashraf gates. I got so happy, I felt like being awakened. I went to my commander and asked him to let me access a telephone to call my family in order that I would tell them not to come to Ashraf any more (this was my pretext to speak with my family). They said that they didn’t have any telephone for such a use. I said “Ok, I will go near the fence to speak to them and tell them to get back.” when the officials found my insistence, they allowed me to have a controlled phone call. When I talked to my family, I found out that I was not forgotten and they still love me so I decided to escape. I worked on my escape plan for a few months, and finally I succeeded. Now, I will try my best to help release my friends from Ashraf.

SFF: Mrs. Rostami, [Mahmoud’s Mother] how many times have you come to Camp Ashraf, so far?

Mrs. Rostami: first of all, I should say that I owe my son’s release to all families who have been picketing in front of Ashraf prison for about two years. Especially I’m thankful to Mrs. Abdollahi [the mother of an Ashraf resident] who always motivated us to be patient .
I came to Iraq three times and I would go to Ashraf gates and call my son through loudspeakers several times. I cried a lot and each time I had to get back home after my visa was expired, then I would get back to Iraq again after a while.
I tried to keep in touch with families here regularly. We feel that we should help each other in order to release our children from here [Camp Ashraf]. Thank God.
I got back to Iran a day before Ramadan. Telephone rang at home. One of my children answered and cried,” Mommy, Mohamamd is on the line”. He was calling from Ashraf. He said,” mom, you were here. I headed your voice but don’t come anymore.” I said” Dear, Escape! We are awaiting you. We miss you.”
Two months ago, Mohamamd called again and told that he had escaped Ashraf prison and he was in hotel. I couldn’t sleep that night. I called him everyday. When I found out that didn’t intend to come to Iran. I came to Iraq to see him. I wouldn’t have been relieved if I hadn’t seen him.

SFF: congratulations again! We hope that other Ashraf prisoners will be released as soon as possible and all families will be happy.

Translated by Nejat Society

November 9, 2011 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Open Letter to Ashton on hostages in Camp Ashraf

Dear Mrs Ashton,
Anne Singleton, Middle East Strategy Consultants
It is interesting and entirely predictable that at the same time you replied to Iran that the six major powers – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia – are willing to meet within weeks if Iran is prepared to "engage seriously in meaningful discussions" over concerns about its nuclear programme, we have seen a flurry of activity by the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) to skew perceptions of the issue with misinformation and self-aggrandising propaganda.

Paid MEK activists held yet another demonstration in front of the White House on Saturday with the irrelevant demand that the US government remove the MEK from its terrorism list. In Brussels Maryam Rajavi, wife of the MEK’s leader, was given a platform to promote terrorism in the European Parliament. Conflating the totally irrelevant issue of Camp Ashraf in Iraq with the problems posed by Iran’s nuclear programme and the MEK’s terrorist listing in the US, she was given a platform to verbally attack and insult Iraqis and their elected government from a parliamentary building.

The MEK is certainly highly proficient in advertising itself as a tool for anti-Iran elements to use and it is unfortunate that Europe’s corridors of power are being so casually exploited to promote Washington’s favourite terrorists. The intended signal is that Europe will brandish a stick to open negotiations with Iran over the nuclear issue. Does the European Commission represent European interests in this respect or do you represent the agenda of only the extreme right wings of USA and Israeli politics?

But as much as we believe this is against your interests, these are political issues and we do not wish to take any position in this respect. Our first and foremost concern is that you do not allow the issue of Camp Ashraf and its sick and aging population to be used as a political football for everyone to kick around for their own game.

It has been reported that Mrs Rajavi conveyed her thanks to you for taking the side of the MEK against the government of Iraq. If this is true it is highly unfortunate that your office has been manipulated to look as though you are taking a position of backing the head of a terrorist cult instead of the victims.

Mrs Rajavi like her fugitive husband Massoud Rajavi does not represent the individuals trapped inside Camp Ashraf. The Rajavis do not represent anybody’s interests but their own.
The Government of Iraq has frequently advised representatives of the European Union not to use the MEK to push their agendas in Iraq, to the point of issuing written and verbal complaints against interference in the internal affairs of their country, including their elections, and have warned against using elements of terrorism to push their agendas. However, these political issues must be addressed in another arena by other parties. We are specifically interested that you have now taken responsibility for dealing with Camp Ashraf.

As you are aware, around 3400 Iranian individuals remain trapped in a dangerous, destructive mind control cult, the Mojahedin-e Khalq, by its leader Massoud Rajavi inside Camp Ashraf in Diayla province of Iraq.

Since the MEK was confined to and protected in the camp by the US military in 2003, Rajavi has resisted all efforts to allow any external agencies to free these individuals in a peaceful and humane manner. Rajavi is holding the residents as hostages to guarantee his safe future, to avoid prosecution for war crimes and crimes against humanity brought against him by the government of Iraq and the international community.

You are also aware that since February 2009, many of the families of these hostages have taken turns to stay just outside the camp in an effort to find and meet their loved ones and to prevent the MEK from further harming them. Now, as a new contingent of families from Gilan province in Iran have arrived at the camp, we are writing to you on behalf of the families of the captives of the MEK and its Western backers in Washington, London and Brussels. (Such ordinary Iranians find themselves voiceless in Western political and media circles due to the virulently anti-Iranian attitude which prevails in these circles.) They wish first and foremost to remind you that they are part of the solution, not the problem.

You have demonstrated your particular interest in this issue by appointing Mr Jean De Ruyt, a former Belgian ambassador to the EU, as your advisor on Camp Ashraf. He will no doubt be investigating and examining whatever approaches are available to resolve the situation. By situation I refer to the standoff between the constitutional and legal demand of the elected government of the sovereign nation of Iraq, and the illegal and irrational demands of a cult leader as the hostage taker who represents nobody but his own interests and who is prepared to kill others to this end.

The government of Iraq demands that the MEK leave Iraq before the end of the year, certainly before American troops are withdrawn. For this reason, there is an urgent need to find an effective solution. On two occasions, August 2009 and April 2011, when Iraqi security forces have attempted to enter the camp to impose the rule of law on the camp, Massoud Rajavi ordered his special forces, his fedayeen, to force the brainwashed residents to confront these efforts with a suicidal resistance which led to the deaths and injuries of many rank and file members as well as injuries to Iraqi security forces. Iraq is working hard to avoid a similar confrontation in future and is expecting cooperation from the international community in this respect. Soon after the second of these incidents I visited the camp and interviewed the responsible authorities and gathered enough evidence which is available for any party who would like to know. Since 2008 three reports have described the situation of the camp and two books have been written on the subject.

Mr Jean De Ruyt, who will liaise with EU states and organizations including the United Nations, says that a peaceful and realistic solution and the security and safety of residents are his priority. For this reason the families are very optimistic now that you have taken over responsibility from the Americans. With the appointment of this advisor the families now believe your office has a mandate to help Iraq, the UN and ICRC to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

The families are asking that you coordinate with the Iraqi authorities to help them to protect their relatives when the leaders are finally forced to open the gate of the camp and allow external agencies in. This is the first step before the UNHCR can take the residents out of the garrison and interview them individually without MEK minders present. It is at this time of maximum confrontation that they fear Massoud Rajavi will order the deaths of the residents.

Once the gates of the camp are finally opened safely, the residents will of course be able to access the facts and information which have been denied them for decades about their true situation and the possibilities for their future. Whatever their choices, their families are on hand to offer them protection and support. Of course, not all the families can be in Iraq at the same time, but all are willing to travel there to help their loved ones when their individual circumstances demand.

The MEK is designated as a terrorist organisation by Iraq based on its activities in their country against their citizens – the MEK has killed 25,000 Iraqi civilians over two decades. In contrast, the EU does not regard the MEK as a terrorist entity. This should make it possible for residents of Camp Ashraf – in addition to those who already have citizen or residency rights – to be brought to Europe as refugees under the auspices of the UNHCR. (Due to the peculiarities of American law, delisting the MEK in the USA would play no part whatsoever in helping the people in Camp Ashraf.)

Considering that the US military has deliberately helped the MEK to keep the gates closed and the residents trapped inside, the opportunity now exists for you to act as a go-between for the US and MEK and thus ensure that the camp is opened up at the earliest opportunity so that work can start to relocate the hostages. Certainly the government of Iraq is happy to help facilitate this outcome on the understanding that if this process is not begun by the end of the year, the international community has obliged them to take unilateral decisions regarding the camp and its residents.

Above all else, the families outside have travelled from far and wide to rescue their loved ones and are more than happy to ensure a swift and peaceful outcome. There can be no possible objection or obstacles to helping them.
Anne Singleton
(Author of Saddam’s Private Army, 2003 and co-author of The Life of Camp Ashraf, 2011)
Iran-Interlink
MESC Ltd
U.K.

October 26, 2011 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Former MEK Leader Confirms Terror Conspirator Affiliated with the group

You’ll recall that the U.S. claimed that the Iranian alleged conspirator in the terror plot against the Saudi ambassador, Gholam Shakuri, was a Revolutionary Guard (IRG) official. Though many Iranians have scoured every resource they could think of, none have found evidence of such a person with any IRG affiliation. If the U.S. has such evidence it ought to produce it if it Richard Silverstein wants to be believed. Yesterday, the well-placed Alef site, run by an Iranian majlis member who’s run for president twice, alleged that Shakuri is in fact a high level Mujahadeen al Khalq (MEK) leader. It offered evidence to support the charge.

Today, the official MEK leadership has denied that Shakuri is a member and the U.S. has also denied the charge. But in fact, a former high-ranking MEK leader, Massoud Khodabandeh (he has allowed me to use his name), writing in the Gulf2000 listserv, confirmed that Shakuri is in fact an MEK member. He cautions that there may be more than one Gholam Shakuri, and the one who is the MEK member may not be the same Shakuri the U.S. has named. While this may be true, this new development moves Shakuri a lot closer to being MEK than being IRG. And moves the entire U.S. account of this supposed crime closer to the trash heap.

In its story containing the U.S. denial, the NY Times quotes U.S. sources responding to the Iranian charge that Shakuri held or holds a U.S. passport:

Mr. Shakuri is not a United States citizen and does not have an American passport.
I have no doubt that Shakuri is not a U.S. citizen and also that he may not currently have a U.S. passport. But this statement, at least as portrayed by Scott Shane, does not say the U.S. never issued such a passport in his name. There are many ways and reasons a non-U.S. citizen may obtain a U.S. passport including fraud and the possibility that Shakuri was performing a task for the U.S. government or CIA and needed such a document. I am speculating, but in light of the paucity of evidence the U.S. has offered to support its claims, we must parse the information it has distributed to try to determine credibility and accuracy.

There is another intriguing element that the Alef story added to the mix. It claimed that Interpol had released information allowing confirmation of Shakuri as an MEK official. The NY Times says this:

An Interpol spokeswoman declined to comment. But an American official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Interpol had discovered no link to the opposition group, calling the Iranian news report “pure fiction.”

While I do not know the protocols that Interpol follows in making public statements, I’d think that if the organization had been portrayed falsely by Iran, that it would want to say so. I’d also think that the U.S. would be a far more important national partner to Interpol than Iran and that Interpol would also want to deny this story if it were false because the U.S. would benefit from this. The fact that it refuses to do so raises if not a red, then surely a yellow flag for me.

The fact that a U.S. official seeks to speak on behalf of Interpol and under the cloak of anonymity is highly dubious. If they want us to believe what they claim, then I’m afraid it will have to be Interpol speaking on its own behalf.

Tikun Olam

October 22, 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

Former members of the MEK

Two MKO defectors join their families

Two former members of the cult of Rajavi (Mujahedin Khalq Organization) who have recently escaped Camp Ashraf were welcomed at Nejat Society Mazandaran Branch on Tuesday, September 20th. Mr. Mohammad Reza Goli Eskardi and Mr. Ein allah shabani met their families at Nejat office where some other families of MKO captives were present, they wished the release of their loved ones held in the Camp under the rule of Rajavi’s dictatorship.

Mr. Mohammad Reza Goli Eskardi and Mr. Ein allah shabani ,who have recently escaped Camp Ashraf were welcomed at Nejat Society Mazandaran Branch on Tuesday, September 20th.

Families of the two MKO defectors were really moved by visiting their loved ones after years of separation. Mr. Shaabani and Mr. Eskardi also expressed their pleasure for their return to their families reminding others that their loved children in Camp Ashraf seriously need their support and help in order that they can release themselves from Ashraf “prison”.
They also briefly described the horrible situation and mental pressure their ex-comrades at Camp Ashraf were trapped in. The two defectors requested the families of Nejat to make efforts to help release their loved ones before the deadline Iraqi authorities have assigned for MKO departure.

Appreciating the cooperation of Nejat Society and families, they expressed their readiness to help with salvation of their former friends held as hostages in MKO.