In the midst of this, we were once again called to a grand meeting in the large hall.

The leader stepped onto the stage with heavy, determined steps. On either side of the stairs stood armed guards, motionless as statues. Further back, like a second wall, stood additional bodyguards. The security was massive, suffocating.

He stopped in the middle of the stage. His gaze swept over us.

The hall was filled – a sea of ​​green uniforms, broken by perfect, symmetrical blocks of red from the women’s headscarves. Everything was orderly. Controlled. Almost militarily beautiful. And completely lifeless.

He opened his mouth: “As part of Maryam’s ideological revolution, I have a gift for all of you…”

A gift. The word echoed strangely in my head.

“You have given me everything. But you have kept the most personal. Something that has prevented you from fully uniting with me and the struggle. Your sexual fantasies.”

He paused.

“From now on, we will introduce the weekly ablution. You will write down every private, every sexual thought you have during the week. And at the end of the week, you will read it out loud to others. The other members will attack your dirty thoughts… and you will be purified.”

Silence. Not an ordinary silence – but a total, suffocating stillness. Ten thousand people in the same room… and yet there was barely a breath. It felt as if time had stopped. As if the air had frozen. A pin could have been heard to drop.

How is this a gift?

Thoughts raced through my mind. This was not a gift. It was a demand. A demand for the last thing that was mine.

We had already lost everything – our lives, our choices, our relationships. We had no contact with the opposite sex. But thoughts… Thoughts were the last thing anyone could take away from us.

I thought.

Now they too would be gone. What is left of a self when even your innermost thoughts belong to someone else?

Maybe that was exactly the point. To wipe out the self. To replace it with something else. Something that fit into their world.

That was exactly what they had taught us about the ideological revolution.

I remembered the videotapes from the late 80s. Our parents had been in these meetings. We were children then. In the films, the leader spoke with a different voice – softer, almost convincing. He spoke of sacrifice.

How they had left everything behind: their lives in Iran, their careers, their lives in the West. But he also said they hadn’t sacrificed everything.

“Why fight halfheartedly?” he asked. “Why not take the final step?” He put his hand in his pocket. “You’re hiding something from me.”

He took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter and placed them on the table. “What do you have in your pockets that you don’t want to give up?”

The private. The hidden. What was still theirs. “Give it to me.” Then it was about spouses and children.

Now, almost fifteen years later, that wasn’t enough anymore. Now even the thoughts would go away.

Fear crept into my body in a way I had never felt before. Not even the missile attacks had scared me this much. The air was electric. Tense to the point of breaking. As if a single spark could blow everything up.

Why did everyone react like this? And why… didn’t I feel anything?

Women in the MEK: Trapped, tortured, and silenced

Brainwashed by Brother Massoud

A young man pushed his way forward. I recognized him immediately. Reza Chavoshi. The MEK’s kid from Germany. The one who used to listen to Ice Cube and gangster rap.

Now he stood there with a wild look and shouted: “Thank you, Brother Massoud! You have freed us from our inner devil! I was the devil!”

I stared at him. What the hell…? How could he change so completely?

It was as if all these people had been missing something. A final piece of the puzzle. A key.

And now the leader had given it to them. And their reactions exploded.

One by one, those who had been sitting still stood up. They lined up. The lines wound all the way to the back of the hall.

Finally, I saw it. I was the only one left sitting. Either they really believed this. Or they didn’t dare do otherwise. But I couldn’t get up. I couldn’t. How could I, at seventeen, feel that something was wrong?

while an elderly man from the United States – a man who had lived in a democratic society, had received an education, lived with freedom – stood there shouting that he had been freed from his “invisible shackles”?

One by one they came forward and thanked him.

Psychological pressure by Massoud’s devotees

Then a short, gray-haired man came up to the microphone. His name was also Massoud. He had lived in London. His voice trembled: “I’m sorry, brother Massoud… but I don’t think I can handle this…”

He couldn’t take it anymore. A roar erupted. Protests. Loud, aggressive. Growing. Then, as if on command, the entire hall began to shout: “Gomsho Pasdar! Gomsho Pasdar!” [in persain] meaning: “Go to hell, you Revolutionary Guard!”

Ten thousand voices. Like a wave.

The gray-haired man covered his ears. He collapsed. Started to cry.

I had seen people attacked in smaller meetings before. But this… This was something completely different. It was brutal. Crushing. And even though I wasn’t the target… I could feel the pressure. The psychological weight.

The leader paced back and forth on the stage. He smiled. He looked at the man. Then he said, almost calmly: “I’m not saying anything. It’s the congregation that takes a stand against you. And the congregation is always right.”

Amir Yaghmai

Taken from Amir Yaghmai’s X account, Translated by Nejat Society Website

The post Massoud Rajavi’s “Precious Gift” to his Followers appeared first on Nejat Society.

Ponerology and Pathocracy and their Theoretical Frameworks

Ponerology, a term coined by Andrezej Lobaczewski, is the interdisciplinary study of evil, specifically focusing on the origins, development, and spread of evil on a large scale within societies and political systems. *

It posits that certain psychological deviations, particularly psychopathy, can infiltrate and ultimately dominate social structures, leading to the formation of “pathocracies”.

A pathocracy is a system of government where individuals with personality disorders, especially psychopathy, rise to positions of power and systematically impose their distorted worldview and values upon the populace. This result in a society characterized by oppression, manipulation, and systematic destruction of normal human bonds and ethical principles. [IBID]

Key characteristics of pathocracy, as described in ponerogical literature, include:

Psychopathical infiltration: individuals with psychopathic traits, such as a lack of empathy, manipulativeness, superficial charm, narcissism and a propensity of deceit, gain control of key institutions.

Systematic manipulation and propaganda: The ruling elite employs sophisticated psychological techniques to control information, distort reality and indoctrinate the population. This often involves the creation of an “us vs. them” mentality, demonization of external enemies, and the suppression of dissent.

Erosion of normal human values: Empathy, compassion, and independent thought are discouraged or punished while obedience, conformity and loyalty to the ruling ideology are highly valued.

Internal purge and terror: Dissenters or those perceived as threats to the ruling power are often subjected to severe punishment, including imprisonment, torture, or execution.

Cult of personality: leader or leaders are often deified and their pronouncement are treated as infallible.

Isolation from external reality: The group or society becomes increasingly isolated from external scrutiny and information, reinforcing the internal narrative.

The MEK: Structure and Practices

The MEK, founded in the 1960s, began as an Islamic-Marxist organization opposing the Shah of Iranand later the Islamic Republic. Its structure and internal dynamics have been the subject of extensive scrutiny, particularly regarding its leadership under Massoud and Maryam Rajavi.

Centralized leadership and ideological control

The MEK is characterized by an extremely centralized and hierarchical leadership structure, with Massoud Rajavi and later Maryam Rajavi, at its apex. Massoud Rajavi who disappeared in 2003, remains a titular leader, while Mrayam Rajavi has assumed the role of “President-elect” of the so-called “National Council of Resistance of Iran”, the MEK’s political vitrine. This leadership presented as infallible and the sole interpreter of the organization’s ideology.

The MEK’s ideology, a blend of Islam and Marxism, has evolved over time but consistently emphasizes absolute loyalty to the leadership and the revolutionary cause. Members undergo intensive ideological training and reduction sessions.

Psychological manipulation and “ideological revolution”

Numerous accounts from former MEK members and analysis by scholars describe a system of pervasive psychological manipulation within the organization particularly after the “Ideological Revolution” initiated by Massoud Rajavi in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This “revolution” aimed to purify the organization and solidify the Rajavi’s control.

Key elements of this alleged ideological revolution and the actual psychological manipulation include:

Forced divorces and celibacy: Based on the order issue by Rajavi, named “ideological revolution”, members were compelled to divorce their spouses and live in celibacy, with the stated aim of dedicating themselves entirely to the revolution and eliminating personal attachments that could compete with loyalty to the leadership. This practice is seen by critics as means to break down individual identity and foster dependence on the group.

Daily self-criticism sessions: Members are required to participate in daily sessions where they confess their “ideological shortcomings”, “sexual deviations” and “bourgeois thoughts”. These sessions, often public and humiliating, serve to reinforce conformity, suppress dissent, and expose any deviation from the prescribed ideology.

Information control and isolation: access to external media, family contact, and independent information is severely restricted. Members live in isolated camps, primarily Camp Ashraf in Iraq and then Camp Ashraf 3 in Albania where their only source of information is the MEK leadership. This creates an echo chamber where the MEK’s narrative is unchallenged.

Deification of the Rajavis: Massoud and Maryam Rajavi are presented as messianic figures, embodying the revolutionary spirit and the ultimate truth. Their pronouncements are considered sacred, and questioning the leadership is equivalent of treason.

Emotional manipulation: The MEK’s leadership exploit members’ emotional vulnerabilities, including their desire for purpose, belonging, and a better future for Iran, to secure their unwavering loyalty.

Tyranny and abuse in the MEK’s ruling system

Beyond psychological manipulation, there are numerous reports and testimonies on tyrannical practices and human rights abuses within the MEK. These include:

Physical abuse and torture: Former members have reported instances of physical abuse, including beatings, sleep deprivation, and solitary confinement, for expressing dissent or attempting to leave the organization.

Forced labor: Members are reportedly subjected to long hours of labor with little to no compensation, contributing to the organization’s self-sufficiency.

Suppression of dissent: Any form of criticism or questioning of the leadership is met with severe repercussions, leading to climate of fear and self-censorship.

Prevention of departure: Members who wish to leave the organization are often prevented from doing so, sometimes through force or intimidation, and are subjected to intense pressure to remain.

Application of ponerology and pathocracy to the MEK

When examining the MEK’s ruling system through the lens of ponerology and pathocracy, several parallels emerge.

The highly centralized and authoritarian nature of the MEK, coupled with the absolute power wielded by Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, aligns with the concept of a ruling elite that has systematically eliminated internal opposition and consolidated control. The “ideological revolution” and its associated practices, such as forced divorces, daily self-criticism, and severe information control, bear a striking resemblance to the methods described in ponerological literature for creating a compliant and ideologically uniform population. These practices can be interpreted as a deliberate effort to dismantle individual autonomy and foster complete dependence on the organization and its leaders.

The deification of the Rajavis and the suppression of any critical thought or dissent are hallmarks of a cult of personality, a common feature in pathocratic systems where the leader’s aythority is unquestionable. The use of physical abuse and the prevention of members from leaving further underscore a tyrannical environment where individual rights are systematically violated.

While it is beyond scope of this analysis to definitively diagnose individuals with psychopathy, the systemic outcomes described by former members and human rights organizations- namely, the pervasive manipulation, the erosion of normal human relationships, the suppression of empathy, and the systematic control over information and individual lives – are consistent with the characteristics of pathocracy.

The MEK’s internal environment, as depicted in critical accounts, appears to have fostered a culture where loyalty to the leadership superseded ethical considerations and individual well-being, a key indicator of pathocratic system where distorted values are imposed.

The systematic nature of these practices, their long duration and their profound impact on the lives of MEK members suggest a deliberate and sustained effort to reshape individual psycology and social dynamics within the organization to serve the interests of the ruling elite. This aligns with ponerology’s focus on the systemic nature of evil and its manifestation in political structures. The MEK’s structure, therefore exhibits many characteristics that resonate with the theoretical constructs of ponerology and pathocracy. Particularly concerning the psychological manipulation and tyrannical rule under Massoud and Maryam Rajavi.

Mazda Parsi

*Loaczewski, Andrzej. Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes, Grande Prairie, AB, Canada : Red Pill Press, 2006.

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In one of the darkest chapters of the history of terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), led by Massoud Rajavi, an incident revealed that the power of family bonds is stronger than any brainwashing tool. Families who came to the gates of Camp Ashraf to see their loved ones encountered a plot not aimed at emotional reunion, but rather at propaganda in order to recruit family members. However, these plans unexpectedly led to the weakening of the cult’s internal structure.

Behind Ashraf’s Closed Doors

During the years the MEK was located at Camp Ashraf , Iraq, hopeful families traveled to this heavily guarded and isolated compound seeking a short visit with their children, siblings, or spouses. Social and emotional pressure from these families forced the organization to react. Rajavi and other leaders temporarily allocated houses—formerly used by couples before the so-called “ideological divorce”—to families.

Note:
The ‘ideological divorce’ was a policy imposed by Massoud Rajavi that forced members to sever all emotional and familial ties, so that their emotional dependency would be entirely eliminated. Based on this policy all married members were coerced to divorce.

The Real Goal Behind Family Invitations

Though it appeared to be a gesture of goodwill, the real purpose was to deceive public opinion, recruit younger family members, and emotionally drain the families through strictly monitored visits. Rajavi also aimed to build a sociable portrait for his group attracting individuals among the visitors who would portray a supportive image of the group and promote the cult’s official narrative. These efforts, however, failed, as the emotional atmosphere and truth-seeking spirit of the families prevented the manipulated narrative from taking hold.

Cracks in the Cult: The Voices of Mothers

Rajavi’s plan failed. Not only did those who met their families consider escaping or leaving the group, but even other members—present in the meeting halls or who merely watched over the visiting parents—experienced deep emotional impact. These meetings, orchestrated for the first time with specific propaganda goals, unexpectedly led to emotional awakening and internal doubt. Even those who weren’t allowed to meet their families were affected by witnessing these emotional scenes or hearing families’ stories. The cult, despite its extensive psychological isolation efforts, could not sever the deep-rooted human connections.

Testimonies from Former Members

Mohammadreza Yazdanpanah:
“When I heard my mother crying at the camp gate, everything collapsed inside me. For years they told us that family was the enemy, but that day I realized who the real enemy was.”
Sara Nouri:
“The moment I saw my father, I froze. They didn’t let us speak, but that one look was enough to make my decision final.”
Hamid Davari:
“Even those who didn’t meet their families were shaken by the sound of mothers crying. That was the voice of truth, not propaganda.”

Conclusion

The MEK, under Massoud Rajavi’s leadership, attempted once again to mask the truth using emotional manipulation and staged propaganda. However, the presence of families at Camp Ashraf’s gates not only disrupted these plans, but also triggered widespread awakening and defections. The story of Ashraf proved once again that the strength of familial bonds surpasses any fabricated ideology or forced isolation.

Ali Mohammadi

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Definition and causes of nightmare

Nightmares, like dreams, are the product of our brains, and their terrifying vision originates from inside us. Nightmares should not be confused with bad or unpleasant drteams. Nightmares are actually long, vivid and frightening dreams that usually threaten our survival, physical integrity, safety or self-esteem and fill us with fear. They can also cause intense feelings of fear, anger, sadness, confusion, and even disgust.
Some researchers call nightmares “repetition of threats”. The meaning of this term is that most people repeat the threats they have faced in real life in their nightmares. This is why most people remember the images and content of their dreams well when they wake up from nightmares. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022), the causes of nightmares are as follows:
– Anxiety and stress
– Trauma (physical or mental impact) or distressing events such as the death of a loved one
-Disordered sleep, lack of sleep, fatigue from long-term air flights, illness and fever
– Side effects of a specific drug or treatment
– Medicines or drug withdrawal such as sleeping pills
– Drinking or quitting alcohol
– Breathing disorders during sleep such as sleep apnea
-Sleep disorders such as narcolepsy or sleep anxiety disorder
-Eating shortly before bedtime

The causes of nightmares of the MEK child soldiers

According to the large number of memories, documents and evidence about the prevailing atmosphere within the Cult of Rajavi, it seems that at least the first three are the most true causes of nightmares regarding the child soldiers of the MEK. Of course, as he says, Mohammadreza has gotten rid of this suffering due to the beautiful life he has built for himself outside the cult. He attributes the end of his nightmares to the birth of his young son Ryan:

“But since Ryan Azadi was born, those nightmares have ended. I don’t know what the mechanism is, but what a blessing. These days, I am very proud of myself for having the courage to escape from that hell. Life is beautiful.”
But another child soldier of the MEK, who is active on the X social network with the username Aylin Moghadam, said in the comments to Mohammad Reza’s post about his endless recurring nightmares:

“I also have nightmares almost every night, they hold meetings for me, previously by Masoud Rajavi, now Maryam Rajavi has entered the scene, with her scary face looking at me with anger, and in my dream, I say ‘why am I here while I had gone out, how did I come back?’ and I scream asking for help Everywhere I go there is barbed wire…
“Another recurring nightmare of mine is that they forcefully tell me to get on a tank and fight. In my dream, I say that I don’t want to fight anymore. I’m tired. I don’t want to ride an armored car. They say that no one asked you if you want to get on and… I wake up crying again.

“In my dream, I don’t have anything, they have thrown away all my things, they force me to wear boots and tell me that you have to clean this whole desert of grass and… they regularly hold meetings for me and yell at me, I wake up with tears still on my face and after that most of the time I can’t sleep anymore I don’t know how long I’m going to have nightmares.”
Even reading Aylin’s nightmares is heart-breaking, let alone knowing that Aylin and people like him and Mohammad Reza experienced these fears in the MEK camps. Being isolated in the deserts of Iraq, participating in self-criticism and inquisition meetings for long hours, forced participation in military operations and conflicts, are all real and tangible experiences for the child soldiers of the MEK.

Aylin, who doesn’t want his real identity to be revealed and seems to be still trapped in the atmosphere of terror created by the MEK leaders, has a lot to say, but he avoids revealing:
“Unfortunately, I avoid saying many things for some reasons, because the MEK agents are very much looking for who I am, and I want them to fail.”

Only from the content of his nightmares one can understand what fear and anxiety, trauma, sleep disorder and excessive fatigue caused by the MEK system have done to the soul and spirit of this former child soldier.

Is there a remedy for the suffering of the children of the MEK?

Although Azadeh Masoum has left the MEK some years ago, got married and become a mother, the birth of her child has not stopped her from having nightmares, but her deep motherly love and concern for her daughter has affected her nightmares as well. She writes to Mohammad Reza in comments:
“Unfortunately, I still see them, I even dreamed once that my daughter was with me and she was taken from me and given to another sister in an “organizational ranking change”. I was going crazy, when I woke up, I felt very bad.”

A few days later, impressed by the traumatic experiences of the MEK child soldiers, the author came across a post on the Facebook account of Atefeh Sabdani. Although Sabdani has no experience as a child soldier, she has experienced terrible traumas as a child of the MEK. She is now a 38-year-old mother of three children. The experience of a bad dream that her five-year-old daughter had the night before prompted her to write about it on August 16th, 2024.

The scream of the little girl woke her up and she rushed to her room to comfort her. She hugged her and soothed her by saying, “mommy is here”. The child calmed down, but Atefeh was thrown to her childhood, orphaned by the MEK, separated from her mom, left with feelings of helplessness and lack of security, and the experience of sexual assault by her foster father, who was a supporter of the MEK, and he had taken Atefeh and her two brothers and two other children under his custody in order to receive the social aids that the Swedish government pays children.

It is in the midst of night and Atefeh Sabdani, a successful Swedish citizen, influencer and author of a best-selling autobiography, is suffering from anxiety and shortness of breath from recalling bitter childhood memories. She had nightmares from the age of 5 to the age of 10 and 15 with no one to soothe her, she is still not completely healed from her traumas. She writes about this:

“Although I am actually 38 years old. And no matter how much I have walked through the path of healing and distanced myself more and more from my past, it still sneaks up on me. At night, as if to remind me of who I am and where I came from. Don’t forget. My five-year-old daughter sleeps peacefully. Now, I have to comfort myself.”

Mazda Parsi

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Consider that all the MEK-run media immediately after the attack — before the German police gave a report and analysis of the investigation of the incident– claim that the attack was carried out by the agents of the Iranian government. Regardless of whether the truth of this claim is finally confirmed by the German security institutions or not, the publication of such news is included in the category of false news, which is defined by terms such as fake news, misinformation or disinformation.

We know how propaganda works: by repeating what experts call the “big lie.” For example, American experts consider the claims of former US President Donald Trump as such. But when you are faced with a large amount of information in social networks and media every day, it is difficult to distinguish lies from truth. Every day we read false “facts”: misinformation or false news that deliberately mislead us: disinformation.

Why do people believe such information, which is generally called fake news? American psychologist David Rapp, who studies how people learn through reading, believes that memory plays a key role in this. In experiments, he finds that when people read incorrect information, even about trivial subjects they already know, they often become confused and remember the inaccuracies. Subsequently, they answer questions using the incorrect statements.

“You can build memories for the things you’ve read that can then get resuscitated or recalled later in your decision making,” he said, especially when people are not carefully considering what they read. This ability or disability of human mind is exactly what the MEK leaders exploit a lot.

Repeating false information over and over again—such as that the 2020 election was fraudulent that Trump claimed or the nuclear weapons of Saddam Hussein that George W. Bush claimed prior to invading Iraq in 2003— can lead to building memories for the information.

Repeated information is often easy to retrieve, which can lead to problems, Rapp explained. For the MEK, they have been repeating that Iran is building nuclear bomb for decades. They have repeated this fake news over and over since 2002 while no evidence has been found by the inspectors of the international bodies to prove it.

The closure of hundreds of user accounts related to the MEK in order to stop publishing fake news on the Facebook and Twitter platforms, was officially announced by both platforms. This is another proof for the long history of the group in publishing misleading news. At that time, the closure of the user account of a fictional character named “Heshmat Alavi” as the leader of the spread of fake news, was very enlightening for those who sought to learn media literacy.

By Mazda Parsi

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Rafigh Dehghan and Reza Mazginezhad left the MEK a few years ago. Living in Tirana, they are now members of Nejat Society Albania. In their memoirs about the suppressive atmosphere ruling the Cult of Rajavi, they talk about shopping as an activity that was a tool for mind control and manipulation.

Better not going shopping

In a video message, Reza Mazginejad, a former member of the MEK, talks about the strict structure of confession and self-criticism meetings in group. He, who is now a member of the Nejat Society Albanian branch, remembers that when he was trapped in Ashraf 3, leaving the camp and shopping in the streets of Tirana meant for him to count the facts that were in the MEK system, were known as the “Jim” facts, an MEK-built term referring to sexual thoughts. With bitter humor in his words, he explains that sometimes his mind was so busy counting and remembering Jim moments that he forgot to shop.

Reza Mazginejad; MEK former member in Albania

Every night, members of the Cult of Rajavi should report in self-criticism meetings, the cases that they experienced “Jim moment” during the day. This means that every moment they think of the affairs of normal life such as an opposite sex, they should confess it as a sin before their peers, because according to the group leaders, these moments are considered “sexual” and so that person should be punished.

In the MEK, self-criticism sessions are held seriously, persistently and regularly every night at Ashraf 3. The atmosphere of repression and peer pressure in these sessions is so intense that the members try to have something to say among the crowd every night in order to get out from under the blade of repression as soon as possible. In order to get cleansed they should be suppressed, verbally and even physically abused.

Women wearing pants dangerous for Mujaheds

Rafiq Dehghan, the other former member of the MEK, talks about his distressful memories for a simple shopping trip outside Ashraf 3. He, who is now an active member of Nejat Society, talks in a video message with a sad and frustrated tone about his strange memories of brief appearances in the free world.

According to the testimonies of this former member of the Cult of Rajavi, every time going shopping for MEK members is equal to a flood of questions about the “Jim” moments they might have experienced. Dehghan, who is nervous of recalling these memories, mentions some examples of the questions that the commanders would ask him after returning from shopping:
“How many women did you see? How many moments? Tell me who wore pants?!…”

Rafiq Dehghan

These questions are repeated every night in the self-criticism sessions called “Night cleansing”, which distort the memoirs of the isolated space of Ashraf 3 every time. Members are forced to have answers to these questions, to confess their so-called sexual moments. To bear the criticism and oppression of the commanders and peers and finally to express regret for what they have seen and thought about.

Actually, destructive cults disregard life and even harm life. They use isolation, and phobia indoctrination to overwhelm cognition of their members. In Massoud Rajavi’s cult of personality, the commanders control who you talk to, who you see in the streets, what you read and what you watch. They victimize ordinary life in favor of their bizarre cult activities like daily self-criticism sessions called Night Cleansing. One of the MEK’s darkest practices is aimed to control sexual thoughts.

Members of the MEK are constantly under an abusive, manipulative and suppressive controlling system. The international Human rights bodies and Albanian authorities must take urgent action to stop the group leaders from violating the human rights of those who are residing in Ashraf 3 as the group’s hostages.

Mazda Parsi

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Forced Celibacy

Human rights abuses began from the very days after the bizarre marriage of Massoud with Maryam Qajar Azdanloo –later called Maryam Rajavi. Maryam was married to Mehdi Abrishamchi, a high-ranking member of the group but her husband handed her over to the leader as a sign of loyalty. This was the start of a series of human rights violations in the MEK which came one after the other.

During the 1984 and 1985, following the so-called ideological marriage, all married members of the MEK were coerced to divorce. Male members had to surrender their wives to the group leader. Female members were manipulated to consider Massoud as the only man of their life. Celibacy became mandatory in the Cult of Rajavi. Any disobedience to the command would lead to punishment including interrogation, imprisonment, torture and even death.

Self Criticism

Punishments were along with a brainwashing system that worked through the hierarchy of the cult. Mind manipulation process was amplified. Self-criticism sessions, daily reports on personal thoughts and actions led to suppression by the commanders and pressure by peers.

Isolation

Members were isolated from the outside world. Mental and physical bars were formed around the group. News was filtered. Contacts to family and friends were forbidden. The entire members had to focus on the group’s leader. His words were considered a holy book.

Child abuse

The brainwashing system of Massoud Rajavi kept on destroying the entire family center. In 1991, after the first Gulf War, Rajavi ordered parents to surrender their children to the group. Around 7 hundred children of Mujahed parents, from two months old to 15 years old, were smuggled from Iraq to Europe and North America where they were left in team houses, foster families or orphanages. The number of heartbreaking stories of MEK children mounts to the number of the smuggled ones.

Child Soldiers

About 3 hundred of these children were smuggled back to the MEK’s camp in Iraq. They were recruited by the MEK as child soldiers of the group’s so-called National Liberation Army. Child soldiers of the MEK were coerced to wear uniforms and receive military trainings. Several of them could later escape the group and reveal what they endured in the Cult of Rajavi.  The stories of former child soldiers of the MEK became viral in the social media.

In addition, a lot of former members of the group published their revelations about human rights abuses inside the MEK. Their personal accounts of living in the MEK destructive cult were covered by media and human rights bodies such as Human Rights Watch.

Today, 4 decades after the ruling of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi over the MEK, the group members are still under constant human rights violations. Forced hijab, forced labor, forced celibacy are only a few examples. Brainwashing sessions are still held every night at Ashraf 3. Members are not allowed to contact their families outside the group. Even if they have family members inside the group, they are not able to have routine visits of normal family members.

The international human brights bodies and the Albanian authorities must take proper actions in order to stop human rights abuse in the Cult of Rajavi.

Mazda Parsi

The post Four decades of human rights abuse by the MEK leaders appeared first on Nejat Society.

Sarfaraz who is a member of the Association for the Support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA) attended the show along with Erisa, his Albanian wife. Erisa Rahimi was there as an interpreter.
During the interview, Sarfaraz talked about the restrictions and prohibitions created by the leaders of the Cult of Rajavi such as prohibition of contact with family, prohibition of marriage and even prohibition of contact with the opposite sex. He considered the MEK’s strict ideology and its manipulative mind control system as the basis for violation of human rights and in particular sexual abuse of female members of the group.

to download the video file click here

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Qassem Salehi was so determined to escape the Cult of Rajavi that he would kill the man who was his teammate in the terrorist operation that they were supposed to launch in Iran. Salehi was interviewed by Victor Charbonnier, the author of “The people’s Mojahedin of Iran: A struggle for what?”, published in 2003.

In this part of the book, titled “the day I turned my gun against my fellow- soldiers”, Qassem proves that families of the MEK members are right to be extremely concerned over the fate of their loved ones who are banned behind the bars of Camp Ashraf 3, in Manez, Albania.

Camp Ashraf 3,Manza,albania

Read the story of Qassem Salehi’s involvement with the MEK:

Now 30, Qassim Salehi was recruited to the organization by a relative. He recalls “I had just finished my military service. I was 24 and I had no money. I was trying to find my bearings. A member of my family suggested that I join the movement in Iraq. He held out the possibility that they would help me find work in Europe or the Gulf States.”
A native of Masjid Suleiman, in Khuzistan (Southern Iran), the young man, with two others, illegally crossed the border into Iraq. Now under Mojahedin command, he began to see their hidden side: “Before becoming an official member, the candidate goes through an initiation period which can last several weeks. Isolated in a locked room, all his outside contacts are kept to an absolute minimum. to keep him busy, they order him to fill in forms which he must give a detailed account of his whole life. during this period, the organization’s members based in Iran investigate his past. The leaders are afraid of taking in spies from the Iranian regime.”

The second stage is accepting the movement’s ideology. This can last from one month to one year. The candidate learns the movement’s basic philosophy by stuffing the writings of its wo leaders: Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. Trained instructors provide additional explanations.

The third stage is military training.

Two phenomena fascinated this candidate Mojahed. First, most of the movement’s leaders are women. Second, throughout his training, organization members spoke to him constantly of Maryam Rajavi, even reciting poems in her praise. He explains: “this was to test my revolutionary commitment”.
Qassem Salehi quickly understood that the organization was based on lies and double-talk. He recalls:” They repeated over and over again that the power structure in Iran was religious and despotic. It barred all opposing opinions, even points of review somewhat different from the regime’s.
But inside the organization, we were no better off. We were forced to give up any personal ideas, to melt completely into the group and to stop asking any questions. Is there any dictatorship worse than that?”

you came here by your own free will, but you cannot leave by your own free will

Qassem remembers Hassan Rezai, a man in his fifties who had immigrated to the United in 1974. He joined the movement in Iraq in 1997. shocked by what he saw in the camps, He asked to return to the United States. They replied: “you came here by your own free will, but you cannot leave by your own free will.” he told them: “you tell us that the Iranian regime puts school boys on the front line. But you are not better. You attract young people to the organization, turn them into terrorists and send them off to be massacred. what’s the difference between you and the regime you claim to fight”?

They answered:” you are crazy because you can’t control your sexual instincts and they gave him a public beating. Most troublemakers were treated the same way.
To avoid the bullying, the punishments and prison, Qassim Salehi was outwardly submissive and obedient. He wrote daily reports in which he described his heroic fight against his sexual drives, avoided discussions with his comrades and worked so hard that he almost fainted from fatigue. But he was waiting to make his move.

In September 2000, he was ordered, along with three other fighters (an Iranian and two Iraqis) to kill a local official. As soon as he was on Iranian soil, near Abadan, the Mojahed turned his gun on his three fellow soldiers, killing the Iranian. He explains, without the slightest remorse: “Anyhow, he would have killed me. he had the same intentions”. He also wounded the two Iraqis before running away and turning himself into the Iranian authorities.

Qassem Salehi spent 25 days in jail. He told all he knew about the organization to Iranian intelligence: names, places, ties to Iraq, etc. once freed, he started his life over again. Married, he is the father of a baby: Amir Mohamamd.

The people’s Mojahedin of Iran: A struggle for what?
Victor Charbonnier
Translated by dr. Thomas R. Forstenzer. RSA

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Samad Nazari was a former member of the MEK who defected the group more than three decades ago. He returned to Iran where he later founded Nejat NGO. His autobiography titled “Footprint of the Evil” was focused on the years of his membership and imprisonment in the MEK and defection from the group. Nazari passed away in the Fall of 2014.

In 1991, at the time of the first Gulf war, Samad Nazari was jailed in solitary confinement in the MEK’s Debes prison (Askarizadeh camp) near Kirkuk, Iraq. He was punished for his decision to leave the Cult of Rajavi!

Samad Nazari

During his breath-taking process of defection, Samad witnessed imprisonment, torture and killing of many of his peers. In a part of his memoirs, he writes about a man named Ahmad Heidari. He was jailed together with 5 other members. He recalls that Ahmad Heidari was brought to the cell in the weekend:

“He was badly beaten, with wounded and bruised head. His clothes were torn and his mental condition was not normal. He was Ahmad Heidari who had been irritated by Rajavi’s ideological revolution and since then he had started dissent against Rajavi.”

In the meeting that he was told to divorce his wife, he was so shocked by Rajavi’s order that he cried insults against Massoud and Maryam Rajavi and Fahimeh Arvani.
Nazari writes, “Ahmad had committed a huge crime, so he was attacked by some of the commanders. He was beaten and jailed in solitary confinement. He went on a hunger strike. In that mental state, he constantly cursed Rajavi, Maryam and Fahimeh.”

After a week Ahmad was brought to the office of Majid Alamian –the notorious torturer of the MEK. “Ahmad was so disgusted by the commanders that again started shouting insults,” Samad Nazari writes. “Majid beat his fist on Ahmad’s head. Ahmad was shocked and eventually silenced. Majid went out and Ahmad walked through the corridors around the office. He soiled the building and the sleeping equipment there.”

The torturer, Majid Alamian, comes back at lunch time and throws Ahmad in solitary confinement again. Ahmad pooped and pied all over the cell. “Majid tied his feet and hands and beat him harshly,” Nazari recounts, “He kicked Ahmad’s chest so much that she lost consciousness and fell into a coma.”

This was the daily routine of Ahmad for a few days. Nazari writes, “When we opened his arms and legs, he was shaking for an hour and could not stand.”

Majid Almaian and other commanders presumed that Ahmad had no mental problem, so they put pressure on him to confess his sins (insults against the leaders of the cult). Samad Nazari does not know much about the fate of Ahmad. He was taken out of the camp a few days later and nobody could know about his whereabouts anymore.

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