Families of the MEK hostages denied of their rights

Letter to the Honorable Director of the ICRC

Honorable Director of The International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) based in Iraq

Ancient Iran , Glorious Future consists of former members and political critics who had been captivated for many years by the cultic thoughts and ideology existing in this organization (PMOI).Finally, we could retrieve our freedom after the downfall of Saddam Hussein , Dictator of Iraq, and enjoy living free. Ancient Iran , Glorious Future consists of former members and political critics who had been captivated for many years by the cultic thoughts

As you are well informed , it is almost three months that some of the victim’s families have gathered behind the closed gates of new Iraq garrison(former Ashraf), despite of Iraq bad weather and the lack of accommodation and facilities , requesting to meet their loved ones who have been in cult’s captivity for many years , the cult’s operatives and officials have rejected their request and instead they have slandered and accused those elderly families of being Iranian intelligence service agents !!!! Meeting loved ones and relatives is a` common and routine right in every prison throughout the world , but in this prison is totally forbidden and even is counted as a deadly sin.

As we mentioned above , we had been captivated in this cult for many years and it is very understandable and tangible for each one of us the way this cult behaves specially vis a vis victims’ families . We are not strangers because we separated from Rajavi’s cult so we are completely aware and familiar with their cultic rules and behaviors, and we know why they do not want their victims to meet their families.

We are talking about a cult which any correspondence ,letters ,exchanging photo ,phone calls ,meeting loved ones,……………. And etc had been forbidden and even they were counted as deadly sin inside their cultic relations .Thinking about life , love, wife , kids and,….. etc have been forbidden in this cult and the person who entered to these subjects was utterly suppressed in collective gatherings and meetings.

We are talking about a cult which watching television and listening to the radio and having access to internet or satellite and even having a simple cell phone has been completely forbidden, for that reason those stranded and stuck victims are forcibly kept separated from the free world and instead they are continually under heavy cultic indoctrination and brain washing methods by the cultic thoughts and ideology , and they are asked to worship the cult’s leaders in stead of having any sentiment , love, towards their family and even their own private life.

Honorable officials of ICRC , we are urging and entreating you to step forward and intervene to help those families to find a way to meet their loved ones. Meeting loved ones in any prison throughout the world is considered as a right. We believe the cult’s leaders and operatives will retreat because of intervention of ICRC and all humanitarian organizations and the families will be united with their loved ones at last despite of the cultic rules.

All The Best
Ancient Iran, Glorious Future

CC:
Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International
American Embassy In Iraq
UNHCR branch in Iraq
Ancient Iran Association, Paris

May 12, 2010 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

The crisis of Camp Ashraf

The crisis of Camp Ashraf: Mujahedin Khalq want to stay in Iraq and defectors want amnesty letters.

There are a number of Iranian dissidents in Camp Ashraf. The number mounts to 3000 people of whom 70 percent are in their fifties. Lately the Iraqi government has changed the name of the camp to Camp of New Iraq.

Following their clashes with intelligence, political forces, these dissidents have entered a phase allegedly called”Organizational Stability”. Do they still want to continue their presence in the Camp; although most of Iraqi authorities oppose their presence in Iraqi territory? Is there any Arabic country willing to accept them? Such as Egypt which has cut the ties with Iran for thirty years now. Will Iranian authorities forgive them or grant them amnesty if they return to Iran? Will American forces accept to support the group as a pressure lever against Iran in their debate on Iran’s nuclear activities?

The only achievement the group gained in the last twenty years was its removal from EU’s terrorist list which caused Iranian’s anger.

An Iranian official in an interview with Asahrq Alawsat ,said:”Mujahedin Khalq is no more a danger for Iran and a threat to Islamic Revolution since they are besieged and have no hope for their future.”

For the time being, MEK claim that they are under the pressure by Iranian Intelligence Ministry and Iranian intelligence agents have come to Camp under the cover of the families of Ashraf residents! MEK sends letters to international human rights bodies. On the other hand, the men, women and youth waiting at Ashraf gates for several weeks, say: We are here only to visit our children .we don’t want to make them return, they are free to choose their fate but we want to know about their health, to know whether they are living or dead!

Some of these women come to Camp Ashraf from different Iranian cities and no one responds them about the fate of their husbands, fathers, sons or daughters.

Mr. Mohammd Bagher Momen Zade, former member of MEK told our reporter in Shiraz (a city in 1000 Km south of Tehran):”the families want to get some news about their children or relatives whom they have not seen for thirty years.”Some of those who came to Iraq”have been helped by a branch of Nejat Society“he added.

The daughter of one of Ashraf residents’ states:”the trip to Ashraf was so stressful and worrying. Every night I see my father in my dream, he seems to call for me. I have no idea if he is still alive or he is dead.”A woman is with her, she carries a photo of his son,”Hussein”. A man called Yousefi also has the photo of his two sons Ali and Barat, but they all look disappointed and depressed behind Ashraf gates.

They shout”Allah U Akbar”[God is the greatest]; Ya Hussein”[Hussein is the third Shiites’ leader] some of the elderly fall down due to extreme tiredness. The girl is making another effort to open the gates and reach her father.”If they open the gates and we enter, we don’t know where to go. Iraqi soldiers accompany us, showing us the buildings but no Iranian is seen in the camp”she says.

Mohammd Bagher Momen Zadeh, lived in Ashraf for a lot of years. He attended some terrorist operations. He worked as a reporter between leaders and members. When he disobeyed the orders, he was sent in to prison and Iraqi judiciary sentenced him to six years of imprisonment because of his illegal arrival to Iraq. And then the Iranian authorities condemned him to ten years of imprisonment in Evin Prison under the charge of commitment of terrorist operation in Tehran and Shiraz…

“I was thirteen when I joined MEK. I attended two terrorist operations so I was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment in Evin. When I got back to Camp Ashraf I saw a lot of big changes in the organization. After a year I told them that I was not able to continue and I wanted to leave Iraq and that was why I got into trouble. I was in solidarity confinement for seven months. Together with me, about eighty other members protested against their stay in the Camp,”he says. Momen zade recalls his days in Ashraf:”Camp Ashraf had tuned into a horrifying castle where marriage was forbidden. there were weekly brainwashing sessions in which we had to confess everything that our minds were busy about. For example a comrade would come and confess that he was thinking about his family his mother or sister …, I think it was a new Islam. A lot of changes had occurred in the organization.”

Momen Zadeh describes that he is a graduated of Electronic University and now he is a cameraman who films wedding parties in Shiraz.”MKO delivered me and eighty other members to Iraqi Intelligence Ministry where I was under torture, beating and investigation for six months.

“The Iraqi court accused me of aggression upon Iraq borders and then I was sentenced to six years of imprisonment in Abu Qoraib, 24 hours before American invasion to Iraq, Iraqi and Iranian governments exchanged a number of their war prisoners including some of MKO members and me.

“My return to Iran and my freedom took me only one week. The Iranian authorities defined some conditions for me such as not opposing the Islamic Republic, not committing terror operations and not joining MKO anymore.”

A former high ranking member of MKO told Ashraq Alawsat in Tehran:”they do not have arms. They are only trying to maintain their organization and its doctrine and obedience to its orders which is the most important to them. They think if Camp Ashraf is closed MKO will collapse.”

Momen zadeh believes that the future of Camp Ashraf directly depends on the region’s situation and the relations between Iran and Iraq and the interests of Iraqi government and also the negotiations on Iranian nuclear activities (…)
Today, Momen Zadeh lives with his memoirs of the terrorist operations he committed :”I exploded a car in Shiraz and I thought that I would be sentenced to death but at the time I was only thirteen. I had carried out my seniors’ order.”(…)

Momen Zadeh sees himself an independent individual now. Asharq Alawsat asked him:”Are you still opponent to Islamic Republic? Or do you agree with them?”
“I am a member of Nejat Society right now.”He answered”this society is an NGO, it is neither a governmental organization, nor opposing the regime.
“I live in Iran as a normal citizen. I have an Iranian passport and I am able to travel to any country I want. I am a victim of terrorism. My job at Nejat Society is the arrangement of visits between families and their children in Camp Ashraf. They just want to get to know about their children to know whether they are living or dead.”

“There are eighty families in Shiraz and all around Iran there are 3000 families whose children are still in Camp Ashraf.”Momen Zadeh explained,”Since 2003, about one thousand members have left Camp Ashraf.”

Some of Iranian independent experts who are opponents to Islamic Republic believe that Tehran authorities are behind most of those kinds of societies of which their objective is to impress Ashraf residents psychologically.

An Iranian journalist says:”I think that it is at Iran’s interest that MKO maintains near Iranian borders since Iranian Intelligence is simply able to reach them and it is also for American benefit to protect Camp Ashraf in order to have an arm to threaten Iran and on the other hand it is beneficial for Iraqi political rivals to enjoy Camp Ashraf which is a part of negotiations in Iran- Iraq relations.”

Most of Ashraf residents are living in poor condition. I think you cannot find a similar fate to that of MKO in the whole history. They have no certain future. A dissident, who participated in anti- election demonstrations, says:”those who return to Iran have to sign letters of amnesty and obey IRI’s constitution. Some of the returnees are also supported by Iranian authorities and are used for efforts to persuade other members to return. They have granted amnesty to those MEK members who haven’t committed assassinations.”

Despite the old animosity between MEK and Western states that consider it a leftist organization and label it as a terrorist organization, American forces have treated Ashraf residents as refugees since 2004 until last year when the control of Ashraf was handed over to Iraqi government. After some time they were removed from EU’s terrorist list and were considered as an opposition force against Iran. Mujahedin Khalq Organization accuses Iranian regime of sending its elements, under the cover of families, to Camp Ashraf and using them as a lever for psychological pressure on Ashraf residents. The psychological warfare is carried out by calling residents’ names through loud speakers, knocking at gates and chanting slogans including”Dawn with MEK”.

Mujahedin also accuse some Iraqi parties of facilitating the work for Iranian Intelligence agents! They claim that Iraqi Police puts pressure on Ashraf residents. Mujahedin view themselves as”Iranian refugees”that no one is allowed to submit them to Iranian regime.

MKO leaders are trying to mobilize public opinion in Europe and America in order to achieve their ideals. They asked the UN to support Ashraf residents immediately.

By Asharq Alawsat – Translated by Nejat Society

May 4, 2010 0 comments

The Iranian Pen Club letter to UNAMI

Dear Mr. Madhu Acharya

Respectfully, we would like to acknowledge that the Iranian Pen Club is consisted of those ex-members of the MKO who managed to free themselves from the mental and even physical The Iranian Pen Club letter to United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq barriers of the Organisation. The main object of the Association is of course to try to help the previous comrades in such way that they be able to free themselves too and start a decent normal life again along with their families and beloved ones.

Fortunately , after the downfall of Saddam Hussein’s reign , The Former Dictator of Iraq, and relative political stability in this country , there has been begotten a new atmosphere of freedom, and respect to human rights in various grounds in Iraq, particularly for detainees and prisoners. There are field visits by civic and human rights organizations as well as international and local advocates of those in prisons and detention centers across Iraq. But why this issue and human rights violations in the castle headquarters of the People’s Mojahedin in Ashraf?

It has been nearly three months that elderly parents with broken hearts and tearful eyes are looking forward to meet with their children in front of Camp Ashraf have been on sitting so the MKO leaders allow them access to their children inside the camp. But the refusal of the MKO to allow family interviews between those who came from Iran to Iraq to meet with their children is a violation of divine laws and international laws recognized all over the world.

According to all international laws and norms it is acceptable for immediate families to visit their loved ones in any circumstances. But as you know, The Mojahedin Khalq do obey only their own internal laws, which are different from the rest of the world.

Leaders of MKO said in their announcement that UNAMI is inside Camp Ashraf. If so, why UNAMI has not come to the gate of Camp Ashraf to see these families who are waiting to meet with their children, what is going?

While we support the families in front of the gates of camp Ashraf and the efforts of your Excellency, demand a stronger involvement of UNAMI in the human rights violations inside Camp Ashraf and more cooperation from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees And the Iraqi government for the families and parents to meet with their children who are prisoners in Camp Ashraf.

With many thanks and regards

The Iranian Pen Club
30.04.2010
Postfach 90 06 63
51116 Köln
Germany
00491756391365
info@iran-ghalam.de
iran-ghalam@hotmail.com

Cc:
– Embassies of Iraq in Germany , France and Swiss
– Relevant MEPs
– Office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maleki
– US State Department

May 2, 2010 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Ms. soltani Letter to united Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq

I, Batool Soltani Leadership Council and former MKO member, am completely up to date with the situation at the cult in the highest level.

During the past three months the families of the captured members in the New Camp Iraq (ex-Ashraf) have arrived from different countries to meet their children after years of ignorance and have gathered in front the door of this camp. This organization has prevented the reunion to take place and they have cleared conditions that if such entry takes place their commander must be presence during this meeting.

While families want to visit their children without control by the organization, it is outrage that front of the eyes of whole word and all international organizations this cult could still follow and continue its cultic agenda.

Thank you for meeting with the three families and you listened to them. I request and am expecting you as a person of an International institution to intervene with Ashraf’s situation and for you to follow the situation closely.

I also want you to cooperate with the Iraqi government to eliminate any obstacles for these families to reunite with their children.

Even this cult has announced that your representatives stay on-site of the Ashraf, but this news is false because if your representatives were on-site of Ashraf then would have resolved this issue earlier.

Considering my understanding of the cult leaders on how they control and the enslavement of people I am ready to work with you to make you aware of this situation and to remove any barriers for families to meet with their children.

I emphasize the members of this organization continuously are under control hierarchy and have daily meetings to enquire about their most private problems.

The most basic human rights is considered unauthorized ,and organizations claim that people captive voluntary and accepted these conditions, but these captivity had been achieved in various ways to control the minds of members with of course decades support of Saddam Hussein’s regime.And all members really need psychotherapy and are out of control and urge your immediate action.

With many thanks and regards
Batoul Soltani

Cc:
– Embassies of Iraq in Germany , France and Swiss
– Relevant MEPs
– Office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maleki
– US State Department

May 1, 2010 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Families have kept their vigil before the gates of Camp Ashraf for over 70 days

Second announcement by the families of hostages in Camp Ashraf

The following announcement issued by the families of the hostages inside Camp Ashraf is a response to the letter Mrs. Maryam Rajavi has written to the President of United States, Mr. Obama. The families are sitting in front of the garrison in protest. They simply want to know about the fate of their children:

We would like to ask the free thinking people of the world, as well as the politicians involved whether Mrs. Maryam Rajavi isn’t simply trying her best to divert attention away from the real announcement issued by the families of the hostages inside Camp Ashraf is a response to the letter Mrs. Maryam Rajavi has written to the President of United States, Mr. Obama. issue and the simple fact that we have been sitting down in protest only for the simple demand and right to visit our children. The Open Letter to the U.S President and the other propaganda she publishes is nothing other than a desperate attempt to divert attention from our simple and basic right.

In her open letter to President Obama she has been begging him to accept his responsibilities in protecting the citizens of Camp Ashraf and to guarantee the security of the camp.
We should ask Mrs. Rajavi, if she means the security and the well-being of our imprisoned children and hostages taken by Mojahedin Khalq, or does she really mean the protection and security of the existence of Mojahedin Khalq from dismantlement and disappearance?

If it is the well-being and security of people inside the camp then:

Our captive children have been under severe physical and psychological pressure for years and have been denied their basic human rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of thought, being allowed to love and be loved and having any emotions for or enjoying relationships with other people. They have been living in this miserable, desperate situation without hope for years and years, to the point that, due to this harsh segregation, there are no children among them. They have been and are still being misused in barbaric ways, including slavery and forced labour. Their souls are also subjected to the most ridiculous and inhuman laws of this cult.
If it is the well-being of our loved ones that she is concerned with, why is it that they are being used as human shields on every occasion, including the last one when they were used as human shields in front of Iraqi loaders and heavy vehicles so that she and other leaders of the cult can cry foul for the dead and the injured, and claim to be those who are suppressed?

Why is it that whenever the existence of the leaders of Mojahedin Khalq is under threat, some unfortunate people have to burn themselves on their command to save the skin of these leaders?
Is it not the case that the lives of the people inside this camp are only valuable in that whenever Massoud Rajavi feels the need, he can send some of them to their deaths?

The truth is that the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation is trying to save Ashraf garrison intact solely because Ashraf camp is the nectar of life for the leaders of this cult and the leaders of this cult have been able to use this to get help from humanitarian organizations throughout the world to continue their disgraceful, but luxurious lives in Europe and the United States for some time more. Our children have to suffer in this forced labour camp so that the leaders of the so-called Mojahedin Khalq Organisation can continue their lavish lifestyles here and there.

Mr. Obama should seriously ask Mrs. Rajavi about the demands of the people who have been sitting in front of the camp for the last three months. Ask her what is it that we want? What is it that we have left our homes, work and livelihoods for and have come here to get? What is it that we are shouting about day and night?

Mr. Obama should ask Mrs. Rajavi; for what reason or with what permission she bought Iranian Prisoners of War from the Iraq–Iran war from Saddam Hussein and transferred them to Ashraf garrison without even letting their families know where they had been transferred to?

He should seriously investigate and ask her about the people who had gone to Turkey from Iran to find work and were kidnapped by the Mojahedin Khalq agents and transferred to Ashraf garrison so that she could give a bigger number to her pay masters. She should be asked why she did not allow these people to call their families even once to say that they are alive.

These families have been left in the dark for years and years with no news about their children.

They have been searching for them in every possible place, including graveyards and hospitals, etc. with no result. Day after day, they have been crying with no closure, with no news until the fall of Saddam Hussein when they found out that their children have been kept in the dark prisons of Rajavi and the commanders of Mojahedin Khalq. In 2003, the families started trying to reach their loved ones and try to meet them. Some succeeded in seeing their children briefly under the severe restrictions imposed by Mojahedin Khalq leaders. The captive children have been signaling to these parents with every possible means that even talking about emotions or complaining about the situation in the camp will only increase the pressure already exerted against them. They have clearly said that no-one is allowed to be alone and everyone is watched 24 hours a day. During these occasions, the prison guards of the Mojahedin camp did not even let the captives accompany their families to the gates of the camp. Some who decided to do so without the consent of the leaders were returned to their sections by force. What is a meeting worth which is under the constant presence and investigation of the garrison guards and in which the prisoner is afraid to say anything?

The only demand of the families sitting in protest in front of the gates of Ashraf garrison is to meet their family members without the presence of the Mojahedin Khalq jailors, outside this garrison so that they can be certain that that these people can choose freely whether they want to continue living in captivity under a regime of humiliation and insult and under the most brutal dictatiorship of Rajavi and his cult in Camp Ashraf, or whether they would like to return to free society and live normally.

Mr. Obama should ask Mrs. Rajavi why she has denied the people inside the camp their right to deciding their own fate and future. What else have the families asked for that is not acceptable for her? And Mr. Obama should ask about the condition of the captives and investigate the reason the families are sitting down and do not leave their picket.

What does she want from the rest of the lives of these people who have lost all their youth, education, families, jobs and everything in service to the devious goals of this cult
Is it not that the families are afraid of another scenario like the one in July 2009 where she sent some of these children to their deaths?

The families have come to save their children so that the remainder of these people inside Ashraf camp would not be used as expendable lives by the devious leaders of the cult.
We would like to bring to the attention of Mr. Obama the published memories and experiences of ex-members of this cult who have managed to escape from this garrison of the Dark Ages. People like Ms. Batool Soltani who has been a member of the Leadership Council of the Mojahedin Khalq cult. People like Mr. Khodabandeh or Mr Sobhani, currently living in European countries.

We, the families would like to bring the attention of Mr. Obama to the report published by RAND, specifically the parts where the report investigates the internal relations of the Mojahedin Khalq and the leaders of this personality cult.

Note:
We ask the management of Iran Interlink and Iran Ghalam Associations and others who have been supporting us during our picket in front of the camp by allowing our voice to reach the outside world to send this letter on our behalf to whoever has received the Open Letter of Mrs. Rajavi to the U.S. President.

With thanks,

Families picketing in front of Camp Ashraf – 29 April 2010

May 1, 2010 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Rajavi forces our children to sign his lies to UNAMI

Third announcement by the families of hostages in Camp Ashraf

The Mojahedin Khalq cult leaders, in a ludicrous show of desperation, have sent letters to UNAMI with the signatures on them claiming to be those of our loved ones! The cult leaders have claimed that our loved ones have all repeated the leaders’ propaganda.

First of all, there is no way that one could be sure that these signatures really are the signatures of our children captive inside the camp. And secondly, there is clear evidence that even it these are the real signatures of our children, the pressures imposed on our love ones during the past three months but Mojahedin Khalq leaders have brought these captives to the point that they will sign any paper including the above mentioned letters filled with lies and swearing and etc. It is enough to say that the letter claims, on their behalf, that none of them want to even see any of their family members under any circumstances.

The cult leaders also claim that the families of these captive people have surrounded them!! And therefore their lives are in danger (from their family members who want to see them)!!

What danger could the old men and women, who only want to see their children, pose to anyone. What the cult leaders really mean is the danger they pose to the very existence of the cult’s rules and regulations which they are imposing on our children. Rajavi is clearly shaking with the thought of our presence in this place which is cutting through his darkness like a ray of light.
As usual, the Mojahedin have embarked on their old tactic of saying that we, the families of the captives, have all been sent by the Intelligence Ministry of Iran. Nothing could be further from the truth and no one is buying these ridiculous lies. No one believes these ridicules claims and this tactic has been thread bare for a long time now.

We, the families, have promised and will stick to our word to resist all of these tactics including crying wolf and including deceptions and lies and including forcing our children to write letters against their own families they have not seen for decades. The desperate leaders of the Mojahedin cult are begging the Americans to push back the mothers and fathers of their hostages in this camp. We have not, and will not, surrender to this intimidation, and will not allow these supposed forced signatures by our loved ones against their own families set us back. We continue to insist on our only simple and legitimate demand and that is to meet our children in a place outside this garrison and without the presence and intimidation of the cult leaders in the presence of representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and UNAMI.

In our last meeting with UNAMI in Baghdad we were promised that representatives will coordinate with the Government of Iraq to act on the legitimate demands of the families and would send representatives to the gates of Camp Ashraf to see the situation for themselves. To date, we have not seen anyone from UNAMI approach the camp, but we are still hopeful and waiting.
Families picketing in front of Camp Ashraf – 30 April 2010

May 1, 2010 0 comments

Al Motamar reports the meeting between families of the MEK and UNAMI

Al Motamar reports the meeting between families of the victims of the Mojahedin (MEK, MKO) and UNAMI

The UN Political and Human Rights Director (UNAMI) in Iraq, Mr Mahdu Acharya, stressed that the protest and refusal of Mojahedin Khalq leaders, currently based in Camp Ashraf, to allow the families of Iranians who came from Iran, to meet their children inside the camp is a violation and a breach of human rights law and contrary to ethics, the international community and international human rights organizations and all free people in the world. He asked leaders of the leaders of the organization to deal with this situation in a humane way and consider Iranian families their full freedom to meet their children outside the walls of Camp Ashraf.
This came during a meeting in the building of the UN in Iraq (UNAMI) inside the Green Zone between a number of families who came from Iran to Iraq to meet their children, prisoners and detainees held in the camp.
He said camp Ashraf in Diyala province is part of the Iraqi territory and falls within the responsibility of the government and Iraqi security forces after receiving it officially from the U.S. forces following the the security agreement between Iraq and America in 2009 and full sovereignty of Iraq on its lands. He stressed the fact that Iraq cannot allow any foreign party to interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq, especially on the issue of Camp Ashraf and members of the Organization adding that the prime minister has set up a formal committee responsible Camp Ashraf to negotiate directly with the leaders and officials of the Organization in cooperation with UNAMI, the Red Cross and other international human rights organization to close down Camp Ashraf forever and end the presence of the PMOI in Iraq.
In spite of the hardship and pains the families have suffered throughout their 75-long days of stay before the camp, they are waiting to see their children in the bond of the organization’s dark ideology headed by Massoud and Maryam Rajavi for nearly 27 years.

Al-Mmutamar – Baghdad

April 29, 2010 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Miserable condition of Mojahedin Khalq hostages in Camp Ashraf

Asharq Al-Awsat exposes miserable condition of Mojahedin Khalq hostages in Camp Ashraf

Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper published a long report on the situation of the combatants of the Mojahedin-e Khalq at Camp Ashraf. The paper said that about three thousand men live at Camp Ashraf, called Camp New Iraq by the Iraqi authorities, and over 70% of them are over fifty years old. It is not clear what can be done with them. Whether to keep them in Iraq, or send them to Egypt for example, or have the Americans give more protection so they can be used to threaten Iran.

The only achievement of the MKO leaders in the past twenty years has been to have the name of the organization struck from the terrorism lists of many countries, a move which allows Iran to accuse them of hypocrisy.

The paper reported that several families have travelled from far away just to get news of their relatives inside the camp.

The Mojahedin-e Khalq claim they are officers of the Iranian Intelligence service who have been sent to conduct phsychological warfare on the group. But Asharq Al-Awsat spoke to the families and to Nejat Society in Iran which is helping them, and they say all they want to know is if their relatives are alive and well or if they are dead.

The families are holding a vigil in front of the camp where they have been situated for some months.

Asharq Al-Awsat spoke to people who have recently escaped from the camp. They spoke of the terrible conditions there, and said that anyone wanting to leave was severely punished, even tortured. One former member of the MKO who has served in prison in Iran for terrorist acts while with the MKO told the paper that if the people inside the camp were free to choose, most of them would leave. The group is supported by America and is being used to pressure Iran. But, he says, Iran does not think the group is important and does not see any threat from them.

An Iranian journalist said he believes that America, Iran and Iraq want to keep the MKO holed up in Camp Ashraf for different reasons, but that this is inhumane because the people inside are living in extremely bad conditions and their humanitarian needs should be cared for.

The MKO leaders, for their part, accuse the families of psychological warfare and are demanding that the United Nations take over responsibility for the camp from the Government of Iraq.

April 29, 2010 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

The fear surrounding Camp Ashraf leaders

It’s been over two months since families of Camp Ashraf residents started a strike at the gates of Camp Ashraf, but they could not manage to visit their loved ones without the presence of the Camp authorities in an open atmosphere. The leaders of Mujahedin Khalq destructive cult, as always, prevent the members from an ordinary family visit which is the absolute right of any prisoner. The reason of such a prohibition lies in the recent process of defection of the cult during the last six years. Since the invasion of coalition forces and the fall of Saddam Hussein a large number of Ashraf residents defected from the group, returned to Iran or went to Europe where some of them succeeded to reveal the nature of MKO in european organizations such as European Parliament. This kind of consequence of MEK members’ defection caused the cult’s leaders a strong feeling of fear which has turned in to a phobia. For MKO’s leader Massoud Rajavi, a good critic is a dead critic. He is terrified by the domino effect of members’ defection which will end in his group’s collapse. This extreme fear might explain the fact that MKO leaders are not assured of the members’ belief in the group’s ideology.

Ashraf residents have long been kept in an isolated place, deprived from any love or affection. The cult-like relationships under too much police-like pressure have left them in a condition where they feel wondering in a fatal life without any reliable, kind shelter. Their natural need for family love is not dead but it is like a flame ready to set a big fire.

As the families at Ashraf gates declared in their response to Mrs. Batoul Soltani’s message, they are everyday witnessing Ashraf residents who stealthy wave hands to them smiling but because of their organized systematic fear of defecting from the group, they are not able to leave the Camp. Needless to say that Rajavi’s promise for victory and freedom cannot impress the members any more but the fear of outside world that Rajavi portrays for them, maintains them in the cult.

The message of Mrs. Batoul Soltani, former member of the cult’s Leadership Council, for Ashraf residents clarifies for them that their fear is baseless and as she describes "the essential element for a human life is living in a free community" .The members are indoctrinated and manipulated day and night and they are told that the families waiting outside Camp Ashraf are agents of Iranian Intelligence Ministry .However, the claim is paling since the old mothers and fathers awaiting near Ashraf ,suffering physical weakness are paying the price of Camp authorities’ despotism.

The least achievement of such a strike can be coming to the conclusion that Rajavi’s ideology is filled with defects which leads his cult to such a complex fate in which the leaders have to heighten their deceitful manipulative techniques in order to keep the members in the Camp.

By: Mazda Parsi

April 28, 2010 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq rejects MKO claim that families are Iranian intelligence officers

DIALA – Twenty Iranian intelligence officers entered Iraqi territories to head for Camp Ashraf of the anti-Iran group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran in Diala, a PMOI source said on Saturday.

“Twenty Iranian intelligence officers arrived in Camp Ashraf with the aid of the Iraqi government and are residing inside caravans parallel to the camp walls in al-Azim, al-Khalis district, (15 km) north of Baaquba,” Mahdi Aqbaie told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“Those officers, who are being protected by the Iraqi security forces in charge of the facility security, were brought near the camp in order to press its residents to leave Iraqi territories,” Aqbaie added.

Meanwhile, an official security source in Diala dismissed the reports.

“The camp is void of any elements belonging to the Iranian intelligence otherwise this could be deemed as violation of national sovereignty,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

The PMOI, also known by the abbreviations MKO and MEK, is a militant socialist organization that advocates the overthrow of Iran’s current government. Founded in 1965, the PMOI was originally devoted to armed struggle against the Shah of Iran, capitalism and Western imperialism.

The group officially renounced violence in 2001 and today it is the main organization in the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an “umbrella coalition” parliament-in-exile that claims to be dedicated to a democratic, secular and coalition government in Iran.

The PMOI has had thousands of its members for many years in bases in Iraq, but they were disarmed in the wake of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and are said to have adhered to a ceasefire. Its armed wing is, or was, called the National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA)

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein dedicated Camp Ashraf in Diala province, northeast of Baghdad, to host the PMOI members since the 1980s.

April 24, 2010 0 comments

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