News on the MEK

More than half of camp ashraf residents relocated

The United States special adviser on Camp Ashraf in Iraq, Daniel Fried, says nearly 2,000 residents of the camp that’s served for years as a base for a group Iran calls terrorists — half the More than half of camp ashraf residents relocated total — have moved to a transit site called Camp Liberty.

Fried made the comments at a May 16 hearing at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Camp Ashraf has been the base of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), an Iranian opposition group that has been designated as a terrorist organization by Tehran and Washington since the 1980s.

The relocation follows a deal between the Iraqi government and the United Nations in December to move the MEK out of Iraq.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that cooperation by MEK during the closure of its Iraqi base at Camp Ashraf will be "a key factor in any decision" on whether to change the group’s terrorist designation.

May 17, 2012 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Defection from MKO Growing

A growing number of Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) members are leaving the terrorist group as MKO ringleaders are busy with a compulsory relocation from the Northern Diyala Defection from MKO Growing province to a Baghdad camp where they are sheltered transiently before being expelled from Iraq, reports said on Tuesday.

A report by the Persian-language Neday-e Haqiqat (the Voice of Truth) website said that another MKO member took the opportunity provided by the group’s relocation from Camp Ashraf in Northern Iraq to Camp Liberty and escaped on Monday.

Alireza Khamoushi, the ninth MKO member to flee the group in just the last one month, had been imprisoned and tortured before fleeing the camp.

The defected members describe improper psychological conditions and strict cult rules and restrictions as their main reason for fleeing the terrorist group.

Some defected members of the group had earlier unveiled that MKO ringleaders are using every means within their reach, including execution, to prevent the members’ defection from the group.

The defected members revealed that the main ringleader of the group, Maryam Rajavi, issues the execution orders personally and condemns to death all the dissidents who refrain from obeying her orders and all those who plan to defect from the MKO.

According to the report, the MKO ringleaders have prevented the members of the group from meeting their relatives for the last two years in a bid to prevent their defection and escape from the camp.

Also in March 2011, another defected member of the MKO revealed that the female members of the group have been living under captivity for more than 25 years and are not even allowed to appear in public places alone.

"It can be firmly said that 95% of the women in Ashraf Camp (the terrorist group’s resort in Iraq) have not even been allowed to step in Iraq’s public and recreational places alone all throughout the last 25 years," the defected member said.

The former member of the MKO also revealed that nearly 70% of the female members of the terrorist group are single and have not been allowed to marry anyone in or outside the group.

And only a total 10% of the married members have been allowed to have children, he added.

Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.

A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.

According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.

Numerous articles and letters posted on the Internet by family members of MKO recruits confirm reports of the horrific abuse that the group inflicts on its own members and the alluring recruitment methods it uses.

The most shocking of such stories includes accounts given by former British MKO member Ann Singleton and Mustafa Mohammadi – the father of an Iranian-Canadian girl who was drawn into the group during an MKO recruitment campaign in Canada.

Mohammadi recounts his desperate efforts to contact his daughter, who disappeared several years ago – a result of what the MKO called a ‘two-month tour’ of Camp Ashraf for teenagers.

He also explains how the group forces the families of its recruits to take part in pro-MKO demonstrations in Western countries by threatening to kill their loved ones.

Lacking a foothold in Iran, the terrorist group recruits ill-informed teens from Iranian immigrant communities in Western states and blocks their departure afterwards.

The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.

Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

May 16, 2012 0 comments

USA

MKO remains on US FTO list

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to rule on whether to remove an Iranian dissident group from a U.S. terrorism blacklist about two months after its refugee camp in Iraq closes, the Obama

U.S. to decide MEK’s fate after camp closes

administration said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments on a petition from the group, Mujahadin-e Khalq, or MEK, which is seeking an order forcing the State Department to either remove it from the list or require action within a specified period on its request to be delisted.

Iranians who belong to the group have been moving out of its Camp Ashraf base in Iraq to a processing center at a former U.S. military base in Baghdad, and the remaining 1,200 or so are expected to be moved in the next nine weeks or so, the administration said.

Clinton plans to decide on the group’s request to be delisted from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization list "no later than 60 days after the last move," Robert Loeb, a Justice Department lawyer representing the administration, told the appeals court that heard oral arguments on the issue.

It appeared to be the first time that the State Department had publicly given a rough timeline for making a decision on the matter.

Loeb acknowledged that a 60-day period for a decision "may not be realistic" because they could find additional evidence that needs to be weighed, but that Clinton had authorized him to tell the court of her plan.

Loeb said the administration has been carefully weighing whether the group has fully renounced its violent past and given up any weapons. He denied that the process was without an end. Clinton said in February the camp move was a "key factor" to making a decision.

"We’re not citing world peace" as a goal to determine the fate of the designation, Loeb said.

Also known as the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, the group led a guerrilla campaign against the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran during the 1970s that included attacks on U.S. targets. It was added to the list in 1997, but the group has said that it has renounced violence.

UNWELCOME IN IRAQ

The group, which has pushed for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical leaders, found itself no longer welcome in Iraq under its new Shi’ite-led government that came to power after Saddam Hussein’s downfall in 2003.

As a result of the MEK’s listing as a foreign terrorist organization, Americans are barred from supporting the group, and its members or representatives are banned from entering the United States.

A lawyer for the group, Viet Dinh, pressed a three-judge appeals court panel to force the Obama administration’s hand and said that the terrorism designation has "severe implications on constitutional liberties" for the group.

He denied that the MEK members at the base were armed and saying that "the group for a decade has renounced violence."

The three judges appeared skeptical of both sides during the arguments, acknowledging that it was not as if the Obama administration was "sitting on their hands", as Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson put it during the nearly hour-long arguments.

Judge David Tatel raised the possibility of establishing a deadline for when Clinton must rule or take the Obama administration’s backup suggestion to require regular progress reports to the court.

But he questioned whether the group wanted a decision that could go against the group now but in a few weeks or months could be reversed.

Dinh argued that the law required Clinton to make a decision within short order and that the group wanted a decision made even if it was not to delist it because then it could appeal it in the courts. "Any decision would be better," he said.

Tatel also pressed Loeb on why the administration just did not deny the application so the appeals process could move, but the lawyer said that the situation was "fluid" and did not want to risk hurting cooperation to close Camp Ashraf.

(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Editing by Philip Barbara)

By Jeremy Pelofsky

May 9, 2012 0 comments

USA

US to review UNHCR referrals of some MKO members

Camp Ashraf

Press Statement US to review UNHCR referrals of some MKO members
Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC

Today, the fifth convoy of approximately 400 Camp Ashraf residents safely arrived at Camp Hurriya. The United States welcomes the continued cooperation of the Government of Iraq and the residents of Camp Ashraf with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq to complete the relocation process, as set forth in the December 25, 2011 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United Nations and the Government of Iraq. The United States appreciates the extensive resources expended by the Government of Iraq to provide for the residents’ safe relocation, and calls for continued adherence to the commitments in the MOU, especially those which provide for the safety, security, and humanitarian treatment of the residents.

With over half of the initial resident population now relocated to Camp Hurriya, the United States will be able to increase its focus on the safe relocation of the residents from Camp Hurriya out of Iraq. We join the call of the United Nations to member states to assist in the permanent relocation of eligible residents from Iraq.

To do its part, the United States has informed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other governments that we are willing to consider referrals of some individuals from the UNHCR. These referrals will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, consistent with applicable U.S. law. We urge our friends and partners in the international community to step forward and help achieve a humanitarian resolution.

May 6, 2012 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Fifth group of MKO members move to TTL

Nearly 1000 members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) have expressed

1000 MKO terrorists seek pardon from Iran

willingness to return to Iran and seek the Islamic Republic’s pardon.

The development comes as the fifth group of the MKO terrorists was transferred to the Camp Liberty [TTL] near Baghdad Airport on Friday, the governor of the Iraqi city of Khalis, Oday al-Khedran said.

Al-Khedran added that 416 MKO members, including 350 women, were moved from the Camp New Iraq, formerly known as Camp Ashraf, to the new location, IRIB reported on Saturday.

According to the report, only 100 MKO members have been relocated to third countries.

Some of the MKO terrorists have also surrendered themselves to Iraqi forces after escaping the camp.

The MKO, which has carried out numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and government officials, fled to Iraq in the 1980’s, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein and set up Camp Ashraf in the Diyala Province, near the Iranian border.

The group is also known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.

May 5, 2012 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

MKO refuse move to TTL over property disputes

The fifth batch of Camp Ashraf residents in Diyala refused to be moved to Camp Liberty [Temporay Transit Location] in Baghdad amid disputes over the transferal and sale of their property.

The Mujahedine Khalq of Iran (MEK) said the Iraqi government prevented MEK residents in the camp from transferring some of their property, equipment and vehicles to Baghdad.

The MEK added that the terms of the memorandum of understanding between Iraq and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq about resolving the issue of the camp were not implemented.

The director of the Office of Human Rights in Diyala Salah al-Mojmaei said: "The concerned authorities in resolving the file of Camp Ashraf residents, and in coordination with security forces in Diyala, provided all the requirements to transfer the fifth lot of the camp residents to Liberty Camp[TTL] in Baghdad but the transfer was blocked due to the prohibitive demands of the residents.

Mojmaei added that the concerned parties announced May 15 as a deadline to complete the transfer of Ashraf residents to Baghdad.

The MEK said the residents of Camp Ashraf demand to be allowed to transfer their cars to Camp Liberty [TTL] and sell their property under the supervision of the United Nations to pay their expenses for protection, residence and moving to third countries.

Khalis mayor Uday al-Khadran announced in a press statement that more than 1,000 Ashraf residents expressed their desire to return to Iran and 40 others will be deported to European countries for possessing passports and nationalities of these states.

The MEK also accused the Iraqi government of not resolving the transferal of property that belongs to the residents of Camp Ashraf. The property includes 1,200 cars and vehicles, 700 electricity generators and about 15,000 other pieces of equipment, including coolers, therapeutic devices, audio devices, phones, caravans, containers for drinking water and civil defense equipment.

The MEK said the infrastructure of Camp Liberty [TTL]is not up to humanitarian standards, where the water supply per inhabitant is insufficient. The organization also accused the Directorate of Electricity in Diyala of trying to seize four stations to generate electricity established by the MEK itself. Diyala electricity said it owns the stations and Ashraf residents cannot transfer or seize them.

The MEK further accused the Iraqi government of trying to seize $500m (580bn IQD) from the funds for Camp Ashraf.

UN representative in Iraq Martin Kobler called on European countries to receive the Ashraf residents after they leave Iraq as refugees and provide safe areas for them.

1,600 members of Camp Ashraf had been transferred to Liberty [TTL] Camp between February 17 and April 16.

Camp Ashraf has been home to MEK members and their families since 1986, when it was established by Saddam Hussein at the height of the Iran-Iraq war.

After the fall of the former regime the camp came under the protection of the US and has been subject to repeated attacks ever since. Responsibility for maintaining security at the camp was handed over to the Iraqi authorities in 2009.

Iran has been actively mounting pressure on the Iraqi government to expel the Iranian dissidents, who Iran calls the Munafegine Khalq (Hypocrites of Khalq). Both Iran and the US identify the group as a terrorist organization.

The Iraqi authorities consider the group an ally of the former Iraqi dictator. The MEK is also accused by Iraq of participating in attacks against Iraqi Kurds and Shias during Hussein’s rule.

The Iraqi government signed an agreement with the United Nations on December 25 last year to reach a humanitarian and peaceful solution for the Camp Ashraf’s population, which included transferring the inhabitants to a temporary site in preparation for being moved out of Iraq.

The MEK was founded in 1965 to overthrow the Shah of Iran. It opposed the Islamic regime after the Islamic revolution in 1979. Many of its members fled to Iraq in the eighties during the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988.

The organization, once considered to be the armed wing of the France-based National Council of Resistance in Iran, announced the renunciation of violence in June 2001.

By Mahmoud al-Jabbouri

May 1, 2012 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

HR Minster confirms the removal of 100 MEK from Iraq

Iraq’s Human Rights Minister, Mohamed Shaya Sudani, said on Wednesday that one hundred members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq had been removed from Iraq at their own request.

On the sidelines of a joint press conference with Martin Kobler, Sudani told Al Sabah, "The winding up of the agreement between the ministry and the United Nations includes the removal of members of the MEK from the country. They are being moved gradually from Diyala to Baghdad, in order to keep this agreement on track… HR Minster confirms the removal of 100 MEK from Iraq

Sudani pointed out that "the transfer process was being interspersed with interviews of individual members by the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in order to ascertain their choice to voluntary return to their country of origin or to apply for asylum for any country in the world; this resulted in the transfer of some 100 of them to other countries". Sudani warned that "the transfer of MEK members from one place to another part of the country is not a final solution to the problem and is not compatible with human rights standards. Because they are not accepted by the international community their stay in Iraq is being prolonged, which is incompatible with the laws in force and the new policy in the country and the government’s decision to expel them from Iraq."

He explained that "no organization or party has accurate statistics on the number present in the camp, either before the transfer or now. This is the responsibility of the international community, as members of the organization prevented entry of any party, whether government or non-governmental, to the camp to undertake an accurate count of the numbers either when they were under the American administration or the government of Iraq…"

Wafaa Amer, Al Sabah Newspaper, Translated by Iran Interlink

April 26, 2012 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

MKO runs advert for equipment at Camp Ashraf

Barred from carrying their stuff gathered during 25 years of illegitimate presence in Iraq to Camp Liberty, terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, a.k.a. MEK and PMOI) took action to sell them in Baghdad.

According to a report published by Habilian Foundation website, MKO ran a newspaper ad in Thursday’s edition of Al-Mashriq, a Baghdad daily, for the equipment at Camp Ashraf most of which they have received from Saddam in exchange for their services.

The display ad contains a list of equipment such as engineering tools, heating and cooling systems of large rooms, different types of vehicles including passenger cars, trucks, and buses, generators, kitchen utensils, professional audio and video systems, industrial workshop equipment, medical and hospital equipment, and a variety of printing equipment. An email address is also given for those who are willing to purchase the items.

The action took place, while Iraqi authorities assert that all the equipment at Camp Ashraf belongs to Iraqi people.

MKO is known to have received millions of dollars in return for its services to the Iraqi executed dictator.

Habilian, reporting from Al Mashregh, Baghdad

April 24, 2012 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq deports 40 Mojahedin to Europe, as others moved to TTL

Iraq’s Interior Ministry announced today that the committees overseeing the evacuation of Camp Ashraf, northeast of Baghdad, have completed the transfer of 1,600 MEK members to Camp Iraq deports 40 Mojahedin to Europe, as others moved to TTL Liberty near Baghdad International Airport where the process of transfer was started in February.

The Ministry noted that 40 members of the organization would be moved to Europe because they are nationals of countries in it. It was explained that Iraq’s security agencies were able to stop attempts to smuggle four documents and other evidence from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

Ashraf News, Translated by Iran Interlink

April 21, 2012 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq sends more MKO members to Temporary Transit Location

A few hours ago, the fourth batch of Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK, a.k.a. MKO and PMOI) elements were transferred to Temporary Transit Location [Camp Liberty], IRIB News reported.

According to Habilian Foundation (families of Iranian terror victims), the group of 400 MKO members were transferred by 25 buses to Temporary Transit Location [Camp Liberty ]which lies northeast of Baghdad International Airport.

During the inspection of their equipment, Iraqi police found industrial materials that may be used in the manufacture of explosives.

To date, nearly 1200 members of the cult were transferred to TTL in three groups of 400 each, February 18, 8, and March 20.

Earlier in September 2011, the Iraqi government and the United Nations reached a deal, under which they agreed to relocate 3400 MKO members living in Camp Ashraf, near Baghdad, until their refugee status is determined.

April 16, 2012 0 comments

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