In an event, towards the end of January 2002 [Dey 1380], Abu-Seyf visited Abu-Quraib Prison speaking to me and four other former MKO members. When I confronted him with his false promises and lies, he once more swear that we would be exchanged in the near future. I voiced my protest and said that, under no circumstances, I wish to go back to Iran. I said that I wanted to join my daughter in Denmark. He told me that at the time of exchange, I would be able to tell the Red Cross that I didn’t wish to be returned to Iran. At that time he said, the Red Cross would transfer you to the City of Al-Ramadi first and later sent you to Denmark. The long time prisoners at Abu-Quraib also confirmed that the Red Cross was present during the prisoners of war exchange between Iran and Iraq in 1998 and 1999. They said those who didn’t wish to go to Iran were placed under UN protection.

Mohammd Hussein Sobhani

After two years of being at virtually no contact, Iraqi regime and the Islamic Republic of Iran held meetings on political and security issues in January 2002 [Dey 1380] news of which received widespread coverage in both countries marked a turning point in relations between them. Towards the end of January 2002 [ Dey 1380] ,Iraqi TV announced that 650 prisoners of war were going to be exchanged with 50 Iranian prisoners the following week. They also announced that the Red Cross would be present at the exchange. Our hopes were raised considerably when we heard that the Red Cross was going to be present at the exchange. We, however, didn’t know that the 50 prisoners were former MKO members [dissidents].

On either 18 or 19 January 2002 [28 or 29 of Dey 1380], a voice on the prison loudspeakers asked the prisoners who had been kept in the so-called “protective custody” to gather in the yard. The warden read 50 names who were Mr. Rajavi’s prisoners kept in “protective custody”. My name was among them. The warden asked who wished to return to Iran and who did not? He separated those who wished to be returned to Iran from those who did not. Around 23 or 24 people said that they did not wish to go back to Iran. The warden threatened them telling the prisoners that they had to go back to Iran otherwise they would remain in Abu-Quraib forever. He then began to intimate us by shouting and beating us. A number of the prisoners changed their minds until the number of those not wishing to return to Iran was reduced to 12. A number of my friends, who were former MKO members, and I coordinated our efforts and asked to see the Red Cross and UN officials. The warden spoke to each one of us separately trying first through conciliatory and sympathetic approach, to convince us to go back to Iran. And when that failed, he threatened and ordered us to write a letter stating that we would wish to spend the rest of our lives in Abu-Quraib Prison. He asked me first to write the letter. I refused and told him that I neither wanted to go to Iran nor did I wish to remain in Abu-Quraib Prison in Iraq. I said that I wanted to speak to the UN and the Red Cross. The warden threatened me again telling me that I should write what he dictated to me. I still refused and wrote what I wanted to say. The other 12 people did the same thing, more or less. Finally through the coordinated efforts among MKO representative, Mehdi Abrishamchi and Abbas Davari [in charge of National Resistance Council’s labor committee] and Abu-Seyf, the decision was made to video tape all the prisoners, in which they were supped to express their desire to return to Iran. A number of people, fearing that their names might be taken out of the prisoner exchange list, agreed to be videotaped.

To be continued

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Prior to my treatment at the hands of these people, I had spent the night before wondering in the streets of Baghdad and had not slept for 48 hours. This fact intensified the awful effect of the torture. I was subsequently blindfolded and handcuffed again and transferred to another solitary confinement cell where I remained until Dec. 1999-Jan 2000 [Dey 1379].

Mohammd Hussein Sobhani

They sold me (blindfolded and handcuffed again) to Iraqi intelligence and security Organization (Mukhaberat) on 16 January 2000[ 26 Dey] of the same year (later I discovered that three other longtime members of the organization had separately received the same kind of treatment as I. I, however, would not reveal their identities for safety reasons, but I am prepared to give their names to amnesty International, UN High Commission on Human Rights and legal agencies). Other members of the organization and I spent 35 days in Iraqi torture chambers and at Intelligence and Security Organization’s (Mukhaberat) central jail. As long as I was at Rajavi’s jail, I was kept in solitary confinement which placed great deal of emotional and psychological pressure on me.

However, the overcrowded jails at Iraqi Intelligence and Security were unbearable. They put 12 prisoners in a cell three meters by three meters. The prisoners had to sleep on top of each other. Toilet and sink filled one third of the room. The walls of the cell were the color of blood. The half-dark cell was lit only by a dim moonlight. This was in stark contrast to Rajavi’s solitary confinement jail, where four years I had to sleep with the light on every night. And anytime I was awaken by onslaught of mosquitoes, suffocating heat or unbearable psychological pressure, I was not able to go back to sleep. The bright lamps would worsen the throbbing headache that I had to frequently endure.

After two or three weeks, Abu-Seyf came to visit me at Ashraf Base. I protested my imprisonment and demanded to be turned over to UN so I could join my daughter in Denmark. In the past, he, on many occasions because of my post in the HE, had seen me with Mr. Rajavi and Mrs. Maryam Qajar-Azdanlou. Abu-Seyf tried to console me. He tried to portray Iraq as an innocent party to all that had aspired by differentiating between MKO and Iraqi policies. He placed the blame for my years in Rajavi’s solitary confinement on MKO. He expressed his sorrow at my years of imprisonment and torture and my inability to see my daughter promising to transfer me to a new location where UN officials in Baghdad would visit me. He said that I would be able to ask the UN officials to transfer me to Denmark where I could join my daughter.

I along with another three long-time members of the organization were transferred to Abu-Quraib prison on 20 February 2001[1st Esfand 1379] date as received. To my amazement I discovered that 30 to 40 former members of the organization who had been sold to Iraqi government were housed at that prison.

To be continued

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Prior to my treatment at the hands of these people, I had spent the night before wondering in the streets of Baghdad and had not slept for 48 hours. This fact intensified the awful effects of the torture.
I was subsequently blindfolded and handcuffed again and transferred to another solitary confinement cell where I remained until Dec 1999-Jan 2000 [Dey 1379]. They sold me (blindfolded and handcuffed again) to Iraqi intelligence and Security Organization (Mukhaberat) on 16 January of the same year [26 Dey ]] (later I discovered that three other long-time members of the organization had separately received the same kind of treatment as I. I, however, would not reveal their identities for safety reasons, but, I am prepared to give their names to Amnesty International, UN High Commissions on Human Rights and legal agencies).

Mohammd Hussein Sobhani

Other members of the organization and I spent 35 days in Iraqi torture chambers and at Intelligence and security Organization’s (Mukhaberat) central jail. As long as I was at Rajavi’s jail, I was kept in solitary confinement which placed great deal of emotional and psychological pressure on me.
However, the overcrowded jails at Iraqi Intelligence and Security Organization were unbearable. They put 12 prisoners in a cell three meters by three meters. The prisoners had to sleep on top of each other. Toilet and sink filled one third of the room. The walls of the cell were the colors of blood. The half-dark cell was lit only by a dim moonlight. This was in stark contrast to Rajavi’s solitary confinement jail, where for four years I had to sleep with the light on every night. And anytime I was awaken by onslaught of mosquitoes, suffocating heat or unbearable psychological pressure, I was not able to go back to sleep. The bright lamps would worsen the throbbing headache that I had to frequently endure.

After two or three weeks,Abu-Seyf came to visit me at Ashraf Base. I protested my imprisonment and demanded to be turned over to UN so I could join my daughter in Denmark. In the past, he, on many occasions because of my post in the HE, had seen me with Mr. Rajavi and Mrs Rajavi Qajar Azdanlou. Abu-Seyf tried to console me. He tried to portray Iraq as an innocent party to all that had aspired by differentiating between MKO and Iraqi policies. He placed the blame for my years in Rajavi’s solitary confinement on MKO. he expressed his sorrow at my years of imprisonment and torture and my inability to see my daughter promising to transfer me to a new location where UN officials in Baghdad would visit me. He said that I would be able to ask the UN officials to transfer me to Denmark where I could join my daughter.
I, along with another three long-time members of the organization were transferred to Abu-Ghuraib prison on 20 February 2001, date as received.[Esfand 137]. To my amazement I found out that 30 or 40 former members of the organization who had been sold to Iraqi government were housed at that prison. This number, however reached 80 by the winter of 2002 [1380].

To be continued

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However, Mr. Rajavi did not keep his promise and didn’t allow me to call my daughter in Denmark. They also refused to give me her letters and photographs. They only let me have two or three old letters and photographs from my daughters dating back to 1992 and 1993. They, however, remained silent when I asked why they had not let me to have the most recent letters and photographs sent to me by my daughter. I had drawn up an escape plan which I put to work on 24 Tir 1378[15 July 1999] when taken to Baghdad to get some air( I must explain that at least five or six Rajavi’s trusted officials driving two Land cruisers would guard and watch me on these outings). Not having good commands of foreign languages, I had memorized BBC radio’s [Persian section] telephone number, hoping to speak with a Farsi-speaking individual.

Unfortunately, I was not able to contact the station or my family for that matter. Instead, I went to UN headquarters in Baghdad on 25 Tir 1378 between 1200 and 1300 local time. I noticed that four members of the organization had been waiting for me in their land cruiser hoping to capture me. I started running and hit the UN building’s glass front door. The MKO members tried to grab me and force me into the car. I, however, resisted their attempts until the people inside the UN building came out. The police stationed next to the UN building came out. The police stationed next to the UN building came out. The police stationed next to the UN building began shooting in the air. The UN personnel took me away from them and placed me under their protection. But, unfortunately, as soon as the officers from Iraqi intelligence and Security Organization (Mukhaberat) arrived on the scene, I was turned over to them. I was transferred to the local police station after half an hour (UN office in Baghdad holds a file on this incident).

Iraqi intelligence and security officers moved me from the police station to Mojahedin Khalq Organization’s military base in Baghdad and handed me over to the office of Abu-Sayf [ A high ranking Iraqi intelligence officer who liaison between the government and MKO]. After the arrival of Ebrahim Zakeri and his discussions with Abu-Sayf, I realized that the MKO would like to take over my custody from Iraqi intelligence and security forces. Ebrahim Zakeri and a few other MKO members blindfolded and handcuffed me and pulled sheet over my head before taking me to the infamous “Hostel” to street NO 100 in Ashraf Base.

To be continued

The post I come from the land of pain and suffering – Part three appeared first on Nejat Society.

Sometimes in the middle of 1374{year beginning on 21 March 1995}, following my loud protests (complaining about the abhorrent prison condition and the fact that I was being prevented from seeing my wife and daughter), they moved me again from my cell in the middle of the night while the streets at Ashraf Base were deserted. They had feared that other inmates might recognize my voice. They tied my hands and blindfolded me. I was transferred to another secret jail on the same base. However, after nine months, I was transferred back to the original cell. They didn’t allow me to speak to my wife for four and half years. They finally letme to speak to my wife sometimes in Ordibehesht – Khordad 1375 [April-May 1996].

Mohammd Hussein Sobhani

This was meant to break me and bring me down to my knees. Rajavi allowed me to speak to my wife for only 10 minutes. In a letter, Mr. Rajavi, had asked me to forget the past and assured me that the regime [Islamic Republic of Iran] was about to be toppled!! I was kept in solitary confinement until Esfand 1376 [March 1996] when I received another letter from Mr. Rajavi. During this period, I was not allowed to call my daughter or even write to her. They did not even give me the letters or photographs she had sent me.

I received another letter from Mr. Rajavi in Esfand 1376 [March 1996]. Subsequently, I was taken to a meeting attended by Mahvash Sepehri,Mehdi Abrishamchi, Fahimeh Arvani,Mahbubeh Jamshidi,seyed Mohamamd Seyyed-al-Mohaddesin, Mohammad ali Tohidi and Mohammad Ali Jaberzadeh. I asked them to let me see my daughter. They agreed on the condition that I should stay anther three years at a so-called suitable place but in solitary confinement (prisoners called it Rajavi’s Hostel) they said that I would be allowed to visit my daughter in Denmark afterwards. I accepted but insisted that I must be allowed to either call my daughter or stay in touch with her through letters. However, right before transferring me from my solitary confinement at Ashraf to another jail in Badie, which by all accounts was a better facility, they asked me to sign a letter stating that I was willing going to spend three years at the so-called Rajavi’s military hostel. I refused at first which prompted them to delay my transfer for two weeks. However, at the end I signed the letter in hope of being able to speak to my daughter and exchange letters with her.

The post I come from the land of pain and suffering – Part two appeared first on Nejat Society.

Mohammd Hussein Sobhani

Starting in 1371 {year beginning on 21 March 1992}, I began expressing my views about MKO’s strategy regarding its armed struggle and the organization’s presence in Iraq.
Subsequently I had two meetings with Massoud Rajavi,each lasting six to seven hours, during which he tried to change my views. I also met Maryam Azdanlu and Fahimeh Arvani a number of times during which I pushed my views forward, stood my grounds and expressed reservations about various issues. Finally at the start of Shahrivar 1371{August 1992}, Mr. Rajavi ordered a meeting attended by Ebrahim Zakeri and Seyyed Mohamamd al-Mohaddesin and a number of high ranking officials.
I saw behind Rajavi’s false façade for the first time. During this meeting those people who until yesterday were calling me brother were now using their hands, fists and gutter language as well as profanity trying to dissuade me from questioning the strategy of the organization. I , however, stood my ground and did not bend. After that, Ebrahim Zakeri who had presided over the meeting ended the session. Following that meeting, report of which was forwarded to Rajavi, I was put in Bengal { a small container} at Badie Base for 24 hours. The next day, before the start of the daily routine at the base, I was secretly moved by two Land cruisers and a group headed by Ebrahim Zakeri and Soheyla Sadeg ( at the time in charge of the organization’s jail and personnel headquarters). I was transferred to a new jail and put in solitary confinement located on street No 400 at Ashraf Base (at the center of Khales, 50 km north of Baghdad).

To be continued

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Sobhani first came in contact with the MKO in 1977, a year before the anti-monarchy revolution. By 1979, he was working “professionally and full time” with the organization. When the headquarters of the armed wing of the organization relocated inside Iraq, he followed suit. By 1991, he had risen in the ranks of the organization and had become a member of the Central Committee. However, ever since the “ideological revolution,” when divorces were mandated, he became uncomfortable with the path pursued by the leadership. His differences with the leadership of Masoud and Maryam Rajavi and other members of the Central Committee reached a climax in 1992. Masoud Rajavi argued for remaining in Iraq regardless of the end of the Iran-Iraq war and Saddam Hussein’s defeat in the first Gulf War in 1991, he said. Rajavi still hoped that fighting between Iran and Iraq would resume, and based the organization’s strategy on such a development. Sobhani says he found the possibility of a new war highly unlikely given the dismal state of Iraq’s armed forces. Other members of the Central Committee saw his arguments as a challenge to the Rajavis’ leadership:

Mohammd Hussein Sobhani

As long as my criticisms were mild, I was left alone. But as soon as I persevered in my questioning, their behavior changed dramatically. In the beginning, I discussed my concerns personally with the leadership, Maryam and Masoud Rajavi. I also brought up my concerns with other members of the Central Committee. These discussions reached a dead-end. Once they became certain that I didn’t share their views, on August 28, 1992, they convened a meeting (neshast taiin taklif) to determine my faith and to decide if I was staying with the organization or not. The process began with intimidation, verbal abuse, and beatings. Of course, since I was a high ranking official, I was treated better than ordinary members. I was told that my criticisms and questions were just an excuse to quit the struggle. Their conclusion was that I was a quitter (borideh) and didn’t have the strength to continue the struggle any longer.

On August 31, 1992, Sobhani was moved to a prison and kept under solitary confinement for the next eight-and-a-half years.

After the first two months in prison, all of my beliefs in the organization fell apart. Up to that point I considered my differences with them as a matter of divergent political views; I wasn’t questioning the MKO’s underlying essence. I used to mark my prison walls each time I was subjected to severe beatings. There were many occasions of lesser beatings, but on eleven occasions I was beaten mercilessly using wooden sticks and thick leather elts.
Sobhani was handed over to Iraqi officials in January 2001. He spent one month in mukhabarat prison and then transferred to Abu Ghraib. He was held in Abu Ghraib until January 21, 2002, when he was repatriated to Iran in exchange for Iraqi POWs. In Iran, he was detained and interrogated by the Iranian government. After three days, he escaped from a low security detention center and fled Iran. He is currently living in Europe.

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Mohammd Hussein Sobhani

He eventually was turned over to Saddam’s government and transferred to the notorious Abu-Quraib prison. In January 21, 2002 a number of 50 MKO dissident members whom were handed over to the Iraqi former dictator; Saddam Hussein by Massoud Rajavi, got released by the help of international organizations. Then he repatriated to Iran with a group of Iran-Iraq war POWs. He says he escaped from Iranian detention and made his way to Europe.
In an article on the occasion of his release from the prolonged imprisonments, Mr. Sobhani wrote:
” January 21st reminds me and others – who were prisoners of Abu Quraib, of the bitter as well as sweet memoirs of our freedom from that gruesome prison. In January 21, 2002 a number of 50 MEK dissident members whom were handed over to the Iraqi former dictator; Saddam Hussein by Massoud Rajavi, got released by the help of international organizations.
Honoring this day, I want to remind Massoud Rajavi and Mujahein-e Khalq that we do not let their treasons and crimes be forgotten….It is very bitter and regrettable to see an organization which claims to be after freedom, equality, justice, democracy and monotheistic classless society But imprisons dissent members and those who were no more willing to cooperate with the organization in solitary confinements for years and then hand them over to Saddam Hussein; the Iraqi former dictator. Saddam relatively imprisoned them at Abu Guraib prison under the name of “Mujahedin’s loan “[ Amanat-e Mojahedin ]. We, MEK dissident members, had committed no crime… “

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Respectfully, I would like to introduce myself before anything else. I am an ex member of the Central Committee of Mojahedin Khalq Organisation (MKO). This can be verified from their own propaganda outlets including Mojahed Publication (Special Edition, Autumn 1992) which mentions my name as a Deputy Executive Committee member.

In 1992 I became an outspoken critic of what is known as the “forced divorces” and of what is known as “armed struggle”. More than that, I criticised what was apparent about the special relations between the organisation and Saddam Hussein, the ousted dictator of Iraq. I was imprisoned for a few months in solitary confinement inside Ashraf camp and over all spent about 8 years in different prisons.

In January 2001, after 8 years of imprisonment and physical and mental torture, they turned me over to Abu Ghuraib prison where I was held for more than a year.
I would like to inform your Excellency that MR. VIDAL QUADRASS, Member of the European Parliament from Spain is supporting and backing up the leaders of MKO, MRS. MARYAM RAJAVI and MASOUD RAJAVI and their terrorist cult in European parliament.

MR. VIDAL QUADRASS visited from Camp of Ashraf in Iraq for more help to this terrorist cult last year. But without any human rights Organisation representative accompanying his good self., He visited the camp without even investigating the allegations as to what is really going on behind its closed doors. MR. VIDAL QUADRASS visited from Camp of Ashraf in Iraq, but he did not notice that the camp has no children inside and he did not think that this is because the cult leader has banned marriage and family relations?

I would like to remained you that self-immolations done by some members in European capitals after the arrest of their leader Maryam Rajavi in Paris on 17 June 2003, is one obvious example of the kind. Like all cults, this organisation needs a remote site to be able to isolate the members from the outside world. The residents of Ashraf Camp in Iraq and Auvers-Sur-Oise Camp in France have no contact with the real world, not even with their relatives.

At the end, I would like to remain you that the Mojahedin Khalgh Terorist Cult has a similar place as the terrorist organization “ETA “in the hearts and minds of people of Iran. Is it certainly a justlyable position for a Spanish member of parliament to support a terrorist cult?

Sincerely
Mohammad Sobhani
19.05.2009
Postfach 90 06 63
51116 Köln – Deutschland

Telefon: +49 (0) 1774829905
Email: sobhani_m_h@hotmail.com
Iran Ghalam, May 19, 2009

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(Mr. Sobhani in the European Parliament)

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi,

With regards.

Without the usual introductions, let me get to the point concerning the attack I suffered from your cult’s henchmen and terrorists in the city of Cologne.

I was walking down a street in Cologne, Germany, where I reside, when one of your henchmen – or rather a victim of your cult – started swearing at me and physically attacking me. It was evident that some other henchmen of yours were encouraging him while still others were engaged in surveillance of the situation from distance. He approached me and started kicking me while swearing and using words which could only be descriptions of you and your husband. He was, as you usually used to call it, trying to “punish” me or as Massoud Rajavi used to call it, trying to “eliminate” me. He was demanding that I stop writing and stop talking about what is going on inside your cult. He said that I should not have been talking against the Mojahedin Cult in the European Parliament or in other international communities and was adamant and emphatic that if I either write or talk publicly one more time, then the biggest part of my body would be my ear.

I tried my best to keep calm and remind myself that the henchman you have sent is himself a victim of your cult. I managed to stop myself from giving any reaction to your terrorist agent who had been sent by you to Germany. This henchman of yours was, of course, trying the same route that your other terrorists took in FIAP in June 2007 where they attacked me and severely injured me. Of course he tried his best to stop me calling the police on my mobile phone and took it from me. He then started swearing at me and my family when I appealed to the people in the street to call the police, saying, “I will get you where and when you will not be able to ask anyone for help or try to find witnesses and…”

I have of course reported the incident to the relevant authorities who have promised to follow this attack by your terrorists thoroughly. Therefore I am not going to get into detail for the time being.

Mrs. Rajavi,

The word with you and your husband as the joint commanders of the terrorist cult of Mojahedin Khalq and the ones who are desperately bringing the violent, trained terrorists of Saddam’s private army to the streets of European countries is this:

You remember of course when I wrote on the walls of my solitary confinement cell that “your armed struggle will not work” and do you now see that it did not work? You did not have the ear to listen that day did you?

And do you remember when I wrote to you from prison that cooperation with Saddam the Iraqi dictator is an historical act of treachery? And now who is the one who is left desperate in Iraq? What do you want in Iraq? What is the point of more and more imprisonment of the victims of the cult there? Are you not responsible for the lives of the men and women who gave everything they had for you and your husbands’ sick ambitions?

And now you are sending your henchmen to stop people talking about it, whether in June 2007 in Paris, or today in Cologne?

I finish this letter with a clear announcement to the authorities of Germany where I live. The responsibility for my life and the life of my family against such terrorist actions anywhere in Europe is with the leadership of the Mojahedin Khalq Cult (Maryam Rajavi and Massoud Rajavi) and the trained henchmen who they employ for such attacks.

Mohammad Hossein Sobhani

14.09.2009

Postfach 90 06 63

51116 Köln – Deutschland

Telefon: +49 (0) 1774829905

Email: sobhani_m_h@hotmail.com 

Cc:

The Interior Ministers of European Union countries

The Foreign Ministers of European Union countries

Mohammad Hossein Sobhani, Iran Ghalam, Cologne, April 14, 2009

http://www.iran-ghalam.de/2Haupt/3650-Tahajom%20be%20Sobhani-Koln-Deutschland13.04.09.HTM

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