Rajavis and Cult Leadership

Psychological pressure and violation of human rights in Rajavi’s cult

We have informed our readers in previous articles that discontent amongst the members of Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO), stationed in Camp Liberty near Baghdad in Iraq, is escalating and Why do the international organizations close their eyes? more and more individuals seek to leave Rajavi’s cult. The situation is so tense that the commanders of the cult have openly declared a state of alert. The main task of the officials of the cult is to identify discontented members, place them under scrutiny and to employ their inhumane psychological techniques against them. The commanders have been warned that if any of the members under their command escapes, they will be severely punished.

In order to bring the members under tighter control and make them forget about escaping, the officials of the cult have increased the peer pressure in the sessions named “current operation” and, as they say, have heated them up. In these sessions the person who is the subject is put under severe harassment by others using insults and accusations. This is done to break down the subject mentally. The situation is so hard that after the session they closely watch the subject so they do not commit suicide.

In these sessions for instance they tell the subject that he or she has become a vampire sucking the blood of the organization. This is related to an address by the cult leader Massoud Rajavi to his followers in which he warned them against sucking the blood of the organization. Rajavi, like all cult leaders, instead of being responsible toward his followers for leading the organization into catastrophe is claiming that they are sucking the blood out of his cult.

Other examples are calling the subject ‘empty minded’ or a ‘stinky inhumane body’. They make the subject confess that all these years they were busy sucking the blood of the organization and have betrayed the leader. They make the subject feel ashamed of being alive.

In these sessions they ultimately, after shattering the subject mentally, accuse the person of still having ties with their family in their heart and that they must cut out these reactionary ties. What the person must do practically is to confess this and then publicly denounce all his or her loved ones.

One interesting issue is that the cult keeps calling the officials of the UN and the ICRC spies and elements of the enemy, and has announced that approaching them is passing a red line. Approaching these people or asking for them and even talking about them is equivalent to betraying the organization and the consequence is to become the subject of these devastating daily sessions. In each meeting Rajavi and other leaders of the cult talk against the UN and the ICRC in relation to Camp Liberty and call them the agents of Iran and Iraq. All the cult officials think about is how to prevent the members from escaping.

The way the cult treats its followers in the big prison called Camp Liberty under the absolute rule of Massoud Rajavi is an obvious violation of human rights. The treatment and conditions of the captives in the camp is most certainly inhumane. The international organizations are fully aware of these things but for some political interests close their eyes and remain silent. Such behavior is not acceptable under any standard but unfortunately the victims of Rajavi have no voice.

We have repeatedly announced that the lives and psychological health of Rajavi’s captives are in danger, and that the international officials who deliberately do not fulfill their duties and have given Rajavi an open hand, and do not ever openly say what they see with their own eyes, are responsible.

Sahar Family Foundation once again repeats previous warnings that appeasing Massoud Rajavi, the cult leader of MKO, is against the interests of his captives in Camp Liberty and makes him even more impudent and will have no benefit for anyone.

December 16, 2013 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

MKO: Don’t criticize us or you are IRI’s agent!

The Mujahedin khalq Organization (the MKO) is a destructive cult by any criteria. It is a cult because of MKO: Don't criticize us or you are IRI's agent! many reasons. One of the most significant reasons is that it cannot handle criticism. However, criticism is regularly applied inside the cult –to keep members brainwashed — but not against the cult leaders. In fact, self-criticism and confession are part of the methodology of the destructive cults including the MKO.

Members of the group are tasked with reporting all their 24/7 thoughts, emotions and dreams to their senior officials, they have to criticize themselves or their peers for any natural thought that might –according to the cult regulations – distract them from the aim of the group but they are never allowed to criticize or question their superior ones. Criticizing the leaders of the group makes you the most disgusting creature in the cult that deserves the most horrific punishments.

Javad Firouzmand, a former member of the MKO revealed parts of suppressive conduct by the group senior officials against members in the MKO camps who were willing to leave the group or had declared their defection from the group. He described the way Mehdi Abrishamchi –the so-called chairman of the Peace Commission of the National Council of Resistance— treated the 400 cult members who were not willing to stay in the group any more. The entire 400 dissident members were accused of being”the spies of the regime”, as Mr. Firouzmand reminds.”He [Abrishamchi] definitely remembers the time he handed a number of defectors and dissidents of the group to Saddam Hussein forces. They were then imprisoned in AbuQuraib where they would be tortured and die and no one would know about their fate,”Firouzmand wrote. [1]

He also notes the MKO’s dreadful ability to fabricate documents against critic members. He recalls the night when Abrishamchi came to his cell in Ashraf prison and asked him to sign a paper or he would be put to death. The document was supposed to prove that he had been arrested by the MKO forces in front of Iranian embassy in Baghdad a few hours after he had escaped the camp. As Firouzmand states he had never gone to Iranian embassy but actually he had been arrested by Iraqi security forces in the house of an Iraqi merchant! He was threatened to death when he didn’t accept to sign the paper. Later he was forced to sign some documents just in order to survive!

The waves of dissent among MKO supporters outside the camps and rank and file inside the camps who are constantly offended by the mind controlling, oppressive and cult-like system of the group, flooded by the group’s propaganda, deprived from their most basic human rights, have amplified the bankruptcy of the group. Indeed, in recent years the group has struggled hard to survive rather than struggling to allegedly overthrow the Islamic Republic.

Ann Singleton is another former member of the group, Middle East Strategy Consultants, Author of “Saddam’s Private Army” and “The life of Camp Ashraf”. She notifies the MKO’s undemocratic weird attitude toward any criticism. As Mrs. Singleton puts those who recently distanced themselves from the group by tenderly criticizing some of the leaders’ functions”have been stunned by the vitriolic attacks the MEK launched against them”. [2]

“The Rajavis of course claim that anyone who speaks out against them, particularly the former members, has been recruited by the IRI and sent to destroy the MEK as part of a malicious, murderous plan.”Singleton writes.”Yet where is the evidence of this?”, she asks.[3]

The cult-like substance of the MKO undermines any efforts by the group to get the gesture of a democratic alternative to Iranian government. Jeremia Goulka who is one of the co- authors of the RAND report on the MKO, suggests that the MEK vigorously denies that it is a cult, accusing critics of working for the Iranian regime or performing inadequate research. “However, I studied the MEK in depth and over a period of many months for the U.S. military,”he writes. He describes his experience of visiting Camp Ashraf:

“I visited Camp Ashraf, the MEK facility 40 miles north of Baghdad, and interviewed MEK members, former MEK members, and dozens of military and civilian officials. Along with almost all of my interviewees and Human Rights Watch, I concluded that the MEK is a cult. It employs many common cult practices: mandated celibacy and divorce, thought control, sleep deprivation, and forced labor. It segregates men from women, separates families and friends – who must seek permission just to converse – and even tells family members back home that the members are dead.”[4]

“While its propaganda arm espouses Western values to Western audiences, the MEK continues to force-feed its doctrine to members who may not criticize the Rajavis and are not free to leave the Ashraf compound,”he notes. [5] Referring to Maryam Rajavi’s propaganda against the Iranian nuclear program, Goulka warns Western supporters of the group about the risk of advocating a group that he absolutely sees a cult.

By Mazda Parsi

References:

[1] https://www.nejatngo.org/fa/posts/15172

[2] https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/5513

[3] ibid

[4] Goulka, Jeremiah, INVESTIGATIONS BEGIN INTO MEK SUPPORTERS UP, Salon.com, March 28, 2012

[5] Goulka, Jeremiah, THE IRAN WAR HAWKS’ FAVORITE CULT GROUP, Salon.com, March 28, 2012

December 14, 2013 0 comments

Maryam Rajavi

Maryam Rajavi holds her followers in contempt – where is her compassion?

Those MEK supporters living in western countries who have recently distanced themselves from the organisation and publicly questioned the MEK’s activities, (most of whom would deny that they have Maryam Rajavi holds her followers in contempt – where is her compassion? separated completely), have been stunned by the vitriolic attacks the MEK launched against them. They truly believed while they were close to the MEK that these kinds of attack were justifiably targeting real agents of Iran. Now they have also come under attack themselves and it is slowly dawning on them that such accusations are not only unfounded but are meant deliberately to instill fear and provoke self-justification as a way to distract and silence such criticism. They will no doubt find the courage to challenge this behaviour and continue to seek the truth.

The Rajavis of course claim that anyone who speaks out against them, particularly the former members, has been recruited by the IRI and sent to destroy the MEK as part of a malicious, murderous plan. Yet where is the evidence of this?

The MEK’s critics have pointed out many times that the people who are hurting the MEK most are the cult’s leaders. It is they who order self-immolations, who withhold medical treatment, who place them in the line of danger of attack and, most recently, starve them by denying them food and calling this a hunger strike.

The critics demand help and rescue for the people still enthralled by these leaders and held captive by isolation and cultic manipulation, not only in Camp Liberty but in western bases also.

So, if the critics are acting out of humanitarian concern, the Rajavis must surely be aware of the mixed message this sends. Here’s the problem: if the Iranian regime is the evil, terrorist sponsoring entity which Rajavi has built her whole narrative on, what are we to make of the message of these so-called agents who display nothing but compassion for the people still trapped inside the MEK, at every level.

None are calling for the deaths of the members. Quite the opposite, we all wish to help them, to give them back their humanity, their dignity and their integrity which Maryam Rajavi has stolen or destroyed. Critics of the MEK leaders, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, have campaigned for ten years and more to expose the appalling cruelty and corruption of their little dictatorship. For years they have endured the insults, beatings and attempts at character assassination flung at them at the instigation of these two wicked people.

Anyone involved in dealing with the MEK in any place and over any issue, who has met with the former members has expressed surprise at the simple, straightforward concern they have for their former colleagues and their families. There simply isn’t a hidden agenda.

The MEK demonise the Iranian government as evil and wicked. So, using the same MEK logic, outsiders need to ask the Rajavis where did all this compassion come from? Why is the Iranian intelligence ministry acting in such a charitable way? Have they become social workers!?

Think! Who, in the past ten years, has done more to harm the members than Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. The cruelty and corruption which govern the group’s internal relations are known intimately by those who suffered under that regime. Where is Maryam Rajavi’s compassion? Why does she show no sympathy or kindness toward her own people, yet lash out against those who do?

Rajavi says the demand of her forced hunger strike is the return of seven allegedly missing people. But she has still not produced any evidence to demonstrate whether they are alive or dead, or where they are or why there has never been any sign of them anywhere. The people who could give clues to solve this mystery are out of reach of UN and GOI investigators. These are the 42 survivors of the September 1st attack on Camp Ashraf in which 53 people were brutally killed by unknown assailants. These 42 were transferred to Camp Liberty where they are being held incommunicado by the MEK leadership cadre. Why? They certainly have information about what took place in the camp on that day.

Until the facts become known, the hunger strike is meaningless and causing unnecessary suffering for the participants. If there is no end-game how long do they go on? We are witness only to another graphic example of the cruelty and callous indifference of the Rajavis toward other human beings.

Anne Khodabandeh (Singleton), Middle East Strategy Consultants,Author of “Saddam’s Private Army” and “The life of Camp Ashraf”

December 10, 2013 0 comments

Human Rights Abuse in the MEK

What matters for US promotion of Human Rights?

A day before the resumption of negotiations in Geneva on the Iran nuclear issue, the head of security Department of Geneva ordered the Mujahedin Khalq who were on hunger strike to evacuate the Place des Nations.[1] Hunger strike is among the MKO cult leaders’ tactics to get itself on the scene

The negotiations went on and resulted in an agreement between Iran and the 6 world powers. All sides hailed the deal calling it the first proper move towards the peace.

Police spokesman talked about the day that the hunger strikers were asked to comply with the laws and authorities.

“Shortly after the arrival of the press, a striker got sick. An ambulance was called. A policeman boarded to check the identity of the patient, who was yelling. His comrades were then rushed to the police shouting "fascist!" And two men jostled. Another striker suddenly dropped himself on the road on purpose paralyzing traffic. “[2]

The sight indicates the show of brainwashed members of a broken cult-like group who fell out of favor from international community and are ready to hunt an opportunity for a big show-off.

Hunger strike is among the MKO cult leaders’ tactics to get itself on the scene. In different phases and under different pretexts Rajavi ordered members to go on hunger strike for its political gain and its hidden agenda and to launch its propaganda campaign.

This latest hunger strike is being held under the pretext of saving the lives of the seven allegedly missed residents of Camp Ashraf, who the organization claims to be detained during the Camp Ashraf September clashes and hold by the Iraqi security forces somewhere in Baghdad.

Iraqi authorities have repeatedly denied involvement in the attack, in which camp residents also went missing.[3]

The question here is that if the lives of members are really important for the cult leaders why do they order hundreds of members to put their lives in danger? Whoever is familiar with the cult practices and whoever has the experience of living within the group knows well that the members are not allowed to do anything without the approval of its leader.

A number of former members of MKO condemned the forced hunger strike through a statement and hold Rajavi accountable for the lives of the imprisoned Camp Liberty residents. The statement reads:” “In fact, all political and propaganda affairs including self- immolations and hunger strikes are basically organized acts and actually under the order of the leadership and members are due to execute them,” [4]

Although the 95 days of hunger strike with no death report seems weird to the outside audiences as the critics notify it a propagandistic show in which the participants attend in turns to be filmed and photographed, yet the victimization of a number of the group’s dissidents and rank and files is not far from possible to make it believable.

Based on the reports of the group’s website several members have reached the point of no return. Maryam Rajavi through a fabricated statement asked” friends of Camp Ashraf and PMOI members imprisoned in Camp Liberty, who are in a critical condition and close to death in the cities of Geneva, Berlin, Ottawa and Melbourne, to end their hunger strikes…”, yet she didn’t mention the Liberty residents – who are the main participants of the strike to end their fasting. This shows the real intention of the cult leaders to use members as fuel for their propaganda machine. [5]

Rajavi as a leader of a destructive cult who is being ignored by its masters may make more dangerous decisions to victimize more of its followers.

This is the real threat of a cult and a human rights disaster that is being ignored by the west.

It is another example of the double standards within the US political stands. Just as terrorism, human rights is also a matter of geography, and even more so, of political interests.

The US has a legacy of saving the whole world through their so called humanitarian efforts; they did that in Korea, China, Guatemala, Indonesia, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Grenada, Lebanon, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Libya and Iraq and more recently in Syria under the pretext of which it pushes its warmongering efforts and justify its military actions. [6]

Considering the concrete evidences of human rights abuses within the destructive cult of MKO reported by RAND and HRW and the testimonies of several former members of the cult who managed to escape the group, along with the deteriorating conditions of the Liberty residents, why don’t the US put forth and save these individuals’ lives who are under the threat of being attacked from outside or being victimized by the cult leaders’ themselves. If the US is capable to save nations why doesn’t it save the roughly 3000 enslaved members – striving for a free life of a bankrupt, desperate cult?!

By: A. Sepinoud

References:

[1] Gabus, Laure, Barazzone déplace les dénonciateurs du camp d’Achraf à l’Ariana, Tribune de Geneva, November19, 2013

[2]ibid

[3] al-Salhy, Suadad, Iraq says no success tracing killers of Iranian dissidents,Reuters, November26,2013

[4] https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/5504

[5] Nejat bloggers are either former MKO members or have a family member who is currently held in Camp Ashraf. They have suffered deeply because of Massoud Rajavi’s crimes. While the Nejat Bloggers recognize that citing sources of information is essential ,we, as a society feel so strongly against the MKO that we have agreed to not include the group’s websites or links in our articles because we consider it as kind of publicity for the cult.

[6] Jacob, Anthony, After Iraq, US plans to save Syria!, PressTV, September 4, 2013

December 7, 2013 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

A group of former members condemn hunger strike in Camp Liberty

A number of former members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization issued a statement to seriously condemn “forced and useless hunger strike” in Temporary Transit Location; Camp Liberty. They considerMaryam and Massoud Rajavi- leaders of the group as responsible for the lives of imprisoned residents of the Camp.

Former members of the MKO notify that in the MKO no activity is done unless it is ordered by the group leaders. “In fact, all political and propaganda affairs including self immolations and hunger strikes are basically organized acts and actually under the order of the leadership and members are due to execute them,” the signatories of the statement reveal.

These defectors of the cult of Rajavi who base their allegation on what they witnessed and experienced in the MKO warned about the seriously poisonous atmosphere of the organization where members are deprived from their basic rights and even their power of thought and freewill.

They emphasized that the forced hunger strike in the MKO is “a significant example of violation of human rights” thus; they urged the international community to take action against the authorities of the MKO in order to prevent a human disaster in Camp Liberty. They also asked political activists and Iranian nation to condemn the atrocities of the MKO leaders asking,” Why Massoud and Maryam Rajavi do not go on hunger strike?”

Nejat Society

December 1, 2013 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Directly targeting critics – New tactic by Rajavi cult

According to news coming from inside the Mojahedin Khalq terrorist cult HQ in France, after the recent

exposures and revelations by the survivors of the cult, in particular after Dr. Karim Ghasim, Dr. Mohammad Reza Rohani left the National Council of Resistance (NCRI, another name for Mojahedin Khalq) and the recent revelations made by Hadi Afshar (Saeed Jamali), Iraj Mesdaghi and others, the Leadership of the MEK have held a meeting chaired by Maryam Rajavi (Joint leader of the cult with her husband Massoud Rajavi) in which they have been discussing the effects of the revelations as well as deciding a line of action for damage limitation to the cult.

At the end of this meeting they decided the following lines of action to counter the effects of the revelations made by survivors of the cult and by political personalities as well as criticisms made by some of the nearest people to the organisation who now demand explanations:

– to create a false negative impression of the ex members and critics in their places of residence and among their social circles, and to start gathering signatures against them in these place;

– to collect some signatures and then make petitions and increase the number by adding false names (as they usually do) and then send these en-mass to all the relevant local places including town halls, churches, Party HQs etc and introduce these critics as terrorists who are in direct contact with Iran and the secret services of that country and therefore a danger to their society;

– to commission their paid lobbyists in parliaments, paid MPs and other bought, known people (working or retired) to create false documents against the critics of the terrorist organisation and send them to the foreign ministries of the relevant countries and other places;

– to gather factual information about the individuals, add false information between the lines, and produce documents against them. Then send their paid lobbyists to meet with judicial channels, police, politicians etc and produce damaging reports against these critics.

One such example is Amrollah Ebrahimi, a paid agent of the Mojahedin Khalq (NCRI,MKO ,MEK, Rajavi cult) who is tasked to gather and organise lobbyists among Netherlands’s Members of Parliament. Another part of his job is to employ character assassination against given targets on the internet to portray them as corrupt by falsifying stories about them.

It is noticeable that up to this point there has not been any evidence that this expensive line of action and tactic has worked as the only people who have been listening to this disinformation are the cult members.

Mohammad Karami, Paris ,Translated by Iran Interlink

November 30, 2013 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Mujahedin Khalq Cult in the Shadow War

An Interview with a former member of Mojahedin-e-Khalq, Massoud Banisadr

Masoud Banisadr was an active member of the controversial Iranian opposition group Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK, PMOI) for twenty years, serving as the organizations representative to the United Nations and to the United States during his tenure. The group is largely obscured from public discourse, or more recently veiled in headlines describing them as political dissidents or refugees. To those more familiar with the group the debate tends to focus primarily on their nature. For many MEK is a dangerous terrorist organization, yet for others they are freedom fighters and the only legitimate alternative to the Iranian Government. They’ve been subject to several pieces suggesting they work as assassins for the United States and Israel. Masoud has published a book called Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel about his experience in the organization, which he very candidly describes in detail as a cult, and one that has long lost its strength and vibrance. He now focuses much of his work on the research and understanding of cults, terrorism, and cult behavior within those structures.

Richard Potter: How long were you active in MEK?

Masoud Banisadr: I left MEK 1996. Before that I was the representative in the United States and the United Nations.

You were only in the political arm?

Yes.

You would have joined in 1976 when it was a more political guerilla movement?

Yes at the time I joined them I was a PhD student in UK in New Castle University. I was married and I had a little daughter. Of course I married young, so everything was very fast. We married in UK far from Iran, but the only source of news we had during the Iranian revolution was from MEK. So because of the past history and the number of martyrs the MEK had against the Shah we trusted them. The slogans they gave were about freedom and democracy and equal rights, women’s rights, minority rights. All destructive cults are like some lizards and can change colors very rapidly to their surroundings.

How did this change?

What happened in 1981 is that Massoud Rajavi (The head of MEK until 2003. Currently believed dead or in hiding) saw that he had attracted so many students and he thought he could repeat the Bolshevik revolution of Russia in Iran. So what he did was he suddenly on 20 June 1981 asked all members and supporters to come to the streets of Tehran and overthrow the new establishment. MEK says that 500,000 people came to the streets. They failed. They failed and they couldn’t do anything and from the next day they changed into a clandestine organization. Between the summer of 1981 the MEK went through many terrorist actions. They bombed the Islamic revolution party buildings. They killed the new President and Premier of Iran, and then they killed at Friday prayers in different cities through suicide operation, they killed different imams through suicide operations. They themselves claim that within one year that they killed almost 1400 people, high officials and supporters of the new establishment in Iran. At the same time they claimed 2000 of their members were killed in street clashes with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. In Iran what they were doing was what they called “heroic terrorism operations” later they thought the word terrorism had a bad connotation, especially in the west and they changed it to heroic actions. Most of their supporters in Iran were those who joined this group because of its peaceful nature. For the democratic liberal and pro social justice nature, so they were not ready to change into terrorist or even guerrillas. People are ready to vote for a party, but not to fight for that party.

You refer to MEK as a destructive cult, when do you believe they transformed from a political group or a guerilla group to a cult?

What happened was within Iran they were left losing 99% of their member. Only 2,000 to 3000 members left in Iran. Most of them were gone because of change of policy from peaceful demonstration to terrorist activities and street fighting. Even those who could become radicals were either killed in street clashes or by execution by the government. They lost the battle in Iran. Outside of Iran they were portraying themselves as the democratic alternative to the Iranian government. Two of the most important allies of theirs were ex Iranian President Banisadr and the Kurdish democratic party of Kurdish Iran. These two left the National Council of Resistance in 1984, suddenly this coalition of Rajavi and others turned into the pseudonym MEK. In 1983 they could get support from the labor party of UK and the socialist party of France, but after this they did not have it anymore. MEK was on the verge of disintegration, so he had to do something, which is why I think he did what was called the ideological revolution, which is when it became a destructive cult.

You’ve written about the organization forcing you to divorce your wife at this point, can you elaborate?

At this time they were telling me that my wife was what they called “revoluted”- meaning that she had accepted the ideological revolution and she was now a disciple of Mr. and Mrs. Rajavi and if I wanted to leave the group I had to leave my wife and my children as well. This was my main problem. It wasn’t just leaving the group it was leaving my children and the love of my life. I tried to rationalize it and I tried to stay in the group. Then there was some time later when they asked me to divorce my wife, again it was the same problem. Then I was in the United States and everything was wrong and slogans were wrong and meaningless, everything they said was meaningless.

How did you rationalize all of this?

There is an experiment where they put a live frog in a pot and they turn the heat up degree by degree. Outside the pot is cold, inside the pot is warm. The frog won’t jump out of the pot. It can but it won’t. It’s because the outside is cold. But when it’s realized that it is boiling and it is cooking the opportunity is gone because all of his muscles have been cooked. This is what happened to us. When the ideological revolution changed and we could see the pot was boiling, all of our muscles were cooked. All our self confidence or individuality that would help us jump out of the pot were gone.

MEK was originally aligned with some of the Kurdish groups but later on there was a great deal of fighting between MEK and Kurdish groups. What caused this change?

After the gulf war when Saddam lost the war the Kurds in the north and Shia in south thought they could revolt against Saddam Hussein and get rid of him. Unfortunately the US didn’t help and this is why they lost. Since Saddam’s army wasn’t in good shape after the war they asked MEK to attack some of the Kurdish guerillas in the north and MEK committed many atrocities. Of course then I was outside of Iraq and I couldn’t believe that we did this. After I left the group and I met other who left I realized it was true. What we were told was we were fighting Iranian revolutionary guards who had Kurdish guards, and this is what I was believed. When the accusation was brought up at the UN or anyone I would deny it vehemently, but when I left the group and met ex MEK from that war I realized this wasn’t an accusation, but a fact. They say they even killed women and children.

Saddam was probably one of the only allies in the Middle East MEK had at that time, no?

No. At this time Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were helping as well. As a matter of fact, Rajavi at one juncture traveled to Saudi Arabia and met the king. In MEK they showed us a video of him meeting the king. It was secret, the KSA and UAE support. Everyone knew about Saddam, but even within the group they didn’t speak about KSA or UAE. I saw the video when I reached the highest rank men could go in MEK. When MEK had their last battle, Forough Javidan, which means eternal light, the plan was that MEK, with the help of Saddam Hussein, would take part of Iran and announce the government order over it, calling it the democratic Islamic government of Iran- They’d go and capture western Iran and establish a government and immediately Saddam Hussein would recognize it and Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates would support it, and there were others. They were hoping Kuwait would join and the United States could be pressured to acknowledge them and they could create a situation of pressure on Iran like North and South Vietnam, or Korea. This was their tactic.

This one of the bloodiest incidents during this period, no?

They failed. They lost a third of the members. As a matter of fact I was in that battle. I lost some of the muscles in my right soldier because I was shot. Of course, we were not trained, not for that battle. They said everyone had to attend, even representatives who weren’t in Iraq. So I had to go back to fight. I had no military training but I had to go. Rajavi wanted everyone to attend but himself and his wife.

I’m sorry to hear about this

It was very horrible. There were 15 students who were from the United States, they were supporters. They were brought to Iraq and in the same night they were moved to the battle field. Because of my political rank I was a commander even though I had no military background. I didn’t know anything about fighting. Only a few days before for the first time I saw a machine gun, and I only shot it once. So in the first battle I almost lost my life, I was shot and went unconscious and was take back to the hospital. Unfortunately I learned all 15 died because they didn’t have any training, and because it was done so quickly no one asked them their names and nothing was recorded. I didn’t even know their names. It was horrible

How did you eventually get out?

In 1996 Maryam Rajavi (Wife of Massoud Rajavi and current head of MEK) was speaking in London and they asked me to come and mobilize supporters, and talk to British politicians and arrange meetings for Mrs. Rajavi, including Margaret Thatcher. So in London after five or six years I met my daughter. Before that she was 13 and now she was 18. I was faced with a lady. Emotions and feelings are very important in destructive cults. They isolate you from your loved ones, so you don’t turn your emotions to your loved ones. In London I could see my daughter and my sister and my old friends. From early morning to midnight I had to see old friends, ex-supporters of MEK, and answering thousands of questions which internally I had no rational answer for any of them. So these things, my feelings between my friends and family helped me change. And also luck. I had an accident and back problems, and I was so active in London that I had to go to the hospital. My back gave out. Fortunately for me MEK was very busy then for Maryam Rajavi with different meetings, so they didn’t care about me. If it was another juncture they’d make sure someone was with me, because MEK never leaves a member without a chaperone, always at least two with each other they watch and look after each other. So in the hospital I was alone for the almost a month and I could see normal relationships of people with each other. There was a guy beside who had an accident and I was helping him to shave his beard, or to feed him and so on, and this revived my individuality and my humanity and self confidence. All gradually it came back. When it came that I left the hospital I left MEK. I didn’t reject them fully yet, but I realized I couldn’t be with them anymore.

There are many who believe MEK serves as proxy for the West and that they are allied, do you believe this?

I don’t think so. Another problem MEK has is that Americans and Europeans know MEK has no support. In the early eighties there was an illusion of support but it was realized there was no support. There are no demonstrations for MEK and no one comes to support them. Even in Iran anyone who hates the government, even the old supporters, if you ask them they’ll say MEK is worse than the Mullahs. Western governments know this. Would the US repeat the same mistake they made in Afghanistan by supporting MEK where in Afghanistan they supported the Taliban but now they fight them. All of this aside it isn’t said that they don’t use MEK, because they do. As long as there is a bad relation with the United States and Iran they will use MEK. The Israelis, they also use MEK very much. But it doesn’t mean that even the Israelis trust them.

There was an accusation that the US was training MEK in Nevada to be used as assassins. Do you believe this?

No I don’t believe this. What is the average age of MEK members now/ I think it is about eighty. What do you want to do with people this old? I don’t think so. Probably not even spying. The only use they might have for them may be in relation to some terrorist activities in Thailand and in Europe where they say Iran or Hezbollah are committing terrorist attacks against Israeli embassy or the personnel of the Israeli embassy. Probably they could use MEK to discredit the Iranian government or even Hezbollah because Politically I don’t believe they use these tactics at this point, it would be political suicide for them. There was a story in the United States that came to the media and vanished about someone who was going to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in the United States. It’s possible they can create this news with MEK members to work against the Iranian government, but no real action.

Richard Potter, Mondoweiss

More Information on:

Link to Research Institute on Destructive Cults (RIDC)

About Richard Potter

Richard Potter is a 27 year old Social Worker and writer from Pittsburgh, PA. His work has been featured in Vice, Your Middle East, and Rohingya Blogger.

November 28, 2013 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

UK must rescue modern slaves from clutches of MKO in Iraq

The recent discovery of three modern slaves in a quiet area in London has echoes of the situation of the three thousand hostages in Camp Liberty in Iraq. In each case the victims were brought together thirty years ago to live collectively as part of a shared political ideology. In London, as in Iraq, this went wrong when the use of emotional and physical abuse was used to enslave the victims against their will.

Just as the three women in London have had traumatic and disturbing experiences, so the escapees from Camp Liberty have described the systematic use of psychological, emotional and physical abuses behind closed doors to keep them under the control of brutal, exploitative leaders.

As in London, the victims of the Mojahedin Khalq are left emotionally fragile and highly vulnerable. Their needs for a careful and compassionate process of recovery and rehabilitation are similar. This can only be achieved if they are protected from their former ‘owners’ who will try their utmost to collect them back up and return them to conditions of slavery.

Under the terms of an agreement struck between UNAMI and the government of Iraq in 2009 to remove the Mojahedin Khalq organisation from Iraqi territory in line with the country’s constitution, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has asked the UK to re-admit 52 residents of Camp Ashraf who were previously settled in the UK but no longer have immigration status. Each individual will be assessed by the UNHCR to ensure they have not been complicit in acts of terrorism or other activities incompatible with refugee status.

When assessing these considerations it is vital that the UK government remember that these people are victims of modern slavery, and above all that their lives are in danger at the hands of their ‘owners’ Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. Several residents of Camp Liberty are already on enforced hunger strike over a spurious issue; their option to continue or not has been removed as they are being denied access to food. Other residents have already been killed through the deprivation of medical treatment, or having been placed in direct danger of attack as occurred in the 1st September incident at Camp Ashraf.

Just as the London victims were enslaved for thirty years, so the members of the Mojahedin Khalq have been isolated and abused behind closed doors for thirty years. The government of Iraq and UNAMI must act to open the doors of the camp and gain access to these residents. Western governments must make a genuine effort to undertake the rescue of these victims and give them refuge. Above all they must ensure that they are saved from further abuse when they arrive in their countries as, without safe and targeted support, the Mojahedin Khalq leaders – who operate openly and freely in western countries – will easily search them out and enthral them once again.

Anne Khodabandeh (Singleton), Middle East Strategy Consultants,Author of “Saddam’s Private Army” and “The life of Camp Ashraf”

November 25, 2013 0 comments

Camp Liberty

Practical solution to resolve Liberty residents’ situation

The Mujahedin Khalq is no more welcomed in Iraq. The group’s alliance with Saddam Hussein and the innumerable crimes it committed which continued even after the dictators’ overthrow and also their Practical solution to resolve the Liberty residents’ situation resistance to end the several years of illegal occupancy of a piece of Iraq land caused the wrath of the Iraqi nation and consequently led to a sequence of attacks on Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty which resulted in the deaths and injuries to numerous camps residents.

The calamity the Mujahedin Khalq is trapped in caused whoever in concern of the members of the group to be worried about their fate.

The suffering families who have for a long time been deprived to visit their loved ones are more worried than before.

Former members of the MKO who managed to escape the Cult are also restless to see their friends in danger. Over and over they have told their stories to the world, asking international organizations to help those entrapped physically and mentally within the Rajavis’ Cult.

After the deadly incidents in camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty both families and defectors wrote letters and petitions to due international bodies asking for help to find a practical solution to save the residents of the camps.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has several times reiterated the need for the Camp Liberty residents relocation to third countries and has opened several ways for talks with a number of European states in a bid to find a third party to host the Mujahedin Khalq. António Guterres, UNHCR chief insisted: “The residents of Camp Hurriya urgently need solutions to relocate out of Iraq".[1]

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton also called the Permanent resettlement outside Iraq as the only solution.[2]

UN Chief announced a trust fund initiative to help relocate residents of Camp Liberty. Ban ki-moon reiterated the necessity to “pick up the pace of the relocation”. [3]

The United States welcomed the UN initiative and through a statement announced the US plan to donate $1 million to the fund. Marie Harf, the US Deputy Department Spokesperson said: We share the conviction that relocation is the only lasting means of guaranteeing the safety and well-being of those residing at Camp Hurriya. [4]

Thus it seems that all parties concerned have reached to the consensus that the only way to resolve situation of Camp Liberty residents is to relocate them somewhere out of Iraq.

However there are two main obstacles on the way of the Camp residents’ relocation, one of which is the reluctance of third countries to house former terrorists as refugees. What is just before their eyes is the group’s past violent history and anti-social behaviors. So far just three countries Belgium, Germany and Albania have offered to accept a small number of Liberty residents.

Yet the main barrier on the way of the relocation process is unwillingness of the leaders of the Organization.

Martin Kobler, the former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, several times deplored the lack of cooperation of the residents and of their leadership with the UNHCR and UN monitors. In an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad kobler said that “residents of an Iranian dissident camp are denied freedom of movement by the exile group.”[5]

Wendy Sherman, the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs also noted that the MEK’s leadership in Paris was obstructing the process to resettle MEK members.[6]

The MEK’s leadership demand is that the members be allowed to relocate together as a single unit, rather than to be relocated individually to different countries. In this way they can preserve the cult hegemony on members and prevent their defection.

The UN Trust Fund according to the UN chief statement is “to cover costs relating to the relocation process”. The UN Chief urged states to contribute to the fund.[7]

Conversely the point is that what is really hindering the relocation process is unwillingness of the MKO leaders rather than lack of fund.

The MKO launched multimillion-dollar campaign to bury the MEK’s bloody history of bombings and assassinations.

The group spends large sums of money to arrange Maryam Rajavi travels to European countries and to stage events to launch its propaganda campaign to direct the attentions to the ambitions of the leaders of the group.

If the Americans are really worried about the fate of residents of Camp Liberty they should put forth to convince the MKO leaders to let members participate and complete due processes and use the safe and secure relocation opportunities rather than donating for it. The US can also step forward to take at least a number of Temporary Transit Location residents to its own country.

By: A .Sepinoud

References:

[1] Bobb, Donn, UNHCR welcomes Albanian offer to Hurriya residents, unmultimedia.org, March 2013

[2]Office of Catherine Ashton, European Union, EU welcomes Albanian offer, Fully supports Kobler efforts, March 21, 2013

[3] UN News Center, Iraq: launching new trust fund, UN chief urges relocation of Champ Hurriya residents, October 23, 2013

[4] U.S. Department of State, Press Statement, U.S. Pledges Support to UN Trust Fund for Resettlement of Camp Hurriya Residents, Marie Harf, Deputy Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC, October 24, 2013

[5]Associated Press, UN Iraq rep urges exile cooperation, June26, 2013

[6] NIAC, MEK leader in Paris obstructing the process to resettle members, October 4,2013

[7] UN News Center, Iraq: launching new trust fund, UN chief urges relocation of Champ Hurriya residents, October 23, 2013

October 28, 2013 0 comments

USA

MEK leader in Paris obstructing the process to resettle members

State Department Advises Senate to Hold Off Iran Sanctions Until After Negotiations

Washington, DC – The top U.S. nuclear negotiator in UN Security Council negotiations with Iran urged the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday to hold off on further sanctions until new negotiations commence. Wendy Sherman, the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, said delaying sanctions ahead of talks scheduled for October 15 and 16 in Geneva would give Iran the opportunity to to take “real actions” at the Geneva meeting.

Many on the committee appeared skeptical and indicated they planned to consider new crippling sanctions despite positive signals from Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani. Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ) was largely dismissive of Rouhani’s gestures, though he indicated he hopes concrete action will take place in Geneva. As for further sanctions, Menendez maintained that “as long as Iran is actively pursuing its nuclear program, we must actively work to increase the pressure.”

However, while the House passed a sanctions bill ahead of Rouhani’s inauguration in August, the Senate has yet to introduce its own version of the bill. It is all but certain that, given the government shutdown, new sanctions will not be introduced or considered before the Geneva talks.

Some Senators were dismissive of any new negotiations. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) told Sherman that the U.S. must not negotiate with “evil liars.” He challenged Sherman on what a deal with Iran would look like and whether the U.S. could “ever agree to ease sanctions in any negotiation that does not require Iran to abandon its enrichment and reprocessing capabilities.” Sherman refused to rule out a deal in which Iran retains enrichment—a point that many experts believe will be key to securing a verifiable solution but which is notably opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The position of the U.S. on enrichment is unclear—under President Bush, the U.S. refused to negotiate directly with Iran unless the enrichment program was first suspended. Secretary of State John Kerry, as a Senator in 2009, called the Bush position requiring zero enrichment, “ridiculous” and said Iran has “a right to peaceful nuclear power and to enrichment in that purpose.” In 2011, then Secretary of State , Hillary Clinton signaled a shift from the Bush approach when she stated “[Iranians] can enrich uranium at some future date once they have demonstrated that they can do so in a responsible manner in accordance with international obligations.”

According to Sherman, a deal with Iran would realistically include limitations on the “pace and scope” of enrichment and greater transparency with regard to Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium. If Iran does not pass the “Geneva test”, she said, they should expect harsher sanctions—something Sherman says she and Secretary of State Kerry made clear to the Iranians following the U.N. general assembly. In terms of what a deal would look like, Sherman said that “the onus is on Iran” to clarify how far they are willing to go.

At least two dozen supporters of the Mujaheddin-e Khalq (MEK) filled the hearing room, sitting behind the panel in matching yellow jackets emblazoned with pro-MEK slogans. Senator John McCain advocated for the MEK’s safety in Iraq, criticizing the U.S. for not protecting MEK members from deadly attacks that occurred in Iraq’s Camp Ashraf. Sherman expressed concern but also noted that the MEK’s leadership in Paris was obstructing the process to resettle MEK members. A key demand of the MEK’s leadership is that the group’s members be allowed to relocate together as a single unit, rather than to be relocated individually to different countries. Menendez interjected and told Sherman that the MEK should be invited to relocate to the United States.

October 6, 2013 0 comments

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