“Entry to Ashraf is free, exit is forbidden. You will stay here until you die.”
Fahimeh Arvani, the 6th defendant in the trial of the leaders of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) told Taha Hosseini when he asked her to return his ID documents to him because he wanted to leave the group.
Taha Hosseini is a former member of the MEK. He is one of the thousands of people that the MEK lured into the organization through deception and fraud. He is one of those who fell into the trap of the MEK’s kidnappers in Turkey while he had traveled there to find a job.
The MEK recruiters told Taha that they have a large factory in Iraq which only recruited Iranians. A female MEK recruiter in Turkey told him, “The wages they give you here are very low. Turks have no mercy on Iranians. We recruit labor in Turkey.
We have a very large factory in Iraq. Only Iranians work in Iraq. We do not hire non-Iranians. We had people work in our factory in Iraq for a year, after a year they said they want to go to Europe, they went to Europe with a lot of money and now they live there and help their families financially.”
Taha was convinced to move to Iraq to work in the so-called factory. He gave his passport to them. Eventually, he was taken to Iraq where he was faced with the MEK’s military camp in Iraqi dessert. He was shocked to see people with military uniforms. There was nothing like a factory.
Two women with khaki military uniforms and red scarves welcomed him. One of them introduced herself and said, “I’m Fereshteh, the army’s reception officer, and my deputy is Marzieh.” Taha asked her, “What is the army doing in your factory!?”
Fereshteh Yeganeh, the high-ranking member of the MEK who is the 42nd defendant in the trial of the leaders of the group, replied, “Which factory? Here is Camp Ashraf, the place of war with the regime [Islamic Republic of Iran]!”
In response to Taha’s complaints he shouted, “Camp Ashraf is a battlefield, give whatever documents you have to Sister Marzieh, we will give them back to you later if you need them.” Thus, they confiscated his passport, ID card, and birth certificate.
Taha Hosseini was then given a military uniform to wear. Although he did not want to be a member of the MEK, he had no way out. In the reception unit he got to know some other guys who had been recruited in other countries under the fake job promise.
He was under military and cult-like pressure for four years with no access to the outside world. He was suppressed by the group leaders when ever he asked to contact his family.
In a meeting that Taha asked Fahimeh to let him leave the camp, she said, “Don’t even think about running away! If you run away from Camp Ashraf, Iraqi forces will arrest you and say you are a spy and execute you. Erase the thought of escape from your mind! You have entered into our organization, do whatever we tell you!”
Taha Hosseini could manage to escape the group only after the collapse of Saddam when the US army disarmed the MEK in 2003 and supervised Camp Ashraf for a while.
In 2004, Taha returned to his hometown, Arak in the central province of Iran. He got married and had children. He is now a welder and happy with his life.
“Rajavi and his gang have no humanitarian feelings.” Taha Hosseini says. “Rajavi has trained a bunch of crooks and fraudsters in his own school. They deceive people and ruin their lives. I hope no young person falls into Rajavi’s trap.”