We are only half way through January and the EU terrorism list (from which the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation has been removed) has still not been announced but the MKO (aka the Rajavi cult, MEK, NCRI, NLA) has been unable to refrain from showing its true nature.
Iraq’s National Security Advisor has reported the arrest of an MKO member who is currently in custody after surrendering himself to an Iraqi security unit. The man, who is a resident of Camp Ashraf, was about to perform a suicide mission, but could not go through with it. According to a statement from the office of the National Security Advisor, the MKO member has claimed the MKO use severe torture and brainwashing on its members. He claims that: “I was sent with a clear and precise plan to perform a suicide mission in this Iraqi base”.
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=5720
This news will come as no surprise to those who know the MKO. Looking at Massoud Rajavi’s track record over thirty years, nothing more or less than this could be expected. While he was able to send over 2,000 civilians their deaths back in 1988 in the failed Eternal Light operation, he has since then sent numerous smaller groups to perform suicidal terrorist attacks in Iran with the added instruction that if captured the person should use their cyanide pill to kill themselves. More recently, MKO were instructed to set fire to themselves to protest the arrest of Maryam Rajavi on terrorism charges in Paris. Two died and several others sustained serious injury with their permanent disfigurement and disability a direct result of Rajavi’s order.
Massoud Rajavi who owns the MKO also owns the blood of the members and will spill it whenever he needs to. In this case to rescue himself from the mess he has made in Iraq. The MKO members are his capital which buys him power. They are expandable assets which have been used and reused shamelessly by western agencies who have found this a useful and cheap resource in their ‘regime change’ armoury. It is clear that the neoconservatives and Zionists are using the MKO against the Iraqis, and are helping them by facilitating the impunity enjoyed by MKO leaders at the cult’s headquarters in Europe.
This latest fiasco in the Rajavi saga is surely the result of negligence and apathy of the European Union toward the MKO which apparently couldn’t summon the energy or interest to properly investigate the MKO and deal with it accordingly. A feat which has been assiduously performed by successive US Governments since 1994 and which has resulted in the MKO retaining its terrorism designation to date with the added information that the group is a cult. However, the Bush Administration has also proved itself to be overly greedy in wanting to have their cake and eat it. The US army has ‘protected’ this ‘terrorist’ outfit for five and a half years in Iraq in spite of repeated demands by the Iraqis for removal of this known FTO, which collaborated with the former regime, from Iraqi territory.
It is surely time for the international community as represented by the UNHCR and UNCHR to to help the Iraqis ensure that all the individuals held captive in Camp Ashraf are accorded their basic human rights. Rajavi’s victims must be given the opportunity to renounce violence and to leave Camp Ashraf for third countries or to accept voluntary repatriation to Iran. Any delay in dismantling this notorious cult is to condemn the inhabitants to enforced membership of an illegal paramilitary terrorist group.
- The threat made by cults must be taken as serious because this methodology requires a large-scale complicated recruitment and manipulation process to which no one is immune. Ann Singleton the British woman who was once a member of Rajavi’s cult( MKO/PMOI) believes that “the irony was that I was in a state of modern slavery. I was mentally chained to the Mujahedin… Psychological manipulation can happen to anyone, any time. If you’re lucky, you end up with a timeshare”
Since all the cults function the same way, the website Howcultswork.com gives a very helpful definition of cults and their tricks to recruit and keep members:
Cults, wonderful on the outside but on the inside are very manipulating. Cult leaders are desperate to trick you into joining. They are after your obedience, your time and your money.
Cults use sophisticated mind control and recruitment techniques that have been refined over time. Beware of thinking that you are immune from cult involvement, the cults have millions of members around the world who once thought they were immune, and still don’t know they are in a cult! To spot a cult you need to know how they work and you need to understand the techniques they use. Teaching you these things is what this article is all about.
This article exposes the secret techniques cults will use to try and trick and control you. Cult leaders will not want you to read this, but read it anyway. Once you understand How Cults Work you will be better able to spot and avoid cult recruiters, and protect your family and friends.
The term cult seems strange to most people. They think that it is something far from their normal life, so they often have some misconceptions about the cults. In the second part of the article on howcultswork.com, the author clarifies some misunderstandings that are common among public about the cults:
Let’s eliminate some misconceptions about cults:
Cults are easy to spot, they wear strange clothes and live in communes.
Well some do. But most are everyday people like you and me. They live in houses. They wear the same clothes. They eat the same food. Cult leaders don’t want you to know that you are being recruited into a cult and so they order their recruiters to dress, talk and act in a way that will put you at ease. One cult has even invented a phrase to describe this, they call it”being relatable”.Since our focus here is the destructive cult of Rajavi, it should be said that “yes” some of MKO members are now living in castles like camp Ashraf or Camp Maryam but another large number who are mainly the recruiters and lobbying activists have apparently normal people who appear to be so good looking and friendly so it is very hard to spot them in the society due to their pleasant appearance.
Cults are full of the weak, weird and emotionally unstable.
Not true. Many cult members are very intelligent, attractive and skilled. The reality is that all sorts of people are involved in cults. One of the few common denominators is that they were often recruited at a low point in their life — more about that later.
Most of the members and ex-members of MKO are well educated people. Also the experts believe that the individuals with complicated minds who are eventually intelligent, talented people are more likely to be recruited by a cult because of their curiosity and interest in unknown adventures. The members and former members of MKO cult mostly master two or three languages. They have different skills such as computer work, arts, IT, political and technical science.
Cults are just a bunch of religious nut cases.
This is a common mistake people make thinking that cults are purely religious groups. The modern definition of a mind control cult refers to all groups that use mind control and the devious recruiting techniques that this article exposes. The belief system of a religion is often warped to become a container for these techniques, but it is the techniques themselves that make it a cult. In a free society people can believe what they want, but most people would agree that it is wrong for anyone to try to trick and control people.
About MKO, religion is only a mean to justify some of their activities. Relying on religion depends on their situation, for example to recruit a religious Iranian they claim to be a religious opposition but to deceive a Western politician they pretend to advocate a secular regime.
Refrence: Howcultswork.com
By Mazdak Parsi
Throughout history, there have always been numerous cults of personality which are often found in dictatorships. As we have studied the stories of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt or Roman Empire, etc. the kings had a divine right and they were sometimes considered or in better words worshiped as god-kings.
Also, in our time, personality cults are common in the monarchist, totalitarian systems with revolutionary opinions such as Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot of Cambodia who all slaughtered a lot of innocent civilians during their ruling period.
The leader of the cult of personality usually seeks to minimize the public power and influence. The members of this type of system gradually loose their power of thinking, choosing and acting instead they submit to the absolute obedience to the person on the head.
In Mujahedin-Khalq Organization (the cult of Rajavi) as well as many other destructive cults, the leaders Masud Rajavi and his third wife Maryam Rajavi have turned the group – which was only a guerrilla force against Iranian regime – into a cult of personality where the members are manipulated to worship their leader as the messenger of God who gets his instruction directly from God. These members who are the victims of a destructive cult are so seriously brainwashed who are always ready to scarify themselves for the leaders by committing self-immolations and suicide terrorist operations. The examples of those operations are simply found in the history of MKO personality cult.
The heroic image that MKO shows to the members to provoke their praise and admiration have turned the group from an armed guerrilla opposition into a terrorist destructive cult which is much more dangerous. When a fighter of an armed guerrilla struggles for his cause he is likely to suffer some physical difficulties but when you are a captive of a cult of personality you are always under mental and physical torture and likely to become an anti-social person who might violate social norms without any sense of guilt or regret.
In 1981, the terrorist cult of Mujahedin-e-Khalq officially started its armed struggle against the regime of Iran in order to achieve power. The cult of MKO which had cooperated with the Islamic regime in the post revolutionary phases of the formation of the regime finally broke down with the Islamic Republic and ended with an armed clash between the both sides.
Masud Rajavi, MKO’s guru, who claimed to be the first power, failed in all his tricks to gain political power in Iran, so in 1981 he declared his armed struggle against the Islamic regime. Then he fled Iran and settled in France together with his high ranking cult members. In France they resided in Auvers-Sur-Oise the small country side in the Province of Cergie Pontoise, where the cult leaders used as their headquarters to control their terrorist operations and also launch their political campaign and propaganda in the west.
However, some years later, Masud Rajavi was forced to leave France and inhabit in Iraq but Auvers-Sur-Oise has always had an active part in MEK’s terror acts.
During their three decades of terrorist activities, after the Islamic Revolution, the MKO has had two main bases:
1. Camp Ashraf in Diyala Province, Iraq.
2. Camp Maryam in Auvers-Sur-Oise, France.
Although, after the Masud Rajavi’s settlement in Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s support, Camp Ashraf was MKO headquarters to lead its terror activities, Camp Maryam in Auvers-Sur-Oise has also played an vital role for years.
After the fall of Saddam’s dictatorship and the disappearance of Masud Rajavi and the flee of Maryam Rajavi to France, Camp Maryam could find its central role once more.
Despite MKO’s designation as a terrorist organization by the EU, the French government has tolerated the existence of Mujahedin terrorist in French territory under the pretext of freedom and human rights.
But now, the human rights activists and freedom advocates are exactly asking for more control on Camp Maryam in France to stop human rights violations in the camp.
According to the testimonies made by former members of the cult, unfortunately it should be said that the cult officials’ behavior toward members is so violent and inhumane.
Since the most high ranking person in the cult is now Maryam Qajar Azdanlu (Rajavi), Masud Rajavi’s wife, the direct responsibility of the committed crimes is on her. It should be noted that the cult members consider Maryam Rajavi as the second leader and Masud Rajavi’s co leader.
Let’s have a look at the condition of captured ones in Camp Maryam and view the cases of human rights violations there:
1. The residents of Camp Maryam, in France, are completely under the control of Maryam Azdanlu (Rajavi) and the high commandants, having no free will to decide and behave freely. They are under intensive supervision.
2. They are never allowed to leave the camp except in group and by the permission of officials of the cult.
3. They have no access to mass media except MKO’s TV channels.
Note: The political teams of MEK who work on political affairs are only allowed to have the access to a limited number of TV, Radio or websites that have already been assigned by the leaders.
4. They are never allowed to contact their families and to get married.
Note: The only married person in the cult is Maryam Qajar.
5. No man or woman has the right to discuss the social or political issues with the other one.
6. The men are not allowed to sit at the same table where the women have their meals.
7. The restrooms, bedrooms, bathrooms… in camp Maryam is separated for male and female members and no one is allowed to enter the places allocated to the opposite sex.
8. Sexual relationships are forbidden in the cult of Rajavi.
9. The 24 hours of a day are completely scheduled. There is no free time or free will for the individuals so as they have even no opportunity to think of anything except the organization and its ideology.
10. The mentally captured ones in the cult of Rajavi suffer mental problems due to extreme mental pressure and they need psychological treatments.
11. In Camp Maryam there are some individuals who have never left the camp for years, they are actually imprisoned.
12. Camp Maryam residents are forced to attend meetings every night and give a report on their activities and declare their loyalty to the cult regulations.
13. The manipulation meetings which are held daily in Camp Ashraf are usually accompanied with violence, insulting the members and even sometimes beating them.
14. Every week, mostly on Friday, the officials hold weekly meetings where the member has to confess the moments of his sexual thoughts…
15. Although the camp is protected by French police, all the walls are coveredwith the barbed wires.
16. The main commander of the camp is Maryam Rajavi who enjoys a God-like personality and nobody has the right to disagree her. The ruling ordered by her are considered as the God’s rules and must be obeyed.
17. More and more, the camp is expanded because the MKO is transferring the most reliable Ashraf residents to France. Maryam Rajavi ordered to buy the neighboring houses in order to add them to the camp.
18. Most captured members of the cult are ready to commit suicide operations and self-immolations in France or elsewhere in Europe.
One should not forget that the horrible camp Maryam is located in the soil of a country which the authorities claim it to be the cradle of democracy and human rights.
Are the French authorities aware of the crimes committed in Camp Maryam, Auvers-Sur-Oise or because of their political interest have they closed their eyes to the facts?
All civil, human rights activists and institutions should warn the French government of the crimes committed in camp Maryam in order to prevent a human catastrophe happening. They have to close down the camp.
Camp Ashraf has recently attracted the attention of the world due to the presence of MKO members therein. Years after its allocation to Mojahedin by Saddam, now it has grown to be one of the main challenges posed to the Iraqi government and people. Generally known as a heavily protected military citadel in the midst of a desolate desert, Mojahedin are making a vain attempt to homologize it to a city since it avails some facilities people need to live in any commune. However, the significance of Camp is pertained to individuals living inside it and their relations with the world outside rather than its structure and appearance. Despite numerous writings on the substantial differences between Camp Ashraf and other cities, it seems that its real nature has been concealed to the eyes of the outsiders or it may be subject to a deliberate negligence due to the propaganda blitz of Mojahedin as well as the type of their relations with Iraqi people and the European sympathizers.
But the story of Camp Ashraf and its significance as the main abode of Mojahedin does not end here. It continues just a few hundred miles over there in the heart of Europe on the green banks of the Oise in France. Although Mojahedin refrain to release information on their dwelling in Val d’Oise, the statements made by many MKO former members living there implies that Mojahedin have managed to build another Camp Ashraf in France.
DST (France’s Direction for the Surveillance of the Territory) broke into the headquarters of MKO in June 17, 2003 and seized almost 200 parabolic antennas and a hundred computers, radio scanners tuned to police frequencies and a fortune in dollars that were considered illegal in France. The existing condition of Mojahedin now on the brink of being expelled from Iraq, maintained on the global terrorist lists, their failure to secure refugee status in other countries, as well as their widespread campaign and organized rallies in Geneva necessitate a more in-depth study of Auvers-Sur-Oise, the small town that houses a dormant terrorist organization and an active cult of personality.
Nobody ever thought Ashraf in Iraq the HQs in Auvers-Sur-Oise would become the cultic bastion of Mojahedin. In order to depict a clear picture of Mojahedin dwelling in France we need a source of information. The lack of information in this regard means that Mojahedin aim at keeping it as a confidential issue not to be unveiled by outsiders. The use of modern security and controlling systems therein, forcing some members live there for many years as well as the type of relation it has with the world outside banning the free presence of interviewers and reporters may remind us of the measures taken in Iraq in Camp Ashraf. In addition, Mojahedin try to gain the confidence of their neighbors and the local officials by participating in social services in the region and providing monetary support for its residents; much the same as what has been accomplished in the surrounding areas of Camp Ashraf in Iraq.
These activities suggest that Mojahedin have access to sufficient funds by which they have managed to run propaganda and cultic projects in camp Ashraf as well as in Auvers-sur-Oise. Mojahedin are well aware that they need greater security in Auvers-sur-Oise in comparison to that of Camp Ashraf due to their June 17th dossier in France and the watchful control of France police on their activities. Therefore, it is predicted that Mojahedin in France would follow the same route they do in Iraq.
Despite the Iraqi government has repeatedly asked Mojahedin to quit the Iraqi soil, they have rejected so far since they believe to be legitimized landlords of a piece of land entrusted to them by an illegitimate, self appointed ruler. Likewise, it is highly probable that Mojahedin take the same route in France and avoid deserting their headquarters in Auvers-Sur-Oise. In addition, they may also transfer some of their qualified members from Camp Ashraf to Auvers-Sur-Oise illegally as practiced before but ignored by officials. Whatever the reason for this negligence, it seems that Auvers-Sur-Oise is a suitable alternative for Camp Ashraf.
Just as Saddam is now blamed for supporting and giving refuge to a notorious cultic organization, in the near future the France government may be subject to the same accusation. However, there is a great difference between the two. Saddam was a notorious dictator himself and could be best known by the company it kept, hardly it can be said that he was unfamiliar with the real terrorist nature of MKO. France on the other hand is well known for developing the embryo of democracy and can plainly distinguish false, pretentious claims of pro-democracy. Therefore, France bears a heavier responsibility if it is beguiled by a handful of disreputable cultist whose ideology is intertwined with violence and terrorism. The Europe in the past has had enough of terrorist nightmare to let more germs of terrorism grow on its soil. But the question is why it procrastinates to deal with the dynamite that might suddenly explode next to its heart. Of course, we hope that the France government has taken precautionary measures to prevent the occurrence of tragic events whose sole victims are innocent civilians.
As it is the same with majority of the cults, the cult of Mojahedin cannot be truly explored and understood without understanding its leader. Massoud Rajavi is known to be an egocentric power maniac whose character and leading flaws has so far suggested exhibiting many of the behavioral characteristics of marked megalomania and paranoia. Many even go beyond to state that he is a psychopath who has succeeded to enforce himself onto the leadership position. Their assertion is in no way an arbitrary judgment but based on comprehensive researches done by prominent academics and cult experts.
It is also said that most cult leaders, especially those who lead a destructive cult, have suffered personality disorders of some kind that relate to certain unyielding, maladaptive behaviors that cause a person to develop prejudice and anti-social functioning. Psychiatrists are of the opinion that the roots of these disorders can be traced to have often been manifested in the person’s childhood and which later set the ground to create problems in how to deal with the society and the rest of the world.
Similarities between cult leaders of all sorts are in fact character disorders commonly identified with the psychopathic personality as asserted by psychiatrists who have studied the behaviors of the leaders from the very beginning when cults came to jeopardize the society around them and even in a global scale. No cult originates unless established and run by people who believe to possess superhuman talents and skills who gathers around themselves a collection of devoted followers to convince them that they are ordained leaders with the ability to sense their followers’ needs and draw them closer with promises of fulfillment. It is only the beginning and gradually, as Madeleine Landau explains, “the leader inculcates the group with his own private ideology (or craziness!), then creates conditions so that his victims cannot or dare not test his claims. How can you prove someone is not the Messiah? That the world won’t end tomorrow? That humans are not possessed by aliens from another world or dimension? Through psychological manipulation and control, cult leaders trick their followers into believing in something, then prevent them from testing and disproving that mythology or belief system”.
In the same way that Thaler Singers’ Cults in Our Midst played a great role to prove Mojahedin Khalq’s cultic nature, there are many more other sources that may help reach a conclusion that the group’s leader Rajavi inherits psychopathological traits studied and traced in most cult leaders. The following is an excerpt from the book entitled "Captive Hearts, Captive Minds" by Madeleine Landau Tobias and Janja Lalich studying the cult leaders as psychopath.
Cultic groups and relationships are formed primarily to meet specific emotional needs of the leader, many of whom suffer from one or another unotional or character disorder. Few, if any, cult leaders subject them- selves to the psychological tests or prolonged clinical interviews that allow for an accurate diagnosis.
However, researchers and clinicians who have observed these individuals describe them variously as neurotic, psychotic, on a spectrum exhibiting neurotic, sociopathic, and psychotic characteristics, or suffering from a diagnosed personality disorder.
It is not our intent here to make an overarching diagnosis, nor do we intend to imply that all cult leaders or the leaders of any of the groups mentioned here are psychopaths. In reviewing the data, however, we can surmise that there is significant psychological dysfunctioning in some cult leaders and that their behavior demonstrates features rather consistent with the disorder known as psychopathy.
Dr. Robert Hare, one of the world’s foremost experts in the field, estimates that there are at least two million psychopaths in North America. He writes, "Psychopaths are social predators who charm, manipulate, and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a broad trail of broken hearts, shattered expectations, and empty wallets. Completely lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret."
Psychopathy falls within the section on personality disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is the standard source book used in making psychiatric evaluations and diagnoses. In the draft version of the manual’s 4th edition (to be released Spring 1994), this disorder is listed as "personality disorder not otherwise specified/Cleckley-type psychopath," named after psychiatrist Hervey Cleckley who carried out the first major studies of psychopaths. The combination of personality and behavioral traits that allows for this diagnosis must be evident in the person’s history, not simply apparent during a particular episode. That is, psychopathy is a long-term personality disorder. The term psychopath is often used interchangeably with sociopath, or sociopathic personality because it is more commonly recognized, we use the term psychopath here.
Personality disorders, as a diagnosis, relate to certain inflexible and maladaptive behaviors and traits that cause a person to have significantly impaired social or occupational functioning. Signs of this are often first manifested in childhood and adolescence, and are expressed through distorted patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself. In simple terms this means that something is amiss, awry, not quite right in the person, and this creates problems in how he or she relates to the rest of the world.
The psychopathic personality is sometimes confused with the "anti- social personality," another disorder; however, the psychopath exhibits more extreme behavior than the antisocial personality. The antisocial personality is identified by a mix of antisocial and criminal behaviors–he is the common criminal. The psychopath, on the other hand, is characterized by a mix of criminal and socially deviant behavior.
Psychopathy is not the same as psychosis either. The latter is characterized by an inability to differentiate what is real from what is imagined: boundaries between self and others are lost, and critical thinking is greatly impaired. While generally not psychotic, cult leaders may experience psychotic episodes, which may lead to the destruction of themselves or the group. An extreme example of this is the mass murder-suicide that occurred in November 1978 in Tonestown, Guyana, at the People’s Temple led by Jim Jones. On his orders, over 900 men, women, and children perished as Jones deteriorated into what was probably a paranoid psychosis.
The psychopathic personality has been well described by Hervey ClecMey in his classic work, The Mask of Sanity, first published in 1941 and updated and reissued in 1982. Cleckley is perhaps best known for The Three Faces of Eve, a book and later a popular movie on multiple personality. Cleckley also gave the world a detailed study of the personality and behavior of the psychopath, listing 16 characteristics to be used in evaluating and treating psychopaths.
Neuropsychiatrist Richard M. Restak stated, "At the heart of the diagnosis of psychopathy was the recognition that a person could appear normal and yet dose observation would reveal the personality to be irrational or even violent." Indeed, initially most psychopaths appear quite normal. They present themselves to us as charming, interesting, even humble. The majority "don’t suffer from delusions, hallucinations, or memory impairment, their contact with reality appears solid." Some, on the other hand, may demonstrate marked paranoia and megalomania. In one clinical study of psychopathic inpatients, the authors wrote: "We found that our psychopaths were similar to normals (in the reference group) with regard to their capacity to experience external event~ as real and with regard to their sense of bodily reality. They generally had good memory, concentration attention, and language function. They had a high barrier against external, aversive stimulation….In some ways they dearly resemble normal people and can thus ‘pass’ as reasonably normal or sane. Yet we found them to be extremely primitive in other ways, even more primitive than frankly schizophrenic patients. In some ways their thinking was sane and reasonable, but in others it was psychotically inefficient and/or convoluted."
Another researcher described psychopaths in this way: "These people are impulsive, unable to tolerate frustration and delay, and have problems with trusting. They take a paranoid position or externalize their emotional experience. They have little ability to form a working alliance and a poor capacity for self-observation. Their anger is frightening. Frequently they take flight. Their relations with others are highly problematic. When dose to another person they fear engulfment or fusion or loss of self. At the same time, paradoxically, they desire closeness; frustration of their entitled wishes to be nourished, cared for, and assisted often leads to rage. They are capable of a child’s primitive fury enacted with an adult’s physical capabilities, and action is always in the offing.
Ultimately, "the psychopath must have what he wants, no matter what the cost to those in his way."
Of the main cause behind intensifying security measures in Auvers-Sur-Oise and concealing it from the focus of the media may be the fact that Mojahedin are highly concerned about the rumors running rampant that insiders are deserting. Majority of those who have defected from the organization are known to be quitters, but to be a deserter is absolutely intolerable. Being a highly closed cult of personality, Mojahedin Khalq Organization disapproves either of the two groups of the quitters and deserters, but, according to many MKO former members, Rajavi discriminates in favor of the former. He is quoted to have reiterated that he prefers to have a member quitting every day to having even one deserter in a year since the cost the latter imposes on the organization is irreparable.
Now this question arises that why a quitter is supposed to impose lower costs on the organization? As a former MKO member explains, when a member declares his willingness to separate the organization, he has to account for some ambiguities, such as being the enemy’s accomplice, and undergo some process. First, the dissident member has to sign papers that his separation is a willful act due to individual frailty and failing to keep on his past enthusiasm for struggle as a freedom fighter. Then, he is forced to sign to discredit any criticism of the organization at any time in future done in his name. Thus, the quitters are careful about whatsoever they say about the organization lest it should make public their signed papers which might indicate that they have talked under outside pressure and discredit whatever made testimonies. That is just what happened in the case of Marzieh Qursi who quitted MKO last year and tried to unveil some of its cultic activities and features.
Mojahedin justify that the process at least works as a barrier for possibly further collaboration of separated members with the other oppositions in general and the Iranian regime in particular hence cutting costs to the possible extent. However, those members who manage to escape from or desert MKO impose a greater cost on the organization since they are under no obligation and have signed no particular paper. They freely take the opportunity to disclose whatever the organization tries to keep concealed about its cultic relations and scandals. In the same way, it is evident that the members’ slinking away from Auvers-Sur-Oise would be in no way tolerable and is incomparable with escapes made from Camp Ashraf.
There are evidences that disclosures of members deserted while in Europe have been much more effective compared to those escaped from Camp Ashraf. The reason may be their familiarity with the Western culture and knowledge of appropriate terminology and the ways in which the real nature of Mojahedin can better be publicized. For example, Masoud Banisadr’s “The memoirs of an Iranian rebel” has been much more successful than oral statements and testimonies made by other separated members. Also, the fact that Auvers-Sur-Oise has drawn the attention of France security agencies is another impetus for Mojahedin to maneuver on Camp Ashraf than Auvers-Sur-Oise and its occupants.
It has to be also pointed out that there are countless instances of complaints and objections made by local citizens who are disturbed by living in the vicinity of Rajavi gang’s residence; as it was one of the reasons for Rajavi’s expulsion from France when protests were made that he was shattering peace and security in the suburbs of Paris. However, at the present Mojahedin run two strategic strongholds which are under the threat of disintegration and dissolution. They know well that collapse of Ashraf may lead to their strategic blockade in Auvers as well, so they reluctantly abide by the imposed rules of being under the control of outsiders as done in Iraq.
Wherever they are, Mojahedin necessitate a camp-like location to run a collective life. Contrary to their phase of armed struggle which bore no settlement, now they are highly in need of a dwelling to survive. Unlike the past, they are in need of securing a permanent setting to run a seemingly pro-democratic struggle. That is why Auvers-Sur-Oise is of great strategic and political significance for Mojahedin. They are willing to turn it into a legalized refuge of their political struggle in Europe. In fact, they try to model Ayatollah Khomeini whose settlement in Paris suburbs was the climax of his political, anti-monarch struggle conducted from France and initiation of his Islamic regime. But there is one exception. Looking it from an impartial angle, Khomeini’s residence was open to the world to visit.
As pointed earlier and verified by many reporters visiting Auvers-Sur-Oise, it has been turned into a strategic fortress and cultic bastion guarded under strict security measures. Generally, it has to be a location for all opposition groups dissenting the present Iranian ruling and a place where people of all classes can attend freely to express their ideas and take part in collective political activities to achieve a joint objectives.
The reason why Mojahedin have established another camp in France is a matter of consideration to which France government has to pay due attention. If it is an ordinary camp of some political refugees, why it is so unusual? The fact is that despite pro-democratic and peace-seeking gesture of Mojahedin leaders, Auvers-Sur-Oise is a cultic bastion and an assembly of terrorist plotters set in the heart of Europe. It might well answer the question that why Mojahedin refrain to admit anyone to Auvers-Sur-Oise while they insistently invite their Western advocates to visit Camp Ashraf. The duality may be the ground for the West to take a closer look at the course of events therein.
According to many MKO ex-members as well as political activists, terrorist and suicidal attacks ordained by Mojahedin leadership constitute an integral part of the cult approaches adopted by the organization. A brief look at the Mjahedin activities in recent years clarifies the fact that they have resorted to all means and strategies in order to achieve their main objective, i.e. seizing political power. Although they abuse international levers like human rights declarations and democracy to win legitimacy on the part of western countries, their true cultic and terrorist nature is fully disclosed when reaching political impasses.
The messages sent by Rajavi in recent years on the potentialities of Mojahedin to carry out terrorist attacks all around the world parallel to that of Al-Qaeda as well as his statements on the degeneration of a number of European MPs aim to pave the way for the initiation of terrorist actions therein. Likewise, Maryam Rajavi has repeatedly declared that Mojahedin can tear into the Europe by means of suicide actions in case Masoud Rajavi issues an order to do so. June 17th self-immolation of MKO members in Paris is convincing evidence confirming the anti-social and defiant nature of Mojahedin.
Mojahedin made use of unique self-destructive tactics in their early years of struggle against Pahlavi regime in Iran. They all carried cyanide capsules to use if arrested alive and being defendants, they struck an aggressive attitude in the regime’s courts to be sentenced to death believing that it might result in their political victory. In addition, in early 1980s, when the organization entered a new phase of armed struggle, this time against the new established regime in Iran, its terrorist activities reached their peak. Not the key figures but the innocent citizens were also killed and injured in terrorist attacks. There are evidences that Mojahedin have been moving on the armed tactic for more than four decades especially whenever they faced a critically political and strategic failure or stalemate. Interestingly, Mojahedin as well as their advocators are proud of having staged terrorist operations they refer to as revolutionary activities inside Iran.
Recently, Bijan Niyabati, one of the major spokesmen and theoreticians of MKO, in an interview with Khabargah, has referred to the fact that Mojahedin have been the founder of suicidal operations in the contemporary Iran at a time when no political trend or individual was even thinking of it. When asked to elaborate on the probability of Mojahedin’s committing terrorist and suicidal actions against Western countries and citizens, he replied, ‘It is unlikely as long as the Mojahedin leadership is not intruded.’
These statements on the part of political advocates of Mojahedin imply the extent to which they hope to misuse democratic potentials of the West for the fulfillment of their totalitarian objectives. The point worthy of note is that Niyabati openly refers to the ultimate target of their terrorist actions in the Europe. In a doublespeak, he makes an attempt to deny the accusations made against MKO on their terrorist nature and at the same time lets the outside world know the serious danger of Mojahedin, stating:
Self-immolations in France revealed that if the organization had terrorist intentions, it was much simpler for its members to destroy the Europe by suicide bomb attacks instead of setting themselves on fire.
This is considered to be a real threat for the west implying the fact that the deliberate negligence of Westerners and the advocates of Mojahedin due to some political considerations may inevitably lead to considerable costs to be paid by the global community. The extent to which Western countries realizes the danger of MKO depends on their unbiased investigation on the real nature of the organization just by reflecting upon the assertions of MKO theoreticians. Westerners have repeatedly acknowledged the fact that Mojahedin lack any social support inside Iran, therefore it may not be considered a threat for the Iranian regime. In that case, would not the Western citizens be the main target of brutal actions of this cultic terrorist group living among them?
A close study of the statements made by Masoud Rajavi in his lecture in 2007 as well as the clear warnings of Niyabati on the consequences of violating the sanctum of the leadership gives us a deeper understanding of the threat of the organization against the global community in general and Western countries in particular. He even refrains to specify what he means by MKO leadership: the ideological leader living in the hideout or the main suspect of France June 17th case, Maryam Rajavi.
Using its large propaganda and lobby campaign in Europe and America, MKO has always wanted to convince the West to remove the group’s name from the list of terrorist entities, The NCRI website states that
“to remove the PMOI from the terrorism list would make the world a safer place.”
The question is: How could the world become a safer place with a de-listed terrorist Marxist cult?
The irony is also here:”A safer Place”. To clarify the item you should answer the preceding question. You might be willing to analyze the consequences of being a terrorist, Marxist and cult-like group, at the same time.
Since its foundation as an opposition to the regime of Shah of Iran, MKO has always been engaged in the armed struggle and has never denounced violence officially. What can MEK do with that long (more than 4 decades) history of bombings, assassinations and military operations mostly against innocent people? The background has been reported several times by various international bodies including the annual report of the State Department in 2007– according to the same organizations the victims of MKO’s terror activities has been mounted as to be countless. They were killed in the numerous bombings, mortar attacks, military operations of the group in Iran and also Iraq. Besides, the group assassinated 7 American military personnel and civilians in 1970s. During the post revolutionary terrorist acts of MKO in 1980s, they bombed various places including streets and even public transportation buses. In one case a 2-year old baby named Leila Nourbakhah burned completely. To check MKO’s chronology of terrorist activities would take plenty of time. Only to name a few of a large number will illuminate the broad-minded brains. Thus how can the world be a safer place with de-listed MKO terrorists who celebrated the tragic catastrophe of September 11th in 2001?
The Marxist aspect of MKO should also be considered carefully. When the primary founders of Mujahedin-e-Khalq founded the organization in the 1960s, the Iranian political activists were seriously influenced by leftist communist opinions. Therefore the basis of the group was based on a mixture of Marxism and Islamism ideology (the two very controversial ideologies). The flag of the organization represented the both tendency. In all the group’s manifests in Mojahed Journal you could find the traces of Marxism of which all the world has tired the disasters as the equivalent of dictatorship in the Animal Farm.
Professor Paul Sheldon Foote gives an appropriate nickname to Rajavi; Pol Pot of Iran and his neo-conservative supporters are called neo-Trotskyites.
So can the removal of Mujahedin from the list make the world a safer place?
According to Human Rights Watch MKO is a destructive cult due to many reasons that are stated by all former members. All the characteristics of a cult are seen in MEK: the isolated atmosphere, the absolute leadership, and the indoctrination system as well as manipulation techniques ruling the group.
The cult trains the members up to the absolute devotion level where they are at any time ready to die for the leaders as what the members did in June 2003 when Maryam Rajavi was arrested by French Police. They launched a wave of self-immolation throughout Europe creating tragic scenes before the citizens’ eyes to protest the arrest of the leader!
The threat of the cult is not limited to the short-term disasters but it has long-term consequences too, such as the Ideological Revolution that forces the couples to divorce and give their children to the organization.
These children will grow up as they are trained by the cult practices. They won’t have any feeling or emotion except the hatred towards Islamic Republic.
The manipulation techniques are functioned so exactly that the actual members and future militia cannot make the least basic decision of their lives. They only obey the orders of their authorities.
Therefore, by de-listing the PMOI if the world doesn’t become a more dangerous place, it surely won’t be a safer place.
Hardly anyone doubts that al-Qaeda perpetrated 11 September attacks had a great impact on Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, or Mojahedin cult, to make a
shift in its terrorist conducts. The global reaction against the attacks and a shown decisiveness to combat against the abominable phenomena of terrorism made MKO to denounce armed activity if not in nature but provisionally in words.
The US invasion of Iraq as 9/11’s aftermath and the consequent fall of Saddam actually deprived MKO of a bountiful, reliable strategic ally. Not only Saddam granted Mojahedin soil and abode, but also supplied them with logistics and arms, espionage equipments, training and abundant dollars. In fact, Mojahedin’s greatest enthusiasm to overthrow the Iranian regime came all from Saddam’s support. Saddam’s fall absolutely disappointed MKO of further availability of the precious opportunity that destined the group’s survival or demise.
The global war on terrorism turns to be an internationally sensitive issue at the present. Consequently, Mojahedin had to start a new phase to avoid coming under the central focus of anti-terrorism moves as well as enabling them to take a different step and a new democratic array in its struggle against the Islamic Republic. It was impossible unless Mojahedin could be adopted inside a new sphere of power and influence that was dominating the region. Fortunate enough for Mojahedin, the long friction between the new authoritative power in Iraq and Iran’s ruling power was at its climax.
But there existed an impediment; MKO was on the State Department’s FTO since it was initiated. Now the blacklisted group had to convince the invader-host that it no more advocated armed and aggressive means and sought democratic approaches. The first steps were taken by its novel proposition of the “third option” and establishment of a “Solidarity Front”. Such moves were much the outcome of its lost military equipments and potentialities that were indispensables of armed struggle rather than a fundamental shift to democracy in its strategy of struggle.
The ECJ’s lower court ruling wherein it was stated that MKO had denounced terrorist deeds since June 2001 emboldened the group to start an overall propaganda blitz to get rid of the terrorist tag and draw supports especially among the Americans. However, neither the US nor the EU paid were duped by what they concluded to be a new tactic by a terrorist group. One of the reasons contradicting MEK’s claim of renouncing terrorist activities since June 2001 was presented by the State Department’s April 30 report releasing the list of designated terrorist organizations:
In 2003, French authorities arrested 160 MEK members at operational bases they believed the MEK was using to coordinate financing and planning for terrorist attacks. Upon the arrest of MEK leader Maryam Rajavi, MEK members took to Paris’ streets and engaged in self-immolation. French authorities eventually released Rajavi.”[Rajavi was released on bail and is currently awaiting trial on terrorism charges].
Furthermore, in an unprecedented move, the report branded MKO as a “cult of personality”. It happened at a time when Mojahedin eluded to show a clear position concerning 9/11 plots and maintained a meaningful silence over a most lambasted terrorist deed that exemplified the highest threat of terrorism which demanded a global move to confront. Developing a deep comprehension of Mojahedin’s terrorist nature, America is well aware that MKO cannot change a terrorist mentality it has preserved for nearly forty years. As asserted in the State Department’s report, MEK leadership and members across the world maintain the capacity and will to commit terrorist acts in Europe, the Middle East, the United State, Canada, and beyond.
MKO seems to be the sole terrorist group on the State Department’s list that has been carefully scrutinized to be found that it would undergo no fundamental and strategic change unless it reconsidered its ideology whose infrastructure is aggressive confrontation of global imperialism embodied in America. Thus, MKO’s refuge in liberalism stronghold in no way indicates that it has submitted to an ideological shift but rather parlaying circumstantial opportunities to break out of its complete isolation, a result of a universal combat against terrorism, from the political stage.
Americans in particular and the West in general have discerned that although al-Qaeda and Mojahedin-e Khalq show slight differences in interpretation of Islam, in contrast to al-Qaeda, Mojahedin appear more dogmatic in confrontation of America, the West, and the camp of capitalism. Once al-Qaeda formed a short-lasting alliance with America against the threat of communism in the world of Islam; Mojahedin, because of its ideological collectivity, played the same role for the camp of socialism.
Mojahedin’s immediate, explicit reaction to al-Qaeda’s terrorist attacks was its extravagant banquet and cries of jubilance at Camp Ashraf. Instead of taking a strong position against al-Qaeda operations at least as a proof of their own claims of renunciation of terrorism, Mojahedin began condemning Iranian regime and proposing seemingly pro-democratic solutions in a new turn of phony democratic struggle after long advocating the violent overthrow of the clerical regime. Before going any further in propagation of democracy, to convince the suspicious eyes surveying their slightest terrorist attitudes, Mojahedin should have a revision of their ideological bigotry and exhibit a clear stance toward the globally despised terrorist al-Qaeda.