An Organized Cult called PMOI
Individual Rights Denial within MKO
In order to draw a clear picture of cultic groups, it is necessary to have a better understanding of the personality features of cult leaders due to the absolute dependence of cultic relations upon leadership. Almost all 
psychologists and researchers in this era are unanimous that the main part of this understanding is to be concerned with personal as well as psychological features of leaders that play a crucial role in all cults. Evidently, psychology is the science that may prepare the ground for acquiring a comprehensive knowledge of various aspects of cult leaders. In this regard, it has been written:
A cult cannot be truly explored or understood without understanding its leader. A cult’s formation, proselytizing methods, and means of control "are determined by certain salient personality characteristics of [the] cult leader….Such individuals are authoritarian personalities who attempt to compensate for their deep, intense feelings of inferiority, insecurity, and hostility by forming cultic groups primarily to attract those whom they can psychologically coerce into and keep in a passive-submissive state, and secondarily to use them to increase their income. 1
Of these fundamental aspects is the leaders’ egocentric personality and unquestionable control over members. This kind of relationship is developed first as a result of leader’s charisma rather than the exercise of power and in itself requires some catalysts and incentives to convince followers of the leader’s charisma. Now the question arises, how cult leaders exercise their hegemony over followers and put them under effect. Clearly, cultic relations depend on members’ persuasion and absolute submission, however, going through this phase needs the preparation of required background, internal motives and incentives to the extent members get convinced of leader power and charisma and consent to participating in cultic activities. Most cultic groups recruit members under the disguise of educational, medicinal, and social services and then expose them to the process of persuasion yet political groups grab hold to different approaches.
In order to come to an appropriate answer, we can rely on the data and results obtained in recent studies on cults. In the book “brainwashing” the role of catalysts has been referred to but not elaborated on. Looking at the instances of political cults in the contemporary world and their cultic relations, the role of the factor of catalysts may well be clarified. Catalysts are, to a number of cult members, who play a key role in the formation and development of cults:
Cultic groups usually originate with a living leader who is believed to be "god" or godlike by a cadre of dedicated believers. Along with a dramatic and convincing talent for self expression, these leaders have an intuitive ability to sense their followers’ needs and draw them closer with promises of fulfillment. Gradually, 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? 2
Organizational hierarchy present in all cults implies the presence of a minority group within cults that are of a key role in stabilizing the power of the leader to the extent that their absence in cultic relations may lead to the disintegration of cults. The function of these catalysts is different in different cults depending on the approach and policy taken by the leader.
The writer’s emphasis on the god-like status of cult leaders in the eyes of their followers is due to the fact that almost all cults have metaphysical beliefs rooted in their religious inclinations. Even the leaders of leftist groups opposed to metaphysics, in practice resort to the instrument of metaphysics as is evident in the reviewing of the last moments of the life of Stalin. There are a number of cult members who have a key role in the qualitative development of cults called catalysts and are traceable almost in all cultic groups.
In MKO, a notorious cultic group already blacklisted as a terrorist cult, a number of experienced early members play the role of catalysts. In the phase of the ideological revolution of Mojahedin, they played a key role in stabilizing the status of Rajavi as a leader. Their so-called letters of ideological revolution addressing MKO members had a dual role. On the one hand, they elaborated on the contents of the ideological revolution and Rajavi’s determining role in the history of MKO and on the other hand, they convinced members to follow the catalysts in recognizing the cultic and ideological leadership of Rajavi.
The statements of MKO’s political bureau issued and signed by these catalysts, who were in fact the speakers of the leader, implied their critical role. Mehdi Abrishamchi in his lecture on the ideological revolution which lasted several hours did nothing but honoring and praising Rajavi. He would state that the organization and its members need Rajavi’s leadership to understand the reality of the ideological revolution. Maryam Azdanlu, divorced from Mehdi Abrishamchi to remarry Rajavi, had also an effective role in raising the status of Rajavi. The main point focused by these catalysts was to make the leadership of Rajavi believable. They insisted to make members believe in the charisma and leadership of Rajavi. Their main duty, in Hoffer’s terms, was to undermine the power of thinking on the part of members and replace it with an absolute submission to cultic leadership of Rajavi. As Hoffer puts into words:
It is obvious, therefore, that in order to be effective a doctrine must not be understood, but has to be believed in. We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand. A doctrine that is understood is shorn of its strength. Once we understand a thing, it is as if it had originated in us. And, clearly, those who are asked to renounce the self and sacrifice it cannot see eternal certitude in anything which originates in that self. The fact lat they understand a thing fully impairs its validity and certitude in their eyes. 3
Therefore, looking at the role catalysts play in cults may clarify how leaders manage to exercise their authority over members. Reviewing the history of MKO since the execution of its early founders and intra-prison control of organization by Rajavi and his catalysts may clarify the determining role of these catalysts.
References:
1. Madeline, Tobias and Jania Lalich, Captive hearts; Captive minds, Halter House, 1994.
2. ibid
3. Hoffer, Eric, the true believer, Harper & Row Publishers, New York, 1951, p.76,77.
Cult of Personality
- 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.
Arash Sametipour, spokesman for a Tehran-funded organisation called Nejat (rescue), which helps the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) defectors, left the MEK in 2001 after being arrested in Tehran when an attempt to kill the city’s police chief went wrong. Sametipour lost his hand while trying to kill himself by 
exploding a grenade. He spent nearly four years in prison.
"I was recruited by MEK as a student of computer engineering in northern Virginia in 1999," he told the Guardian. "They convinced me that if I wanted to be a fighter for jihad I had to abandon my parents and give up my education."
After months of training he was sent to Jordan and crossed into Iraq to Camp Ashraf.
"I had to watch videos of [MEK leader Massoud] Rajavi and write reports on my feelings. There were also meetings for self-criticism. They said you have to put away any love for belongings and for family.
"At first I resisted but you have no way out. You have no other news. I started to change in the way they wanted me to change.
"Finally in 2001 they gave me a mission. I was taken to Basra and, with the support of the Iraqi security service, was brought across the border."
He argues that closing Camp Ashraf will give MEK people the chance to escape from cult pressures and have a free choice of where to live.
Mahmoud Tabrizi, a UK-trained engineer who left Iran during the Shah’s time and joined the MEK, spent three years at Camp Ashraf in the 1990s. "You have to be totally dedicated. If you have the smallest doubt, you have to leave. I decided to go, even though I still support their activities. It’s the only army which treats deserters in the same way as its members. They paid my ticket to return to Britain," he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/02/camp-ashraf-closure-iran-mek
Basically, the robots are built to help human being live an easier, more comfortable life aiding him to reach his goals. Man can get closer to his ambitions or ideals by using the robots. 
The leaders of MKO, as well as the leaders of the other destructive cults have chosen a simpler solution to their problems. They try to make robots out of the human beings who are under their rule in order to get their ambitions.
Now, after three decades of the existence of Camp Ashraf in Diala Province, Iraq and Camp Maryam in Auvers-sur-Oise France, the two bases have turned into the cities of robots:
In the city of robots everyday is like the other day. Any event, revolution and change happen around the world, no change happens in robots’ schedule. The ability of making a decision, choosing and changing is a gift that the robots miss. Indeed change is something necessary that makes the life more interesting and makes the hope blossom in the heart of people.
For the human-like robots of camp Ashraf and even Camp Maryam, in the heart of modern Europe, everyday is the same as yesterday. They get up at a certain time early in the morning; they eat at a certain time, in a certain place. They do the same thing everyday for example watering a garden or cleaning a tank…. They go to bed at certain time every night. While they are asleep, they should care about their dreams and nightmares because they shouldn’t be against the organization’s ideology. If so, the member has to write the contradictions and submit to his or her official and accept the consequences.
They should attend the manipulation meetings everyday to reveal their internal thoughts so as nothing of their thought remain hidden to their leaders. Therefore in the city of robots no one has individuality. Everybody belongs to the leader and has to devote his entire life to him.
But the robots of MKO are not equipped with remote control because they sometimes remember their owns and their belongings like the mothers including Batoul Soltani who had kept her children’s photos for years and watched them in the bathroom under heavy fear and anxiety, to keep the least hope in her heart.
But the leaders of MKO go further to kill the hope and will. They force the women in the cult to have hysterectomy surgery because the robots do not substantially have the power of reproduction or giving birth to the other people. This is the way the destructive cult of Rajavi uses along with its process of building robots.
With the growth of globalization and immigration, it has become clear that modern forms of slavery are growing in the world. The definition of slavery,
according to Joseph Rowntree Foundation includes three principal elements of the exploitive relationship:
– Sever economic exploitation
– Lack of a human rights framework
– Control of one person over another by the prospect or reality of violence.
There are more than 27 million slaves in the world more than the number of people extracted from Africa throughout the 400 years of the slave trade.
The very important factor that makes a difference between poor working condition and slavery is that the enslaved person has no real alternative but to submit to the abusive relationship.
The withdrawal of passports or ID documents, deceit and abuse of power, the use of physical and psychological pressure are the functions of all abusive slavery structures. The crucial point is that anyone who do protest against such conditions may be beaten, abused, raped, deported, tortured or even killed. These attacks can result in serious physical and psychological trauma.
All the above-mentioned criteria of modern slavery are perfectly functioned by Mujahedin Khalq terrorist cult. Unfortunately slavery is a problem people think we solved long ago but in fact, it’s still alive. It has simply taken a new form. People in Auvers-sur-Oise in a Parisian suburb are living next door to slaves without knowing it. The MKO members in Camp Maryam, France and Camp Ashraf, Iraq, are suffering the same poor conditions of the enslaved captives. These victims who are kept in a strange land can grow dependent on their captors, if only to survive. The leaders of MKO cult use a range of crimes-fraud, coercion, physical and psychological violence to hold their victims captive. They confiscate passports and during Saddam Hussein’s leadership threatened to turn their captives over to the Iraqi authorities if they refused to obey. Even if victims can escape, they often fear leaving because they are not able to deal with local difficulties. But since the American invasion to Iraq in 2003 and the disarmament of MKO by the US army, the victims found an opportunity to leave the cult. More than 600 have left Camp Ashraf so far. The 3300 members remaining in Ashraf and others who are residing in Auvers-sur-Oise are still victims of serious human rights violations. A broad-based awareness campaign should be launched to improve the supervision of Human Rights Organizations to strengthen protections for the modern slaves captured by the cult of Rajavi. Our former comrades who are victims of modern slavery need urgent help. We can make a tangible contribution to change their condition. The international community should get involved in liberating all slaves around the world especially those who are suffering the poor condition of living in cult of personality under the rule of the dictatorship of the Rajavis.
Unlike the past that the term slavery could easily be defined and discerned, definition of slavery, or better to say modern slavery, is disputed today. But as the unanimous opinion reigns, modern slavery is an institution whereby human beings are divested of their freedom and personal rights and describes a number of conditions involving control of a person against his or her will enforced to surrender to the wills of a master by violence or other forms of coercion. Defined in this way, the slave is wholly subject to the will of another and it has been practiced, in varying degrees, since the earliest of ages into the modern world.
According to some drawn common characteristics that distinguish slavery from other human rights violations, a slave is:
· forced to work — through mental or physical threat;
· owned or controlled by an ’employer’, usually through mental or physical abuse or threatened abuse;
· dehumanized, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as ‘property’;
· physically constrained or has restrictions placed on his/her freedom of movement. [1]
The public opinion assumes that slavery, the legal ownership of a person before the abolishment of slavery, is now illegal in all countries. Actually, the trade was legally abolished in the early 1800s. It is also prohibited by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1956 UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. Despite the fact that slavery is banned in most of the countries, it exists today and is usually ignored by most of people in the world and the media as well because it is practiced under a variety of forms and affects people of all ages, sex and race.
Can it be called anything else but slavery when extreme poverty forces parents to offer themselves or their own children to toil in the fields as a guarantee against a loan that they hardly afford to pay? Or when individuals are lured by the promise of a good job but instead find themselves subjected to working without payment while enduring physical abuse, often in harsh and hazardous conditions? Or when the indebted, abducted and trafficked women and children are intimidated by crime families and mafia gangs into any disdainful and reprehensible activity? Or even when people are illegally lured and recruited by individuals, political parties, militia groups, freedom fighters and cults to work, usually under threat of violence or other penalties, in order to accomplish intended ambitions and objectives?
You do not need to be too smart to indicate instances of practiced slavery in the modern world. Endless, mushroom-like emergence of cults that physically and mentally enslave the recruits is one among many nightmares of the modern man. In fact, man’s hope and struggle to find out the right that is in many circumstances identical with the wrong and the false, sets him on a path at the end of which is a gateway at which a man stands to push them through as slaves. As Steven Hassan, the liberated member of a cult, puts it into words:
Throughout the world, people are stressed out, sleep-deprived, and disillusioned with existing political, social, and religious institutions. They are hungry for hope. Charismatic cult leaders with delusions of grandeur or an appetite for power and money are eager to take advantage of this situation by recruiting and indoctrinating people into a form of mental slavery. 2
There are countless unscrupulous religious and political leaders who today use a variety of cultic mind control techniques to deceive and enslave followers and deprive them of their freedom among other worldly possessions. Soon after drawn into the cult, the recruits lose their resistance and accent to be manipulated under the dangers and threats manufactured by manipulators who have sought to silence their courage. In fact, many are of the opinion that among many dangers man is exposed to by his fellow creatures, the mind control techniques practiced by majority of the cults to enslave the recruits are the greatest because they empower the evil men to carry out any evil deed that continue mostly undetected.
Enslaved by political cults, the members are mostly bought and sold in political bargains for the fulfillment of certain political interests. Speaking of one instance in particular, for more than three decades some free Iranian people have been enslaved in the clutches of a terrorist cult globally recognized under a variety of alias. Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO, MEK, PMOI, NCRI, NLA, … ) is a notorious political cult that nobody but those in its bound can possibly give details of the rough, cult-like life they have long experienced within it. The victimized insiders of the organization that have managed to tear the bounds are the sole evidences of modern slaves enslaved within the organization’s slave camp located in the heart of a scorching desert in Iraq the group refers to as Ashraf City. It is easy to prove that, according to the above state characteristics of a slave, the members of MKO are indeed modern slaves who are spending their life slaving in its camps mastered under the Rajavis.
References:
www.antislavery.org
Steven Hassan; Releasing the bonds, Freedom of Mind Press Somerville, MA, 2000, p. 10.