European Union

EU to urge members to accept MEK Terrorists

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will urge EU states next week to accept as many residents as they can of a camp of Iranian dissidents in Iraq that Baghdad plans to close by the end of the year, EU officials said on Thursday.

Ashton will make the call as part of efforts to resolve the issue of Camp Ashraf, a base of the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, which mounted attacks on Iran before the U.S.-led removal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been trying to arrange to interview the more than 3,000 residents to determine who among them qualifies for refugee status and thus resettlement, but Iraq has yet to allow this.

A senior EU official said the United Nations and Iraq were working to resolve "a logistical problem" caused by Iraq’s refusal to allow the interviews to take place at the camp.

Hundreds have links to third countries, including EU states, while another 1,000 were thought to want to return to Iran.

He said Iraq had proposed that the interviews take place at a Baghdad hotel. Talks were also under way on the possibility of housing those not immediately relocated to third countries at a former U.S. base near Baghdad for up to six months.

The official said the United Nations had estimated in the past that about 800-900 of the residents had sufficient links to third countries to allow their resettlement, while another 1,000 were thought to want to return to Iran.

Another EU official said Ashton would call on EU states at a meeting of EU foreign ministers next week to take responsibility for those entitled to resettle in their countries.

"We have a deadline coming up," he said. "We are doing all we can to make sure member states take their responsibility."

The senior EU official was unable to estimate how many residents might be entitled to resettlement in EU countries. He said many claimed links to France and Germany but both countries showed a reluctance to accept them.

The EU removed the PMOI from its terrorism list in 2009, but it is still considered a terrorist organistion by other countries, including the United States.

The senior EU official said Iraq had issued arrest warrants for up to 120 of the residents, some of whom had helped Saddam in his campaigns against Iran and Iraq’s Kurdish minority.

"I guess the Iraqis will want to put them on trial," he said, adding that he did not think any EU country would want to give this group asylum.

The official said that while some EU countries were willing to take in limited numbers, the best hope for the others was for resettlement in countries such as Australia and Canada.

"The International community will do its best to relocate them, but it won’t be easy because many people consider them (the PMOI) terrorists."

The future of Ashraf’s residents became uncertain in 2009 after the United States turned the camp over to the Iraqi government, which considers its residents a threat to security.

Amnesty International says they are subject to harassment by the government and denied access to basic medicine. More than 30 were killed in a clash with Iraqi security forces in April.

On Tuesday, members of the European Parliament called on Ashton to step up pressure on Iraq to extend the deadline for closing the camp.

Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Jon Hemming

November 27, 2011 0 comments

European Union

The real victims of Rajavi have no voice

Letter of the Sahar Family Foundation to the EU envoy for Ashraf Camp:

After Mr. Jean De Ruyt was appointed by Baroness Catherine Ashton to prepare a report about Ashraf Camp in Iraq for the European Union, the SFF wrote a letter to him which is as follows:

The captives inside Ashraf Camp and their suffering families have no representative and no voice internationally and no one is reflecting their concerns and demands.

Dear Mr. Jean De Ruyt
Brussels, EU

As we wrote in our letter to the UN General Secretary (a copy is attached), Massoud Rajavi, the cultic leader of the MKO, addressed his followers in Ashraf Camp via Skype during sessions from dusk till dawn during the month of Ramadan. Attending these boring sessions was compulsory for all Ashraf residents. Rajavi emphasized in these sessions that he is determined to keep his forces at any cost. He described giving asylum to Ashraf residents individually a conspiracy to dissolve the organization. He did not give a reason for that but it is obvious that he is aiming to establish another Ashraf Camp in another place (if it happens that he loses the present one), in order to continue keeping the inhabitants captive.
We remember in the past that by submitting his arms to the allied forces in 2003, Rajavi managed to keep Ashraf intact and kept his followers bonded. This time his major goal is to keep his forces too even though he might think that he cannot keep Ashraf any longer.

During these sessions, Rajavi demanded that his forces sign a commitment to be loyal to him to the end. Practically he obliged all his men and women to promise him they would not escape under any circumstances. It is worth mentioning that so far 7 individuals have escaped from Ashraf Camp despite these obligations.

After a few members of the MKO all-female leadership council managed to escape and revealed Rajavi’s immoral behavior, sensitivity over fleeing the leadership council has increased and a greater risk to their lives is concerned. Ms. Zahra Mirbagheri a member of the leadership council who managed to escape some time ago says that Rajavi had ordered all members of the leadership council to watch each other closely and if one attempted to flee others must stop her and it is quite accepted if ten of them are killed to stop one. Ms. Mirbagheri managed to escape miraculously and had she delayed a few moments before reaching the Iraqis she would have been dead since some of the high ranking members of the leadership council were chasing her.

News received from within the Ashraf Camp indicates that all members were armed with slings, catapults and cold weapons and they have loaded a lot of stones and metal pieces on the roofs. Eye witnesses say that when the Iraqi units approached the Camp last April to take back the confiscated lands of the farmers, some MKO committed self-immolation by the direct order of the leaders and at least one person was killed in this manner. Also some deliberately dropped themselves under the Iraqi vehicles and at least one person was killed like this. Some MKO dissidents were shot and killed by the MKO, misusing the situation to eliminate internal opponents. It is significant that those who were more discontented were those who apparently fought against the Iraqis and were killed.

During last April’s incidents, according to eye witnesses, the Iraqis were shooting either into the air or at the ground to stop the aggressors from advancing. In this situation the commanders were encouraging the members to go forward saying the bullets aren’t real and no one should be afraid. But later they claimed that the Iraqi firing killed the victims. It is also said that the MKO had manufactured a shelling device to fire stones using a motor and a tank. Many members of the MKO who were inside the Camp in that time and managed to escape are willing to give their testimony to anyone concerned.

One of those who were announced as dead by the MKO during that event was Morteza Beheshti. He left his wife and his infant child back in Tehran 10 years ago to go to Turkey to find a job to finance his family. But he was deceived into going to Iraq and Ashraf Camp and was kept captive there. His sisters Narges and Laila Beheshti were amongst the families picketing outside Ashraf Camp demanding visits with their loved ones, a request which was denied by the MKO leaders. The sisters investigated the matter with the help of the SFF. Some bodies including that of Morteza were moved to Ba’quba hospital near Ashraf. Morteza’s body was there for at least 40 days and the hospital officials refused to give it to the family. But later the MKO managed to get hold of the body illegally using its influence and spending a lot of money. The hospital report indicates that Morteza was shot in his forehead and his chest. But everyone knows that the Iraqis were shooting into the air or at the ground and according to the MKO leaders they were not using real bullets. The MKO announced Morteza’s death a few days after the incident. Many are willing to witness that Morteza was dissatisfied and wanted to leave. There are other similar cases which can be presented in detail.

Unfortunately the prime victims and inmates inside Ashraf have no representative and no voice and no one is reflecting their interests. They are threatened by Rajavi that if they only try to escape they will face court martial and execution. Some political interests demand that the residents should be held captive inside Ashraf and their families are those who suffer most. This situation will not last for long as Rajavi himself has realized. Rajavi and his supporters in the west cannot keep Ashraf and the forces there, and it is better that those who insist on keeping them there stop making the families suffer any longer.

We wonder why international organizations including the UN are silent about the case. The UNAMI team in Baghdad invites the Iraqi government to respect the principals of human rights in relation to Camp Ashraf, but no one is trying to learn what Rajavi is doing to his own people inside the Camp. The inside of the Camp has never been searched or inspected. As everyone is warning against a human catastrophe by the leaders, some international officials continue with Rajavi’s game and do not take the alerts seriously.

We urge you to meet representatives of Sahar Family Foundation whenever you come to Baghdad and visit in particular the dozens of individuals who escaped the Camp recently and listen to what they have to say first hand.

Sahar Family Foundation
Baghdad, 1 October 2011

List of attachments
List of recipients

October 4, 2011 0 comments

European Union

European lawmakers: Try MKO members for crimes against humanity

In a statement, legislators from various factions in the European Parliament have called for the trial of approximately fifty MKO terrorists in camp Ashraf in Iraq for “crimes against humanity.”

The statement was issued in response to comments made by MKO sympathiser and Vice-President of the European Parliament Alejo Vidal-Quadras, who accused Barbara Lochbihler, the Chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with Iran, of making “unfounded accusations against” Ashraf residents and the MKO, referring to her comments as “a disgraceful attempt to attack this democratic opposition movement at a crucial time”.

The PMOI is known by a number of different names including Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organisation (MEK) or (MKO), The National Liberation Army of Iran (the group’s armed wing) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a front group for the PMOI.

In April 2011, the Iraqi military raided terrorist group’s headquarters at Camp Ashraf, sixty kilometers north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The United Nations says 34 people were killed during the raid on the camp at which some 3,500 cult members are stationed.

Shortly after this raid, German MEP Barbara Lochbihler wrote a letter to fellow MEPs and maintaining “the claim by Ashraf residents to be cut off from water supplies was incorrect.” She stated that the “inhabitants of the camp [were] themselves victims of this totalitarian cult”.

In their most recent statement, the MEPs called for a fair trial for the fifty people in the camp wanted by the Iraqi authorities for alleged “crimes against humanity.” “Instead of boosting the PMOI, with all its criminal activities, we should urge the High Representative and the member states to help to find a humanitarian solution for the remaining camp residents (screening by the UNHCR and individual resettlement) and a fair trial for the approximately 50 persons in the camp wanted by the Iraqi authorities for alleged crimes against humanity.”

The letter was signed by members from the parliament’s European People’s Party (EPP); Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats (S&D); Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE); the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) and European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL).

The statement added: “The PMOI was protected by Saddam Hussein who hosted them from the mid-1980s until his demise. They collaborated in his internal repression against the Kurds and Shiites and have since that time had a military camp known as Camp Ashraf. When the US disarmed the camp in 2003 it housed over 3000 PMOI fighters.”

The MEPs also cautioned fellow legslators that the terrorist group had “developed a very strong lobby in the European Parliament over the last couple of years claiming to be the only serious Iranian opposition group.”

They said the recent bloodshed at Camp Ashraf “should not … distract us from an objective and level-headed analysis of the PMOI’s track record,” urging “all members [of parliament] to seriously consider the history, actions and behaviour of the PMOI before signing any declarations or letters of support in favour of this group in the future.”

“Their method is very simple: they mobilise MEPs’ justified outrage at the nuclear issue, the human rights violations and they very character of the Iranian regime, but instrumentalised such opinion for a different purpose – the political legitimation of the Mudjahedin organisation itself.”

In their letter, the lawmakers criticise the lack of attention to the “massive human rights violations inside” the terrorist group. “According to overwhelming evidence the former militant group has turned into a repressive sect far removed from the respectable image the representatives of this group display when visiting the European Parliament.”

“The human rights violations the leaders are committing against the group’s members are amply documented, starting with Human Rights Watch (HRW) and many witness reports of ex-members who were able to flee (including testimonies in the European Parliament).”

In a serious blow to the European Union’s credibility and standing in the eyes of Iranians, in 2009, the union removed the death cult from its list of terrorist groups and lifted restrictions on the group’s funds.

However, according the statement by MEPs, the European Court of Justice’s decision to remove the PMOI from the EU terrorist list in 2009 was based “on a formality,” taking note of the fact that “Member States who asked them to be included on the list refused to transmit the evidence on which their request was based to the court.”

“This ruling does not make any statement as to the group’s practice of internal repression.”

The MEPs voiced their concern over how PMOI sympathisers within the parliament had developed an “infatuation” with the cult, arguing, “The support the PMOI receives from members of Parliament allows its leadership to perpetuate their absolute power over the rank and file, of which most are believed to want to desperately leave the group. The hundreds of members who have managed to escape from Ashraf and have been screened by the UNHCR bear witness of their plight.”

The statement maintains the cult “lost all its credibility with the Iranian people when they formed an alliance with the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.”

“The only actor inside Iran who nowadays accords any importance to the group,” the MEPs say, “is the Iranian government.[..]

In the 80s, the group joined forces with the invading army of Saddam Hussein and developed an intimate relationship with the Iraqi dictator during Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq. The MKO’s grisly crimes against the Kurds and Marsh Arabs in Iraq, as well as their traitorous alliance with one of Iran’s greatest enemies, have turned them into one of the most despised groups in the country.

by Cyrus Green – oyetimes.com

May 19, 2011 0 comments

European Union

MEPs warned not to fall victim to misleading MKO lobby

Massive human rights violations inside the MEK must be investigated: individual screening and resettlement by UNHCR needed

MEPs from five political groups have sent a letter to their colleagues to brief them about the PMOI lobby in the European Parliament. The letter says that while the deaths at Camp Ashraf were uncacceptable, MEPs should not ignore the MEKs history in Iraq and the overwhelming evidence of human rights abuses inside the MEK. The letter called for screeing and resettlement of individual camp residents and fair trials for members which Iraq alleges have committed crimes against humanity in their country.

An excerpt of the letter:

European Parliament
Strasbourg, 10 May 2011

Dear colleagues,
Before Easter vacation, Vice-President Vidal Quadras has addressed a letter to all members of the European Parliament accusing the Chair of the Iran delegation, Ms. Lochbihler, of diffusing false information about the Iranian People’s Mujahedin, also known as Mujahedin e Khalq (MEK), PMOI, MKO or National Council of Resistance. For your information we attach the two letters.
The PMOI was protected by Saddam Hussein who hosted them from the mid-1980s until his demise. They collaborated in his internal repression against Kurds and Shiites and have since that time had a military camp known as Camp Ashraf. When the US disarmed the camp in 2003 it housed over 3000 PMOI fighters. The group has developed a very strong lobby in the European Parliament over the last couple of years claiming to be the only serious Iranian opposition group.

The events of April 8, when the Iraqi security forces tried to force their way into the camp with armoured vehicles brought the existence of this group into the lime light again. We fully support the serious concern and condemnation expressed by Ms Lochbihler over the killing of some 30 camp residents and the injury of many more. While the main responsibility for the incident seems to be with the Iraqi security forces, they have so far only acknowledged responsibility for the death of three inmates. We therefore fully support the call of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay for an independent investigation into the incident.

This unacceptable blood shed should not, however, distract us from an objective and level headed analysis of the track record of the PMOI. We urge all members to seriously consider the history, actions and behaviour of the PMOI before signing any declarations or letters of support in favour of this group in the future. Their method is very simple: they mobilise MEPs justified outrage at the nuclear issue, the human rights violations and the very character of the Iranian regime, but instrumentalised such opinion for a different purpose – the political legitimation of the Mujahedin organisation itself.

Surprisingly, the allegations of massive human rights violations inside the Mujahedin organisation are never subject of debate. According to overwhelming evidence the former militant group has turned into a repressive sect far removed from the respectable image the representatives of this group display when visiting the European Parliament. The human rights violations the leaders are committing against the group’s members are amply documented, starting with Human Rights Watch (HRW) and many witness reports of ex-members who were able to flee (including testimonies in the European Parliament).

The European Court of Justice removed the PMOI from the EU terrorist list in 2009 on a formality – the Member States who asked them to be included on the list refused to transmit the evidence on which their request was based to the court. This ruling does not make any statement as to the group’s practice of internal repression.

The support the PMOI receives from members of Parliament allows its leadership to perpetuate their absolute power over the rank and file, of which most are believed to want to desperately leave the group. The hundreds of members who have managed to escape from Ashraf and have been screened by the UNHCR bear witness of their plight.

Instead of boosting the PMOI, with all its criminal activities, we should urge the High Representative and the member states to help to find a humanitarian solution for the remaining camp residents (screening by the UNHCR and individual resettlement) and a fair trial for the approximately 50 persons in the camp wanted by the Iraqi authorities for alleged crimes against humanity.

Sincerely Yours,
Michael Gahler, Elmar Brok (EPP), Kurt Lechner (EPP), Maria Muniz, Ana Gomes, Hannes Swoboda (S&D), Marietje Schaake, Annemie Neyts, Jelko Kacin (ALDE), Isabelle Durant, Ulrike Lunacek (Greens/EFA), Helmut Scholz (GUE/NGL)

May 12, 2011 0 comments

European Union

Ashton Refuses MKO Demand for Supporting Military Attack against Iran

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has reportedly turned down repeated requests and demands by the few advocates of the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in the European parliament for increased support for the terrorist group and military aggression against Iran.

According to a report published by the website of the Habilian association – a human rights group formed of the family members and relatives of the Iranian victims of terrorism – some few proponents of the MKO in the European parliament have attempted to persuade Ashton to agree with military intervention in Iran under the pretext of the EU parliament’s new report on human rights conditions in Iran, but to no avail.

Ashton also rejected the pro-MKO EU parliamentarians’ demand for taking a confrontational position against the gathering of the families of the MKO’s dissident members, who have gathered in front of the MKO’s main training camp, the Camp of New Iraq (formerly known as Camp Ashraf) in Iraq’s Northern province of Diyala, since long ago to call for the freedom of their beloved ones from the camp.

The few MKO proponents in the EU parliament had even demanded Ashton to cut EU’s financial supports for the Iraqi government in a move to resolve MKO’s aforementioned problems in Iraq.

According to the Habilian website, Ashton has been reluctant in responding the MKO advocates’ call for the EU’s increased support for the terrorist group and turned down their repeated demands.

The family members and relatives of the members of the MKO have gathered outside the terrorist group’s main training camp in Iraq for more than a year now.
The MKO ringleaders have already adopted numerous measures to confront those relatives who have camped outside the Camp of New Iraq (formerly known as Camp Ashraf) in Iraq’s Northern province of Diyala.

The MKO ringleaders have not allowed a visit between the group’s members and their families.

The report said despite all the suppressive moves made by the MKO, the yearlong protests by the families have yielded good results as families insist on their demand for the release of their beloved ones who are said to be held inside the camp against their will.

Defection and escape of a number of MKO members from the camp, increased support of the Iraqi people for the families and demonstration of the Iraqi people outside the Camp of New Iraq are among the positive outcomes of the families’ continued protests, the report continued.

Meantime, different groups of the Iraqi people have on various occasions gathered outside the main training center of the MKO in Iraq and called for the expulsion of the terrorist group from the country’s soil.

Iranian relatives of some MKO members also joined the protesters.
The MKO has been in Iraq’s Diyala province since the 1980s.

The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.

Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.

A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.
According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.

The group, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and Western targets.

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.
The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

Iraqi security forces took control of the training base of the MKO at Camp Ashraf – about 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad – last year and detained dozens of the members of the terrorist group.

The Iraqi authority also changed the name of the military center from Camp Ashraf to the Camp of New Iraq.

March 17, 2011 0 comments

European Union

Families of Terror Victims Ask EU to Drop Support for MKO

An Iran-based right group formed of the families of the Iranian victims of terrorism called on the European Parliament to run a close study over the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) to realize its terrorist nature and drop its support for the group.

In a letter to the Vice-President of the European Parliament and the President of the International Committee of In Search of Justice (ISJ) Alejo Vidal-Quadras, published in Edalat Society website on Sunday, the families of the victims of terrorism in Iran voiced their protest against the European parliament’s support for the MKO.
The full text of the letter is as follows:

Protest Letter of the Families of Terror Victims to the Vice President of the European Parliament

Receiving the news of your meeting with Maryam Rajavi in Paris and your support from Ashraf Camp residents, we, the members of Justice Supporters’ Association thought that it is necessary to inform you of some facts about the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization which has been announced as a terrorist cult by many international institutions and organizations.
We hope that this information could give you, the vice president of the European Parliament and the president of the International Committee in Search of Justice, a better understanding of the real nature of this organization

The organization which you voiced support for, is currently in the foreign terrorist organizations’ lists of many countries including United States of America. It has murdered more than 12000 Iranians and thousands of Iraqi civilians. Undoubtedly, you can feel the concerns of Iraqi families of the presence of this organization in Iraq’s soil.

The same organization which still holds the infamous stain of finding the corpses of Kuwaiti youths in its camps is claiming to be the defender of Human Rights; this is while Mojahedin-e Khalq terrorist organization has perpetrated various crimes including kidnapping, high-jacking, armed robbery and attacks on civilians and military forces.
Based on the Human Rights Watch report of May 2005 and the report presented by National Defense Research Institute (RAND) in 2009, Mojahedin-e Khalq organization is a terrorist organization having a cultic nature. More than 70 percent of the members of this organization intend to leave the camp but they are not allowed to.

US Department of State has also referred to the terrorist operations and international crimes of this organization including arms transactions and the cooperation of MKO with Saddam regime for the suppression of Iraqi Shiites and Kurds in 1991, in its August 2010 FTO list report.

The leaders of this organization have even imprisoned their own members under the charge of criticizing the functions of the organization. They violate the basic human rights principles by not letting their members to get married, have babies or love their families. Meanwhile they speak up of defending freedom and human rights.

Other than separating children from their parents and transferring them to other countries for collecting money, most of the women in Ashraf Camp have gone under involuntary surgery and their wombs have been taken out. Another similar event happened in June 2003 in which a number of deceived MKO members immolated themselves in some European countries.

Dear Mr. Quadras, supporting such an organization is just standing against thousands of victims of this organization in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, US and some European countries. Taking side of this organization equals with supporting the ominous phenomenon of the third millennium. Can you guarantee that no one else would be victimized by this terrorist cult? We, the families of terror victims hope that you could understand the real nature of this organization and help the victims’ families in administering justice.

The members of this organization have committed murders after going through brainwashing techniques and turning to some robots. Therefore they are considered as victims and should be returned to their families. Although the leaders of the MKO should be tried for all the crimes they have done against humanity.

November 8, 2010 0 comments

European Union

Ancient Iran Association Letter to Mr. Vidal Quadras Roca

MR. Alejo Vidal Quadras Roca, The honorable Vice President of European Parliament

The Ancient Iran, Glorious Future which comprises of separated members and oppressed victims of notorious Rajavi’s cult , knows its humane task to notify all European parliamentarians and you in particular who are a humanitarian parliamentarian, of deception and trickery which this inhumane cult use to magnetize honorable European politicians with a glamorous slogans such as freedom, democracy ,peace and the like, because this religious cult had been at Saddam Hussein (dictator of Iraq) disposal for decades in suppression and slaying of Iraqi Kurd citizens in 1990-1991 uprisings thus , on the one hand the Iraqi people hate and loathe them because of their atrocities and savagery against Iraqi people and on the other hand as a result of violent and armed deeds and blind terrorism on Iran’s soil, are subjected to hatred and blame of Iranian people so they have been isolated and secluded in Iranian community and society.

This cult has even had no mercy upon its own members and these members for variety of reasons are imposed and coerced to set themselves on fire or hunger strike to death to safeguard and preserve the cult’s interests and its leaders. MR. Alejo Vidal Quadras Roca, The honorable Vice President of European Parliament

This cult fundamentally does not believe in democracy and freedom so that the slightest criticism to this inhumane cult causes outpour and flowing out a variety of labels and scandals and even in some cases it has led to beating of dissident members who dared to criticize them.

Mr. Quadras, as you are informed that Mr. Paulo Casaca , former Portuguese politician from Portugal socialist party in European parliament who was backing and supporting this notorious cult up for years lost his seat in the European parliament as well as being defeated in his struggle to become the Mayer of Ponta Delgada in the Azores vis a vis his rival Mrs. Berta Maria Cabral in municipality election in Ponta Delgada so that he lost his popularity among his own people for his support of PMOI which led him to egregious defeat and fiasco vis a vis his rival.

We the victims of this cult , urge all the European politicians specially the politicians who have been deceived and fallen in pmoi’s ambush by their glamorous slogans which are devoid of any real content to revise their support of this notorious and dishonorable cult( Rajavi’s cult) and instead , question and inquire them for the numerous crimes which are perpetrated and carried out by them against the people of Iraq and Iran and suppression and slaying of its own dissidents .

Best Regard

Ancient Iran, Glorious Future Association, Paris

November 2, 2009 0 comments

European Union

MKO ex-members’ letter to the President of EP

Letter of a number of former members of the MKO in Iraq to the President of the EP concerning the deeds of the proxies of the Rajavi terrorist cult in parliament

President of the European Parliament, Mr Hans-Gert Pöttering, Brussels

On Thursday April 23, 2009, a motion for resolution was tabled in the European Parliament by a number of advocates of the Rajavi terrorist cult including Mr Alejo Vidal-Quadras who has recently been an exceptional guest of the MKO destructive cult in Ashraf garrison in Iraq. In that motion the situation that has been described is quite contrary to the actual facts as well as baselessly accusing the Iraqi government.

The text of the speech delivered in the Chamber of the EP by Mr Alejo Vidal-Quadras to defend such a motion and ruling out the other proposed amendments which in reality defended the inhabitants trapped in the Ashraf cult garrison is brought below as a reminder:
Friday, 24 April 2009 – Strasbourg

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, – Mr President, this morning we will be voting on a joint motion for a resolution co-signed by four political groups on the situation of the Ashraf refugee camp in Iraq. Three thousand five hundred Iranian men and women, members of the democratic opposition to the fundamentalist regime in Iran, live there completely defenceless. In the last few weeks they have been under pressure and harassment by the faction of the Iraqi Government under the influence of the Iranian regime, and there is a high probability that at any moment a tragedy could happen that would parallel the ones we witnessed in the Balkans not so long ago.

We all remember Srebrenica, and I have no doubt that no Member in this Chamber wants a second Srebrenica in Iraq. Our motion for a resolution is a call to alert public opinion all over the world before a disaster takes place. Unfortunately, some colleagues have tabled amendments that could increase the danger for the residents in Camp Ashraf and provide the Iranian regime and its proxies in Iraq with arguments to massacre them.

I recently visited the camp myself and I assure you that the allegations included in the amendments tabled are absolutely unfounded. People in Ashraf are there on a volunteer basis. They are free to leave whenever they want and they live in the best friendly relations with the Iraqi population of the region. The intention of our motion is to protect these people. Nobody would understand – but if these amendments are adopted the result of the motion would be exactly the opposite.
This is not a political issue, colleagues: it is purely humanitarian and it is very urgent. I beg you to vote against all amendments tabled to this joint motion supported by these four groups and support the motion as it has been agreed by these four groups that are of very different political stances. The lives of many innocent and harmless people depend on your vote. Please do not let them down.

As you are well aware, the proposed amendments which Mr Vidal-Quadras so strongly opposes are based on the testimonies given by many rescued former members of the Rajavi terrorist cult. They describe the situation of human rights inside Ashraf garrison as disastrous and remind us that visits by international human rights organizations to this cult garrison, which lacks the minimum individual rights, were sought. According to Mr Vidal-Quadras this just demand would provide the Iraqi government with the excuse to massacre all of them!

It is worth mentioning that the speech delivered by Mr Vidal-Quadras as well as the contents of his motion for amendment to the resolution is exactly coordinated with the bizarre stances of the leaders of the MKO. For instance nobody in the whole world claims that a faction of the Iraqi government is a proxy of the Iranian regime which is determined to massacre the inhabitants of Ashraf.

The aim of the leaders of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), which Mr Vidal-Quadras is pursuing in the European Parliament very determinedly, is to keep the people in Ashraf cult garrison isolated from the outside world since only in this case could they be trained to execute sabotage activities inside Iraq.

We wish to ask Mr. Vidal-Quadras through you, why he and the MKO leaders are so severely against the visits of international human rights organizations and direct interviews with the people over there without the presence of the MKO officials and also their free contact and visit with their families, and why he just repeats the MKO leaders’ excuses.

We of course do agree with him that a disaster is about to happen and also the fact that the issue of the Ashraf cult garrison is not a political matter but a human rights one. But those who have lost many years of their lives being captive in that garrison would also like to alert international public opinion to the threats against the innocents in that garrison from the MKO leaders. We do fear that the end of the Rajavi terrorist cult will be like many other cults such as that of Jim Jones in Guyana.

Individuals such as Mr. Vidal-Quadras are certainly responsible for the continuation of the mental and physical captivity of the inhabitants of the Ashraf cult garrison and all the consequences resulted against these people from the cult leaders.

With regards

A number of rescued former members of the Rajavi terrorist cult in Iraq
Baghdad, May 25, 2009

May 26, 2009 0 comments

European Union

Open letter of Ms Batul Soltani to the members of EP

Ms Batul Soltani, former member of the Leadership Council of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), has written the following letter to the members of the European Parliament about the situation of the MKO terrorist cult (aka National Council of Resistance of Iran–NCRI) in Iraq and their base known as Ashraf garrison:

My name is Batul Soltani and I was a leading member of the MKO when I left the cult about two years ago. I was born in Isfahan in 1965 and I left Iran along with my husband to join the organization in 1986. We were married for 8 months then and I was pregnant. We entered Iraq from Pakistan in 1987 when my first child was 2 months old. My second child was born in Iraq.

In 1991 the MKO leaders, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, introduced the compulsory divorces to the members, and forced us to separate from our spouses and to abandon our children and send them all to Europe and the US. My 5 year old daughter was sent to Sweden and my 6 month old son was sent to the Netherlands, both with false identities. I have not seen them since. I objected these practices at that time but I had no choice as we were all trapped in a dangerous destructive cult. The terrorist MKO still prevents me from having normal contact with my children.

I was sent to England with a fake passport for about 3 years (1994 – 1997) and even during this period I had no chance to see my children. I was mainly based in a collective house working with a computer.

I spent about two decades of my life with this organization and I know how the people inside Ashraf garrison, which is run like a prison, feel. I managed to escape from Ashraf risking my life in late 2006 and reached the American forces base nearby and sought refuge with them for about a year. Finally I managed to settle in Baghdad. Now I try to help the MKO dissidents in Iraq. I traveled to Iraqi Kurdistan and to Turkey to help the former members of the MKO who have escaped from Ashraf garrison and who are living in a very difficult situation.

I had a series of interviews for Sahar Family Foundation in Baghdad about my experiences with the MKO. Up to number 10 of these interviews have been translated into English and you can read them at the following link:

saharngo.com

The main issue of the MKO is the matter of violation of human rights (Human Rights Watch report – May 2005). The leaders of the MKO terrorist cult are denying the most basic rights of their members who are mentally manipulated using sophisticated psychological methods. The some 3400 individuals in the Ashraf garrison have no access to the outside world. They have been made to believe that they are obliged to stay there and like all other cult followers they think that the outside world is satanic and corrupt and they will only be saved in that heaven!

I have been informed that a resolution on Ashraf garrison in Iraq which is the headquarters of the National Liberation Army (NLA – aka MKO) is going to be discussed early next week in the EP at the request of the supporters of this terrorist cult.

As a member of the MKO for about 20 years, I wish to ask all European Parliamentarians to focus on the following basic considerations for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Ashraf garrison:

– Free access of all members to their families using communication means such as post and telephone, and letting them to visit their family members who come to Iraq to see them somewhere outside Ashraf garrison without the presence of the MKO officials.

– Free access to the general media as well as books and publications for all members without any limitations imposed by the MKO officials

– Free access of all members to the Iraqi authorities without going through the channels of the MKO officials (in this regard every individual in the Ashraf garrison must initially be interviewed privately outside the garrison by the Iraqi authorities to learn whether the person wishes to remain an MKO member or not).

I should emphasize that the major threat against the lives and morals of the inhabitants of Ashraf garrison comes from the leaders of the cult since they have warned on many occasions that if they are not allowed to run their cult as they are doing now they will force all their followers to commit self-immolations the same way they did in 10 European cities in June 2003 after the detention of Maryam Rajavi in Paris charged with planning and conducting terrorism.

I am ready to meet anyone interested, anywhere and at any time to discuss what is going on inside this notorious cultic base called Ashraf in Iraq. I also urge all parliamentarians to take into consideration the issue of human rights for the captive members of the MKO in Iraq and also the just stances of the Iraqi government in this regard.

Many thanks

Batul Soltani – Baghdad April 20, 2009

April 20, 2009 0 comments

European Union

Massoud Khodabandeh to the European Parliament

Massoud Khodabandeh to the European Parliament in relation to a proposed resolution on Camp Ashraf

As you are aware, since December 2003 successive Iraqi governments (from the first interim government to the present elected government) have demanded that the American Army remove Camp Ashraf and the foreign terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) militants in it from their country. This is not a new demand and is based on the MEK’s historical enmity toward the Iraqi people for two decades as part of the suppressive apparatus of Saddam Hussein.

Only since the American Army handed over responsibility for Camp Ashraf in January this year has it been possible for the Government of Iraq (GOI) to take action toward removing the MEK and closing Camp Ashraf as a fundamental aspect of taking full, sovereign control of the country. The GOI’s first and basic demand is that the individuals resident in the camp obey Iraqi and international law. The MEK, in any country they reside, regard themselves as ‘outside the law’ of that country – true outlaws. How and why they escape justice in these countries of course requires explanation from the governments and judicial systems of those countries. But for now, the Iraqi Government appears to be the only entity which is prepared to challenge this situation and to its credit is being completely open about the process.

As you are aware, there are 25 American soldiers posted at Camp Ashraf. To date, they have not reported any activity by the Iraqi authorities in pursuit of this sovereign right to dismantle and remove a dangerous, destructive terrorist group from the country which has given rise to concern.

On the contrary, there is plentiful evidence that the leaders of the MEK, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, continue to preside over a situation inside Camp Ashraf in which the individual members are subjected to a harsh and unremitting regime involving daily violations of their basic human rights. An article in The Economist (April 8, 2009) stated: “the PMOI is widely reviled by human-rights groups for nurturing a messianic cult of personality around Mr Rajavi and his wife, Maryam, and for enforcing a totalitarian discipline on its adherents. Several defectors testify, in the words of one of them, to a “constant bombardment of indoctrination” and a requirement to submit utterly and unquestioningly to the cause. No sources of news are allowed without the PMOI’s [MEK’s] say-so.”

I believe it is abundantly clear that in relation to human rights violations of the individuals living inside Camp Ashraf, it is the MEK itself which has proven to be the perpetrators. The MEK has also been actively obstructive, indeed provocative, toward those wishing to investigate and alleviate this suffering. So plentiful is this evidence that, after becoming aware that a resolution is proposed in the European Parliament in relation to Camp Ashraf and the people in it, I have been surprised to find that no representatives of the European Parliament have been on an official visit to Baghdad or to Camp Ashraf to investigate the issue. Indeed, it appears that no official contact whatsoever has been made by the European Parliament with the Government of Iraq to discuss this highly sensitive issue.

I urge the European Parliament to redress this glaring omission at the earliest opportunity. The GOI has been commendably transparent in explaining its activities vis-à-vis

Camp Ashraf and has shown itself ready to answer any questions. The GOI should have no hesitation in providing full access to Camp Ashraf to officially organised investigative missions, whether by political entities or humanitarian agencies.

Indeed, I have no doubt that the GOI would welcome international oversight of its activities in relation to Camp Ashraf. Dr. Mowaffak al Rubaie, Iraq ‘s national security advisor’s plan for the difficult task of dismantling an extremist cult has revealed an enlightened, humanitarian approach which could become a blueprint for tackling similar organisations worldwide.

Dr. al Rubaie has stated: “This is an indoctrinated and tightly disciplined organization of extremist zealots who have employed terrorism and at times even self-immolation to secure their aims. In normal everyday language we can say that they have been “brainwashed”. He adds, “The Government of Iraq does not deal with the MEK as an organization. We deal with the residents as individuals.”

Under observation by the ICRC and the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights, Dr. al Rubaie has focused efforts to protect the individuals inside the camp following allegations that human rights abuses are being perpetrated by MEK leaders against the residents. To this end he has said, “We believe that if we can separate individuals from the all-encompassing domination by their leaders, we can allow them to begin to exercise their rights as individuals and make appropriate choices. That is, we hope to remove them from the toxic effects of their indoctrination and leaders.”

In response to the many obstacles thrown up by the MEK to their removal from Camp Ashraf, Dr. al Rubaie said, “The Iraqi Army unit posted to defend and secure

Camp Ashraf has exercised patience and extreme restraint in spite of the staged provocations and demonstrations that Ashraf’s self-appointed leaders have launched in defiance of the legitimate exercise by the Government of Iraq of its sovereignty.” “Ashraf is not above the law,” said Dr. al Rubaie.

The Iraqi government has given guarantees that none of the captives will be forced to return to Iran against their wishes. The most serious threat to those left in Camp Ashraf comes from the MEK cult’s leaders, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. They will want to use their blood to extricate themselves from this crisis. American media has already quoted MEK officials threatening a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ at Camp Ashraf. Experts in cult activity and experts on the MEK have interpreted this as the threat of mass suicides of residents by order of the MEK leaders.

I urge European and international governments as well as humanitarian agencies to cooperate fully with the Iraqi authorities to help restore basic human rights to the people trapped in Camp Ashraf.

I urge the European Parliament to give its full support to the Government of Iraq. Any resolution should reflect the realities on the ground and give support to the humanitarian approach taken by the Government of Iraq to resolve this difficult problem.

The aim of a European Parliament resolution must be to prevent any further political abuse of Mojahedin-e Khalq members in Camp Ashraf held captive by their leaders, and guarantee the individual rights of those who renounce violence and are willing to return to society.

A resolution should, above all, reflect the responsibility of European countries toward the victims of the Rajavi cult. In particular, for individuals in Camp Ashraf with residency or asylum rights in European countries, provision should be made in the resolution to work with the GOI for their rapid transfer back to these countries.

A resolution should, as a minimum, include the demands that:

1. The GOI re-open a separate temporary camp adjacent to Camp Ashraf to which people can physically escape and not be forced to continue as members of a foreign terrorist group in Iraq against their will. (Sahar Family Foundation has a list of over 200 individuals who have expressed their desire to leave the MEK but who have no alternative place to go until their final destination is determined.)

2. The MEK should be required to allow free and unfettered access to all of the individual residents inside Camp Ashraf to the Iraqi authorities and to official humanitarian investigative agencies.

3. The MEK should be required to allow free and unfettered access to the immediate family members of all the individual residents inside Camp Ashraf without supervision by MEK operatives.

4. The MEK should be required to allow all residents of Camp Ashraf access to external information, internet, radio, television, books, newspapers and conversation. Gender integration must be reinstated.

5. The European Parliament should work with the UNHCR to find third countries to which the individuals in Camp Ashraf can be transferred. Those with residence and/or asylum rights in European countries should be helped to return and reintegrate into normal society.

6. Mojahedin leaders, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, and other leading members who have escaped the camp should be arrested and brought to justice through international courts.

April 18, 2009 0 comments

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