Former members of the MEK

MKO former members

Symposium on Terrorism in Iraq

A round table discussion centred on the issue of terrorism in Iraq and possible solutions to this problem. The Symposium was divided in to 3 parts: – the general threat posed by terrorist groups and the ways they operate in Iraq – foreign terrorist organisations in Iraq – the creation of terrorist organisations in Iraq and the global supporters of these terrorist groups Participants of the Symposium ranged from university professors including, Dr. Aziz Jabar Shayal, Dr. Samir Alshweely and Dr. Rasheed Saleh, professors of Political Studies from the University of Baghdad. The Symposium was also attended by many governmental and non-governmental representatives from a wide range of ministries and NGOs, including representatives from Iraq’s Ministries of Defence, Human Rights and Security.

Massoud Khodabandeh from the Centre de recherches sur le terrorisme depuis le 11 septembre 2001 (Paris), who was in Baghdad for meetings concerning the fate of the remaining individuals following dismantlement of Camp Ashraf which houses the disarmed Iranian terrorist organisation Mojahedin Khalq Organisation, was invited to participate in the discussion.

Prominent among the participants was Mr. Bassam Alhassani, advisor to Prime Minister Noori Al Maleki.

The Symposium ended with a full report on the issues discussed and Dr. Aziz Jabar Shayal delivered the end resolution in which one paragraph emphasized the necessity for the dismantlement and deportation of the foreign terrorist Mojahedin Khalq organisation and encouragement and facilitation by the government and others to help the remaining individuals find a safe palace outside Iraq and return to normal life.

The symposium was covered by media representatives who reported from the meeting room.

Alaraghia television, Iraq’s main TV network, reported the Symposium and broadcast a brief interview with Massoud Khodabandeh.

In the interview, Massoud Khodabandeh emphasised above all the right of the Iraqi people to enjoy security and have justice served against the perpetrators of violent acts in their country, in particular the criminal heads of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq organisation which was involved in the massacre of the Kurdish and Shiite uprisings against Saddam Hussein in March 1991. Mr Khodabandeh said that in his belief and according to all the studies of the Centre de Recherches sur le Terrorisme, the phenomenon of terrorism cannot have a single solution and needs inter governmental cooperation as well as the involvement of NGOs to protect the human rights of the who have been inveigled by terrorist leaders into this path, and to give them a second chance of integration back into their societies.

Thanking the organisers of the Symposium Mr Khodabandeh emphasised the cult culture of terrorist organisations and the methods they use to brainwash their followers. He also gave examples of foreign support by some influential groups and parties who facilitate the flow of finance for terrorism. Not the least the relationship between the remainders of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, London, Washington and other countries with the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation, and the way this relationship is becoming clear in the escalation of violence in Diyali province as well as the streets of London and other European countries.

The Symposium lasted for over two hours. Afterwards the participants formed smaller groups to further discuss the variety of issues raised by the Seminar.

A full report and media coverage will be published shortly. Thursday, 31st of January 2008.

Centre for International and Inter-governmental Studies of the University of Baghdad

February 3, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Javad Firuzmand interviewed by Mehrdad Farahmand

Former MKO seeking refuge in western countries The military coalition under the US commandment in Iraq confirmed that some MKO members have left this organisation and their base in Iraq. Confirmation of this news takes place after some reports were published indicating that in the past few weeks the efforts of dozens of former MKO to escape Iraq and seek refuge in western countries have failed and many of them are left hanging around in Iraq where they are in a very desperate situation.

In the past four years since Iraq was occupied by the US forces and its allies, some MKO members gradually left this organization and Camp Ashraf which is their base in Iraq.

The US army which is guarding Camp Ashraf during this period, kept the dissidents under its own protection in a camp near to this base. As the press office of coalition forces under the US command has informed the BBC, during the last four years 380 individuals of MKO have returned to Iran at their own request. But those dissidents who did not wish to return to Iran despite the efforts made by the United States did not gain the confirmation of any country for their application for refuge.

Meanwhile, reports indicate that within the last few weeks, dozens of them decided to leave the camp they were living in which was protected by the US forces and try to leave Iraq through different ways but this effort was unsuccessful for most of them and they returned to the camp protected by the US forces. Some were arrested after crossing the Turkish border and returned to Iraq, a few managed to remain in Turkey or go to Greece illegally.

The Society for Defending Immigrants and Iranians in France (ARIA) tries to help the MKO dissidents to leave Iraq and settle in another country. According to this society 208 MKO dissidents were staying in the US camp up to last month. The press office of the US forces today gives their number at 110. Javad Firuzmand, the spokesman of ARIA society who himself has left the MKO says that this number had reduced to 50 last week and the number 110 indicates that some of those who had left there have returned to the US camp.

Mr Firuzmand told the BBC that 70 of the dissidents tried to go to Turkey after Javad Firuzmand;former member of MKO they left the Americas with the aid of some smugglers, but the Turkish border police arrested them and after one month in prison and remaining in compulsory camp were handed over to the Iraqi Police. One of these people was shot and wounded by the border police and is in hospital now in the city of Arbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. The spokesman of ARIA society says that the autonomous government of Iraqi Kurdistan is keeping the people who were handed over by the Turkish police in a temporary camp in Arbil. But some of these people tried again to cross the Turkish border. Ten of them were arrested again by the Turkish police and handed over to Iraqi police and they are now in prison in Arbil. Amongst those who managed to cross the border ten were able to reach Greece with the aid of smugglers and 15 are living covertly in Istanbul and Ankara and Van in Turkey.

According to Javad Firuzmand, the MKO dissidents who are staying in Turkey could not approach the Human Rights and Turkish organizations since if they are revealed they would be arrested and returned to Iraq. The ten who stay in Greece are also in covert situation in that country. The ARIA society spokesman added that about 15 individuals approached Jordan and there is no information about the destiny of other 8.

The BBC’s effort to contact the UNHCR to obtain information about the destiny of these MKO dissidents did not reach anywhere but enquiries are still ongoing. The ARIA society which is a human rights establishment defending Iranians has demanded help for these people and the chance to live legally in European or other free countries. During the last four years some MKO dissidents have returned to Iran – the press office of forces under US command in Iraq gives their number at 380. Javad Firuzmand, the spokesman of ARIA society says that these individuals are living and working in several Iranian cities and are freely active in the society and he himself is in contact with some of them. According to him, inside Camp Ashraf which is still run by the MKO, some 200 individuals have left the MKO too. These people are not willing to move to the American’s camp and they are kept in a separate place inside Ashraf. Mr Firuzmand says that these people also seek refuge from western countries.

Camp Ashraf was established in 1986 after MKO leader [Massoud Rajavi] moved from France to Iraq and the members of this organisation launched an armed struggle against Iran benefiting from the military facilities given by Saddam Hussein’s regime. They participated in military operations against Iran during the Iran Iraq war. This base is situated in the district of Khalis in the province of Dyala in the east of Iraq and the coalition forces under US command have given the total number of individuals living there as 3360. The United States designated the MKO as a terrorist organisation but according to international regulations and Geneva Convention, they are kept under the entity of "protected persons".

The Iranian government demands that Camp Ashraf be dismantled and all MKO members be expelled from Iraq and accuses the Americans of protecting them in order to use them against Iran. January 26, 2008

February 3, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

A letter from Dr. Torabi on behalf of 8 UNHCR refugees

Dear Mr. Speaker,

I’m writing to you on behalf of the following 8 UNHCR recognized refugees who have been forced by Turkish Security and Political Police under gun fire to leave Turkey and cross the border back into Iraq :

Abdollahi, Ali

Adel, Hassan

Azari, Nasrollah

Eslamizadeh, Karam

Ghorbanzadeh, Ramezan

Mohebbi, Hamid

Nemati, Hassan

Zolfaghaari, Kamran

These 8 people aged 30-50 are from a larger group of 200 Iranian nationals and former members of Mojaheddin Khalkh Organization (MKO), an opposition group fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Following Saddam’s downfall, these people seized the opportunity to leave MKO and take refuge in an American-run camp called Temporary International Presence Facility (TIPF) to await their destiny (i.e., being sent to European countries as refugees). They are all UN recognized refugees, each carrying three identification documents: an Iraqi Government’s issued “Lesser Passer” card, a UNHCR Refugee ID, and a Coalition Forces’ issued ID.

About 4 weeks ago, American Forces in TIPF began freeing these people from the camp in groups of 4 to 8 people and providing secure passage to various cities in Kordestan , Iraq , e.g., Moussell, Erbil . Avoiding arrest by Kurdish police and extradition to Iran , many of them began heading north to Turkey . Upon entering Turkey at the Iraq-Turkey border line, they were all arrested by the Turkish Security Police (in charge of foreigners) and moved to various prisons inside Turkey .

These 8 people, after two weeks in prison, were told to get ready to be moved to the city of Shirnak ( Center of Silopi Region ) for processing their request (to be formally recognized as UN refugees and allowed to contact UNHCR representatives in Turkey for resettlement in a safe 3rd country.) Instead, they were taken to the Turkey-Iraqi border post at Haboor on the Turkey side (called Ebrahim Araghi on the Iraq side) in order to send them back to Iraq. Iraqi officials at the border-crossing refused to allow them entry to Iraq . Turkish Security Police then decided to force these people back into Iraq by taking them to a nearby unmanned border point with a river marking the border line between the two countries. There, the Turkish soldiers stripped these 8 people of their money and valuable personal belongings and under the command of Turkish Security Police forced them (by firing warning shots) to cross the river into Iraq. These 8 people, are now in a border city called Zakhoo in Iraq and in eminent danger of being arrested by the Iraqi police and extradited to Iran .

By writing this letter, I would like to report to you this unprecedented level of violation of human rights as well as the negligence of basic rights of UNHCR recognized refugees by your border and security police and to appeal to you for your help to intervene on behalf of these 8 and close to 200 other former MKO members who are kept in Prisons in Turkey. Please act from the position of authority and responsibility and use whatever means available to you to ensure that the Turkish Government respect the minimum rights of these people as UNHCR refugees and allow them to contact UNHCR representatives in Turkey for a safe passage to and resettlement in a country within European Union.

Yours Truly

M. Torabi

Mohammad Torabi, Ph.D

CTO Architecture & Solutions Engineering

Alcatel-Lucent

Monarch Beach, California

USA 92629

Aria Iran, January 24, 2008-http://www.ariairan.com/?mod=view&id=3020

January 28, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Seminar on Releasing Captives of MKO Terrorist Cult

A seminar on the subject of how to release the members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) who are held both mentally and physically captive in the Ashraf Camp in Iraq was highly attended by the families in the city of Shiraz despite the cold and snowy weather. The families of the members of the MKO who anxiously desired visiting their beloved ones after so many years had gathered in this seminar organized by the Nejat Society in the city of Shiraz on 11th of January 2008 in the Red Crescent Hall of that city.

Mr. Ebrahim Khodabandeh, Mr. Kambiz Bagherzadeh, and Miss Ronak Dashti the former members of the MKO delivered speeches in this seminar. Mr. Khodabandeh while describing the common methods used by all cults to manipulate and to brainwash the followers, gave some examples on practices applied within the MKO cult and referred to the subjects such as the family relationship, the emotional feelings, expressing opinions, make of choice, thinking independently, showing excitements, and presentation of caring, to be highly restricted and are considered as unforgivable sins. He emphasized that according to the MKO’s ideology all fondness and emotions must be entirely directed towards the leadership. He explained that inside the MKO everyone is held responsible against the leadership while he is considered as impeccable.

Mr. Khodabandeh mentioned the efforts made by the families within the framework of the Nejat Society to organize meetings with their beloved ones held in Iraq. He clarified that restoring the family emotions could lead to the savior of the member from the psychological boundaries the person is held in. Mr. Bagherzadeh referred to all mistreatments and confinements applied against discontented members inside the MKO and underlined that although his brother was in the same base with him but he did not see his brother for more than one and a half years.

Miss Dashti another former member of the MKO who had some bitter experiences while residing in the Ashraf Camp in Iraq explained how his brother and her were deceived by the MKO to be taken to Iraq and to the Ashraf Camp and how she was finally released thanks to the efforts made by her mother who traveled to Iraq and demanded the visit with his daughter. She described how the families could play a major roll to try to free their beloved ones from captivity.

She described that giving high commanding positions to the women is a sham gesture taken by the MKO while the truth is that women are expected to work even harder than men and their emotions are also systematically suppressed more. She clarified that members are expected to dislike whoever they adored before particularly the members of their family. She also explained that all discontented members are labeled as being metal cases. Miss Dashti also referred to the high level of dissatisfaction amongst the forces inside the Ashraf Camp who find no way out.

The hatred amongst the families in the hall of seminar was to the extent that they started shouting and cursing Mas’ud Rajavi the leader of the MKO who has caused all these miseries for the families and their beloved ones.

In the end the families wrote separate letters of request to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Iraqi government demanding the arrangement of a visit with their beloved ones by their own expenses without the presence of any third party as soon as possible.

The core slogan of the seminar was”the release of our children from the boundaries of the MKO terrorist cult and arranging a visit between the families and their beloved ones”

Nejat Society,11th of January 2008

January 12, 2008 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Hassibi: there is evidence of cooperation between American authorities and PMOI (aka: Mojahedin Khahlq organisation or Rajavi cult)

To whom it may concern, Since August 2007, I have received telephone calls and emails from individuals, who are among a group of 200 Iranians being detained for the past five years in an American military camp in Iraq. The following summary is based solely on these telephone calls and e-mails. These emails are available upon request. Year 2002 The United States State Department interviewed all the members of the organization of the People Mojahedin of Iran, PMOI (Mojahedin-e Khalgh Organization). A group of 200 individuals, who had been in disagreement with Mojahedin for some times, informed the US officials that they wanted to leave the PMOI. This group was later taken to a camp called Temporary International Presence Facility (TIPE) in Khalis city in Diyala province The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) assigned refugee status to these individuals, promising that all the necessary arrangements would be made in near future and they would be sent to another country. These 200 individuals were detained against their will in TIPF. Lt. Col. Amy F. Turluck was the American director of the camp. Year 2006 150 individuals started a peaceful vigil. Their main request was to leave the camp. This vigil was suppressed by 150 anti-insurgent US guards who used pepper spray and guns. The guards arrested all the representative of the group, in addition to some individuals. The arrested individuals were then sent to solitary confinement for several months and were later transported to a smaller camp. Year 2007 July The Iraqi government issued Laissez Passers for these refugees and informed them that with these Laissez Passers they could leave the TIPF camp and Iraq. The Laissez passers and the money of theses refugees were confiscated by Lt. Col Turluck and they were told that they could not leave the camp or Iraq. On many occasions the refugees asked Colonel Turluck to return their Laissez Passers and money so that they could leave the camp, but to no avail. The American military authorities also told them that the Iraqi government would not allow them to leave the country and that they would need visas for leaving Iraq. The relatives of these refugees went to the Iraqi Embassy in Tehran to inquire about the situation. They were told that the Iraqi government had already issued the Laissez Passers and that these refugees were free to leave the camp, acquire visa from a country and leave Iraq. These relatives also approached the Turkish Embassy in Tehran to find out if the Turkish government would issue visas to these refugees. They were informed that Turkey via its embassy in Iraq was prepared to grant visas to these 200 refugees if they applied in person. The refugees, however, were constantly told by the camp authorities that they have only the following two options. 1. To rejoin the PMOI (even though the PMOI is on the black list, i.e. it is considered to be a terrorist organization by both the United States and the European Union). 2. To go back to Iran (even though they could be executed by the Iranian regime). September · Twenty individuals started another peaceful vigil. This time Col. Turluck threatened to suppress the vigil once again if they did not stop it. Five of these individuals went on a hunger strike and as a result were placed in solitary confinement. They could not have any visitors and could not call their families. October · On October 8th, one individual was taken to the camp hospital and nobody was allowed to visit him. By October 12, after being on hunger strike for 29 days, he was told by the American authorities that if he would not break his hunger strike they would take him to Booka prison, cut his stomach open and would then force feed him. This individual was later transported to Krapeh hospital prison, which is usually used for members of Alghaedeh. · On October 8th, the other four individuals had been on hunger strike for 15 days, 12 days, 11 days and 9 days. One individual who was kept in the hospital of the camp had internal bleeding and had vomited blood. Col. Turluck visited these individual in their cells and told them that they should write their will and indicate where they wanted to be buried. These individuals were constantly being harassed by the American authorities to end their strike. · On October 13 Colonel Turluck announced that the Laissez Passers would be returned to all the refugees. While visiting the refugees on hunger strike in the solitary confinement, she promised them that if they broke their strike, their Laissez Passers would be retuned and they would be taken to Mousel. The refugees on hunger strike ended their strike and returned to the camp. · Colonel Turluck had promised that the voluntary project of re-location to Musel would be finalized by the end of October. · On October 22nd, these refugees were informed that due to the security reasons, they would not be allowed to use the phone. · By the end of October it became evident that the project of re-location to Musel was not going to materialize. November · By early November as the lies about re-location to Musel became evident, those who had broken their hunger strike started another hunger strike. · By November 20th, one of these individuals had been on hunger strike for 9 days. · On November 18 th , sometimes during the night, five of these individuals, who were on hunger strike, were taken out of the camp and were left on a nearby road. · Before leaving the camp, the camp authorities videotaped these individuals. In these videotapes they were asked to state that they were leaving the camp on their own free will. · Few days later five more individuals were taken out of the camp at night and were abandoned on the nearby road. · By now 20 individuals have been taken out of the camp in the dark of the night and have been dropped off somewhere close to the camp. · These abandoned individuals are in danger any time they come across an American checkpoint, the head hunters of the Iranian regime and the dangerous gangs and individuals in Iraq. · By November, the previous director of the camp, Col. Turluck, was replaced by Officer Harmon. December · On December 17 two individuals who had left the camp and were residing in a hotel, left their friend in the hotel for an outing. They have not been heard from since then and no one has any information of their whereabouts. · On December 18 six more individuals were taken out of the camp and were left on a nearby road. No one has heard from these individuals since then. Conditions at the camp: · No access to outside/denied to see a lawyer · No access to the internet · The limited letters, e-mails and phone calls are censored and monitored. If the refugees talk about their condition in the camp on the phone, the American authorities threaten them with losing the right to use the phone. Some emails were never sent and the complaints remain unanswered. · Limited medical services in the camp · No medical services outside the camp · A prisoner, who is going blind and needs immediate surgery, is not allowed to go to Baghdad for the operation. · Water shortage- no water on some days and on other days 3-4 hours at most, for months at a time · The refugees live in tents.

.Constant mal-treatment and torture – In one occasion, these refugees denied entry to their tents to an American soldier who refused to remove his boots. (They pray in the tents and therefore everybody must remove their shoes prior to entering the tent). The angry soldier beat them up and broke the shoulder of one of them. Needles to say, the broken shoulder was never treated medically. · There have been fifty incidents such as this resulting in the batter and injury of these refugees. · When these refugees go on hunger strike, they are immediately moved into solitary confinement and they lose all their privileges such as visits by their friends or contacting their families by phone. · There is evidence of cooperation between American authorities and PMOI. Once in a while some members of the PMOI are brought into the camp. They mingle with the refugees and try to get as much information as possible. They then pass the information to the American authorities and leave the camp. Two of these PMOI spies are presently living in Germany. Mohammad Hassibi Tel: 512-349-7899 hassibi@chebayadkard.com

Mohammad Hassibi, December 20, 2007 http://www.chebayadkard.org/chebayadkard/sokhan/20071217/maghaleh306.pdf

December 24, 2007 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

The Iranian Pen Club Letter to Ms Megevanal Roggo, International Committee of the Red Cross The Middle East Department

Dear Ms Beaterice Megevand Roggo,

According to the news received in the last few days by Iran-Ghalam (IRAN-PEN) association, the condition of disaffected members of Mojahedin Khalq Organisation who are now accommodated in the TIPF part of Ashraf Camp is critically dangerous. Some personalities have already raised concern not the least Mr. Mohammed Hasibi who has written an open letter today, 21 December 2007 raising his deep concern about the situation of these people. A copy of this letter is attached. You are aware that after the fall of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and since September 2003, TIPF was established provisionally alongside Ashraf Camp. The purpose was to locate those who defect the organisation at the first instance interviews by the American Forces. In those days the total number of people confined within the Ashraf Camp was 3855 while today only 3450 are remaining there. From those defected members who managed to get themselves to TIPF, more that 350 have succeeded being sent to their own country (Iran) or some European countries with the help of various governments, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Iraqi ministry of human rights. But unfortunately it is more than a year now that the process of freeing from the Camp – the total number makes to around 200 so far – has been stopped or intensely slowed down. As you are aware, in various reports by the Human Rights Watch, the European Union, the British Government, the US State Department, the Canadian Foreign office, and many other sources as well as the worldwide media, the deeds and practices of the MKO and its leader Mas’ud Rajavi have been categorised as terrorist, cultic, and violating the bases of human rights. Some documentation is enclosed to this letter in this regards. Therefore, we urge you to pay attention to our concerns as well as those of the families of the MKO members for the destiny of our offspring, our siblings, our spouses, and our friends who are held in Ashraf Camp by a destructive cult. Those who have defected from the organisation and are held at the Temporary International Presence Facilities (TIPF), as well as those who for any reason have not been able to flee the MKO and are still kept in their base, must be protected by the ICRC and the World Declaration for Human Rights; and we urge you to help them by any means you can. It is also worth mentioning that the MKO is considering the freedom of its members and their departure from Iraq as a grave threat to its existence and consider it as an encouragement to the remaining members to defect this terrorist cult. It is essential to point out the fact that the Amnesty International (AI) has expressed its concern over the events carried out inside the Ashraf Camp. Also, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has issued a report on 18 May 2005 which points out many cases of systematically violating human rights inside the MKO since 2002. The report done by the HRW is based on the former members’ testimonies now living in Europe. A copy of the report is enclosed. You are aware that self-immolations done by some members in European capitals after the arrest of their leader Maryam Rajavi in Paris on 17 June 2003, is one obvious example of the kind. Like all cults, this organisation needs a remote site to be able to isolate the members from the outside world. The residents of Ashraf Camp have no contact with the real world, not even with their relatives or old friends. The members are forced to participate in the daily ideological sessions called "the Current Operation". In these sessions members are systematically subject to peer pressure and coercion methods. According to articles 25 and 26 of the fourth convention of Geneva which had enabled the MKO’s presence in Iraq, the members could freely have contact with their families. But unfortunately, both the members and their worried and suffering families have been deprived from such benefits. Therefore, we insist that the pressure be mounted against the MKO to lift any obstacles. The Iranian Pen Club has become aware through its corresponding about the efforts made by the Iraqi ministry of human rights for preventing the violation of human rights within the MKO. We would be more that pleased to learn that we could benefit from your cooperation and assistance too. We are prepared to hand over the names and particulars of the discontented members and those who wish to defect from the organisation as well as necessary files and documents. We would be most pleased to have a meeting with you or your colleagues in the office of the ICRC in European countries and be able to present our stories and documents in person. The Iranian Pen Club has become aware through its corresponding about the efforts made by the Iraqi ministry of human rights for preventing the violation of human rights within the MKO. We would be more that pleased to learn that we could benefit from your cooperation and assistance too. With many thanks and regards The Iranian Pen Club 21.12.2007 Postfach 90 06 63 51116 Köln Germany info@iran-ghalam.de kanoon-ghalam@hotmail.de 00491759726840 00491639076911 Copy to: The Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Iraq The United Nation’s General Secretary The Human Rights Watch The Minister of Human Rights of the Republic of Iraq The Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva

Iranian Pen Club, December 22, 2007 http://www.iran-ghalam.de/2Haupt/2198-Galam-En.21.8.12.07.HTM

December 24, 2007 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

UK parliamentary delegation’s visit to Edalat Society

UK parliamentary delegation’s visit to Edalat Society(Victims of Mojahedin Khalq terrorism)

British Ambassador to Tehran, Geoffrey Adams, along with members and the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons have met and talked with several families of victims of terrorism at Edalat (justice) Society in order to become familiar with terrorist nature and deeds of Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation (MKO).

The British parliamentarians visited Iran recently on the invitation of the Iranian parliament (Majlis).

Ms Sepehri, a member of the society whose father (a 45-year-old tailor) was martyred by the MKO’s terror teams in 1984, while referring to the memoirs from his father, said that the MKO has assassinated over 12000 individuals in Iran besides cooperating with Saddam Hussein in killings of many Kurds and Shiite Moslems in Iraq.

Mr Mike Gapes, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons who was present in the meeting said,”MKO are quite known to us; we do know them through Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations.”

Then Ms Sobhani whose father (a 46-year-old shopkeeper) was martyred by the MKO’s terror teams in 1982 said:”Utilizing terror is not a tactic or a strategy for the MKO. It is part of their ideology and that is why they could never give in using violence; and this is an important and crucial point for those foreign supporters of the MKO who are aiming to use them as a tool.

“The leaders of this organisation are not trustworthy even for their friends.”

The visit of the UK parliamentarians to Tehran and their meeting with the society of the families of victims of terrorism took place while the MKO is claiming that they are enjoying the support of UK peers.

The MKO is currently in the list of designated terrorist groups in the UK, and the FCO has warned the statesmen not to have any contact with the members of this organisation.

During the one-hour meeting, Ms Sepehri addressed the members of the delegation and said,”Those who have sold their nation and their country to the aliens could never claim to be the advocate of the interests of the other nations and countries. This is a historic lesson that tells us one should avoid those opportunist groups who are terrorists and easily change color and tell lies.”

The chairman of the UK delegation, Mike Gapes, said after receiving some documents indicating the violation of human rights and terror by the MKO,”This documentation and other reports published by the international bodies about the MKO show that there is no doubt about their violent backgrounds. We are victims of terrorism too and the British people are also severely suffering from this phenomenon.”Some documentation about the terrorist activities of the MKO was handed over by the Edalat Society to the UK delegation.

Finally, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons emphasised,”We have issued a joint statement between the governments of France, Germany, and the UK with the Islamic Republic of Iran in Paris. In this statement we reached an agreement that one article of it indicates that three European countries and Iran are decisively willing to tackle against terrorism and they are determined to do so. These groups include Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups such as the MKO.”

November 25, 2007 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Aawa publication No: 25 in English and German, September 2007

In this issue:

– Open letter to King Abdullah of Jordan

– 11th of September 2001 and the MKO

– 11 September and MKO’s Tactic of Duplicity

– Why the US granted ‘protected’ status to Iranian terrorists

– MKO Behind Karbala Massacre?

– The highest pitch of stupidity!

(Mojahedin Khalq Organsation vow to continue violance and terrorism)

– many Iranians conclude the U.S. is supporting a terrorist organization

– EXCLUSIVE US TRIP PAID FOR BY IRANIAN ORGANISATION

Midland MP (Mr. Binley) lobbies for terrorist group

– France to Probe Killing of Iranian

———-

Publikation des AAWA-Vereins e.V.

Verantwortlich:

Dipl.-Ing. Ali-A. Rastgou

Postfach 90 31 73

D-51124 KÃ¶ln

Phone: +49-163-18 49 145

E-mail: info@iran-aawa.com

Awaa Association, September 2007

http://www.iran-aawa.com/arch-pub/arch-aatuell/aawa-akt-25.PDF

October 2, 2007 0 comments

Ann Singleton Former members of the MEK

Anne Singleton Interview with BBC Yorkshire Radio Leeds

P: We’re joined now by Anne Singleton she’s a married mum from Leeds. Who was actually brainwashed by extremists at one point but now campaigns to warn others. Good Morning Anne.

AS: Good morning.

P: Is brainwashed the right word to use? What actually happened to you Anne?

AS: It is a word which resonates with people. More familiarly I would call it ‘mind control techniques. These are well-known, well-documented. For years and years destructive cults have been using them. The way that they work in essence is that they will take a perfectly ordinary person and strip that person of their values using specific psychological manipulation.

P: What got you into this position in the first place?

AS: I was involved with Iranian students at the time of the Iranian revolution in 1979. I was at Manchester University. I was young and innocent, looking for something to fulfill my ambition to ‘change the world’. I was very idealistic and I got involved with those people. They seemed to me very sincere, very genuine and committed to making change in their country. I hadn’t grasped that the path which they were leading me along led to extreme violence.

P: So this was happening in this country, it wasn’t happening in a foreign environment where you would maybe be more susceptible to someone else’s culture.

AS: I was recruited at Manchester University. Having said that, ten years down the line – I was just supporting the group from a distance, I had a job and ostensibly a normal life. But ten years down the line I took part in a hunger strike and that’s really what tipped the balance for me and sent me over the edge into total commitment to this group. After about five days of eating nothing I was on a complete high and I felt as though I was moving at a different speed to the rest of humanity.

P: What was it they encouraged you to support?

AS: The Mojahedin even today present themselves as an alternative to the islamic regime in Iran. They say that they want to overthrow the whole regime in its entirety and replace that regime with themselves. They frame this in the context of human rights. They say we will protect human rights by overthrowing the mullahs. What I came to realize was that they were committing just as much abuse of human rights inside their organization as Amnesty International was ‘clocking-up’ in other countries throughout the world.

P: Anne, what do you think of the stories today? The front page of the Yorkshire Post says ‘University Launches Review after Conviction of Student Terror Ring’. How do you feel when you feel when you hear about these students, about what they were doing – substituting their faces with the faces of the 9/11 highjackers – after what you have been through.

AS: What comes to mind first of all is that terrorism is such a complex issue. Yes, it sounds horrific on the surface when you hear of people having extremely radical views like this. And people are frightened because they know that such views can lead to violence. But what I have understood from my experience is that to tip somebody over the line between radical ideas and actually perpetrating violence needs psychological manipulation. Words don’t kill people, they never have. Words are how societies move forward, through discussion, debate and progress. There have been lots of radical ideas throughout history – the world is round was quite a radical thought at one point. So we must pull back a little bit and say that OK there are extremist views but if we remember a few years back – 1993 – the Admiral Duncan pub was bombed, a gay pub in Soho. If you start looking only at the so-called ideology of these people then you are going to miss a whole lot of clues that lead you to understand how a person goes from thinking extremely to acting extremely.

P: You mentioned the hunger strike thing and that really strikes a chord with me. When I was going through my divorce I literally couldn’t eat a thing. And it absolutely does your mind no good. If you are not eating properly you think in a totally irrational way. That’s my experience. So, when you say your hunger strike was the one that led you up to that kind of high, moving and thinking differently from everyone else, that must be part and parcel of it.

AS: This is a fundamental technique for psychological manipulation. These techniques are used by all destructive cults – whether they present themselves as religious, therapeutic, or like the Jonestown cult of the 1980s. They each present themselves differently but they all use the same techniques. These techniques are very effective, you can actually recruit and convert somebody into a cult member within three or four days. That’s how effective they are.

P: This was happening to you at Manchester University. Now we hear about these students at Bradford University. There are some interesting issues about how this radical thought, idealistic thought can tip over the edge into violent action, but in terms of the universities what is the best plan for them in your experience in combating this, I mean tipping over into violent action.

AS: I think that young people generally need to be educated in the danger of destructive cults. You should start at high school even. I am surprised that in schools you may be given sex education, you are educated about how to keep your PIN number safe and not get robbed, But where is the education to tell people how to look out for somebody who is going to come along, take you out of your normal environment and convert you into either a terrorist or at least a cult member.

P: But will that education be enough? I think one of the things Bradford University is looking at as well is the idea of surveillance and looking at what people are looking at on the Internet and monitoring the traffic that’s coming through.

AS: I am not a security expert so I couldn’t say how effective that would be.

P: Would education have stopped you?

AS: Certainly it would have opened my eyes a lot sooner to looking for signs that people were trying to influence me in ways that I wasn’t aware of actually happening. I think university students are quite vulnerable because they are away from home usually, they are in a vibrant atmosphere. They are intelligent, idealistic and are looking for new experience and new ideas.

P: You are a mum, Anne. How many kids have you got?

AS: I’ve just got the one.

P: And how old is your child?

AS: My child is seven.

P: Right, so a long way to go in terms of university. How do you feel about your life now and your fears for your child?

AS: I have to add here is that the reason I have one child is that we started rather late. I was involved with a terrorist cult, the Mojahedin Khalq, which denied its members marriage and children. Those are the levels of intrusion that these organisations have on ordinary members. So, they would not allow anyone to be married, they forced people to divorce and took their children away from them. It was only after I left and met my husband that I was able to have a family. And I realise now that being in one of these organisations deprives you of all your basic, fundamental human rights, even freedom of thought. Because a person who is brought around to thinking as terrorists do in order to give their own life to this other person – because it is someone else who will be persuading them to do that – your basic freedoms are taken away from you without you realising. Now, if you are aware, first of all, of your basic freedoms – what are the basic human rights that everyone is entitled to – that is a starting point from which you can say, I do have the right to have a family, to have children. These are certainly the things I will be teaching my child as he grows up and certainly I will be teaching him to think and to question and not to accept anything at face value, ever.

People can be very persuasive. I think we’ve all been sold something we didn’t really want by somebody who was very persuasive. The same techniques will persuade you to act in ways that you don’t mean to, let alone buy things.

P: Anne, thank you very much for coming in. She’s a wife and mum and she was involved with the Mojahedin in West Yorkshire.

BBC Yorkshire, Radio Leeds, July 26, 2007

http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds

August 1, 2007 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Four more defectors of Rajavis’ Cult repatriated

According to Nejat Society correspondent, four other people defected MKO and repatriated. The four defectors, who were MKO members for a long time, spent a few weeks in TIPF Camp and finally could return Iran with Red Cross cooperation.

The defectors’ names:

Ahmad Rostamian

GholamReza Shirdom

Jamil Abdollahzade

AliReza Naghashzade

The above-named people will consequently state their comments on the disruptive atmosphere in Camp Ashraf.

Nejat Society

Tehran-July 30th 2007

August 1, 2007 0 comments

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