Amir Yaghmai, former child soldier of the Mujahedin-e Khalq recounts of one of his most traumatic memoirs of his involvement with the MEK which he considers as \u201cone of the most painful and deepest scars\u201d in his life. That was the night that MEK\u2019s top commanders tortured him and his mother because he had asked to leave the group.<\/p>\n
On the eve of the American invasion to Iraq in 2003, Massoud Rajavi, called all members of Camp Ashraf to gather in a large hall. \u201cHe began by describing the sensitive political situation at the time and the serious threat posed by the United States against Iraq,\u201d Amir Yaghmai writes in his memoirs. \u201cHe then said that in these circumstances, MEK members must maintain their focus and no longer be involved in the issue of defection or “cutting off” of individuals. Therefore, each member must sign a new contract in which he undertakes not to ask for leaving the group for the next two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amir was shocked. He had wanted to leave the MEK for years but hadn’t been able to. \u201cEach time I had been forced to sign different contracts for different reasons,\u201d he writes. However, this time, the matter was more serious than ever. Massoud Rajavi was officially ordering members to stay in the isolated Camp Ashraf. \u201cYou were supposed to keep your mouth shut for two years, not to express a single doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amir told himself: \u201cI won’t sign! They can do whatever they want! Take me to a confession session, quarantine me for two years, send me to Abu Ghraib prison, or hand me over to the regime! It doesn’t matter! I can’t take it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was also his response to his commander when he asked Amir to sign the contract. Consequently, Amir entered a traumatic cycle of bribery, threat, intimidation and humiliation.<\/p>\n
First, the MEK leaders tried to bribe him promising to allow him to have a home in Baghdad, and to get married \u2013the possessions that are forbidden for MEK members. This was a promise made by Maryam Rajavi, Massoud Rajavi\u2019s third wife but it was presented to Amir by Mohammad, the son of Massoud who was also a child soldier and a friend of Amir\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Amir replied Mohammad Rajavi: \u201cI want to be free, to go for a walk without a barbed wire or a guard tower in front of me. To love. To sing. To wear the clothes I want. To see the world. I won’t go and regret the unseen. Not just to get married.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the first tactic did not work for the cult commanders, they tried to threat Amir and pressure him by intermediating an emotional tool: his mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a large room, around an oval-shaped conference table, the high-ranking commanders of the MEK were sitting: Ahmad Waqef, Mahmoud Ata’i, Fereshteh Yeganeh, Mahvash Sepehri, Mohammad Rajavi… and my mother!\u201d, he pens.<\/p>\n
Nasrin (Mahvash Sepehri) told Amir: \u201cWhen you joined, your mother guaranteed that you would never leave us. Now she has to come with you, go into quarantine for two years, and then be sent to Iran with you. Then, she has to find a way back\u2014if she gets arrested, she has to commit suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amir shouted at them shouted: \u201cYou have no right to make my mother the victim of my decision! I am responsible for my own choices. I am twenty years old!\u201d<\/p>\n
Fereshteh Yeganeh opened a folder and showed him. His mother\u2019s signature, and all the oaths he had been forced to sign over the years. Amir protested that all of this was by force. \u201cIf my mother is leaving with me, I am not leaving at all!\u201d Amir told them. Nasrin replied emotionlessly, \u201cIf you want to stay, you have to defend your choice. We are not convinced yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
They kept Amir and his mother in the room for over 9 hours, until the dawn. During the entire hours, the commanders were insulting Amir, calling him \u201ctraitor\u201d, spitting on his face and his mother was watching him with weeping eyes.<\/p>\n
The next morning, Amir had been coerced to sign a new contract. \u201cI signed a new contract which had nothing for me except humiliation,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n
This is how he describes that night: \u201cThe night at Camp Ashraf, when just because I wanted to leave the organization, they made me go under the most severe stress, threat, insult, and humiliation. Worst of all, my mother, who was an old member, was also tortured before my eyes in order to force me to confess that I was wrong. Seeing tears and sufferings of my mother was one of the most painful moments of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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