Iranian Activists Warn That MKO Delisting Would Send Negative Signal To Iranians (aka; Mojahedin Khalq, MEK, Rajavi cult)
Iranian Activists Warn That MKO Delisting Would Send Negative Signal To Iranians
(aka; Mojahedin Khalq, MEK, Rajavi cult)
.
... Maziar Bahari, who was jailed in Iran amid the unrest that followed the country's contentious 2009 presidential election, believes the move could have damaging implications. "Despite the historical mistakes the U.S. government committed -- from the 1959 coup d'etat to its full support for the shah's regime -- many Iranians still believe the U.S. can be their potential ally in their fight for freedom," Bahari says. "The delisting of the MKO would send the wrong signal ...
(Saddam used Rajavi in the massacar of Iraqi Kurds)
Iranians hardly ever agree on anything. But there's at least one thing on that most Iranians share a common view, and that is their dislike of the Iranian opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO).
For this reason, talk of removing the group's designation as a terrorist organization, which the United States is currently considering and which the European Union did in 2009, is sure to spark protests from Tehran.
But the issue also draws protests from a less likely source -- members of Iran's Green Movement who themselves are critical of the exiled group and are wary of attempts by the MKO (aka People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran) and by the Iranian government to portray them as allies in opposition.
And Green Movement members also warn that removing the MKO's terrorist designation could inadvertently send a negative signal to people in Iran and tarnish their view of the United States.
Labeled As Traitors Among Iranians
The MKO's involvement in a series of violent acts in the 1970s and 1980s in Iran, and its decision to side with Iraq during the bloody 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, led to the group being labeled as traitors among Iranians.
So much so, that opposition member and former lawmaker Ali Mazrouei believes removing the MKO from the State Department's terror list would not be well-received.
"It will be definitely viewed very negatively by the people," he says. "This group is one of the most-hated political groups among Iranians, because during the difficult time of the war it joined the enemy that had attacked Iran's territory and fought against the Iranian nation."
"Newsweek" correspondent Maziar Bahari believes delisting the MKO could have damaging implications. In the international arena, the group has proven to be a sticking point for decades. Following its founding in 1965, MKO members took up arms against the Iranian shah and were involved in the killings of several U.S. citizens working in Iran in the 1970s.
After initially supporting the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the MKO went underground when an uprising against the new regime failed. The United States put the group on the list of foreign terrorist organizations in 1997 in what was widely considered to be a goodwill gesture to former President Mohammad Khatami.
Nevertheless, following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, coalition forces considered MKO members on Iraqi soil a "protected people," in keeping with the Geneva Conventions.
MKO members were provided refuge at Camp Ashraf, where their numbers today stand at around 3,000. But the handover of control to the Iraqi government clearly exposed the controversy over their presence on Iraqi soil, with Iraqi officials openly suggesting that Iran's extradition requests be heeded, while the UN reminded the Iraqi government of the MKO members' rights as minorities.
The MKO, as the State Department reviews their status, has argued that it has renounced violence and claims to be working for democracy in Iran. It has also launched an extensive campaign to push for its reclassification.
According to Tehran-based political analyst Nejat Bahrami, the delisting of the MKO would make average Iranians frustrated with the United States.
"The messages [President Barack] Obama has sent to the Iranian people on several occasions, including for Nouruz, have been very encouraging," he says. "But I think [the delisting of the MKO] would neutralize those positive statements. And it might lead to frustration with U.S. policies and even hatred."
Current Regime 'Preferable' To MKO
"Newsweek" correspondent Maziar Bahari, who was jailed in Iran amid the unrest that followed the country's contentious 2009 presidential election, believes the move could have damaging implications.
"Despite the historical mistakes the U.S. government committed -- from the 1959 coup d'etat to its full support for the shah's regime -- many Iranians still believe the U.S. can be their potential ally in their fight for freedom," Bahari says. "The delisting of the MKO would send the wrong signal to those young Iranians who have been pushing for democracy peacefully in the past 2 1/2 years."
The thought of MKO members portraying themselves as united oppositionists does not sit will with Green Movement members.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one Green Movement member in Iran claims that if he had to choose between the current leaders in Iran and the MKO -- which is led by Maryam Rajavi and Massoud Rajavi (who hasn't been seen or heard from in the past several years) -- he would definitely "keep" the current regime.
"I know they claim abroad they're part of the Green Movement [but] it's a big lie," he says. "We don't want to have anything to do with them."
Recognition Could Fuel More Repression
Analysts and opposition members believe delisting MKO would also play into the hands of the Iranian establishment, which has a well-documented history of silencing voices of dissent.
"The Iranian establishment could use this as yet another excuse to repress the opposition and critics and imply that they're all the same as the MKO," says opposition member Mazrouei.
A student activist in Iran who did not want to be named says several of his friends who were arrested following the protests over the reelection of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad faced accusations over alleged ties with the MKO.
He maintains that the tactic was used by the Iranian government to intimidate the activists who he says were neither members nor supporters of the group.
Bahrami says the removal of the MKO from the U.S. blacklist would give an even freer hand to the establishment to bring more of these accusations against critics and opposition members.
The Iranian government sees the MKO as one of its worst enemies. Thousands of MKO members and sympathizers were executed in Iran in the 1980s.
Yet Bahrami believes the Iranian government might actually benefit from the possible delisting of the MKO, because the move could feed Tehran's propaganda machine and give it more ammunition to attack U.S. policies.
"If the delisting takes place, Tehran would say U.S. policies are contradictory," he says. "At a time when the U.S. claims it fights terrorism, the Islamic republic can refer to MKO's past actions and challenge the U.S."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected in the coming weeks to make a final decision about whether to keep the MKO on the terror list or remove it
... Persian Letters: Why do you think the MKO wants to keep people in Camp Ashraf? Why don't they let those who don't want to be there go? Shadvari: It's obvious. If people [leave Ashraf], the organization will fall apart, there won't be any Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization anymore. Persian Letters: Are you married? Shadvari: No. I was 15 when I joined the organization. Now I'm 40. Persian Letters: Why didn't you get married? Was it your choice? Shadvari: Getting married is banned in Camp Ashraf. Not only getting married, but talking to women is banned ...
Iraq's Defense Ministry has announced that several residents of Camp Ashraf have fled the camp and appealed to Iraqi military forces for help.
Camp Ashraf, which is located some 60 kilometers from Baghdad and 100 kilometers from the border with Iran, is home to some 3,500 members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, aka People's Mujahedin of Iran). Iran has banned the group, and like the United States, considers it a terrorist organization. Iraq has said the camp must go.
Last week, 34 camp residents were killed during a raid by Iraqi forces under circumstances that are not clear.
The MKO says camp residents were killed by Iraqi forces. The Iraqi government, however, says it believes about 30 people were shot dead by guards at the camp.
Amnesty International has said that video clips of the April 8 clashes that the MKO has uploaded to YouTube appear to show Iraqi soldiers indiscriminately firing into the crowds and using vehicles to try and run others down.
Iraq's Defense Ministry said that three MKO leaders were among the camp residents who escaped.
On April 19, Defense Ministry spokesman Muhammad al-Askari reportedly told a press conference in Baghdad that "three leaders of the People's Mujahedin of Iran managed to escape Camp Ashraf." He named them as "senior leader Maryam Sinjari, leader Abdul Latif Shardouri [Abdollatif Shadvari], and leader Ibrat Kikhai."
I interviewed Shadvari last week. He told me he escaped from Camp Ashraf two months ago and turned himself in to Iraqi forces. He also said some of the other residents of the camp were being held there against their will.
Former MKO members have described the group as a cult that promotes celibacy and martyrdom, takes away members' children, and uses psychological methods to pressure members and force them to remain obedient and follow orders.
The MKO has rejected the claims and accuses former members of being tools of Tehran.
Shadvari, who spoke to me from Baghdad where he said he's staying at a hotel, said he joined the MKO when he was 15 years old. Here's some of our conversation:
Persian Letters: Can you tell me something about yourself and describe how you came to join the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization?
Abdollatif Shadvari: My name is Abdollatif Shadvari, I'm from Baluchistan. I've been with this organization for 25 years. I joined the MKO from Pakistan and through a friend who has been martyred.
I haven't had any contact with my family during the [past] 25 years because there was no possibility of contacting them. My family thought I was dead. Using the telephone, mobile phone, Internet, and even listening to radio is forbidden in the organization.
During these 25 years I was under a lot of pressure and I decided to hand myself over to Iraqi forces. I did that two months ago and now I'm at a hotel. I've been in touch with the Red Cross and also with the Iraqi government. I hope to go to another country.
Persian Letters: Do you know which country you might go to? What will be your situation once you get there?
Shadvari: I'm supposed to discuss it with the Red Cross and the United Nations. The issue is, as [MKO leader Massoud] Rajavi has said many times, whoever wants to escape from Ashraf will be punished with death and execution. Not only me, but many of my friends who are now in Ashraf don't have the possibility to leave the camp. Escape is the only way.
Escaping from there requires two or three months of preparation. I thought a lot about it and planned it so I could finally escape. [MKO leaders] always tell us: "You can't enter any [other] country. Ashraf is the only place you have."
Persian Letters: Are you saying that some people are held in Ashraf against their will? They're forced to stay there?
Shadvari: Yes, many are under pressure. They're worried about their future; they don't know what will be with them. I call on the Red Cross and international organizations to talk with each of the camp residents individually. This issue must be solved and the bloodshed must be stopped.
Persian Letters: Why do you think the MKO wants to keep people in Camp Ashraf? Why don't they let those who don't want to be there go?
Shadvari: It's obvious. If people [leave Ashraf], the organization will fall apart, there won't be any Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization anymore.
Persian Letters: Are you married?
Shadvari: No. I was 15 when I joined the organization. Now I'm 40.
Persian Letters: Why didn't you get married? Was it your choice?
Shadvari: Getting married is banned in Camp Ashraf. Not only getting married, but talking to women is banned.
Ex- Mojahedin Khalq (MKO, MEK, NCRI, Rajavi cult) members recount ordeal in Iraq
(+ Text of declarations)
.
... The spokesperson of the Iraqi defense ministry, General Mohammed al-Askari, said in a Tuesday press conference in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad that the three former MKO members escaped from Camp Ashraf, the terrorist group's headquarters in Iraq, and surrendered to the Iraqi security forces, a Press TV correspondent reported. The official said that the defected members have provided the Iraqi government with the evidence required to shut down the camp according to the international laws. The former members of the terrorist group say the residents of Camp Ashraf are completely cut off from the outside world, and are tortured and traumatized, but are also afraid to escape ...
Three defected members of the terrorist group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) have given an account of their ordeal during their stay at Camp Ashraf in Iraq.
The spokesperson of the Iraqi defense ministry, General Mohammed al-Askari, said in a Tuesday press conference in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad that the three former MKO members escaped from Camp Ashraf, the terrorist group's headquarters in Iraq, and surrendered to the Iraqi security forces, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The official said that the defected members have provided the Iraqi government with the evidence required to shut down the camp according to the international laws.
The former members of the terrorist group say the residents of Camp Ashraf are completely cut off from the outside world, and are tortured and traumatized, but are also afraid to escape.
Having lived in misery and under pressure for many years, Maryam Sanjabi, one of the MKO deserters, surrendered herself to the Iraqi forces deployed near the camp last week.
“None of the residents of Camp Ashraf have the right to contact their families... The only thing that can separate a member from the MKO is death,” she said.
“The leaders of the camp have spent millions of dollars to train the residents of the camp how to launch attacks and even encounter the Iraqi security forces,” Sanjabi added.
Another former MKO member, Abdullatif Shadvari, who escaped from the camp two months ago, earlier said, “The punishment of those who try to escape from Camp Ashraf… is execution.”
On April 8, 34 people were reportedly killed in clashes between Iraqi security forces and MKO members residing in Camp Ashraf in Diyala province.
Iraqi forces say there is evidence that the people have been killed by the organization itself.
On April 11, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the cabinet is determined to shut down the camp.
The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraqi executed dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up Camp Ashraf in the eastern province of Diyala near the Iranian border.
More than 3,000 MKO members are residing at the camp. In addition, the MKO sends elements to Iran on spy and terrorist missions.
The organization is also known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.
Following the overthrow of Saddam in 2003, the Iraqi government has set numerous deadlines for the terrorist group to leave the country but MKO has managed to maintain its base due to US backing.
The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community, and is responsible for numerous terrorist acts against both Iranians and Iraqis.
Iran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, but the US has been blocking its expulsion by pressuring the Iraqi government against such a move.
-
Declarations of three recently defected members of the MKO
Ms. Maryam Sanjabi, a member of the leadership council of the MKO and also a member of the NCR, along with Mr. Barat Kaykhaee and Mr. Latif Shardari, both veteran members of the MKO, are amongst many individuals who recently managed to escape Ashraf garrison in Iraq and leave the Rajavi cult and surrender to the Iraqi police.
After recent incidents and the clashes between the Iraqi police forces and a limited number of people inside the Ashraf garrison, these three former members participated on their own request in a press conference with the presence of reporters, photographers, TV channels and also political and legal personalities and the representatives of international and human rights organizations, and briefly described their own experiences inside the cultic garrison of Ashraf.
This conference was held on Tuesday 19th April 2011 by the Iraq government in the green zone of Baghdad and lasted for two hours. Some documents and materials prepared by the Sahar Family Foundation were distributed amongst the participants.
The texts of the declarations made by these three former members are as follows:
Speech delivered by Ms. Maryam Sanjabi in the Press conference held in Baghdad on Tuesday 19th April 2011
My name is Maryam Sanjabi. I was a member of the leadership council of the MKO and also a member of the NCR before I left Ashraf, and I hereby announce that I have abandoned both entities.
My decision to leave the MKO has been made based on my bitter experience of 20 years with the organization and realizing its cultic ideology. This was not an easy job to do at all. According to cultic regulations, no one can leave the organization and that is why I had to escape covertly and reach the Iraqi forces and ask them to help me to leave Ashraf.
More than 20 years of bitter experience in the Ashraf garrison and witnessing how the members are mind captives of Massoud Rajavi's dictatorship and how they lose everything, made me feel responsible to leave the organization and try to let everyone know what is going on there.
One guru is holding the leadership of this cult for more than 30 years, and I should say that he does not believe in anyone and anything but himself. After 30 years he is becoming more and more a totalitarian leader and forces the members to obey him using sophisticated psychological tools.
I try to explain briefly:
I was denied of my most basic humanitarian rights so was everyone else.
The leaders do talk about freedom and human rights and claim for democracy, but I saw some deniable facts against all these that I wish to share some of them with you.
It is nearly 25 years that the inhabitants of the Ashraf garrison are deprived of their most basic human rights which are recognized in all countries by all organizations round the world. Despite the massive propaganda made by the MKO for freedom and freedom loving, and despite their claims for justice and human rights which they misuse in the international relations, the organization is keeping the members under mind exploitation and deprives them of their known rights.
None of the members are allowed to contact their families freely and they are not allowed to visit them. Between 2004 and 2006 some members of families managed to come to Ashraf and visit their relatives. The MKO allowed that in order to misuse them for its own purposes. They intended to recruit the youth some even less than 18 years old. Other interests were followed in this regards such as gaining money, gaining information, persuading them to create unrest inside Iran and absorb new recruits and so on. The visits were totally controlled and monitored under the supervision of a superior, and after the families left, the relatives inside the organization were kept in isolation for some time and they were asked to write a report about the family and how he or she feels about them. They were under pressure to express their disgust towards the families. The members were not allowed to spend the night with their families and especial meetings were arranged for them which I refer to later.
In the age of IT, none of the members in Ashraf garrison have the right to use telephone, mobile or internet. Not only have they no access to these, if they try to do so, they have committed an offence. Of course some have access to internet which is totally controlled and they should use it with the presence of someone else. They use internet for the organizations propaganda purposes. The members cannot contact their families. There are individuals in Ashraf that they have no trace of their families for more than 20 years.
Even the critically ill people cannot contact their families before they die. Only after their death the families are informed about their loss just to give them a deadly shock.
People have no right to have a family inside the cult and family relationship is forbidden. The excuse is that when you choose to struggle you should abandon the normal life and you should be devoted to your cause and your leader. I must explain here that during the past 20 years that the internal ideological revolution was imposed upon the organization, having a family was denied, the members were continuously subject to enormous pressure and mind manipulation and over 90% of their and the officials’ time was used up to attend meetings in this regards. The members had to be convinced continuously that they are doing the right job and their ideology is superior to every other ideology in the world and in the history. But reversely after the ideological revolution was introduced to the organization, the number of members deteriorated day by day and they had to impose more dictatorial ruled over the members. It is worth mentioning that internally in the leadership council they used to say that men never accepted the ideological revolution and women’s domination; and this was a major problem the cult was facing with and had no way out of it.
If you refer to the statistics, 3400 individuals out of 80 million population of Iran are in Ashraf garrison and I know that more than one third of them came to Ashraf by mistake or being deceived without knowing anything about the MKO which has another story.
After 30 years, one person is still ruling the organization and is leading the members without consulting any of them on any issue and continuously claims that he knows better than everyone else and he never makes any mistake.
The members of this organization have no right to have access to free world and to the media. They have no access to television, radio, papers and apart from the MKO's satellite television every other media is banned. To try to have access to these is an offence and the person would be prosecuted. Having a radio or tape recorder or even listening to non-organizational music is an offence and anybody trying to do so would be held in custody.
Misleading in the organization is such that sometimes some international organizations used to visit the Ashraf garrison. In that particular day exceptionally they used to put satellite televisions on in the gathering rooms showing canals such as the CNN and Al-Jazeera temporarily to pretend that the people in Ashraf have access to all TV canals. They used to put everything back to where they were as soon as the visiting delegations left.
The inhabitants of Ashraf garrison had even no access to internal telephone and could not contact one another. Everyone is under tight control. One is not allowed to go anywhere, even the sickbay, without the permission of the commander. One must have permission letter signed by the commander of the unit to go from one part to another. This situation is applied to women more severely since they have to do everything in pairs. Passing or doing anything alone is forbidden.
Up to 70 to 80 percent of the members cannot use a car. If they want to go to another place they must use public vehicles confirmed by the commander.
There is a great discrimination to use the food and hygiene and medicine for men and women in Ashraf. Women commanders who continuously talk about freedom and justice have far better privileges than others. Women commanders who are members of the leadership council enjoy the best welfare facilities while the men are deprived of the most essential necessities.
There is no freedom of even thinking, no right to choose a friend, to right to have a chat with co-workers, no right to see the relatives and the members of the family inside the garrison even brother or sister, no right to choose to participate in a particular ceremony or not, no right to use any spare time for anything, all these are forbidden and considered as offences. These are the most essential rights of an individual everywhere in the world that are violated in the organization as they did in the medieval. They have worked on everybody’s mind so smartly that everyone considers all these rights as sins.
There are meetings of 100 or even 1000 people. In these meetings they force everyone to expose their most private acts and thoughts and be ready to be told off by everyone else. The participants start swearing and calling all names. These meetings are practically a sort of psychological and mental torture imposed on the participants one by one. There are many cases that the meetings go on as long as 10 to 15 hours or even days for only one person. This is done to break the subject’s personality and individuality and force him or her to confess to even false accusations. Then the person should be punished for it. This had become a normal daily practice inside the MKO and meetings are held every day.
Inside the organization, according to the cult’s ideology it is said that no member has any identity of his or her own and everyone’s wealth and life and spouse and offspring and family belongs to the leader. It is said that in particular the lives and breathes of every member belongs to the leadership which the life is for Massoud and the breath (mind and thoughts) is for Maryam. This is the base of the MKO’s ideology.
This means that no one can take any decision on anything and has no will power at all.
The situation is so harsh that they say the members must be kept so busy all the time that they would never have time for thinking and they must be so tired that when they go to bed they fall asleep so soon that they have no time to think about anything. That is why the working hours in Ashraf is from 5:30 in the morning till 11 at night which puts everyone under enormous mental and physical pressure, particularly when approximately two third of the members are over 40 or 50 years old.
There are many undeniable facts about the Rajavi cult which there is no just explanation for it and these are just a tiny part about the cultic and complicated internal relations of the MKO.
Since I became a member of the leadership council, they told me that I cannot leave the organization under any circumstances, and if I do so the penalty would be death and I must kill myself taking cyanide piles. I wish to ask: is there anywhere in the world that a president or a minister or a security official is not allowed to resign? If there is no such case then why the MKO considers this as betraying the organization and the penalty is death. The MKO gives a death sentence to all its opponents. To escape from the organization and to leave Ashraf and even for the families to come to Ashraf and seek for their loved ones is a crime and the person doing so must face death. This has been emphasized by Rajavi on many occasions. (So if anything happens to me or my friends, the MKO is directly responsible).
At this moment there are many members of the leadership council inside Ashraf garrison who do not wish to stay and the leaders do no let them go and they are practically detained in there. There are many who do not agree with the MKO but they are afraid to express their opinions. I personally know some of them who do not wish to risk their lives and they do not dare to oppose Rajavi and his cult.
I wish to add that this problem is not for the leadership council only. Inside the Ashraf garrison, no one is allowed to express opinion and no one is allowed to leave the place.
This is a big lie fabricated by the MKO that everyone is free to leave the Ashraf garrison. Those who managed to escape from Ashraf can bear witness to this real fact.
Unfortunately Massoud Rajavi thinks that he can materialize his childish dreams by using the lives of the people and to act as a totalitarian leader in the 21st century.
What has made me to come and try to talk to you and express my stances and my points of view is that I have deep sympathy for those victims who lost their lives in the recent events and those who are still captive, both physically and mentally, inside the garrison and are forced to obey the leader.
The lives of the people worth more than anything else in this world and no one can decide about other people’s lives and destiny, and no one can force others to take part in something that they might lose their lives. Inside the cult it is clearly announced that the only thing that matters is the leadership and others should only scarify themselves for him.
The MKO as a cult has always clearly interfered in Iraq’s internal affairs. Namely they have established particular committees to fulfill their aims and many members are active in them.
These committees which are named such as Iraq relations or social committees have the Iraqi internal affairs in their agenda. They try to mobilize unrests inside the country by using huge amounts of money and making a lot of propaganda against the Iraqi government. They spent millions of dollars on satellite canals for these purposes which my friends would explain.
I wish to urge all international organizations to give help to free the captive members inside the MKO. You as the international bodies and human rights organizations do have the right and you are obliged to visit the inhabitants of the Ashraf garrison one by one and inform them about their rights and about the outside world. You must open the way of these people to the outside world and this is your right and your duty to force the organization to open the doors of Ahsraf and let everyone choose individually.
Each person inside the garrison must be interviewed independently without the presence of the commanders and they must be accepted by the western countries as individuals.
You are the international organizations who claim to know the most basic rights of the people of the world. Then why you let the MKO as a destructive cult keep its members captive for nearly 25 years inside its physical and mental boundaries in Ashraf.
And so far no one in the garrison has been allowed to have any contact with the outside world and none of you have managed to see any of them and even give them a letter from their families or a mobile phone or a transistor radio.
Speech delivered by Mr. Barat Kaykhaee in the Press conference held in Baghdad on Tuesday 19th April 2011
I, Barat Kaykhaee left the Ashraf Garrison on my own will and secretly to free myself from the Rajavi cult. I was a member of this cultic organization, but because of Rajavi’s autocratic and wrong decisions and absence of basic liberties and human rights for the members, I decided to leave.
I had for several times expressed my protest to the organization’s policies, especially towards the Iraqi government as much as possible. However, not only does the organization not tolerate the ideas of the members and even those of the MKO officials, but also the members should pay a heavy price for expressing their views. Therefore, I decided to escape from the organization and after passing through several barricades and bulwarks which they have placed in order to prevent the members to flee, and after traveling a long distance, I surrendered myself to Iraqi forces.
I should say to all the members who have trouble with the organization that they can do the same thing and save themselves from the captivity, despite the MKO’s threat that all of those who quit and their families will be killed.
I would also like to express my deepest sympathy with the victims of the recent incidents and their families. They were our dear friends who became victims of the stubborn and wrong policies of Rajavi, who still thinks he can stay in Iraq.
Regarding the recent incident which resulted in the victimization of some of our friends, I should say that the MKO leaders had prepared themselves to clash with the Iraqi government since two years ago. They had also provided trainings on how to clash with Iraqi forces, in case they invaded the garrison. They had also provided some equipment. Unfortunately, contrary to Maryam Rajavi’s claims and her urge for combat, none of the MKO high-ranking officials were present at those clashes and they just victimize the young members for their dictatorial policies.
Mrs. Rajavi herself is in Paris and Mr. Rajavi is not seen in any of these incidents. They even do not send a leadership member to the battleground. However, they get 20 to 30-years-old young men and women to be killed. The innocent people who engage in these clashes are just victimized for Masoud Rajavi’s hegemonic dreams and Maryam Rajavi’s freedom-seeking deceits.
Maryam Rajavi said “We will not mourn and what happened was all glory,” which means she prides herself for victimizing other people.
While it has been 8 years since the Iraqi government announced that the MKO should leave the country; and for several times issued peaceful solutions and insisted that she is serious and she does not want a military organization in her soil, why didn’t the MKO respect the laws of the country in which it resides?
I ask the MKO officials that while from the very beginning your goal was to fight with the US and then with the Islamic Republic, how come you firstly made friends with America? What happened that you forgot the so-called war and you are now fighting the Iraqis?
Now one-third of the forces in the Ashraf garrison are busy interfering in Iraq’s internal affairs in an attempt to manipulate Iraq’s social and political situation, so that the MKO can stay in Iraq like in the past and become able to keep its members captive in the garrison and not letting them have any contact with the outside world. You have deceived your members for 8 years, saying you will emerge victorious.
If the MKO claims that it respects international conventions and human rights, it should have respected the laws of the country in which it resides. Last year, some other members of the organization were also killed for the same reason. After the US forces left Iraq, the Iraqi government rightfully decided to build a police station on one of Ashraf’s streets. However, the MKO prevented the move through its resistance, warmongering and propaganda.
Their main worry was that the members get in contact with the Iraqi agents and subsequently with the free world. The MKO leadership did not want anybody to enter the camp’s area. Up until now, animosity is growing and I think the MKO officials won’t hesitate to get all the members killed and as she says they won’t “mourn” for that. During these years the members have always been told that they should have been killed when they were 12 or 13, the same age of the MKO’s first martyr.
Masoud Rajavi has for several times announced publicly that he wants war a hundred times more and if there is no war he will wage one. He has always said he won’t let us die in bed and that he is going to give us salvation. He is a person who knows no value for human life and thinks the only way to fight is to get people killed only to prove that he is the one who knows everything while he knows he is better than anybody else that he is the most desperate person. During these 30 years he has resorted to every pressure on the members to keep even this restricted number of people in the organization.
As far as I know, the Iraqi government has set a new deadline for the MKO to leave Iraq by the end of the current year. I call on all the residents of Ashraf to use the opportunity and save themselves from that evil organization before Rajavi again wants to victimize you to save the MKO officials.
The Iraqi government has openly announced that it does not want the MKO in its soil because the organization interferes in the country’s internal affairs, organizes uprisings and revolts from inside Ashraf, forms committees and spends millions of dollars to sponsor some Iraqi groups, spreads propaganda via its satellite network, etc. The Iraqi government is serious about its decision.
During these years, the MKO has put the interference in Iraq’s internal affairs on its agenda:
• From the first years of war, it started recruiting and training Iraqi agents in order to use them to help the organization stay in Iraq and pursue its objectives. • A special committee in Ashraf together with the main part of military FMs is allocated to work on Iraqi social groups: o It recruits Iraqi agents and pays them for supporting the MKO and acting against the Iraqi government. o It constantly contacts those agents via email and internet and uses them as its channels for staging rallies in different cities and villages. o About one third of the MKO members work in the FMs mainly to have contact with Iraqi agents, gain their support for the organization and obtain information from them o Everyday 500 PCs are used to contact with Iraqi agents • At the times of mobilizing forces and obtaining signatures, the MKO sent about 100,000 emails • The MKO convened • One of MKO’s demands from the Iraqi people and tribes was to stage protests and overthrow Nouri Maleki’s government. This was even announced publicly from the organizations TV satellite. • The organization held tribes summits in Baghdad and other provinces and the main agenda of the meetings was staging demonstrations in support of Ashraf to stabilize its position. • The MKO paid the Iraqi agents via its bank account and internet • The primary agenda of the meetings was opposing the government but the real agenda was staging a revolution in Iraq and instigating revolt in the country • The MKO have openly called for the ouster of Maleki • The MKO by spending a lot of money wanted the Iraqi agents to do a lot of things for it such as holding commemoration ceremonies for the MKO martyrs, staging demonstrations, holding exhibitions, etc. • At the time of elections in Iraq, the MKO spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to divert it from the normal path. They even designed posters for some Iraqi candidates • The MKO provided refuge for some Iraqis acting against the government • The MKO forged 5.2 million signatures under the name of Iraqi people • The MKO hires staffs and lawyers to work for their benefit in Iraq • The MKO held election campaign for some factions
By spending that money, the MKO could have obtained asylum for the members to solve their problems Masoud Rajavi and the other MKO leaders want to stubbornly keep Ashraf in Iraq without observing the country’s laws and keep people captive in the camp without any access to the outside world.
Hereby, I submit my request to you and other international human rights organizations to save the MKO members from the current horrible situation and not let them fall victim to Masoud Rajavi’s hegemonic dreams.
Speech delivered by M Latif Shardari in the Press conference held in Baghdad on Tuesday 19th April 2011
I am Abdol-latif Shardari and I have been in Rajavi’s group for 25 years and have undertaken various responsibilities in different types of life. As I confirm my colleague’s words, try to give up this MKO organization and having passed through shaped and obstacle routes and passing by the guard posts employed to be an obstacle fencing Iraqi armed forces in Camp Ashraf. I could reach Iraqi troops to exit Camp Ashraf.
The most important issue made me give this organization up is that whatever is being broadcast through media boards of MKO is different from inside the real. As the least of human rights is not respected them. Moreover we are regarded as prison of war in this camp so that the most basic rights are not respected as well.
To me as real is that I think during 8 years ago not only the fake , fiction , unreal & dictatorial MKO leadership that out of any logical factor & incomparable to the new procedures of modern world but also International Community is faulty especially in letting & making Camp Ashraf be still up in Iraq .
No opportunity to have free & private word has been made for no one for 8 years & never has been given a hand to be able to have a way but to be kept at the camp & be murdered.
The issue I want to talk about is MKOs paradox & controversial points in its positions & decisions.
As you know Maryam & Masud Rajavi apparently withdrew from their positions in armed struggle to deceive the International Community after US– Iraq war & Maryam Rajavi announced that believes in third way as solution that it is to hold free &fair election in Iran …… some other slogans Although she announced that in domestic organization strategy & speeches both Maryam & Masud believe in armed combat against Iran. And furthermore they wanted to raise this belief among the other members of MKO. Some day at the end we will get back our weapons from Iraqi government & start up the armed combat again.
The most basic belief in the organization was (& still are used) to carry out suicide & armed combat operation & however in International Community & accompanied by lawyers. Maryam Rajavi continuously accused other Islamic groups as Fundamentalists.
MKO chart is unique as one the most fundamentals by itself, including the belief in 21 century:
1- To carry out armed battle & human massacres. 2- To implement mind & physical restrictions & enslave the members. 3- To hold compulsory & training meetings in the field of ideology & sectarianism believes. So that all members must respect & worship one appointed leader & have got no right criticize him. 4- To make Maryam & Masud Rajavi the most glorious & incredible minded persons & to separate them from other members of group so that it is said that concerning political & Masud personal views , each members of MKO can only comprehend 2.5 % of whatever is being discussed by him .So we came up with a long distance to closely comprehend his thoughts & ideas . 5- To have no right to criticize or object leaderships way of management. His policy, route map & plan decided on behalf of the organization. 6- To spread this belief that all members in organization should sacrifice their lives far the leadership & whatever they own as : wealth , lifes, spouse , child , family & even their thought belongs to leadership & nobody has no identity by his own & all members receive their personality from the leadership . To discuss over these vital matters may take times & is catastrophic & so confusing that it cannot be included in this explanation & I just wanted to have a small word about it.
I should remind that as this cult (organization) constantly believe in armed combat, one of the MKOs duties is to interfere in Iraq's affairs & hampering Iraq's Government .For achieving its goal & aims, the MKO Leader (Masoud Rajavi) declares to all MKO members to resist militarily against Iraqis, so the result is that we will win & can stay at Camp Ashraf & in IRAQ at the end.
MKO not only did not pay any attention to the Iraqis warning & ultimatum, but also MKO Leader prepared & reorganized the members for war against Iraq's government at Camp Ashraf. Masoud Rajavi orders for readiness for war as follows:
1- To prepare to attack Iraqi forces by bats, clubs, truncheon, stones & stone – thrower machine (made in Camp Ashraf). 2- To prepare & produce tools to defend themselves. 3- To made plan to disarm Iraqi forces, confiscating their vehicles & even capturing Iraqi polices (if they try to enter Camp Ashraf). Masoud asked us we should not withdraw & given up any cm of Camp Ashraf soil to Iraqis. We must resist & not allow the Iraqis to enter Camp; they want to deploy their troops & established facilities here. Masouds strategy was (and is) to stimulates Iraqi forces to shot MKOs members. 4- To instruct & train MKOs members (for 2 years & beyond the trenches & embankments at Camp Ashraf) how they can taking hostage, disarming & attacking Iraqi forces.
Despite the fact that for more than 8 years Iraqi Government repeatedly warns & informs that MKO must leave the IRAQs soil as soon as possible, MKOs leader & its council while rejecting this request, do not leave the country in declared deadline. MKOs leader & its council not only didn’t pay any attention & obey the IRAQs rules & obligations, but also they hampering the Iraq government's activities by means of:
I. Masoud & Maryam Rajavi announced all members of MKO should try: 1) collapsing Iraq's government. 2) Taking part in rally against the Iraq government. 3) staging protest as well. II. Spending enormous amount of money for doing such strategy .( No : I ) III. Protest against Iraq's ruling government. IV. Recruiting from local Iraqis aiming at fulfillment of MKOs (Masoud) strategy in Iraq & to change the destiny of Iraq's Government. V. Employing, enrolling & hiring local Iraqi people & get them into military training at Camp Ashraf. MKO force these people to taking part in ideological class held at Camp. Shortly after that these guys were ordered to gather information for MKO. They serve as MKOs spies indeed. One of their jobs was (and still is) to publicize in favor of the MKO. These facts are just a few (but not all) about the realities upon MKO function in Iraq.
I am so sorry about my innocent friends who victimize themselves for their wrong insistence .So I, from here, request & ask all International Agencies , Communities & Organs (involved in humanitarian affairs , human rights, etc) as your humanitarians , conscientiously , religiously , or even as your natural duties, help us to find a solution for Camp Ashraf Case & ask you to end & stop this painful situation for Camp Ashraf residents via peaceful means .
Again I ask you: A. To pave the way for private meeting & interviewing all members of MKO at Camp Ashraf freely. B. To facilitate for all MKO members to go to any country they like, or to ask asylum to wherever they are going to live there. C. To announce & inform to all MKO members at Camp Ashraf the IRAQ Governments firmness to shut down the Camp Ashraf as soon as possible & in the declared deadline . D. To help the Camp Ashraf residents to get out from this prison one by one.
... “I worked with the organization for 25 years… during these years I could not contact my family… using the phone, cell-phone, Internet, other mass media and even listening to the radio is forbidden in the organization,” Abdullatif Shadvari, a former MKO members said. Shadvari escaped Camp Ashraf two month ago and surrendered himself to Iraqi forces. “The punishment of those who try to escape from Camp Ashraf… is death and execution,” Shadvari explained. Shadvari added that the only way of exiting Camp Ashraf is through escaping, “and escaping requires three or four months of preparation… if you are arrested ...
Iraqi forces stand guard outside Camp Ashraf in Iraq.Reports coming out of Camp Ashraf point to the inhumane treatment of residents by the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), which has recently engaged in an exchange of fire with Iraqi security forces.
“I worked with the organization for 25 years… during these years I could not contact my family… using the phone, cell-phone, Internet, other mass media and even listening to the radio is forbidden in the organization,” Abdullatif Shadvari, a former MKO members said.
Shadvari escaped Camp Ashraf two month ago and surrendered himself to Iraqi forces.
“The punishment of those who try to escape from Camp Ashraf… is death and execution,” Shadvari explained.
Shadvari added that the only way of exiting Camp Ashraf is through escaping, “and escaping requires three or four months of preparation… if you are arrested while escaping they will put you in a room for three or four years, and will not hand you to Iraqi forces.”
He said many of his friends at the camp suffer from similar problems and “during the past eight-nine years no international organization has talked with members individually to perhaps help them out of this situation.”
Shadvari believes many residents of Camp Ashraf, who are under immense pressure, want to escape but are afraid and unsure of the future.
In response to a question about why the MKO keeps residents imprisoned, Shadvari explained that if people exit the camp the organization would fall apart.
The former MKO member also said that marriage is forbidden at Camp Ashraf, and male residents are not even allowed to speak to women.
On April 8, 34 people were reportedly killed in clashes between Iraqi security forces and MKO members residing in Camp Ashraf in Diyala Province.
Iraqi forces claim that according to evidence, these people have been killed by the organization itself.
On April 11, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the cabinet is determined to shut down Camp Ashraf.
The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Saddam Hussein, and set up Camp Ashraf in Diyala near the Iranian border.
More than 3,000 MKO members are residing at Camp Ashraf. In addition to cooperating with US soldiers in Iraq, the MKO sends elements to Iran on spy and terrorist missions.
The organization is also known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.
The MKO has carried out numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.
Iran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, but the US has been blocking the expulsion by pressuring the Iraqi government.
(Saddam used Rajavi in the massacar of Iraqi Kurds)
... One young woman in a white ‘Chanel’ headscarf weeps for her lost father. He has been, she explains, in Camp Ashraf for23 years. He was captured as a POW in Iraq 25 years ago and after two years was among those transferred to the MEK camp where he has been ever since. She hasn’t seen him for 25 years. She wants him to come home with her, and, she says, she will not leave until she can take him out of the camp. Still the families wait and call out to their long-lost relatives in the hope of reaching them. Although the gates of Camp Ashraf are now open, there is still no access to the people held hostage inside. The MEK have simply withdrawn into a smaller circle ...
Since February 2010, the families of Mojahedin-e Khalq members inside Camp Ashraf have been encamped at the front gate of the camp demanding to have news and visits with their long-lost relatives. From elderly parents to the children, grandchildren, sisters and brothers of MEK members, all are seeking information about their relatives. They call out from the front of the camp hoping their voices will be heard by the people inside. They stand on dirt embankments around the perimeter of the camp to call out to their relatives.
The Mojahedin response has been sadly predictable and in line with the cult nature of the group. From the outset they have refused all contact between the members in the camp with the outside world, not only with the families but also human rights agencies and other independent observers.
As the MEK leaders withdrew the rank and file into the centre of the camp so they would not be within sight or sound of the families, the families used loudspeakers to try to project their voices to reach their relatives.
They played music and even the sound of children’s laughter to penetrate the stultifying atmosphere inside Camp Ashraf. In response, the MEK brought its own loudspeakers to prevent the families’ voices reaching the inner parts of the camp. After a while excruciating parasite noise began to be broadcast from American supplied equipment, harmful to all who are exposed to it.
The families have no choice but to sit it out and wait and hope. Where at first the MEK were sent to the gate to shout insults and reject the families, they are no longer brought in view of the outside world. The MEK now are made to shout ‘Death to Khamenei’, ‘Death to the Dictator’ from inside the depths of the camp and their voices projected by loudspeaker to the outside of the camp where the families wait and weep for their lost ones.
One young woman in a white ‘Chanel’ headscarf weeps for her lost father. He has been, she explains, in Camp Ashraf for23 years. He was captured as a POW in Iraq 25 years ago and after two years was among those transferred to the MEK camp where he has been ever since. She hasn’t seen him for 25 years. She wants him to come home with her, and, she says, she will not leave until she can take him out of the camp.
Still the families wait and call out to their long-lost relatives in the hope of reaching them. Although the gates of Camp Ashraf are now open, there is still no access to the people held hostage inside. The MEK have simply withdrawn into a smaller circle, surrounding themselves with barbed wire, embankments and barriers. They have stationed trucks to hide their broadcasting equipment, and covered others with sacking to pretend they do not exist. But worst of all is that now, Massoud Rajavi’s special suppressive forces are patrolling the perimeter of the camp and aggressively engaging with and attacking the families, swearing at them, throwing stones and even catapulting metal missiles at the defenceless families. Several of them have been hit and hurt by these missiles.
The MEK’s backers in Europe and North America continue to raise false alarms and problems concerning the camp and to introduce false information in their various parliaments. In response, government officials have continued to put the record straight. The MEK are not protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The UNHCR has not granted them refugee status in Iraq. The camp continues to be monitored weekly by UNAMI with a separate American presence.
The Iraqi authorities are ensuring that the camp is safe and secure and that the MEK inside receive regular supplies of food, medicine and other essentials, while preventing non-essentials such as barbed wire and weapons being imported into the camp.
But what no one can explain, whether MEK backers or government officials, is why these families are not being helped and why the MEK continue to be allowed to hold 3500 people hostage inside the camp with no recourse to help or rescue. Why are the human rights abuses taking place inside Camp Ashraf not being investigated?
Wondering at those Americans who stand under the flag of Mojahedin Khalq (MKO, MEK, NCRI, Rajavi cult) only to LOBBY for the murderers of their servicemen
.
... Massoud Rajavi was on the stage and while he had his hands on his waist he began a war cry against the USA, and in his admiration for Osama Ben Laden and his organization, Al Qaeda, he said, ”This was fanatical Islam which trembled and shacked the basis of US Imperialism and they destroyed the twin towers which were the symbol of their power, and successfully reduced it to rubble through their successful mission”. Then he (Massoud Rajavi) with a smile on his face continued his war cry and said, ”What will happen to the USA if revolutionary Islam with our Ideology and Maryam’s leadership comes to power, then this paper tiger (the USA) will be destroyed as a whole.” ...
This documentary takes us beneath the surface of acts of terror against Iran and shows how Iranians have been targeted by various terrorist groups, some of which enjoying the support of human right organizations.
Did Giuliani And Co. Provide ‘Material Support’ To Terrorist Group?
(Mojahedin Khalq, MKO, MEK, NCRI, Rajavi cult)
.
... The group’s hatred of the Islamic Republic led it to ally with Saddam Hussein, and it fought on the Iraqi side of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Following the Gulf War, “the group reportedly assisted in the Iraqi Republican Guard’s bloody crackdown on Iraqi Shia and Kurds who rose up against Saddam Hussein’s regime; press reports cite MEK leader Maryam Rajavi encouraging MEK members to ‘take the Kurds under your tanks,’” according to the State Department. The group’s alliance with Saddam made it widely despised among the Iranian community at large, as it remains to this day ...
The Washington Post reports that four prominent Republicans — former New York mayor Rudy Guiliani, former Bush administration homeland security adviser Fran Townsend, former homeland security secretary Tom Ridge, and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey — told “a forum of cheering Iranian exiles” in Paris “that President Obama’s policy toward Iran amounts to futile appeasement that will never persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear projects.”
The four “demanded that Obama instead take the controversial Mujaheddin-e Khalq (MEK) opposition group off the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations and incorporate it into efforts to overturn the mullah-led government in Tehran”:
“Appeasement of dictators leads to war, destruction and the loss of human lives,” Giuliani declared. “For your organization to be described as a terrorist organization is just really a disgrace.”
The four GOP figures appeared at a rally organized by the French Committee for a Democratic Iran, a pressure group formed to support MEK.
It should be obvious that describing Obama’s Iran policy — which includes a new set of both multilateral and unilateral sanctions — as “appeasement” indicates either a misunderstanding of the policy, or a misunderstanding of what constitutes “appeasement.” (Though, to be fair, conservatives tend to use “appeasement” loosely as a general term for “foreign policy I don’t like.”)
As for the MEK, after the GOP’s victory in November I predicted that we’d be seeing more efforts by pro-war conservatives to set the group up as an Iranian version of Ahmad Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress. Very much like the INC, the MEK has no genuine base of support in their own country — its real base is found among American neoconservatives.
Founded as a militant group with an ideology combining aspects of Islam and Marxism, the group is frequently described today as “cult-like,” built around a personality cult centered on leader Maryam Rajavi. [...]
The group’s hatred of the Islamic Republic led it to ally with Saddam Hussein, and it fought on the Iraqi side of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Following the Gulf War, “the group reportedly assisted in the Iraqi Republican Guard’s bloody crackdown on Iraqi Shia and Kurds who rose up against Saddam Hussein’s regime; press reports cite MEK leader Maryam Rajavi encouraging MEK members to ‘take the Kurds under your tanks,’” according to the State Department. The group’s alliance with Saddam made it widely despised among the Iranian community at large, as it remains to this day
Luban notes that the MEK’s “militant anti-Iranian stance has made it a favorite of hawks in Washington”:
The MEK’s neoconservative supporters continue to push for it to be taken off the State Department terror list, which it has been on since 1997. One of the many ironies about the MEK is that, for all the groundless allegations that hawks made about Saddam Hussein’s connections to terrorist groups during the runup to the Iraq war, the terrorist group with perhaps the closest links to Saddam was one that the hawks themselves supported.
Human Rights Watch also released a report in 2005 detailing the group’s record of subjecting dissident members to torture and solitary confinement.
Leaving aside the spectacle of prominent conservatives going abroad to criticize the administration’s foreign policy on behalf of an Iranian exile group largely despised by Iranians, there’s actually a real question here of whether Giuliani, Townsend, Ridge, and Mukasey have violated U.S. law in regard to “material support” for terrorism.
In a case that weighed free speech against national security, the court voted 6 to 3 to uphold a federal law banning “material support” to foreign terrorist organizations. That ban holds, the court said, even when the offerings are not money or weapons but things such as “expert advice or assistance” or “training” intended to instruct in international law or appeals to the United Nations.
Iranians hardly ever agree on anything. But there's at least one thing on that most Iranians share a common view, and that is their dislike of the Iranian opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO). 
