A new Group of Families of Nejat travel to camp Ashraf (Mojahedin Khalq, MKO, MEK, NCRI, Rajavi cult captives and their families want visiting rights)
A new Group of Families of Nejat travel to camp Ashraf
(Mojahedin Khalq, MKO, MEK, NCRI, Rajavi cult captives and their families want visiting rights)
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... Hopeful to visit their children in a free atmosphere without supervision of cults' leaders, all families have one common motto:"Free our children". It is worth to note that the presence of MKO members' families at Ashraf gates has become a motive for a lot of Ashraf residents to escape, according to two recently defected residents Mr. Einakian and Mr. BadanAra. They pointed out that families' maintenance near Ashraf has become a serious problem to the Camp Commandants. All members are talking about families despite their commandants warnings ...
A new group of families of Ashraf residents arrived at Ashraf gates to join the others who have been there since eight months ago. The group includes about thirty family members of Ashraf residents. They come from provinces of Markazi and Western Azarbayjan.
Most of these families who are members of Nejat Society have not seen their beloved ones-captured in Camp Ashraf for about twenty years. Hopeful to visit their children in a free atmosphere without supervision of cults' leaders, all families have one common motto:"Free our children".
It is worth to note that the presence of MKO members' families at Ashraf gates has become a motive for a lot of Ashraf residents to escape, according to two recently defected residents Mr. Einakian and Mr. BadanAra.
They pointed out that families' maintenance near Ashraf has become a serious problem to the Camp Commandants. All members are talking about families despite their commandants warnings", they said. "They gradually got to wonder why the organization fears their visit with families so much."
The families of Nejat expect MKO leaders to allow Ashraf residents to visit their families in a democratic atmosphere with no tension.
... The news of the families reaches the other family members of captives in Ashraf garrison. They now come from all over the world; from Lorestan to Norway, from Gilan to Canada. The facilities are very primitive but the drive of the families solves all the problems in a glance. We sincerely suggest that instead of watching the families with binoculars 24/7, and instead of taking pictures and films 24/7, try to understand what they are trying to say and why they have come here. Why don’t you try to convince them to join the cult with your loud speakers? You never know, it may work. Is this not a more sensible approach? ...
(Families go and look everywhere to find some signs)
Sahar Family Foundation, Baghdad, December 18, 2010 translated by Iran Interlink
The place of residence of the families outside the garrison camp Ashraf
The families are getting ready for the winter. It looks as if they know their waiting will be longer than expected. Rajavi is still dreaming that these families will get tired sooner or later and will leave. He has never been able, nor will ever be able to imagine the drive and determination, the feelings of a mother in this situation.
What are they staring at? What are they thinking about?
Could they glimpse their loved ones over the barbed wires? Only a glance from a distance to make sure they are still healthy? It has become the main task for the families now, staring into the garrison hoping to see their loved ones - a hope Rajavi is fiercely against.
Camp Ashraf under siege by Iraqi and Iranian forces!?
Iraqi solders dispersing the families from the barbed wires designed to keep Rajavi’s hostages inside. Families go and look everywhere to find some signs from their loved ones. They are as respectful to the Iraqi solders as they can be. They obey their orders.
Ms. Soraya Abdollahi
She has become the symbol of resistance of the Mothers. She came only to visit her son Amir Arsalan Hassanzadeh. That was her only wish. He is being held by the Rajavi cult only a few hundred meters from her. But now she sees all the captives inside camp Ashraf as her children. The drive of Ms. Abdollahi has attrcted the praise of all the families now.
The newly arrived
The news of the families reaches the other family members of captives in Ashraf garrison. They now come from all over the world; from Lorestan to Norway, from Gilan to Canada. The facilities are very primitive but the drive of the families solves all the problems in a glance.
The Mojahedin Khalq (Rajavi cult) viewing post
We sincerely suggest that instead of watching the families with binoculars 24/7, and instead of taking pictures and films 24/7, try to understand what they are trying to say and why they have come here. Why don’t you try to convince them to join the cult with your loud speakers? You never know, it may work. Is this not a more sensible approach?
Fighting the voices of families with parasite equipment
The huge loud speaker you see is only to broadcast parasite noise to drown out the voices of the families. The Rajavi cult claims that the words of the families are torturing the people inside the camp (read Rajavi himself). Obviously this huge loud speaker designed to broadcast parasite noise does not matter. If he is silencing the voices of the families because he does not like it, what would he have done with his opponents if he had the power?
Ex members have come to help families
Rescued from the Rajavi cult, they are now here to help their friends and the families. They know better than anyone what is happening inside camp Ashraf. That is why instead of going after their lives, they have come to help.
The Iraqi committee for support of the families is putting a tent up
The Iraqi committee for the support of the picketing families have put up a tent near the southern gates of the camp. The committee consists of some Iraqi human rights activists headed by Dr. Nafe. The families have benefited hugely from their support.
Establishing themselves around the camp
Families have been in front of the western gates of the camp for months. Now they are dispersing around the camp. Some have come to the southern gates and some have moved to the eastern gates. They are trying to reach the hostages by using their hand held loud speakers. They are trying to let them know that whichever direction they run away, they will face the open arms of their own families.
... After years of captivity, they are enjoying their freedom by taking a walk in the streets of Baghdad.Their faces are hardly recognisable compared with when they had just run away from the camp. Rajavi is saying that the camp is under siege by the Iraqi forces. If it was not for this ‘siege’, the Iraqi people would have brought the whole camp to dust and dirt. If it was not for this ‘siege’, the families would have ways to get to their loved ones. If it was not for this ‘siege’, the people inside he camp would have ways to get themselves free. Has any one seen or heard of a bigger liar than Rajavi? ...
Sahar Family Foundation, Baghdad, December 05, 2010 Translated by Iran Interlink Link to the original (Persian) http://www.saharngo.com/fa/story/1483
It is now many years that she has been both a mother and a father for her children.
Now that the children are grown up, she has come to the gates of Ashraf garrison to find out about the fate of her husband.
Mahrokh has come to talk with her husband about her years of hard work and misery, but she is now facing barbed wire, ditch and dike as well as the internal and external security and political barriers.
Her husband has been a hostage of the Rajavi cult for years. He is now imprisoned inside Camp Ashraf.
Is there anyone who would listen to this patient mother and a self-sacrificing wife?
Will her sitting and waiting one day bear fruit?
What is it that Rajavi is so afraid of?
What hindering effect could a 3 hour meeting make to the 30 year struggle of a man and of his cult?
What would happen if free air would be breathed by the members held captive inside the camp?
Mehrdad and Hojat,
They have managed to run away from the camp recently. They are now free.
After years of captivity, they are enjoying their freedom by taking a walk in the streets of Baghdad.
Their faces are hardly recognisable compared with when they had just run away from the camp.
It is as though they have been born again. They are fresh, they are alive once again.
Is there anyone who will take notice of the cries of the rest of the captives inside Camp Ashraf?
Mothers sitting at the gates of Ashraf camp as though they don’t feel the cold and the heat.
They have now passed the hot summer and are well on into the cold winter of the Iraqi deserts.
Does Rajavi know what they want and what has brought them here?
No. He only knows what he wants and is ready to sacrifice everything and anything for his childish fantasies.
One of the mothers said once: “I am not sure he himself knows what he wants”.
The gates of Camp Ashraf
The families have found a brief moment when the gates are opened to take goods in. They are rushing to the gate.
But soon they will find out that the path to their loved ones is more closed than they think.
Will a day come when they can take their loved ones in their arms?
The Iraqi forces in charge of the security of Camp Ashraf
Rajavi is saying that the camp is under siege by the Iraqi forces.
If it was not for this ‘siege’, the Iraqi people would have brought the whole camp to dust and dirt.
If it was not for this ‘siege’, the families would have ways to get to their loved ones.
If it was not for this ‘siege’, the people inside he camp would have ways to get themselves free.
Has any one seen or heard of a bigger liar than Rajavi?
After ten months of picketing in front of Ashraf garrison:
Is there anyone to help the families
whose loved ones have been taken hostage
by Washington backed Mojahedin Khalq
(aka; MKO, MEK, NCRI, Rajavi cult)
terrorists? (Part two)
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... They had now realised that the people kept inside the camp have no access to the outside world and have been cut off from the civilised world for decades. A lorry was stationed between the gates and the barracks. It carries a generator, carrying heavy loud speakers (to prevent the voices of the families from reaching the hostages), and a banner with the slogan ‘Mercenaries. Get lost!’ - which would be more suited to be directed at Rajavi himself as he sold his group to Saddam and has now put the victims for sale to the Israelis or whoever will pay for it ...
Sahar Family Foundation, Baghdad, November 27, 2010 Translated by Iran Interlink link to the original (Persian) http://www.saharngo.com/fa/story/1477
Rajavi cult's powerful speakers used to stop voices of families from reaching the hostages
Rajavi cult's powerful speakers used to stop voices of families from reaching the hostages
Families according to the pictures:
First there were a few families of the disaffected members of the Rajavi cult who found out about the whereabouts of their loved ones in Camp Ashraf, the Military HQ of the Rajavi cult in Iraq. They managed to get to the gates of the garrison. The only thing they wanted was a simple visit with their loved ones before they returned home. But ironically they witnessed verbal and physical abuse by the leaders and commanders of the Mojahedin Khalq running the camp.
The families were now even more worried about the fate of their loved ones inside the camp. They decided to stay there and insist on visiting the hostages. They came to the conclusion that if they persisted, someone would take responsibility, listen to their demand and solve this simple issue of the visiting rights of the victims.
As the days passed, the number of the families started to increase and their will became stronger. The reaction of the Rajavi cult leaders and the commanders of the Mojahedin Khalq made them more and more worried about what is happening inside the garrison and they started insisting even more to visit the hostages. They decided to widen their campaign and started to approach and ask international organisations for help.
After a while, the families decided to use hand held loud speakers in order to reach their children and let them know about their presence by the gates of Ashraf garrison. They had now realised that the people kept inside the camp have no access to the outside world and have been cut off from the civilised world for decades.
The following picture shows the response of the Rajavi cult leaders to the demand of the families. A lorry was stationed between the gates and the barracks. It carries a generator, carrying heavy loud speakers (to prevent the voices of the families from reaching the hostages), and a banner with the slogan ‘Mercenaries. Get lost!’ - which would be more suited to be directed at Rajavi himself as he sold his group to Saddam and has now put the victims for sale to the Israelis or whoever will pay for it.
Mothers have no other means except to pray and ask God for help. Neither the Iranian government nor the Iraqi government, nor the American forces, international organisations or anyone else can or want to do something about it. Why has this simple issue become so complicated? Who is behind the Mojahedin Khalq and whose interest is being protected by the Mojahedin Khalq terrorists? Whose hands are behind this support?
Here we have a picture of a mother who is praying outside the camp. The barbed wire is from inside and is meant to stop the hostages from running away (and not from outside to stop people going in). Is there any one hearing? Is there any one who can get the message of this tired mother who has been sitting here for the last 10 months near to her son only a few hundred meters away?
Families watch the passage of the days and nights only with the hope of visiting their loved ones. They have written to whoever they could think of. The Iranian government is saying it is an internal matter for Iraq and nothing to do with us. The Iraqi government say we are nobody in this matter and it is all in the hands of the Americans. The Americans say that the Red Cross, United Nations and international organisations are responsible. And they say wait and don’t put pressure on them as we fear Rajavi would order a mass suicide and mass self immolation and a humanitarian catastrophe will ensue. And Rajavi is sending the message that the families should either come inside Ashraf garrison and become a hostage like your children and be my slave or I will label you all as “mercenaries of the Iranian Intelligence ministry and therefore punishable by death”.
The following picture shows families waiting and writing letters to whoever they can think of.
Families try anything and everything. The following picture shows one of them using his creativity. He is writing the name of his loved one on a balloon trying to send it over Ashraf Camp in the hope of it being seen.
This picture shows another creative way. The family member has written the name of the loved one on a banner trying to hang it from the post, hoping the captive would see the banner.
This is another picture outside the camp. Families have sacrificed a sheep not forgetting the Eid. They are hoping this may be also helpful in the release of their children.
“My dear Father, this is your daughter, who is now big enough to come and ask to visit you. Everyone thought that you have been killed in the war. Thanks to God that your are alive and only a few hundred meters from me. Tell me where in the world political struggle is literally equal to abandoning all your feelings about your loved ones? It is now over 30 years that you have been cutting yourselves off from everyone and anyone. You have imprisoned yourselves here and you have cut yourselves off from the outside world. I don’t think a couple of hours of visit would damage your serous political struggle that much. Don’t you think so?”
The following picture is self explanatory. Who is willing to listen to this girl and her pain?
And the following picture is from Ms. Soraya Abdollahi. A mother who has been sitting here, in front of the gates of Ashraf garrison, for the past 10 months hoping to visit her son. She has now become the symbol of mothers resisting against the anti-family values of the Rajavi cult. She is one of the first people who managed to get themselves to the gates of Ashraf (after the fall of Saddam) and she had promised herself to be among the last ones leaving the place. She talks about the picketing families as her own family and she talks about the captives inside the camp Ashraf as her own children. She has fulfilled the place of Ms. Soltani, one of the founders of Sahar Family Foundation in Iraq.
After ten months of picketing in front of Ashraf garrison:
Is there anyone to help the families
whose loved ones have been taken hostage
(by Washington backed Mojahedin Khalq
aka; MKO, MEK, NCRI, Rajavi cult) terrorists?
.
... Don’t you think that as the political interests of some at this moment of time dictate, right now the interest of the invaders of the land of Iraq suggests that the west should support the terrorists in continuing their human rights abuse and using your children as gladiators and slaves in their terror campaign to serve their backers in the west? ... The leaders of the garrison have placed powerful loud speakers between the families and the inside of the camp. The speakers are facing towards the inside of the camp, clearly demonstrating that this action is intended to stop the voices of the families from reaching the hostages inside. It is interesting that while Rajavi is doing this, he is also claiming that Ahmad Razani (murdered in the camp a couple of days ago) has committed suicide under the pressure of the loudspeakers used by the families ...
Rajavi cult's powerful speakers used to stop voices of families from reaching the hostages
Sahar Family Foundation, Baghdad, November 20, 2010 Translated by Iran Interlink link to the original (Persian) http://www.saharngo.com/fa/story/1474
Families according to the pictures:
Never ending wait with the hope of visiting loved ones – the gates of Camp Ashraf base of the Rajavi cult in Iraq where over 3,000 people have been taken hostage by Massoud Rajavi the cult leader. He is openly threatening to massacre them (he calls it the Ashoura of the Mojahedin!!)
Ms. Soraya Abdollahi, the mother of one of the hostages who has been picketing in front of the gates of Ashraf Camp for the last 10 months, has announced that she will not leave until given access to her son. She is welcoming the arrival of new families. More elderly men and women and more children are arriving. Rajavi calls them the ‘special forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’. As if they are coming with their machine guns and missile launchers ready to attack the camp!
Will you never become tired? How long are you going to wait? Do you really believe that in this dirty international political world there is a place for such a thing as human rights? Don’t you think that as the political interests of some at this moment of time dictate, right now the interest of the invaders of the land of Iraq suggests that the west should support the terrorists in continuing their human rights abuse and using your children as gladiators and slaves in their terror campaign to serve their backers in the west?
Our children are kept only a few hundred metres from us. Could they not allow them to come nearer to the barbed wire so we can see them after all these years? As you can see in the picture the barbed wire is designed to keep people inside and not to run away (as a prison) and is not designed to protect the camp from intruders trying to get in. It is easy to see Camp Ashraf is a prison without visiting rights.
The distance between the families and their loved ones is filled with barbed wire, trenches, walls, surveillance posts, surveillance vehicles etc. Can the hand held loud speakers take our voices to our loved ones? Do they know that we are still sitting behind the wire? Do they have the same feeling as we do?
Families are planting new trees. A father is saying that he is hopeful that as this palm tree is growing here, Rajavi’s heart would soften enough to let our children free. How long is he intending to keep our children hostage?
The leaders of the garrison have placed powerful loud speakers between the families and the inside of the camp. The speakers are facing towards the inside of the camp, clearly demonstrating that this action is intended to stop the voices of the families from reaching the hostages inside. It is interesting that while Rajavi is doing this, he is also claiming that Ahmad Razani (murdered in the camp a couple of days ago) has committed suicide under the pressure of the loudspeakers used by the families. It is clear from the picture that the powerful loud speakers used by the cult (much more powerful than the ones used by the families) are facing toward the inside of the camp. The simple question is why Rajavi and his cult are so desperately frightened of the voices of the families and so afraid of their presence?
... A RAND study examined the evolution of this controversial decision, which has left the United States open to charges of hypocrisy in the war on terrorism. An examination of MeK activities establishes its cultic practices and its deceptive recruitment and public relations strategies. A series of coalition decisions served to facilitate the MeK leadership's control over its members. The government of Iraq wants to expel the group, but no country other than Iran will accept it. Thus, the RAND study concludes that the best course of action would be ...
At the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Coalition forces classified the Mujahedin-e Khalq, a militant organization from Iran with cult-like elements that advocates the overthrow of Iran's current government, as an enemy force.
The MeK had provided security services to Saddam Hussein from camps established in Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War to fight Iran in collaboration with Saddam's forces and resources. A new study from the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, looks at how coalition forces handled this group following the invasion.
Although the MeK is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States, coalition forces never had a clear mission on how to deal with it.
After a ceasefire was signed between Coalition forces and the MeK, the U.S. Secretary of Defense designated this group's members as civilian "protected persons" rather than combatant prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. The coalition's treatment of the MeK leaves it – and the United States in particular – open to charges of hypocrisy, offering security to a terrorist group rather than breaking it up.
Research suggests that most of the MeK rank-and-file are neither terrorists nor freedom fighters, but trapped and brainwashed people who would be willing to return to Iran if they were separated from the MeK leadership. Many members were lured to Iraq from other countries with false promises, only to have their passports confiscated by the MeK leadership, which uses physical abuse, imprisonment, and other methods to keep them from leaving.
Iraq wants to expel the group, but no country other than Iran will accept it. The RAND study suggests the best course of action would have been to repatriate MeK rank-and-file members back to Iran, where they have been granted amnesty since 2003. To date, Iran appears to have upheld its commitment to MeK members in Iran. The study also concludes better guidelines be established for the possible detention of members of designated terrorist organizations.
For more information, or to arrange an interview with the authors, contact Lisa Sodders in the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 393-0411, ext. 7139, or [email protected].
All kinds of interesting news has been coming out of the USA during the past couple of weeks. Not least the news of large scale organised American support for Mirhossein Mousavi the defeated Iranian presidential candidate. Notably Mr Mousavi served as the Islamic Republic’s Prime Minister in the early years of the Islamic Republic when the same Americans were calling him the henchman of Ayatollah Khomeini, etc.
It is widely believed that this support for Mirhosein Mousavi under the banner of a so-called “green revolution” has been part of a failed coup orchestrated by the regime change advocates who intended to bring a puppet Middle Eastern style “President” to rule Iran. If this had happened, President Obama would be able to make his next message to the Moslem World under the new Iranian flag rather than under the Egyptian flag alongside “President” Mobarak. But it did not happen and perhaps it could not happen taking into consideration obvious facts on the ground, which have been ignored by the USA for the last 30 years.
There are, of course, others who simply believe that the hugely expensive and costly support of the US Government for the “green revolution of the people of Iran” is down to the commitment of the US Government to bringing DEMOCRACY and HUMAN RIGHTS (yes I am talking about the US of A) to countries across the globe. Whichever way you may look at it, I am sure you would agree that the most hilarious, and at the same time, sad position has been that taken by American law makers who advocate support for the same terrorists who have killed American servicemen.
On the occasion of American Independence Day, let us remember the people who lost their lives for their country and wonder at those people who stand today under the same flag only to LOBBY for the murderers of their servicemen.
"… At a Capitol Hill press conference on June 26th, Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, declared the U.S. should explicitly side with Iranian "resistance groups", including the MEK, which he described as a "democratic, non-nuclear, secular group fighting for freedom for all the people in Iran." The U.S. State Department notes that the MEK "advocates the violent overthrow of the Iranian regime and was responsible for the assassination of several U.S. military personnel and civilians in the 1970’s," and that the group maintains "the capacity and will to commit terrorist acts in Europe, the Middle East, the United States, Canada, and beyond …" http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=6613
"… Lewis Lee Hawkins, the only son of Herman and Mary Webster Hawkins, was born in Chicago, Illinois on 8 August 1930. Herman and Mary would eventually move and raise their family in Plymouth, Indiana… His final assignment came in July 1972 when he was attached to the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group to the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces in Tehran, Iran. Annette and Lee joined Lewis in Tehran where they lived in the Abass-Abad neighborhood. On the morning of 2 June 1973, as Lewis was walking from his home to a street corner to be picked up by his driver, two terrorists riding a motorcycle fired at point-blank range and fired two or three shots killing Lewis instantly. Lewis was survived by his wife Annette; three sons, Terry, Ronald, and Lee; his parents, Herman and Mary Hawkins of Rowan, Iowa; and two sisters Mary Duran of Plymouth and Mona Crocker of Belmond, Iowa. His daughter preceded him in death…" http://www.military-heroes.com/lewis_lee_hawkins.htm
(Aznar and Bolton joined forced to found the Friends of Israel Initiative)
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... speeches by former Spanish Prime Minister José-Maria Aznar and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton - who recently joined forces to found the Friends of Israel Initiative- calling on the State Department to stop considering the People’s Mujahedin as a terrorist organisation and on the European Union to unilaterally reinforce the sanctions against Iran ...
On 26 June 2010, the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (Mujahideen-e-Khalq) convened a gathering of their members at Taverney, near Paris.
This military sect is commanded by Massoud and Myriam Rajavi, although it is not known whether Massoud is still alive since he hasn’t been seen in public since 2003.
While the Pentagon and the Obama Administration have detached themselves from this organisation, the Mujahedin continue to enjoy the support of the neo-conservatives, Israel and France, which hosts its headquarters.
Approximately 30 000 people from all over Europe listened to speeches by former Spanish Prime Minister José-Maria Aznar and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton - who recently joined forces to found the Friends of Israel Initiative- calling on the State Department to stop considering the People’s Mujahedin as a terrorist organisation and on the European Union to unilaterally reinforce the sanctions against Iran.
While Iranian students protest their government, MKO plots against the Iraqi people fail
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... while he was in Jordan, Mr Stevenson again raised the issue of the MKO in Iraq and how they could be helped. Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs answered that Mr Stevenson “could resolve the situation by offering all 3400 PMOI refugees visas to come to live in Scotland!” No doubt this was not the kind of help Mr Stevenson was looking for ...
By Anne Singleton, Iran-Interlink, December 8, 2009
Just as the MKO (aka NCRI) had no presence in Iran during the protests following Iran’s June elections, this time on 7th December (16th Azar - the day of national student protests) the MKO were also nowhere to be found. Instead, the next day, after trawling the Iranian newspapers for lists of protests throughout Iran, Maryam Rajavi kindly and thoughtfully (in case we didn’t know) informed the world through her websites that many Iranians vehemently and vocally oppose their government.
Without doubt the era of Rajavi’s association with Iranian politics has come to its inevitable end. Indeed, since 2002 the MKO have had no involvement in Iranian affairs except as second-hand news peddlers.
Still, the group is extremely active, lobbying parliaments and media. But on what issue?
The simple answer is – Iraq. The MKO’s websites are focused on Iraq and the cult’s situation there. The latest legal straw the group is grasping at is to somehow exploit an aspect of Spanish law which deals with international issues. But with no connection to Spain and no legal status in the international community except as a terrorist entity, the MKO really does not have any realistic hope that Spanish law can be used to force the Government of Iraq to allow it to remain as a terrorist group in their country. No doubt this will be a deep disappointment to the MKO’s backers and advocates – particularly those in the European Parliament.
Now, another huge blow has been dealt the MKO as Iraq's parliament has unanimously approved a new electoral law, paving the way for elections early next year. Although the US’s RAND report makes it clear that the MKO should have been disbanded in 2003, the Americans have preserved and promoted the group for a specific task – to facilitate the eventual return of pro-western elements (such as former Saddamists) into the Government of Iraq.
No surprise then that at the start of the new European parliament, well-known MKO lobbying MEPs, Mr Struan Stevenson and Mr Alejo Vidal-Quadras, made a significant leap from membership of the Iran Delegation to sit on the Iraq Delegation, where Mr Stevenson is Chairman.
One of the issues to be raised as an immediate concern in the Iraq Delegation’s first meeting in September was not the desperate plight of 31+ million Iraqis suffering massive bomb blasts and consequent insecurity (let’s generously assume that was a given concern) but to support the demands of the MKO leaders to keep their 3400 Iranian cult members trapped in Camp Ashraf in Diyala province.
Members of the Iraq Delegation plan to visit Iraq in early January. But by the time the second meeting of the Iraq Delegation was held in November, the Chair, Mr Stevenson , had been invited to visit Jordan – where the former Saddamist Baathists including Izzat Ebrahim, Massoud Rajavi and Saddam Hussein’s family have taken refuge – to “have an exchange of views with various political figures involved in the political process in Iraq”.
(Izzat Ebrahim and Massoud Rajavi still at large)
Mindful that the MKO will not be able to remain in Iraq and a new terrorist base will have to be found for the cult, while he was in Jordan, Mr Stevenson again raised the issue of the MKO in Iraq and how they could be helped. Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs answered that Mr Stevenson “could resolve the situation by offering all 3400 PMOI refugees visas to come to live in Scotland!” No doubt this was not the kind of help Mr Stevenson was looking for.
The MKO’s activities are currently linked to their role in Iraq. The group has been used as a cover to meddle in Iraq’s political process and facilitate – through a violent insurgency – an increase in the role of Saddamists in the country. The agenda has not been successful and the demise of the MKO to those promoting this agenda is sad but inevitable. It remains to be seen who will have the heart to rescue the 3400 cult members who have so far had no say in their situation and no escape from their exploitation.
Although it was not seriously expected that Mr Stevenson offer asylum to the whole MKO in Scotland, it is surely not unreasonable that these people be offered asylum and dispersed between the many European countries which make up the European Union.
Human Rights Minister: documents confirm the illegality of the presence of people in Camp Ashraf in Iraq
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... For decades the MKO have been in this camp and have not been regarded as refugees. Now neither the UNHCR nor the International Organization for Migration deal with them on that basis. The Ministry has addressed these organisations formally more than once in order to lend a helping hand to them, but they always affirm in their responses that that the MKO is a military organization and has not demilitarized ...
After investigations by the Iraqi Minister of Human Rights, Minister Salim said that the presence of the residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq is illegal. She stressed that the Iraqi government will deal with them in a purely humanitarian manner, and added that since 2003 it has secured the freedom of 300 of them who wanted to leave the camp.
In a statement summarised by al-sabaah newspaper, Minister Salim said that the government is dealing with the residents of the camp in Diyala province, members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, in a humane fashion. The absence of any official documents in their files of applications for asylum is an indication of the illegality of their presence in Camp Ashraf. However, between 2003 until the end of 2009, 300 have left the camp of their own free will and returned to their own country.
Minister Salim said that delegations from the Human Rights Ministry visit the camp from time to time to review the conditions of its population in coordination with the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations. In less than a year, 36 people have asked to leave the camp under the direct supervision of the Ministry. They asked to return to Iran without any influence from government bodies and they were brought to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which took responsibility for them.
For decades the MKO have been in this camp and have not been regarded as refugees. Now neither the UNHCR nor the International Organization for Migration deal with them on that basis and refuse to cooperate with them. The Ministry has addressed these organisations formally more than once in order to lend a helping hand to them, but they always affirm in their responses that that the MKO is a military organization and has not demilitarized. They can only deal with them once they leave the camp and claim civilian protection.
Minister Salim explained that the laws and agreements on the protection of populations who seek protection on the grounds of suffering because of armed conflicts or war do not apply to them because they are not in a nation in war or conflict.
Minister Salim indicated that since the beginning of the SOFA with the United States which transferred responsibility for the camp from the Americans to the Iraqis, the legal situation has changed completely for them. In particular after review of the records and papers which exist, officials did not find any requests for asylum or protection or evidence that their presence is in any way legal.
Minister Sailm said that in general it is necessary to deal with them in a spirit of humanity and not to deport them to countries where they may be exposed to harm or torture, asserting that the Iraqi government has committed itself to this principle. She expressed surprise at their refusal to be moved to another location which provides services and care since they have not rented and nor do they own the land they currently occupy.
حقوق الانسان: وثائق تؤكد عدم قانونية تواجد سكان معسكر أشرف في العراق
اكدت وزيرة حقوق الانسان المهندسة وجدان سالم ان تواجد سكان معسكر اشرف في العراق غير قانوني فيما شددت على ان الحكومة العراقية تتعامل معهم بشكل انساني بحت لاسيما انها امنت منذ عام 2003 اخراج 300 منهم رغبوا بترك المعسكر.
واشارت في تصريح خصت بـه( الصباح ) الى ان الحكومة تتعامل مع سكان المعسكر الواقع في محافظة ديالى من عناصر منظمة مجاهدي خلق الايرانية بشكل انساني على الرغم من عدم وجود وثائق رسمية ضمن ملفاتهم تحوي طلبات لجوء ما يؤشر عدم قانونية تواجدهم في معسكر اشرف ، مؤكدة تامين اخراج 300 منهم رغبوا بارادتهم الخاصة ترك المعسكر وتوزعوا بين لاجئين وعائدين الى بلادهم منذ عام 2003 لغاية نهاية عام 2009 .
المهندسة سالم اوضحت ان وفودا من الوزارة تقوم بزيارة المعسكر بين الحين والاخر للاطلاع على احوال سكانه بالتنسيق مع مكاتب اللجنة الدولية للصليب الاحمروالامم المتحدة المتواجدة هناك ،كاشفة عن اعادة اكثر من 36 شخصا طلبوا الخروج من المعسكر خلال اقل من سنة وباشراف الوزارة المباشر ، منهم طلبوا العودة الى ايران بدون اي تاثير من جهات حكومية اذ تمت احالتهم الى اللجنة الدولية للصليب الاحمر التي تولت مسؤولية ذلك .
ونبهت الى ضرورة عدم السماح بنقل مشاكل دول الجوار الى العراق ، لافتة ان عناصر منظمة خلق الساكنين بالمعسكر منذ عشرات السنين ليسوا بلاجئين لاسيما ان منظمة الهجرة الدولية ومفوضية شؤون اللاجئين لا تتعاملان معهم على اساس ذلك وترفضان التعاون معهم ، اذ ان الوزارة خاطبت هاتين الجهتين بشكل رسمي لاكثر من مرة بغية مد يد العون لهم الا انهما تؤكدان في اجاباتهما دائما على ان اليات تواجدهم تدل على انهم منظمة عسكرية ليست منزوعة السلاح وانهما ستتعاملان معهم حال خروجهم من المعسكر بصفة مدنية،اما مسألة حمايتهم فاوضحت انه وفقا للقوانين والاتفاقات الخاصة بحماية الاشخاص فان على هذه الجهات توفير الحماية للسكان اذا ما توافدوا من بلد يعاني من نزاعات عسكرية او حروب ،مبينة ان ذلك لا ينطبق على هؤلاء كونهم ليسوا من دولة تعاني من حروب او نزاعات.
وبينت سالم انه منذ بداية سريان الاتفاقية الامنية المشتركة مع الولايات المتحدة والتي تم خلالها نقل مسؤولية المعسكر من الجانب الامريكي الى العراقي فقد تغير الوضع القانوني لهم بشكل كامل لاسيما بعد الاطلاع على ملفات المتواجدين هناك واوراقهم الرسمية التي لم نجد بها اية طلبات لجوء او حماية ما يدل على ان تواجدهم غير شرعي.
ودعت الى ضرورة ان تكون الصفة العامة في التعامل معهم هي الصفة الانسانية وعدم ترحيلهم الى بلدان قد يتعرضون بها الى اذى او تعذيب ،مؤكدة ان الحكومة العراقية التزمت بهذا المبدأ ولم تنقلهم قسريا الى مكان اخر لا تتوفر به خدمات او عناية، مبدية استغرابها من رفض سكان المنطقة الانتقال الى اية ارض عراقية اخرى غير ارض المعسكر علما انها غير مؤجرة او موهوبة لهم من قبل اية جهة.
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… Lewis Lee Hawkins, the only son of Herman and Mary Webster Hawkins, was born in Chicago, Illinois on 8 August 1930. Herman and Mary would eventually move and raise their family in Plymouth, Indiana… His final assignment came in July 1972 when he was attached to the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group to the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces in Tehran, Iran. Annette and Lee joined Lewis in Tehran where they lived in the Abass-Abad neighborhood. On the morning of 2 June 1973, as Lewis was walking from his home to a street corner to be picked up by his driver, two terrorists riding a motorcycle fired at point-blank range and fired two or three shots killing Lewis instantly. Lewis was survived by his wife Annette; three sons, Terry, Ronald, and Lee; his parents, Herman and Mary Hawkins of Rowan, Iowa; and two sisters Mary Duran of Plymouth and Mona Crocker of Belmond, Iowa. His daughter preceded him in death…"
