Defectors of Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization

Open letter of the MEK defectors to Javaid Rehman

The open letter of a group of former members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization to Javaid Rehman, the former special rapporteur of the United Nations on Iran affairs, was published in Kehan London on Saturday, 14 September 2024. These defectors, who mostly live outside Iran, informed Javaid Rehman of important points that not only the former UN Special Rapporteur needs to know, but also anyone who may be involved with the MEK in any way.

These former members of the MEK, who are opposed to the group they left, are also opponents of the Iranian government and in the aforementioned letter, they strongly criticize Javaid Rehman because he went to the group’s headquarters in Paris visiting the group’s leader, Maryam Rajavi. He addressed her as “President Elect”, the title used by the MEK to refer to the self-appointed Maryam Rajavi

In their letter, the signatories emphasize on the importance and sensitivity of the issue and share their concerns based on their objective experiences regarding the MEK with Rehman. They express their concerns on the following two axes:

– First, we are afraid that the Mujahedin Organization would abuse your efforts and positive reputation in fighting for human rights just to pursue its own political goals.

– Second, we are concern that your association with the Mujahedin Organization could damage your reputation and, consequently, your entire efforts to fight for human rights relating to Iran. Obviously, we would like to avoid such a scenario at any cost.

In the beginning of the letter, former members of MEK state that the affiliation of a part of those executed in Iran to the MEK cannot in any way be a justification for Javaid Rehman’s cooperation with the group. To prove this, the signatories of the letter, along with rejecting Maryam Rajavi’s claim about the establishment of a “democratic republic” government in Iran, provide testimonies about the most undemocratic behavior of the Cult of Rajavi:

Dear Mr. Rahman,
Based on our personal experiences and documented observations, we recognize the Mujahidin organization as a criminal organization with a mafia structure. We believe that any communication or cooperation with this organization cannot be justified, even though some of the executed prisoners belong to it. Many of us could have been executed or killed like numerous others who were tortured during the operations of this organization. The struggles for fact-finding and human rights in Iran should not lead to collaboration or cooperation with the Mujahedin organization.

In her speech at the same meeting where you were present, Maryam Rajavi said: “We are standing up for an Iran without torture, repression, and free from oppression and inequality, for a democratic republic based on the separation of religion and state, with an independent judicial system based on the principle of acquittal, the right to defense, the right to a public trial and the complete independence of judges and the abolition of the Sharia laws.”

That allegation was a blatant lie. Many of us have experienced arrest, forced interrogation, prison and torture, all without any trial, lawyer or simply respect for basic principles of human rights such as the “principle of innocence” within this organization. Some of those people have been killed under torture, including Gurban Ali Torabi, who was one of the political prisoners in the 80s.

In her speech, Mrs. Rajavi also claimed that “We are proud to be freedom and human rights fighters.” This is another great deception. This organization is opposed to freedom of expression. Some of those who separated from this organization have faced life threats by this organization, simply because of publishing their experiences and hidden facts about the organization.

Dear Mr. Rahman,
We briefly draw your attention to some serious and documented accusations against the Mujahedin organization and its leadership, which show that this organization is not democratic, does not believe in freedom, and operates with a mob and repressive structure. Accusations such as:

– Brainwashing of members through long meetings called “ideological revolution”, promoting individuation and sainthood of Masoud and Maryam Rajavi.

– Forcing married men and women in the 1990s to “ideological divorce” through mental-emotional pressures and followed by gender-based segregation of men and women.

– Forcing members to write self-reports about their sexual thoughts and dreams through psychological/emotional pressures. Forcing members to confess against themselves regarding these issues in small or large groups (tens or hundreds) of members. Inciting the members in these meetings, in the presence of Masoud and Maryam Rajavi, to verbally attack or throw spit, insult, accuse, and in some cases physically attack the “subject” meaning the person who has submitted a report against themselves. Since the end of the 90s, this systematic procedure has been continuously going on.

– Separating about 700 children from their families within the Mujahedin organization in Iraq in the early 1990s. Sending those children to different countries in Europe and North America, which in practice, led to disintegration of the family institution. Eventually, this act caused severe emotional trauma to those children, the consequences of which continue even now well into their adulthood.

– Recollecting some of the same children at the age of 14 or 15 to Camp Ashraf in Iraq, the main headquarters of the Mujahedin Organization, and forcibly recruiting those children as child-soldiers. In many cases, this was done by deceiving the children, falsely promising them to meet their parents and return to the country where they lived.

– Some of those children and ex-soldiers who have disclosed their experiences in interviews with European newspapers or appeared in a documentary film in Sweden, have been heavily subjected to character assassination and accusations by the Mujahedin organization. In response, a group of Iranian political-social-cultural activists, with different political tendencies in different countries protested these actions of the Mujahedin Organization in a statement (link provided below) .

– Imprisonment and physical-psychological torture of disaffected members within the Mujahedin Organization, and baseless accusations against them. Launching psychological warfare, accusations and character assassination against those dissidents who separated from MEK or the National Council of Resistance, and those who publicly spoke about their experience within the Mujahedin organization or published articles after the separation. This accusation includes even those who have interviewed with a non-Iranian media against MEK.

– Removing the uterus of numerous women within MEK without their consent and sometimes without informing them. Fereshteh Hedayati, one of the women separated from MEK, who had been a member of this organization for 32 years, addresses this issue, revealing that she herself was one of the victims who underwent a surgery for removing the uterus without any medical diagnosis or relevant reasons. She mentions about 120 other cases that she is aware of.

– Recruiting Iranians living in Iran as well as Iranians living in Turkey, Pakistan, and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, transferring them to Iraq, and preventing them from leaving the organization and from Iraq during the time when the Mujahedin organization was based in Iraq. These people were deceived and transported to Iraq using mob tactics and human trafficking.

– Lack of transparency and accountability of the leadership of the Mujahedin Organization. Independent journalists are not able to meet and talk with members of this organization. Even the leadership of this organization refuses to talk to independent journalists.

Dear Mr. Rahman,
We are willing to share our experiences with you in person or through online means and to answer all your questions with accuracy and honesty. Some of us have published articles and books in Persian about our experiences with this organization, which are accessible on different websites. At the end of this letter, you can find the links that show a very slight amount of the multitude of available information relating to our claims.

In conclusion, we reiterate our concern regarding your human rights efforts which can be politically exploited and abused by the Mujahedin Organization. We hope that your independent and valuable efforts regarding human rights will continue and successfully come to a significant conclusion.

The signatories of the open letter to Javaid Rehman are the following defectors who live in different parts of Europe and have criticized the Cult of Rajavi in recent years:

Azimi, Jama – UK, Banki, Atefe – Norway, Dehghan, Gholamreza – UK, Ebrahim Pour, Hamid-Reza – Germany, Gooran, Reza – Norway, Habashi, Manijeh – USA, Hejazi, Bina – UK, Heidari, Nariman – Sweden, Hidarnejad, Hanif – Germany, Hosseinnejad, Zeinab – France, Nabibakhsh, Tahereh – Denmark, Naderi, Siamak – Germany, Najafi – Australia, Nematullahi Haghighi, Amir – Canada, Pourahmad, Mostafa – Netherlands, Shahi Azar, Adel – Germany, Taee Semiromi, Jaber- Germany, Vatanparast, Esmat – Sweden, Yaghmai, Amir – Sweden, Zargar, Mojtaba – Germany

September 11, 2024 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Don’t let the MEK leaders deceive you

A letter from the liberated members of the central province to Mae Sato

Mrs. May Sato, the respected UN rapporteur on human rights of Iran
Congratulations to you on your new responsibility, we hope you will be successful in your new activity.

We are a number of people who have separated from the People’s Mojahedin Organization. The MEK had kept us captive for years and deprived us of any freedom.

We were not allowed to contact our families. We were not allowed to communicate with the outside world. We were constantly humiliated and oppressed. We were not allowed to leave their camp.

We finally managed to get out of the MEK camp, or better to say escape, when the American forces were based in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
The MEK still has kept a large number of Iranians like us in captivity. We declared this issue to Mr. Javaid Rehman several times through letters, however, he did pay no attention!

Unfortunately, recently we saw that Mr. Javaid Rehman appeared among the MEK without paying attention to our testimonies.

Ms. Mai Sato,
We request you not to be deceived by the leaders of the Mojahedin organization. Their slogans about freedom and human rights are not true at all. Our bitter experiences of our years of presence in this organizations differs completely from the leaders’ claims
We are ready to provide you with our objective evidence.

Sincerely,
A number of MEK former members

Arak-Markazi-Iran
1- Fazel Farhadi
2- Taha Hosseini
3- Hassan Zarjini
4- Fawad Basri

September 10, 2024 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

MEK ex-members share concerns with the new UN rights rapporteur

Mrs. Mai Sato, special reporter on human rights in Iran

While congratulating your selection as the special rapporteur on human rights in Iran and wishing you success, we are a group of members separated from the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) who were members of the organization; some of us were members of the organization for more than three decades. Regarding your efforts in the field of truth-finding and follow-up of human rights deficiencies, we found it necessary to inform your Excellency of our concerns, which are based on our first-hand experiences of inside the MEK.

1- We consider it necessary to inform you about the political goals of the MEK in the field of human rights. During the term of Mr. Javaid Rehman, the leaders of the organization tried to serve their own goals by presenting false reports so they harmed his efforts and credibility in truth-finding about human rights

2- Based on our personal experiences and first-hand observations, we consider the MEK as a completely undemocratic movement with a cult-like structure. We believe that any cooperation with this organization cannot be defensible even by claiming that part of the prisoners who belong to them. Because many of us, like many other former members of the MEK have been executed or tortured by the group itself.

3-Actions for truth finding on human rights in Iran should not be led through the channel of cooperation with the MEK which is a formerly terrorist designated entity with a violent background. In her recent speech before the former reporter, Maryam Rajavi, the MEK leader said, “We advocate for a democratic republic founded on the separation of religion and state, with an independent judiciary adhering to principles such as the presumption of innocence, the right to defense, the right to a public trial, the complete independence of judges.”

This claim is nothing but a lie. As former members of the MEK, we are victims of torture and imprisonment in the religious extremist cult of Rajavi. In the MEK, we were sentenced to torture, imprisonment and death without the right to defense, the right to a public trial. Event after leaving the MEK, a number of MEK defectors have faced life threats by the side of the MEK simply because of the publication of their testimonies on the facts from inside the MEK.

Mrs. Sato
We find it necessary to briefly mention some serious and documented crimes of the MEK and its leadership, which proves that the organization is not democratic and does not believe in the principles of freedom.

The MEK has a completely cult-like and repressive structure. They brainwash members through long meetings called Ideological Revolution, coercing them to worship Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. They have forced couple members to divorce. Celibacy is mandatory in the MEK. Gender segregation of is strictly observed by the leaders. In their manipulative system, they force members to write reports about their most inner thoughts or dreams and sexual dreams in order to read the reports before their peers. Peers should attack each other in the meetings, including the meetings of Masoud and Maryam. They are due to verbally attack, spit in the face and insult and accuse the person who is tried in the meeting, and in some cases they physically assault the one who is accused for not being ideological enough.

4-Separation of more that 800 children from their parents who were in the MEK camps in Iraq during the 1990s and smuggling them to some Western countries without the inner satisfaction of them and their parents. This separation left children with severe emotional blows and traumas. Several of these children were then recruited as child soldiers by the MEK. Some of them participated in military operations during the MEK’s presence in Iraq and were killed.

5- Imprisonment, physical, mental and psychological torture of dissident members inside the MEK, under baseless accusations. Launching psychological warfare and character assassination against defectors of the MEK. Taking out women’s wombs without any medical reason to justify it. Disconnection of members’ communication with their families. Lack of freedom of speech. Deprivation of access to the outside world and of free use of the Internet and other media communication facilities.
We are ready to share our experiences with you in person or online and to answer your questions carefully and honestly. In the end, while wishing you success in your valuable and independent efforts for human rights, we reiterate our concern.

With respect, a group of former members of the MEK from Khuzestan, Iran

September 10, 2024 0 comments

Missions of Nejat Society

Some points on Children of Camp Ashaf by Amir Yaghmai

Amir Yaghmai, former child soldier of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) explains some points about “Children of Camp Ashraf”.
Children of Cam Ashraf is a documentary directed by the Iranian journalist and film maker Sara Moien. The film is based on the life story of four of near a thousand children of MEK members who were separated from their parents in 1991 and were smuggled to Europe and North America.

The children were left in foster families who were MEK sympathizers, in most cases not with normal qualifications of a safe family. Amir Yaghmai, Parvin Hosseinnia, Atefeh Sebdani and Hanif Bali are the four Swedish citizens whose traumatic childhood involved with the MEK cult is narrated in the documentary.
Amir usually gives updates about the process of broadcasting the film on his accounts on social networks. These are some points that he explained to the Swedish viewers of the film on his Facebook account on July 14th, 2024:

Hello dear friends,
Hope all is well with you. I know that many of you have seen our documentary film “the children from camp Ashraf” which is directed by Sara Moein and produced by Linda Mutawi from Atmo Stockholm in collaboration with SVT. For those of you who haven’t seen it, I recommend that you go and see it through the link below.
A few points I want to highlight about the film:

1- it has taken about 6 years to produce this documentary with countless hours that are not included in the film itself. Making such a documentary film is extremely difficult considering the complex background of the Mojahedin and considering that 4 participants must each tell parts of their personal story. With the feedback I received, I know that the entirety of our story came across in the film.

2- the questions that remain are many. I look forward to being able to clarify in a suitable platform the parts that have not had time to be elucidated or the parts that need a better explanation. I see the questions more as an opportunity to open up for discussion and also debate questions about our history and the film. I don’t mind debating with supporters or members of this organization but I know from experience that they shy away from debating with critics and all they do is label and smear their critics. Which we were all prepared for from the start.

3- my personal goal and involvement in the film has been to contribute knowledge to a younger generation that can fall into the trap that I personally fell into. It can be an emotional period as a teenager where many evil and destructive forces want to pull one and exploit one’s vulnerability. With experiences from those who have ended up there, this can be reduced or at least make them think twice. Simply making the world a better place and helping young people in vulnerable situations.

July 24, 2024 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Everyone left this sect over the years CAN’T be regime spies

NOW IT’S OUT ON SVT PLAY!
When I was little, this happened.

Now I’m grown up and not much has changed, however the “Resistance Movement” I grew up with has been formed into a group that ticks all the checkboxes for what you can call a cult.

Over the years, many of us have asked questions without getting answers.

What have the Mojahedin actually done in these enclosures for 40 years?

What are they doing? What have they achieved? What does a week look like? So, purely actively, what have they done purely in terms of change for the better, which they claim?

To me it looks more like a group whose leaders just want to act and look grander than what they are on the outside.

the majority of the people in Iran nor the Iranian diaspora outside want them to come to power if the Iranian regime were to fall.

It would rather be a nightmare.

After talking to a lot of dropout parents in recent years, my conviction is unwavering.
The Mojahedin needs to be disbanded

And the Swedish state needs to examine why and how it turned out like this with and for many of us children.

I take part in the documentary because every time one of us criticizes the Mojahedin, rumors spread like wildfire that she is a spy for the regime.

BUT PLEASE RARA – everyone who has left this sect over the years CAN’T be regime spies.

How would that even be possible?
Watch, spread, ask and change.

Face book of Parwin Hosseinnia

June 18, 2024 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Atefeh Sebdani: My new mother had seen Cinderella in me

My foster mother did everything to prove me wrong. Jealous, a psychologist would say many years later. But what do I know.

If only I gave a little more. Be a little kinder, more capable? If I maxed out the grades? Just responded to summons. If I did all the cooking, everything cleaned up afterwards without prompting. Didn’t want anything. Didn’t sing, because they hated when I did. I, who loved it, had a talent for it. Like I didn’t see that grain of rice on the floor when I was sweeping the kitchen, how could I be so stupid? It was just to take the consequences of that, that became my foster father’s task. I was then six years old.

I quickly learned not to make the same mistakes again.

We were a total of six children but my new mother had seen Cinderella in me. A docile, desperate girl and…? I had to take care of everything. Never good enough. If I didn’t have time to clean the whole house of 300 square meters in the half hour notice I was given before the spontaneous guests would arrive, then there was a family meeting afterwards about my ineptitude. In the best case.

The stress and pressure were constant. In between I would sit quietly in my room. Not meeting friends. At least not outside the organization. Sometimes it let go of the reins so that outwardly it looked good. Then I hung out with my friends. Felt the sweetness of freedom. Be myself and be appreciated for it. Outwardly I was happy, laughing out loud and not least at my own jokes.

No one was told what was going on behind closed doors. Either what my new mother or my new father did. They had taken on different roles, and both were devastating.

If I survive this, then I will be free.
I have to survive because I had promised my mom to take care of my little brothers. If I don’t survive, I’ll never see her again.

Hold on Atefeh.
So, I persevered.
Atefeh Sebdani’s Face Book, June 14th, 2024

June 16, 2024 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

The MEK: Child Soldiers and the Swallow Project

Everyone knows that during the Persian Gulf War, nearly a thousand children of Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) members were sent to European and North American countries. Many of these children, including me, were illegally trafficked to these countries. The history and fate of these needs to be widely discussed, but today I want to talk about the fate of about a hundred of them who were sent to Iraq as child soldiers in the late 1990s and early 2000s and became members of the Liberation Army, that is, the military wing of the MEK. The project was named “Swallow” by Rajavi.

Since Maryam Rajavi was sent to France in 1995 to become the political figure of the MEK in the Western world, the project was launched. The MEK bases in European countries, especially France, became a place for these children to gather together in order to attract them by creating a warm and intimate atmosphere, which replaced their missed families. Exactly the same thing happened. The MEK cadres in these bases, whom we called “uncle” and “aunt”, were so kind and loving to us and told us about the good things of the MEK, and about Camp Ashraf that we felt that our “family” and “home” was there. Many of these children, who lived in boarding houses under the control of the MEK and were still brainwashed by the MEK, never felt a sense of belonging to their place of residence and society and saw Camp Ashraf in Iraq as their utopia where our parents and all uncles and aunts are gathered and everything is good and beautiful. A flawless and problem-free world in which we would spend our childhood.

In 1997, the first group of these teenagers were sent to Iraq. Some of these people were 13 years old when they were sent. A little later, a promotional video cassette was prepared from this initial group, which served as a propaganda tool for MEK abroad. In this tape, we saw our friends wearing military uniforms at Camp Ashraf, undergoing military training, riding tanks, having a communal dinner, and exercising, and they were having a great time. Some of them were also interviewed and they told us about their good qualities. In this way, a wave of sending teenagers to Camp Ashraf started. Teenagers who were in Europe were first sent to France, to the main headquarters of the group in Auver Sur d’Oise, and then they were sent to Iraq. Most of these teenagers were under 13 years old.

North America was a little different. The MEK did not have a headquarters there. Therefore, there was no place for teenagers to gather at first. But in 1998, the MEK turned the headquarters of the National Council of Resistance in Washington DC into their main base for deployment. Teenagers like me were dragged there under various pretexts, such as going to Iraq to visit your parents. This way, they resumed the brainwashing process. I must mention here that our brainwashing started from our childhood, when we were in Iraq and in the school and kindergarten of Camp Ashraf, before the Persian Gulf War. The war with Khomeini, and being a mujahid and warrior, and the gun and sacrifice of life, were in our heads, and it was enough to activate those feelings and thoughts again. And the Mujaheds were very skilled in this job and still are.

Between the years 1997 and 2002, about 100 teenagers, mostly under the age of 18, were sent to Camp Ashraf from Europe and North America. There, we entered basic military training from the very beginning. Training in light rifles, Kalashnikovs, BKC, RPG rocket launchers, infantry combat training and then gradually training in armor, tanks and personnel carriers, artillery and air defense, communications, etc. Camp Ashraf was really in war situation. I remember that about two weeks after I entered Camp Ashraf, the Iranian government fired several Scud B missiles into the camp. At that time, Camp Ashraf was a very large military base (36 square kilometers) full of tanks, cannons, military vehicles and ammunition. All members wore khaki and green military uniforms.

In this way, Rajavi successfully carried out the Swallow Project and was able to add nearly 100 teenagers to his old and worn-out organization in order to revive it and give new motivation to his inner forces. In the next part, I will mention the legal aspects of this issue and also the German court ruling against MEK.
Mohammad Reza Torabi, former child soldier of the MEK

X social network – Mohammad Reza Torabi account – Translated by Nejat society

June 8, 2024 0 comments

Massoud Rajavi

Where is Massoud Rajavi?

Many people ask me about Masoud Rajavi. Mostly whether he is still alive or not. First, I must emphasize that my writings about Mujahedin (MEK) are based on my personal observations and experiences. If I have not seen or heard anything, I will not express it under the title of observation.

Talking about where Rajavi is in the MEK is prohibited. They told us that the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence is looking for this information and anyone who talks about this issue is in line with the Ministry. This issue was a “red border” and we should not have approached it. My writing about this will surely make Rajavi’s dogs rabid.

First, a memory from my childhood, which shows a part of the brainwashing of children at that time. When I was 8 years old and I was with my parents at Camp Ashraf, my mother once asked me:
My son, who do you love more, mom and dad or uncle Masoud and aunt Maryam (the Rajavi couple)? I said, “uncle and aunt”.

My mother was happy to hear this and said congratulations. In later years, when I returned to Ashraf as a teenager, she told me this memory several times and said that she was proud of me at the time. Yes, the brainwashed Zahra wanted me to like her ideologic leader more than anything else.

My first contact with Rajavi was in 1999. When I went to Ashraf and my mother said that my father died. Then she said that from now on consider Rajavi as your father and send him the gold watch [The souvenir that he had brought his father from the United States]. I did the same. A month later, when I was in the reception section of the camp, Rajavi sent me a gift in response.

A colored glass with the Koran verse engraved on it. If you know the story of Aya Kowsar, you will understand the depth of Rajavi’s deception. He tortured and killed my father and then with this verse he told me that it is okay that you lost him, instead I gave you Maryam Rajavi and her ideological revolution. Damn Rajavi!

From 1999 to 2003, I met Rajavi in several meetings. We, the new members, were allowed to kiss him several times. In this video, I had just joined Ashraf, and in a meeting, Rajavi gave all the new members an icon and put it around our necks.
The last time I saw Rajavi was in March 2001. It was the days of Ashura [a religious ceremony] and, as always, there were ideological mass meetings. It was clear that America was going to invade Iraq and Rajavi had planned to attack Iran if the war started. I will write more about the 2003 war and the relationship with America later.

The war started and after the agreement between the US and the MEK was signed, all the members were gathered at Camp Ashraf. When the war started, Rajavi disappeared. To this day, he has not shown up publicly anywhere. But in the years after the war, every year we had some meetings with Rajavi, which were held in audio or written form.

In one of these meetings, Rajavi announced, with photos and videos, the unsuccessful missile attack of the coalition forces on his headquarters and even his bed. There were many speculations and rumors about Rajavi’s whereabouts in those years. Some said that he was in a hidden place in Ashraf. Some said that he was in an Arab country.

But I have never seen any concrete evidence in this regard. I only knew that he was alive. After I left the MEK, I followed the news of the MEK for a long time. Rajavi’s meetings with members continue. Yes, the evidence suggests that he is alive. On this year’s New Year, an audio message from him was broadcast on the MEK’s TV channel.

I will not put the link here, but if you search the following sentence on YouTube, you will find the video:
“Masoud Rajavi’s Nowruz Message 1403”

It is clear from his voice that he is very old and sick. But in my opinion, yes, it is his own voice.

I wish Rajavi will be alive and one day will be tried in an international court. In my opinion, he and Mujahedin have been dead for years. Maybe not physically, but politically and socially. Today, they are a rotten cult that shakes its tail every day for this and that and buys foreign support with money. But they are definitely over.

Ray Torabi’s account on X

May 5, 2024 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Atefeh Sebdani: May Day, Child Labor in the MEK

A picture that reveals many details… read on.

What is May Day for you?

For me, pure pain. That meant jobs, child labor. When everyone else was free, cozying up and enjoying the warm rays of spring, we were up early accompanied by orders and tasks until it was evening again. And if the sun came out, which it usually did on May 1st, we came home exhausted with burnt noses.

The picture is not from the first of May but another demonstration, in Oslo if I remember correctly. A demonstration I describe in my book as one of the worst of the thousands we had during our childhood. That little boy of 10 or so years finally started crying from the double-digit freezing temperatures that bit into our marrow and we no longer felt our body parts.
In the picture you also see the drum orchestra I am talking about. I’m the one with the fake fur on the hood. No, it wasn’t easy, even incredibly painful to drum with frozen fingers. Inside, I was crying from the pain but was not allowed to show it outwardly. Those who passed by didn’t get to see how tormented we really were.

Of everyone I can identify in the picture, all but three have dropped out. Two of those who remain were my friends who today take every opportunity to assassinate me.
This was one of the first times our drum orchestra played and made a noticeable (audible) impression. If you look closely you will also notice the Mujahedin symbol of the military/resistance/cult on the drums. Do you understand these details that no one questioned that we children openly displayed? My little brother Mosa, who is on the left in the picture, has a “sign necklace” with a photo of a martyr on it. That was no oddity.

So there we were, on every single day off or skipping school quite often and pretending to be sick. Week after week. Year after year. In minus thirty to plus thirty. Rain, storm, scorching sun, freezing cold. The weather never mattered. Not even if a man like me suffers from chronic pain that the adults knew was made worse by the cold.
May Day was one of the most important working days for the children of the Mujahedin.

Today, however, I will have a party for my boy. My activism should inspire him, but never impose on him. He is not free labor. He is a child who should be allowed to be a child before the rest of his life is about everything else.
What is May 1st for you?

Atefeh Sebdani’s Facebook

May 1, 2024 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

My life experience with the Mujahedin-e Khalq

Mohammad Reza Torabi nicknamed “Ray”, former child soldier of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) has recently published a thread in his personal account on X social network on his life experience with the group. He was a member of the MEK’s army for 18 years. He left the group after it was relocated in Albania.

Ray’s father Ghorbani Ali Torabi was killed under torture in the MEK’s prison. His mother Zahra Seraj is still a member of the Cult of Rajavi. She is not willing to contact Ray because she considers him a traitor who has left the group and speaks out against it.

Ray Torabi’s thread on X published on April 28th, 2024

This is Ray Torabi’s thread on X published on April 28th, 2024:
There has been a lot of discussion recently about the fate of some 1000 MEK children who were separated from their parents during the Gulf War and sent to European and American countries. As one of those children, I want to clarify some facts.

These children came to Iraq with their parents in the 1980s, specifically after the establishment of the National Liberation Army (MEK’s armed wing). Their parents joined MEK military units and the children were kept in daycares and boarding houses in Camp Ashraf.

During the week the children were kept in daycare and the parents received military training in separate units. Parents picked up their kids from the boarding house on Friday and stayed with them in housing units until Sunday morning when they were dropped off again.

With the start of MEK’s internal “ideological revolution” and after the implementation of mandatory divorces within its ranks, families were separated. The father would get the child one weekend and the mother the next.

With the start of the Gulf War and upon Massoud Rajavi’s orders, the children were separated from their parents and moved to Jordan. We were kept in different hotels until MEK found families for us abroad. Many of the children were moved to families of MEK supporters.

Some went to MEK boarding houses in European countries. These boarding houses had terrible conditions such as lack of food and physical abuse by MEK caretakers. Most of the children were smuggled into these countries illegally. I was 9 when I was smuggled to Canada.

Many, like myself, later faced complicated legal issues for immigration status because of this. I want to note that there was little to no supervision from MEK and many of us children were subjected to physical, mental, and sexual abuse in the families where we were placed.

In some cases MEK tried to cover up these crimes and silence the children. In the late 90s MEK emotionally manipulated and made hollow promises to some of the children, including myself, to move back to Iraq to be with our parents again. I will also write about this later.

It’s not easy to talk about the pain and suffering we’ve experienced. Hence you don’t hear from the others. Many of the children started new chapters in their lives, forgot their past, and moved on. Most of them don’t want anyone to know they were affiliated with the MEK.

Do you know how difficult it is for me to publicly say I was sexually abused in my childhood in Camp Ashraf and then in MEK headquarters in Canada by an MEK members/supporters? The other children don’t want to talk about these things and I respect their right not to.

There are very few of us who speak openly. I’ve overcome my past. I don’t feel guilty for what happened to me. I hold the MEK responsible. I found the courage to speak up and share the truth about my past openly and confidently.
The people of Iran must understand the crimes, deception, and evilness of the MEK. I have learned in the past 7 years, since leaving the MEK, that people only have a shallow understanding of this cult. I will do my best to reveal their lies, deception and evil.

I’m not afraid to speak up because I only speak the truth. Those who read my words will feel it with their hearts. And I am willing to testify every word I write in any court.

April 29, 2024 0 comments

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