Articles

Nejat Society CEO remarks about the MEK ex-members’ complaints against the group leaders

Remarks by Ebrahim Khodabandeh, CEO of Nejat Society, at the Nationwide Online Conference of the Society

Ebrahim Khodabandeh gave the following explanations at the nationwide online conference of the Nejat Society regarding the judicial process in and out of the country:

Ebrahim Khodabande, CEO of Nejat Society

In the name of God,
Greetings and respects,
My esteemed families and dear friends, brothers and sisters.

Today, I would like to say a few words about the complaints of a number of former members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO, Rajavi Cult) against the leaders of this organization, and the international process that is taking place.

There were some ambiguities that I wanted to answer briefly. There were questions and I received writings and emails, which will be explained in more details by my friends who are more specialized in this field.
Before I get into the subject, I will read a text from the provisions of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The text states that “The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.”

Some have asked if this court is only for government complaints, which is not, and individuals can sue the bodies. Of course, there is a procedure that I will explain.
The text goes on to say that “The Court is participating in a global fight to end impunity, and through international criminal justice, the Court aims to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes and to help prevent these crimes from happening again.

The Court cannot reach these goals alone. As a court of last resort, it seeks to complement, not replace, national Courts. Governed by an international treaty called the Rome Statute, the ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court.”

That is, a national court process must have taken place, and then a complementary process must continue in this international criminal court, which has happened. In Iran, 42 people have asked for a legal trial for about three years, until a court was finally convened this year, and witnesses, plaintiffs and informants spoke and their statements were heard, and a final verdict was issued later.

The International Court in The Hague, consists of three parts, one of which is the Criminal Court, and of course the main part is the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which states in this text that “Justice is a key prerequisite for lasting peace. International justice can contribute to long‐term peace, stability and equitable development in post‐conflict societies. These elements are foundational for building a future free of violence.”

What happened was that all the documents related to the verdict of the Tehran International Court of Justice, including the complaint, the original ruling, and the documents and evidences, were completely officially translated. Then all of these were sent abroad and three friends, Mr. Ali Akbar Rastgou, Mr. Ghafour Fattahian and Mr. Isa Azadeh, took the burden of delivering these documents.

Of course, they could be delivered in other ways. But friends abroad wished to do it with an act, but due to corona pandemic restrictions, it was not practical and they were not allowed to do so, and only three people were allowed to attend.

There, Mr. Rastgou registered the documents in his own name and handed them over to the ICJ Secretariat for the attention of Mr. Karim Asad Ahmed Khan, the Prosecutor General of the International Criminal Court. If an international tribunal is convened, then judges from different countries will be appointed.

All the pages of the three packages that were delivered there were initially checked and stamped and registered for the attention of Mr. Karim Khan and a registration number was given and it was decided to follow up the matter. That is, the first stage of work has been done. Some people ask if they can go and complain like these three people, which I must explain that these three people did not file a complaint. No one can go straight to the ICC and complain. The three men actually handed over the documents related to the procedure of the national court in Iran that had been done to complete the next stage, so that after reviewing there and announcing the final result, they would be notified to the Albanian and French governments.

Now what has been the subject of the complaint? The subject matter of the complaint relates to those connecting to the work of the International Criminal Court. The work of the criminal court includes “crimes against humanity” that should be of concern to the international community.

For this reason, a petition was launched on a prestigious international site and the latest list of signatures of this petition, which was more than 4,000 signatures at that time, which has increased now, was delivered. This is a document that shows these crimes are of concern to the international community. This list of signatures was presented in 182 pages along with other documents. In this list, there are signatures from different countries of the world with different names. Also, many people, both inside and outside the country, with audio, video and text messages, as well as in the petition designed on the Nejat Society website, are constantly supporting the complaints.

The MEK has repeatedly reacted to this, and has even recently said, for example, that 8,000 people on the Nejat website have complained to the ICC which is not the case. These are the common sophistry and fallacies of this cult. Complaints are not made in this way, but these signatures belong to those who, as part of the international community, express concern about the crimes committed.

What are the relevant crimes? First is modern slavery, a well-known crime of concern to the United Nations and the international community. Next dimension is brainwashing, which is a crime. Physical and psychological pressure and psychological torture under the heading of self-criticizing meetings, solitary confinement, physical torture, and sham executions, mostly under the Iraqi Ba’athist regime at Camp Ashraf in Iraq in the 1990s, and about 700 people were detained on suspicion of being spies. They were said to be agents of the Iranian regime. These people were tortured and some were even killed under these tortures to find, for example, infiltrators. Even in 1994, a series of newcomers disappeared completely. These cases are all examples of crimes against humanity, which, however, have progressed and will continue. Now, we are following up on how long it will take in the Hague tribunal and what the outcome will be.

Whatever the outcome of this court will be, what is certain is that it is now in the public mind that an organization which claims to defend human rights, an organization which claims to be democratic, and promises freedom, women’s rights, etc., and the materials that Maryam Rajavi constantly presents, this very organization tortures its own members and commits crimes against them. Not the enemy, but those who were completely at the disposal of this organization and sacrificed everything they had for it.

We take Yasser Akbari Nasab as an example, who was forced to commit self-immolation at Camp Ashraf under psychological pressure. Or people like Soheil Khattar who were killed by the MEK. The people who were murdered by the organization and then declared as the victims of the American and British bombings. All the evidences are available, and hundreds of other cases show that the organization has a history of crimes against its own members. The MEK would better not to mention defending women’s rights and the rights of individuals. So far, the goal has been reached. Of course, my friends are following the issue at home and abroad.

According to the Statute of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, those crimes are prosecuted that have a systematic and widespread aspects. That is, they have been committed over time according to a specific schedule and has been systematic. It must also have been dealt with first through a National Court and supplemented by the International Court of Justice, which has been done in this way.

Massoud Rajavi’s reaction to this issue is that he tries to, as usual, claim and say that such and such persons should be tried in this court too. He can take the burden of filing a lawsuit against anyone who has a claim against in the courts of France, Albania or anywhere they are. That is, to do what the former members of his cult have done against MEK leaders, and to refer the matter to the International Court of Justice after receiving a final verdict.

The trial of 42 former members against the MEK leaders at the International Court of Justice in The Hague is currently underway and proceedings are ongoing.

September 20, 2021 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

The Pink Personnel Carriers

Terrorist groups are known to repeatedly violate human rights, especially women’s rights. Such groups, under the pretext of struggle for freedom and equality of men and women, violate women’s rights the most. Among them, the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organizaion (aka MeK) has a long history in this regard. Various forms of abusing women and not granting them the most basic human rights, such as the right to marriage and motherhood have all turned them into emotionless individuals with no trace of femininity.

Ladies who are typically symbols of love and affection, become violent and tyrannical elements in this terrorist group so much so that they volunteer to commit suicide missions using explosive belts.

For instance, Gohar Adabavaz, who was ostracized by her family and became a member of the MeK and volunteered to commit suicide operations. Eventually on December 11, 1981, dressed as a normal citizen, she approached Ayatollah Dastgheib, the Friday Prayer Leader of Shiraz, and assassinated him after detonating her explosive belt.

Female soldiers of the National Liberation Army of Iran stand in formation at a training camp east of Baghdad, Iraq. Women make up nearly half of the NLA, the armed wing of the MEK.
Photo: Jacques Pavlovsky/Sygma via Getty Images

Ladan Badiani, Fahimeh Sadeghi and Vitana Jovini are other members of the MeK terrorist group who have caused the death of many people through their suicide operations within the past few decades.

On the other hand, the MeK expects its female members to perform as military force like men. In its so-called Liberation Army, women were engaged in all kinds of military activities ranging from operating tanks and personnel carriers to rocket launchers. In Operation the Eternal Light and the invasion of Iran by the MEK, the corpses left on the Iranian soil indicated that a large number of soldiers were female members of the group. Two years after the fall of Saddam in 2005, National Geographic correspondent Michael Ware visited Camp Ashraf. In the camp, he encountered a number of young ladies who, according to his report, looked utterly exhausted and were deprived of the most basic rights of a woman. Ware asked one of the girls in her early 20s about what she was doing before the invasion of Iraq and disarmament of the MeK, and she replied: “personnel carrier driver”. What came as a complete surprise to him was the fact that other ladies in the camp were engaged in such activities as well. All over the world, a driver’s license is issued at the age of 18 for individuals and a few years later they may apply for a license for heavy vehicles. But in the MeK, a 20-year-old girl becomes the operator of a military vehicle.

This and many other examples indicate that, contrary to MeK leaders’ claims of being defenders of women’s rights, women in this group are simply means for satisfying the leader’s lust for power.

September 20, 2021 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

Democracy MEK Style: Hypocrisy

15th September marks United Nations International Day of Democracy. Sadly, we are living through an age of peak hypocrisy in the name of democracy. Any country in the world, not just America, which prides itself on its democratic principles could hold up a mirror and discover dark, unsavoury activities concerning voter suppression, lobbying by the wealthy, misdirection and unaccountability of politicians and bias in the media.

But, even a superficial observation of the known flaws in these democracies renders the MEK response to this day super ridiculous. The MEK, which ironically introduces itself as the ‘Viable Democratic Alternative’ in its English language sites, used this day to claim in Farsi that Iran is not democratic. In spite of holding a presidential election in June, Iran doesn’t describe itself as a ‘democracy’, so there may be something in this. But then, let’s see what MEK democracy looks like.

In its 57-year existence, the MEK has never held an election among its members to choose its leaders or its policies. Massoud Rajavi destroyed all sense of normal opposition structure when he announced his sole leadership in 1985 and then converted the group into a mind control personality cult. Later, in a session with one candidate and open ‘voting’ resulting in 100% agreement, he appointed his wife, Maryam Rajavi as ‘president of the future Iran’ – a position she will hold “for life”. Not very democratic then.

Every time that Iran holds elections for president or parliament, the MEK call for a boycott. According to the MEK, people should not use the vote they do have to express their preference even among the limited range of candidates. Every year, the MEK anticipate mass uprisings against this limited democracy. It never happens. Every year, the MEK incite violence and insurrection against the country’s leaders. Apparently, the public prefer to vote rather than take part in performative violence.

This year was particularly revealing about the MEK’s sense of democracy. In the west, where they actually have a presence, they physically attacked Iranians who visited polling stations in Iran’s embassies and consulates and other stations. They threw paint, threw punches and jeered and harassed ordinary voters as they went to exercise their democratic rights.

The MEK version of democracy is that nobody is allowed to vote for a person or party that is not of its choosing. But, even then, the MEK itself does not hold internal elections. So, that’s it. No votes, no democracy. Just hypocrisy.

September 19, 2021 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Forced Divorce, a Cult-Like Behavior

In today’s world, forced marriage may seem like a time-worn phenomenon, but it still threatens few societies. Forced marriages are not specific to backward and underdeveloped societies, but may occur anywhere in the world. Many cults forcibly marry men and women in developing and developed countries. Organizational marriage is a type of forced marriage that was common in the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and in a way showed the commitment of members to the goal of the organization and adherence to the cause of its leaders.

Although MEK achieved considerable notoriety for its cultish regulations in compelling members to divorce their spouses, it should be noted that forced marriage was part of the MEK’s organizational relationship before the mandatory divorce and for so long many forced marriages took place as stipulated by the MEK leadership. In this regard, Ahmad Reza Karimi writes in his book entitled A Description of the History of Mujahedin-e Khalq of Iran and Its Stand Point:

“Since its inception till 1973, the MEK was a male-dominated organization and had no female members. The necessity for covering their hubs has led the organization to use women and girls. The first female recruits were the relatives of the executed or killed members and prisoners of the organization … At that time, Reza Rezaei had two marriages within the organization, which was in fact the cornerstone of moral corruption: The first marriage was with Leila Zomordian (Sharif Vaqefi’s next wife) and his second marriage was with Simin Salehi, who after hiding in early 1973 was not even legally separated from her former husband. Some women and girls did not even have the least political or organizational capabilities and were kept in the organization only to justify the hubs as well as sexual exploitation. A telling example of this is a member like Leila Zomordian, who after Reza Rezaei and Sharif Vaqefi, married to Taghi Shahram for a short period of time, and then changed her husband several times in different houses.”

MEK members’ suicides as a result of moral and sexual failures and frustrations … The MEK leaders’ monopoly in sexual matters is also one of the important consequences of such corruption. Taqi Shahram, one of the ideologues of the MEK, married to five wives during his activity … Another implication of moral corruptions in the organization is sexual suicides, which were caused by moral and sexual failures and frustrations.

Misguided beliefs justify sexual exploitations

Jafar Shojooni says in his memoirs: The MEK’s interpretation of Quran was weird. How is it that two or three hijabi pious girls live and sleep with ten or twenty young boys for six months? They recited this verse to those girls: “…Do not reveal their adornments except to their husbands” (Quran, 24:31). The verse says that positions of adornment that are above the neck and above the hands should not be shown except to women’s husbands, but within the MEK it is being interpreted in a different way, saying that the parts of adornment are “from the knees to the abdomen” that should be hidden from anybody except from their comrades in arms.

The theory of the ideological revolution was completed in 1986, when Maryam Azodanlu (Rajavi) divorced her husband Mehdi Abrishamchi and married to Massoud Rajavi before the expiration of the waiting period.

They used the same strategy to sexually exploit young women and girls and termed it as a sacred act as “marriage”. For example, Mehdi Abrishamchi was presented with Mousa Khiabani’s 18-year-old sister as a gift from the leadership!

Forced divorce and ideological revolution

Right after the Iran-Iraq ceasefire in mid-1988, MEK launched thousands of its warriors across the Iranian border, but they suffered a humiliating defeat. Masoud Rajavi announced a plan calling it an ideological revolution and considered the failure as a result of members’ family ties. Hence, he ordered all the members to divorce their spouses. Even the single members made a commitment to forbid marriage. The other side of the coin were divorced women who obeyed Rajavi’s command and married him during a cultish ceremony called “Salvation Dance”. In this regard, female members Batool Soltani, Homeira Mahmoudnejad, Zahra Moeini and Nasrin Ebrahimi are the people who have exposed such behaviors in MEK after defection.

Organizational marriages, forced divorces, hysterectomies, and the like are all rooted in the cultish aspects of the MEK. Those people who had wasted their youth in the cult of MEK warn that joining cults is one of the greatest threats of every nation.

This issue is now considered as a threat and has been introduced as the highest social harm and being in a cult is more terrible than addiction. Women are the mainstay of the family in all societies and such cultish behaviors have destructive effects on societies. So, in order to save women, families, and societies, the cults and their cultish thinking and practices must come to an end.

September 16, 2021 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Negar Abbasi’s family torn apart by the MEK

Negar was only three years old when her parents left her behind in Kermanshah, Iran, to travel to Turkey seeking for a better life. In Turkey, Negar’s parents, Tayebeh Noori and Mozafar Abbasi were deceived by the recruiters of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ Cult of Rajavi).
Tayebeh and Mozafar were taken by the recruiters to Iraq. This was the start of a one-way journey in the isolated system of the Cult of Rajavi. As a rule of the Cult of Rajavi, they were made divorce in Camp Ashraf. They were cut off the outside world including their families and their little daughter, Negar.

Mostafa Abbasi; the father of Mozafar Abbasi holding his dear son’s photo

Negar has been living with her paternal grandparents, Mostafa Abbasi and Hedieh Khandestani. In 2009, Negar and her grandparents began to look for Mozafar and Tayebeh via Nejat Society. In the first letter that Negar published on Nejat Website she wrote, “I have been deprived from kindness and love of my parents. I feel their absence in every moment of my life. I was only a little girl when they left me.”

Tayebe Nuri Tayebeh left the MEK in 2014 after the group was relocated in Albania ans lives in Switzerland

In 2016, Negar seemed to be distressed by her mother Tayebeh that had left the MEK in 2014 after the group was relocated in Albania. “I am eighteen years old right now,” Negar wrote in an open letter at the time. “I am looking forward to see my father. I love him more than I love my mother. I have deeper feelings for my father.”

Tayebeh did not get back to Iran after she defected the group. She immigrated to Switzerland and married another ex-member of the MEK, AliAkbar Oveisi who left the group in 2016. They have two young children now.
Negar is 23 now. She is still living with her elderly grandparents who have taken various actions during the 21 years of separation, in order to meet Mozafar. Negar and her grandparents have published a large number of open letters to the international human rights bodies, Albanian authorities and even letters to Mozafar. Although they know that Mozafar has no access to communication tools, as their last resort they still publish letters and video messages on the Internet.

September 14, 2021 0 comments

Albania

Afghan Refugees in Albania – Recruitment Fodder for the MEK

Albania’s Prime Minister, Edi Rama, has welcomed 457 Afghan refugees in the country. They will be housed in Durres. America chose Albania to temporarily house these refugees, some of whom are destined for America. The Afghans will be vetted before being accepted in the US. Those who don’t make the grade will be settled in Albania.

Albania is notorious as the backyard for US dirty work – a hub for financing, recruitment and training and dispatching ‘good’ terrorists. That’s why the terrorist cult Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) is based there. The MEK, a mercenary force, is paid for propaganda and misinformation campaigns online and for hosting rallies and conferences with paid speakers, to skew and toxify the political narrative on Iran.

The newly arrived Afghan refugees who speak Farsi are ripe for recruitment by the MEK. They can be used to bulk out the audience at Maryam Rajavi’s fake gatherings. They can be used in the click farm at the MEK camp in Durres. They can be trained over the coming year or so, to replace some of the older MEK members in North America and Europe.

As the following article reveals, this influx of Afghan refugees is not without its critics among the Albanian public. Albanians have every right to look suspiciously on American plans for these refugees.

Afghan Refugees in Albania – Recruitment Fodder for the MEK. Albania divided over hosting US-bound Afghan refugees

–

Albania Praised for Sheltering 457 Afghan Refugees so Far

https://exit.al/en/2021/08/30/albania-praised-for-sheltering-457-afghan-refugees-so-far/

Exit News, Tirana, Albania
Link to the source

There are now 457 Afghan refugees in Albania following the arrival of the fourth and fifth planes yesterday.

The refugees are being processed, medically evaluated, and having needs assessments done before being settled at dormitories in Student City, or hotels in Durres.

Prime Minister Edi Rama welcomed the refugees and noted that Albania’s decision to house them is being spoken of with admiration in the international community. He said it reflects the faith and respect Albanians have for memory, tradition, and self.

Finally a touchdown! @NEDemocracy, @NDI, @IRIglobal, and @CIPEglobal & score of other helpers…we finally did it!!! More #Afghan activists & dependants are now safe and no longer in peril. Proud and thankful that a WB country, #Albania 🇦🇱, has offered a safe haven. pic.twitter.com/AAVskth05t

— Tanja Dramac (@DRamacT) August 29, 2021

Yesterday, the Associate Director of Europe at the International Foundation for Democracy, Tanja Dramac, thanked Albania for hosting Afghan citizens.

She expressed her gratitude and added:

“We did it. More of our Afghan activists are now safe and no longer in danger. Proud and grateful that a country like Albania has offered a safe haven.”

Great to welcome 2 more planes from Kabul carrying 154 Afghans, incl women of all professions, journalists, activists, children. Pleased to work w/@ediramaal @RepSlotkin @SpiritAmerica @VitalVoices @YaldaHakimFund @SchmidtFutures to bring people out of harm’s way. Thank you, 🇦🇱 ! pic.twitter.com/NfscCg0KZg

— Ambassador Yuri Kim (@USAmbAlbania) August 28, 2021

US Ambassador Yuri Kim was also present when refugees arrived. She gave a special welcome to women, journalists, activists, and children

September 14, 2021 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

Female torturers of the MEK cult

In January 2021, Damien McGuinness of BBC published an investigated report on “Nazi Ravesbruck camp”, where “female SS guards enjoyed home comforts at a camp where they tortured thousands of inmates”.

Presenting testimonies of victims of these women, the author of the article suggests, “Sometimes the women are portrayed as exploited victims. At other times as sadistic monsters.” He points out a very crucial fact about female tortures who are dedicated to the cause of an ideology, “The truth is more horrifying. They were not extraordinary monsters, but rather ordinary women, who ended up doing monstrous things.”

Nazi Ravesbruck camp

What the BBC correspondent concludes is true in other ideological, extremist movements. In September, 2017, Jane Lavender of the Mirror reported on “horrifying confessions of female ISIS torturers” who revealed they enjoyed hurting women – especially in front of dads and husbands. The woman was a member of an all-female jihadist gang and told how she relished torturing her female victims in front of their distraught families. “The terrifying reality of life as a female ISIS torturer has been laid bare as a deserter reveals she “enjoyed” hurting other woman”, write jane Lavender.

female tortures in the ISIS

This was not the only report on female tortures in the ISIS. Other news outlets such as Aljazeera and Daily Mail published accounts on female jihadists who killed and tortured people in Syria, as a new horrific phenomenon in the history of human rights abuse. However, the international community must come to know that female torturers could have been found in the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ Cult of Rajavi) since the group’s leader, Massoud Rajavi, settled the hegemony of women in his cult of personality, during the 1980’s.
The news media have not been able to cover firsthand accounts on female torturers in the MEK because the group severely controls arrivals and departures of its camps. Nonetheless, the testimonies of defectors of the group, who expose dreadful facts on maltreatments and tortures committed by MEK commanders, mostly female, against their own members, are simply accessible.

Maryam Sanjabi

Maryam Sanjabi, escaped the Cult of Rajavi in 2009. She eventually wrote a book about her experience of living inside the MEK. She writes of female commanders who interrogate and torture dissident members inside the cult-like system of the MEK.

Mahvash Sepehri

“Mahvash Sepehri was one of the major commanders to suppress every voice of dissent in the group,” Maryam writes. “About two hundred members were tried by Mahvash Sepehri. They were eventually jailed in solitary confinement, mentally and physically tortured.” Maryam Sanjabi believes that Mahvash Sepehri is the responsible for killing a girl named Nasrin Ahmadi under torture.

Mohammadreza Mobin

Mohammad Reza Mobin, former member of MEK wrote a series of articles on female torturers in the Cult of Rajavi. He revealed horrific facts on how members of the group were interrogated and tortured by female commanders. In particular, he explained about a woman named Forough Pakdel.

“Forough Pakdel was one the main commanders who tortured me,” he writes. “Along with Fazel, she interrogated me. They almost tried to kill me during the six months of solitary confinement.” MohammadReza endured the most sever tortures, as he says, only because he had criticized the leaders’ discriminatory attitude toward members.

Nasri Ebrahimi, a female ex-member of the MEK joined the group when she was only 14. It took her only two years to be a victim of torture by female commanders. “The interrogators were usually, Fahimeh Arvani, Forough Pakdel, Mahnaz Bazzazi, Mehri Haji Nezhad, Batul Rajai and Hajar Tahmasbi,” Nasrin says.
“They wanted me to confess that I was the agent of the Iranian regime and I did not want to confess such a false allegation.”, Nasrin says. “During the entire time of the interrogation sessions Mahnaz Bazzazi and Forough Pakdel were shouting at me, calling me names.”
About the human rights violations committed by female commanders of MEK, the testimonies of former members are countless. Women in the MEK commit crimes, due to the same reasons that other women in Nazi and ISIS establishments committed them.

In a radical system, moral boundaries can be simply transformed or removed. The leader who rules the system –that can be Hitler, Abubakr Baghdadi or Massoud Rajavi—allows violence. In these totalitarian systems, members are charged with strict tasks in the hierarchy. The tasks should be done without any excuse. As a result, any criminal task is normalized in the hierarchy. Victims of the violence are considered as not being human kinds.
Female commanders of the MEK are brainwashed in such a radical totalitarian system that can turn ordinary women to torturers.

Mazda Parsi

September 9, 2021 0 comments

Human Rights Abuse in the MEK

Sobhani spent eight-and-a-half years in solitary confinement inside MEK camp

Mohammad Hussein Sobhani spent eight-and-a-half years in solitary confinement inside the MKO’s main camp in Iraq, Camp Ashraf, from September 1992 to January 2001. He was subsequently held in Abu Ghraib prison and left Iraq in 2002.

Sobhani first came in contact with the MKO in 1977, a year before the anti-monarchy revolution. By 1979, he was working “professionally and full time” with the organization. When the headquarters of the armed wing of the organization relocated inside Iraq, he followed suit. By 1991, he had risen in the ranks of the organization and had become a member of the Central Committee. However, ever since the “ideological revolution,” when divorces were mandated, he became uncomfortable with the path pursued by the leadership. His differences with the leadership of Masoud and Maryam Rajavi and other members of the Central Committee reached a climax in 1992. Masoud Rajavi argued for remaining in Iraq regardless of the end of the Iran-Iraq war and Saddam Hussein’s defeat in the first Gulf War in 1991, he said. Rajavi still hoped that fighting between Iran and Iraq would resume, and based the organization’s strategy on such a development. Sobhani says he found the possibility of a new war highly unlikely given the dismal state of Iraq’s armed forces. Other members of the Central Committee saw his arguments as a challenge to the Rajavis’ leadership:

Mohammd Hussein Sobhani

As long as my criticisms were mild, I was left alone. But as soon as I persevered in my questioning, their behavior changed dramatically. In the beginning, I discussed my concerns personally with the leadership, Maryam and Masoud Rajavi. I also brought up my concerns with other members of the Central Committee. These discussions reached a dead-end. Once they became certain that I didn’t share their views, on August 28, 1992, they convened a meeting (neshast taiin taklif) to determine my faith and to decide if I was staying with the organization or not. The process began with intimidation, verbal abuse, and beatings. Of course, since I was a high ranking official, I was treated better than ordinary members. I was told that my criticisms and questions were just an excuse to quit the struggle. Their conclusion was that I was a quitter (borideh) and didn’t have the strength to continue the struggle any longer.

On August 31, 1992, Sobhani was moved to a prison and kept under solitary confinement for the next eight-and-a-half years.

After the first two months in prison, all of my beliefs in the organization fell apart. Up to that point I considered my differences with them as a matter of divergent political views; I wasn’t questioning the MKO’s underlying essence. I used to mark my prison walls each time I was subjected to severe beatings. There were many occasions of lesser beatings, but on eleven occasions I was beaten mercilessly using wooden sticks and thick leather elts.
Sobhani was handed over to Iraqi officials in January 2001. He spent one month in mukhabarat prison and then transferred to Abu Ghraib. He was held in Abu Ghraib until January 21, 2002, when he was repatriated to Iran in exchange for Iraqi POWs. In Iran, he was detained and interrogated by the Iranian government. After three days, he escaped from a low security detention center and fled Iran. He is currently living in Europe.

September 8, 2021 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization

MEK celebrates its 57th anniversary as what?

On 5th September the People’s Mojahedin e Khalq celebrated its 57th anniversary. But here’s a serious question: ‘As what?’ Is the MEK a terrorist group; a propaganda merchant; a mercenary militia group; a resistance movement; a liberation force; a democratic, feminist opposition group; a government in waiting?

These are some of the descriptions attached to it by observers and by itself over its five-decade history. Sometimes it’s hard to pin down this chameleon like group. Just what, specifically, is the MEK?

Until recently, the MEK kept company with extreme Neocons, Israeli Zionists and Saudis; John McCain, John Bolton, Rudi Giuliani, even Mike Pompeo headlined the MEK’s act. Basically, anybody who took an extreme anti-Iran stance and was prepared to embrace the MEK was welcomed as an ally. Money, of course, changed hands. With a new Democratic president in the US and a new Israeli prime minister, it remains to be seen which version of itself the MEK needs to publicly promote. Whatever that may be, its current attachments, loyalties and pay masters place the MEK at the very heart of what used to be described as American Imperialism.

So, the irony cannot be lost on us that the MEK of today purports to celebrate its 57th anniversary as an armed anti-Imperialist group. The MEK was created in response to the deadly oppression of the Shah and US Imperialism in Iran. The MEK’s founders believed that peaceful protest would not bring about the profound change needed to oust the Shah and his western backers and declared armed struggle. As part of this armed struggle, the MEK assassinated six American personnel in Iran and targeted western interests such as airline offices in Tehran with violent attacks.

After the 1979 revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini, the MEK declared victory over US Imperialism. Its newspaper declared its extremist stance: ‘Let’s Create Another Vietnam for America!’ In its first two decades, the MEK attracted militant youth, prepared to kill and die for this cause. Those who have survived from those days make up the majority of the current MEK membership. After the mid-1980s, MEK leader Massoud Rajavi converted the group into a personality cult, using sophisticated psychological manipulation techniques to brainwash current and new members into obeying his whims. At this point, the terms of struggle became irrelevant, as every member’s real struggle was to stay loyal to an increasingly autocratic and unhinged set of terms: divorce your spouse and send your children away in order to focus solely on my leadership. Avoiding punishment and shunning became the fundamental preoccupation of every member.

Today, five decades on, it is unclear now whether these radicalised (brainwashed) members are able to think and gain the perspective needed to assess their predicament. Which is, the organisation they joined and devoted their whole lives to is built on the shifting sands of political and financial expediency and the base cowardice of Massoud Rajavi. The MEK of today is almost the opposite of the one they joined. Its ideology has evaporated and been replaced by mercenary expediency in the service of American Imperialism. So, by all means, let them celebrate 57 years of the MEK’s existence. But defining what that existence means has become an impossible dissociative conundrum for each and every member.

September 7, 2021 0 comments

Human Rights Abuse in the MEK

Children; victims of MEK destructive cult

In the history of religious and destructive cults, children have always been the first victims. Whereas, among militant political groups around the world, there are few cases whose stories are as tied to children as the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MeK).

In 1990 and 1991, the MeK separated about 700 children from their parents and sent them to European countries via the Jordanian border. Rajavi did this without the heartfelt consent of the children’s parents.

During the war with Kuwait, Massoud Rajavi separated these children from their parents and sent them to European countries under the pretext of creating a safe environment for them.

Why Rajavi separated children from families?

In the second ideological revolution, which included forced divorce, Massoud did not have much success in the lower echelons of the organization. The inferior members opposed this order, using their children as an excuse to reject separation from their emotional partners. Therefore, Massoud who saw children as a great threat to his so-called ideological revolution thought of removing them.

The winter of 1990 coincided with the First Persian Gulf War. While Saddam was severely weakened, Massoud Rajavi used the dangerous conditions of war to achieve his sinister goals.

In fact, he was trying to carry out his sinister plan to remove the children, the enemies of the ideological revolution, from the territory of Iraq in order to guarantee his intended revolution.

Therefore, in the first step, the schools, recreation centers, and other nests of the members’ children, who numbered more than 700, were closed under the pretext of war condition. Then, they were transported to the anti-missile barracks inside the camp in fear and panic, with minimal means of survival and psychologically vulnerable conditions.

After a few weeks, the children became accustomed to the new situation, and the organization’s trick to forcibly relocate the children failed, and the parents still refused to separate them.

This time, the organization’s officials took cruel action and transferred the innocent children to Baghdad, the center of the airstrikes. Numerous bombings and the endangerment of children’s lives made it easier for the organization’s officials to obtain parental consent. So many of parents were content to move their children wherever the organization deemed expedient.

The first refuge for children after leaving Iraq was Amman, the capital of Jordan. There, the children, who had been in love with each other for years, were sent in groups to various European countries especially Scandinavian countries, Australia, Canada and the United States. Of those, more than 200 children entered Germany illegally under the pretext of leaving the Persian Gulf war. Germany was the second-largest children’s destination after Jordan.

During the presence of children in Germany, the MeK received millions of marks annually from child support associations. Children were returned to Iraq at the age of 16 after receiving organizational and ideological training.

Why did Rajavi return young children to Iraq?

After sending the kids to European countries, the organization did not allow any contact between the parents and their children. Rajavi pursued some goals for returning them, such as infusing new blood into the organization which was faced with a manpower crisis. On a deeper level, in Rajavi’s eyes, it was the last chance to return those children who had their parents killed in previous operations since all of them were transferred under pseudonyms and fake identities, and as soon as they reached the legal age, they refused to return or in case of a return, they could apply to leave because they had the original card and identity. Therefore, Rajavi was able to transfer many of the children who had been transferred abroad.

September 7, 2021 0 comments

Newer Posts

Older Posts