It seems quite normal that human rights activists from all over the world participate in forums on human rights, in form of NGOs, semi-governmental organizations and government representatives. Human rights institutions are actually an area for those who are trying to use the human rights literature and its components to defend the rights of groups of people who have been in some way victims of human rights violations.
Meanwhile, sometimes there are participants, who have nothing to do with diplomatic and legal mechanisms. The groups that used to speak with the language of weapons and violence, today participate in human rights events to advocate for human rights while their capacity and determination for terrorist acts still persist!
The Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO/ MEK/ PMOI/ Cult of Rajavi) is one of those groups whose operatives go to the various housings of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s corridors and rooms each day. What do these formerly designated terrorists with a long history of terror and violence want in this environment?
After being expelled from Iraqi territory, MEK lost many of its capabilities, most notably in the field of armed action, and now it is inevitable to escape from the collapse of their cult-like system. So, they have to play in other areas.
Front Organizations
The relation between the group’s name and terrorist and armed activities has made it impossible for them to enter the Human Rights Council with the original name and, also, to escape from their records, which is precisely the opposite of human rights action, while maintaining in coverage to be present on the meetings. These people usually have no record of association with MEK and its leaders on the Internet. They even deny their association with the cult.
Recruiting people who have no idea about the MEK
The MKO leaders, both in terms of better preservation of the coverage and lack of enough forces, benefit from fugitive Europeans in need in Europe to work on behalf of them. Some of these people have been spending too little time hiring NGOs and are trained to promote the organization’s goals within the targeted event. These people are generally chosen from underprivileged refugee seekers. They have no record of dealing with MEK and its cause.
Manipulating journalists and politicians
One of the most important skills of MEK agents is their power of rapprochement. By approaching the assistants and associates, official reporters, journalists and even politicians they try to identify themselves as a reliable source of news, documents and information on human rights in Iran. As an example, since Ahmad Shaheed was elected as Iran’s Special Reporter, agents of MEK tried to establish close and even non-affiliated ties with the reporter’s assistants. Buying gifts or even paying bribes to his assistants was one of the common ways for the group to approach them.
Another example was recently reported by the Independent. According to the report, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill apologized for delivering an address to a “cult-like” Iranian dissident organization that has been linked to terrorism. Carroll MacNeill had addressed an online event hosted by MEK on March 8 to mark International Women’s Day. Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Carroll MacNeill said she had been asked by a constituent to speak at an online parliamentary conference to celebrate IWD.
“The event was attended by many other European parliamentarians and was in recognition of Iranian women’s fight for gender equality,” she said. “The invitation and correspondence I received in relation to the event did not make any reference to the [MEK], nor was I ever aware or made aware of any link between the event and this organization.”
Launching propaganda against Iran
The agents of MEK have to attend the events from the first minutes of the beginning until the last few seconds, and they also have duties to engage with other NGOs from other countries, meet with journalists and officials to communicate and to gather news and information on panels.
In addition, MEK agents, in the course of leading their paid associates inside Iran, try to lead them to commit more radical acts and eventually get heavier judicial sentences! This will work better for the group’s propaganda against Islamic Republic.
Activities in areas irrelevant to Iran
During the past few years, the MEK agents have been active in certain unrelated issues with the Islamic Republic of Iran. For instance, agents of the group take part in all human rights panels in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria. They take actions for linking themselves to the interests of these states
Show-off protests
One of the permanent actions of MEK during any human is holding protests with very few people of their sympathizers or rented crowds. Mobilizing their uneducated and unusable forces inside in front of the buildings, they sometimes organize them for a month to set up a rally there.
The gatherings are organized with MEK’s own logo and name, and in fact it is similar to other gatherings of the group to show off that they still have supporters. This section of the group that has been active for many years in the UN office in Geneva, Switzerland and in New York, the United States, has several times been banned by the authorities who have been noticed about the violent past of the group.