On October 27th, 2021 the German magazine, Die Zeit, published a fact-finding article based on an interview with a former child soldier of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO/ MEK/ NCR/ PMOI/ Cult of Rajavi) Amin Golmaryami.
The Zeit’s article has developed at least 24 accusations against the MEK as the group that had recruited Amin Golmaryami and a large number of other Mujhed child soldiers to join the group’s base in Iraq, Camp Ashraf. Out of the 24 facts on the true nature of the MEK, 20 have been testified by Amin Golmaryami and the rest have been investigated and asserted by the journalist Luisa Hommerich.
Amin Golmaryami
The followings are the cases of human rights violations in the MEK that are accessible in the article:
1. The destruction of family’s structure; The MEK leaders separated children from their parents.
2. The illegal transfer (human smuggling) of hundreds of children from Iraq to Europe.
3. Maintaining children in team houses of the MEK; The group’s agents in Germany kept 150 children in a team house in Cologne without the supervision of the German Youth Welfare Office.
4. Poor health and living conditions of the children in the team houses.
5. Verbal and physical abuse of children by the MEK agents or individuals associated with them.
6. Fraud against the German social security office in Cologne; the MEK operatives received the child benefit, a monthly payment given to all parents in Germany.
7. Establishing front organizations to raise funds under the cover of child aid charities.
8. Employing attorneys to intervene in the activities of the Youth Welfare Office and the German Police under the cover of advocating for children rights.
9. Manipulating the children’s minds. The MEK commanders deceived the children to take them to Iraq promising them to visit their parents in Iraq and get back Europe after a short time but in practice, once they were moved to Iraq, they were not allowed to get back any more.
10. Banning children from education. At least 40 cases of MEK children who resided in Cologne were transferred to Iraq with the promise of visiting their parents and eventually they were unable to continue their education during the next years that they were forced to stay in the group’s camps in Iraq.
11. Kidnapping. In at least 40 cases of the MEK children were disappeared at schools in Cologne; they were illegally transferred to France and from there to Iraq. The legal custodians of the children and the German Youth Welfare Office were not informed about the transfer.
12. In contrast with the promises made by the MEK commanders, the children were not delivered to their parents in Iraq. In case of Amin Golmaryami, he visited his mother after two weeks in the presence of some other Mujahed women. For families, there was no possibility for free visits or living together, inside the MEK bases. Visits took place only twice a year, in public ceremonies.
13. The child soldiers had to wear military uniforms immediately after they arrived in the MEK’s camp. They eventually received military trainings. Thus, they were child soldiers.
14. The children such as Amin Golmaryami were forced to stay in Iraq. They were prevented from returning to Europe. They were kept in Camp Ashraf under severe mental and physical pressure.
15. Although these child soldiers were friends since their childhood in Iraq and Germany, they were not allowed to socialized with each other after they brought back to Camp Ashraf as child soldiers.
16. At least, one of the child soldiers, a girl named Alan Muhammadi committed suicide due to the cult-like pressures by the MEK commanders.
17. Members of the MEK have no free access to TV, radio, newspapers, the Internet and telephone.
18. In the MEK, members have to attend daily meetings in order to report their sexual thoughts.
19. The regulations of the MEK are cult-like.
20. Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the MEK intimidated the dissident members and those who were willing to leave the group. They were threatened to be delivered to Saddam Hussein’s prison, Abu Quraib, where torture was expecting them.
21. Members of the MEK are coerced to spy on each other.
22. Amin Golmaryami was not able to contact the representatives of the UN in Camp Ashraf, Iraq, because of the suppressive ruling of the MEK.
23. The Gestapo-like control in the MEK. In the only one time that Amin Golmaryami succeeded to call a person in Germany, the phone call was monitored by the commanders and consequently Amin was punished.
24. Permanent psychological injuries. Being separated from parents, being smuggled to Germany, experiencing improper living conditions, being moved to Iraq and working as a forced soldier of the MEK have caused Amin and other former child soldiers many mental injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, adjustment disorders and anxiety.
Among the above-mentioned cases, only the cases 6, 7, 8 and 19 were claimed by the journalist, Luisa Hommerich, the rest are all testimonies of Amin Golmaryami, as one of nearly eight hundred children who were separated from their Mujahed parents in 1991 and more than 300 child soldiers who were brought back to Iraq between 1996 and 2000.