Ebrahim Khodabandeh, CEO of Nejat Society, wrote a letter to Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha, the former Prime Minister and the former President and also the chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania and the leader of the opposition, which is as below:
His Excellency Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha
Chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania and leader of the opposition
Greetings and respect
I am writing on behalf of the families of the members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO, Rajavi Cult) who are trapped in a closed and remote camp of this organization in the city of Manëz in the province of Durrës.
The agreement of the then government of Albania to your leadership in 2012 by transferring the members of the MEK from Iraq to Albania for humanitarian reasons made the families pleased because their loved ones were supposed to be transferred to a safe place. The initial idea was that with this transfer, it will be easier for families to communicate with members, and also members will enjoy better conditions.
As you know, in the agreement between the then government of Albania and the then American government, as well as the MEK and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, it was supposed that these members would be temporarily settled in Tirana, and the process of their rehabilitation and return to a normal life and then be distributed in other European countries would soon be started.
With the inauguration of the new government in 2013, the process of transferring and settling members of the MEK in Albania was gradually carried out according to the previous plan until it was completed in 2016, but later their settlement took a different form. Finally, the members of the MEK settled in a closed and remote camp in the city of Manëz in Durrës province, where they have no contact with the outside world, especially their families.
In the absence of any monitoring of its activities in Albania, the MEK was able to violate the basic human rights of its members and their families, and cases such as imprisonment, torture, suicide and even murder were reported inside the camp, which were not followed up by the police force.
Also, this organization has refrained from committing criminal acts, including human, weapons and drugs trafficking, as well as money laundering and fraud. This organization, under the support of the American Embassy in Tirana and corrupt elements in the country’s security and police apparatus, has managed to endanger the national security and interests of Albania, which desires to join the European Union.
Recently, Mr. Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania, who had just returned from the United Nations General Assembly in New York, in an interview with TV KLAN in the popular program Opinion, in response to the host’s question about the presence of the MEK in Albania, explained that the Albanian government, in line with a humanitarian action, agreed to transfer the members of the MEK to the country, but the MEK, by violating the laws and frameworks governing the country of Albania, caused disturbances in the order of this country and its relations with other countries.
Has any action been taken regarding this confession of the Prime Minister for indemnification? In the meantime, are only the MEK to blame and the government has no responsibility? Why should a destructive mind-control cult with a long history of terrorism, which endangered Iraq’s national security and was expelled from that country, have an open hand to “disrupt the country and its relations with other countries”?
It is not necessary to recall the recent events in Albania due to the presence and activities of the MEK in this country, because you yourself have mentioned them well in numerous interviews. Our current problem is a human rights issue that needs special attention.
At the request of the MEK, the Albanian government does not issue visas to the families of the members to enter Albania, and those citizens of other countries who were able to enter the country not only were never allowed to meet and communicate with their loved ones, but were also insulted.
Our request is that your excellency, as the leader of the opposition, question the government why the members of the MEK live like medieval cults in the camp and experience modern slavery, and why they are not allowed to communicate with the outside world, especially with their families. The families’ wish in one sentence is the dissolution of cultic relations within the MEK and the possibility of communication with the members.
Thank you in advance for your caring attention to this issue and I am impatiently waiting for your kind reply.
Sincerely,
Ebrahim Khodabandeh
CEO of Najat Society