Currently, nearly 2000 members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK, MKO, Rajavi Cult) have been settled in an isolated and remote camp near Manëz or Manzë city in Durrës province for about 7 years. They consider themselves to be the alternative of the Islamic Republic of Iran and want to overthrow the current Iranian regime by resorting to violence and bloodshed. By its own admission, this group is responsible for the lives of about 12,000 individuals in Iran.
The MEK actively participated in the Iran-Iraq war under Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq for many years, of course on the side of Iraq and against its own country, and also participated in many crimes against the people of Iraq, especially the Kurds in the north and the Shiites in the south.
After the fall of Saddam Hussein, the governments of Iraq one after the other wanted the exit of this organization, which they considered a threat to national security, until finally based on the agreement made with the then government of Sali Berisha (the leader of the right-wing Democratic Party of Albania). This organization was transferred to Albania with all its members as a humanitarian measure and settled in an isolated and remote camp near the city of Manëz in Durrës province.
What was narrated above is related to the recent and distant past and is not the subject of this article. Our current issue is a completely human rights matter. In addition to everything that has been said, the MEK violates the most basic human rights of its members on a daily and systematic basis. This is our issue today. It can be boldly said that there is no outside control over the internal anti-human relations of this camp in Albania, and practically modern slavery has been exposed in Europe on the threshold of the second quarter of the 21st century, and the Albanian government either does not want or cannot take action, to stop this process.
Mrs. Ela Deda, a criminologist and the legal director of the Nejat Society of Albania, in her speech at the women’s conference of the Nejat Society of Albania on the occasion of International Women’s Day on Friday, March 8, 2024, at Villa Nejat Hall in Tirana, stated:
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (official name: Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international instrument for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. This convention was prepared in 1950 by the Council of Europe. It is mentioned in this convention that:
Article 2 – Right to life (Article 2 protects the right to life of every person).
Article 3 – Prohibition of Torture (Article 3 prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and there are no exceptions or limitations to this right.)
Article 5 – Right to liberty and security (Article 5 stipulates that everyone has the right to liberty and personal security.)
Article 8 – Right to respect for private and family life (Article 8 stipulates the right to respect private and family life.)
Article 10 – Freedom of expression (Article 10 protects freedom of expression limited only by “lawful” restrictions that are “necessary in a democratic society.” This right also includes freedom of thought.)
Article 12 – The right to marry (Article 12 states the right to marry and form a family for adult women and men [1]).
Meanwhile, the Republic of Albania wants to enter the European Union and is trying to align itself with the European legal and judicial standards. It is worth mentioning that this convention is approved by the Council of Europe and the Republic of Albania, as a member of the Council of Europe, is one of the signatories of this convention [2].
Now we will discuss some provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and its examples in the Manëz camp in Albania:
Article 2 – Right to life
The MEK in Albania does not pay the least attention to the health of its members in terms of medical and health care, and the deaths that are constantly reported indicate this lack of care. It does not mean that treatment facilities are not available, but the MEK has deprived people of free access to these facilities. Many reports have been received that there is a lot of delay in bringing people to doctors and hospitals in Durrës or Tirana due to the fear of dissatisfied people running away. MEK members cannot easily leave the camp and go to medical centers in Albania.
Article 3 – Prohibition of torture
Former members of the MEK have reported systematic acts of psychological and physical repression in the inquisition meetings, as well as insults, humiliation, slander, and even physical encounters for forced coercion in the Manëz camp in Albania. The psychological destruction of the members has sometimes led them to the border of insanity, and currently there are many mental cases inside the camp that are kept in complete isolation. Inhumane and humiliating treatment is a common practice in the MEK in Albania to destroy people’s psychological defense so that they can take away the ability to say “no” from them so that they always give a positive answer to any illegitimate request.
Article 5 – Right to liberty and security
No member of the MEK in Albania feels safe and is always afraid of being targeted for repression and punishment, without reason. In the MEK, there are no written rules and regulations that can be cited, on which a person can be accused and punished, but the discernment of the leaders at any time is considered as law and regulation. It has been officially announced that the wishes of the organization’s leadership at any time are considered the law of that time.
Article 8 – Right to respect for private and family life
No one in the Manëz camp of the MEK in Albania has any privacy whatsoever. The MEK has invalidated and prohibited any kind of privacy based on its cultic doctrine. Based on the brainwashing that takes place, people are even obliged to report their night’s sleep and pay for it. Free thinking is rejected under the title of mental wandering or intellectual liberalism.
Article 10 – Freedom of expression
People in the Manëz camp do not have the right to disagree or even question the performance of the organization and its leadership. The MEK in Albania has a cultic pyramid structure with the leader at the top of the pyramid. Criticism is allowed only from top to bottom, and towards oneself in front of the official. No question is answered by logical discussion but psychological repression is done to silence the person. All methods of forced coercion are constantly used.
Article 12 – The right to marry
The right to fall in love, get married, form a family, and have children in the camp of the MEK in Albania does not exist at all. Forced celibacy, which is an anti-human imposition, is applied within the relations of the MEK in Albania. In the Manëz camp, gender segregation is implemented in the most severe possible way. There are no families or children in this camp. The family is called a nest of corruption. The main enemy of everyone is considered to be his family.
All of the above and many more clearly prove that destructive cultic mind control methods are practiced inside the remote and isolated Manëz camp. According to the laws and regulations in European countries, brainwashing and mind control and the impositions carried out in this camp are crimes, but the Albanian police and judicial system have closed their eyes on these cases for years.
Right now, in the most blatant way possible, the rights enshrined in the European Convention, drafted, ratified and enforced in the mid-20th century, are being violated on Albanian soil by a destructive mind control cult, and it is the responsibility of the Albanian government to put an end to this situation. And put an end to cultic relations in Manëz camp in Durrës province, which is nothing but modern slavery.
All human rights organizations should demand that the gates of this mysterious camp with medieval connections be opened to the media, government officials and human rights investigators to find out what is going on inside this terrible fortress. Many former members inside and outside Albania are ready to testify at any place and at any time to provide details of this blatant violation of the most basic human rights of the members.
The fact that the MEK has been able to force people to voluntarily give up their human rights, by using mind control methods over time in its cultic base, does not fundamentally change anything, and the responsibility lies with the human rights institutions. Humanity does not accept this, because in practice what is really happening is that still the most basic human rights are violated, and this situation must be terminated immediately. If a person does not demand his rights due to mind control and brainwashing methods in an isolated environment and even volunteers for brutal mental and physical torture, should the torturer be allowed for doing it?
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1- The European Convention on Human Rights, (official: Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms), is an international treaty for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe, which was drafted in 1950 by the New Foundation prepared by the Council of Europe, and entered into force on September 3, 1953.
European Convention on Human Rights
https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/echr/Convention_FAS
This convention has 59 articles and 16 additional protocols, in each clause of which there are many examples from within the organization, which are enough to condemn the MEK for violating basic human rights.
2- The Council of Europe (It is different from the European Union and should not be mistaken) has 46 members from European countries, including Albania. Albania is one of the countries that has signed the European Convention on Human Rights and is committed to its implementation.