The open letter of a group of former members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization to Javaid Rehman, the former special rapporteur of the United Nations on Iran affairs, was published in Kehan London on Saturday, 14 September 2024. These defectors, who mostly live outside Iran, informed Javaid Rehman of important points that not only the former UN Special Rapporteur needs to know, but also anyone who may be involved with the MEK in any way.
These former members of the MEK, who are opposed to the group they left, are also opponents of the Iranian government and in the aforementioned letter, they strongly criticize Javaid Rehman because he went to the group’s headquarters in Paris visiting the group’s leader, Maryam Rajavi. He addressed her as “President Elect”, the title used by the MEK to refer to the self-appointed Maryam Rajavi
In their letter, the signatories emphasize on the importance and sensitivity of the issue and share their concerns based on their objective experiences regarding the MEK with Rehman. They express their concerns on the following two axes:
– First, we are afraid that the Mujahedin Organization would abuse your efforts and positive reputation in fighting for human rights just to pursue its own political goals.
– Second, we are concern that your association with the Mujahedin Organization could damage your reputation and, consequently, your entire efforts to fight for human rights relating to Iran. Obviously, we would like to avoid such a scenario at any cost.
In the beginning of the letter, former members of MEK state that the affiliation of a part of those executed in Iran to the MEK cannot in any way be a justification for Javaid Rehman’s cooperation with the group. To prove this, the signatories of the letter, along with rejecting Maryam Rajavi’s claim about the establishment of a “democratic republic” government in Iran, provide testimonies about the most undemocratic behavior of the Cult of Rajavi:
Dear Mr. Rahman,
Based on our personal experiences and documented observations, we recognize the Mujahidin organization as a criminal organization with a mafia structure. We believe that any communication or cooperation with this organization cannot be justified, even though some of the executed prisoners belong to it. Many of us could have been executed or killed like numerous others who were tortured during the operations of this organization. The struggles for fact-finding and human rights in Iran should not lead to collaboration or cooperation with the Mujahedin organization.
In her speech at the same meeting where you were present, Maryam Rajavi said: “We are standing up for an Iran without torture, repression, and free from oppression and inequality, for a democratic republic based on the separation of religion and state, with an independent judicial system based on the principle of acquittal, the right to defense, the right to a public trial and the complete independence of judges and the abolition of the Sharia laws.”
That allegation was a blatant lie. Many of us have experienced arrest, forced interrogation, prison and torture, all without any trial, lawyer or simply respect for basic principles of human rights such as the “principle of innocence” within this organization. Some of those people have been killed under torture, including Gurban Ali Torabi, who was one of the political prisoners in the 80s.
In her speech, Mrs. Rajavi also claimed that “We are proud to be freedom and human rights fighters.” This is another great deception. This organization is opposed to freedom of expression. Some of those who separated from this organization have faced life threats by this organization, simply because of publishing their experiences and hidden facts about the organization.
Dear Mr. Rahman,
We briefly draw your attention to some serious and documented accusations against the Mujahedin organization and its leadership, which show that this organization is not democratic, does not believe in freedom, and operates with a mob and repressive structure. Accusations such as:
– Brainwashing of members through long meetings called “ideological revolution”, promoting individuation and sainthood of Masoud and Maryam Rajavi.
– Forcing married men and women in the 1990s to “ideological divorce” through mental-emotional pressures and followed by gender-based segregation of men and women.
– Forcing members to write self-reports about their sexual thoughts and dreams through psychological/emotional pressures. Forcing members to confess against themselves regarding these issues in small or large groups (tens or hundreds) of members. Inciting the members in these meetings, in the presence of Masoud and Maryam Rajavi, to verbally attack or throw spit, insult, accuse, and in some cases physically attack the “subject” meaning the person who has submitted a report against themselves. Since the end of the 90s, this systematic procedure has been continuously going on.
– Separating about 700 children from their families within the Mujahedin organization in Iraq in the early 1990s. Sending those children to different countries in Europe and North America, which in practice, led to disintegration of the family institution. Eventually, this act caused severe emotional trauma to those children, the consequences of which continue even now well into their adulthood.
– Recollecting some of the same children at the age of 14 or 15 to Camp Ashraf in Iraq, the main headquarters of the Mujahedin Organization, and forcibly recruiting those children as child-soldiers. In many cases, this was done by deceiving the children, falsely promising them to meet their parents and return to the country where they lived.
– Some of those children and ex-soldiers who have disclosed their experiences in interviews with European newspapers or appeared in a documentary film in Sweden, have been heavily subjected to character assassination and accusations by the Mujahedin organization. In response, a group of Iranian political-social-cultural activists, with different political tendencies in different countries protested these actions of the Mujahedin Organization in a statement (link provided below) .
– Imprisonment and physical-psychological torture of disaffected members within the Mujahedin Organization, and baseless accusations against them. Launching psychological warfare, accusations and character assassination against those dissidents who separated from MEK or the National Council of Resistance, and those who publicly spoke about their experience within the Mujahedin organization or published articles after the separation. This accusation includes even those who have interviewed with a non-Iranian media against MEK.
– Removing the uterus of numerous women within MEK without their consent and sometimes without informing them. Fereshteh Hedayati, one of the women separated from MEK, who had been a member of this organization for 32 years, addresses this issue, revealing that she herself was one of the victims who underwent a surgery for removing the uterus without any medical diagnosis or relevant reasons. She mentions about 120 other cases that she is aware of.
– Recruiting Iranians living in Iran as well as Iranians living in Turkey, Pakistan, and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, transferring them to Iraq, and preventing them from leaving the organization and from Iraq during the time when the Mujahedin organization was based in Iraq. These people were deceived and transported to Iraq using mob tactics and human trafficking.
– Lack of transparency and accountability of the leadership of the Mujahedin Organization. Independent journalists are not able to meet and talk with members of this organization. Even the leadership of this organization refuses to talk to independent journalists.
Dear Mr. Rahman,
We are willing to share our experiences with you in person or through online means and to answer all your questions with accuracy and honesty. Some of us have published articles and books in Persian about our experiences with this organization, which are accessible on different websites. At the end of this letter, you can find the links that show a very slight amount of the multitude of available information relating to our claims.
In conclusion, we reiterate our concern regarding your human rights efforts which can be politically exploited and abused by the Mujahedin Organization. We hope that your independent and valuable efforts regarding human rights will continue and successfully come to a significant conclusion.
The signatories of the open letter to Javaid Rehman are the following defectors who live in different parts of Europe and have criticized the Cult of Rajavi in recent years:
Azimi, Jama – UK, Banki, Atefe – Norway, Dehghan, Gholamreza – UK, Ebrahim Pour, Hamid-Reza – Germany, Gooran, Reza – Norway, Habashi, Manijeh – USA, Hejazi, Bina – UK, Heidari, Nariman – Sweden, Hidarnejad, Hanif – Germany, Hosseinnejad, Zeinab – France, Nabibakhsh, Tahereh – Denmark, Naderi, Siamak – Germany, Najafi – Australia, Nematullahi Haghighi, Amir – Canada, Pourahmad, Mostafa – Netherlands, Shahi Azar, Adel – Germany, Taee Semiromi, Jaber- Germany, Vatanparast, Esmat – Sweden, Yaghmai, Amir – Sweden, Zargar, Mojtaba – Germany