Liberty base is a huge military facility near Baghdad International Airport, which was originally created as part of a bigger base called Victory, to house American troops in Iraq. Formerly named Victory North, after September 2004 it was renamed Liberty. Over the current year some 2000 inhabitants of Camp Ashraf of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, Rajavi cult), were moved to this base as a United Nations Temporary Transit Camp from where they are to be eventually transferred out of Iraq. In May the MKO stopped cooperating with the relocation process and at the present time around 1200 members of the MKO have remained stuck in Camp Ashraf.
Information received from inside both Ashraf and Liberty relates that all other tasks can be stopped inside the MKO so that the process of mind manipulation and brainwashing sessions are not stopped. These reports state that each member attends 3 to 5 meetings of this kind each day. In these meetings – under the label of opportunism – the issue of escaping from the cult is discussed and everyone is continuously told that leaving the cult is the most severe sin that a follower can commit. The MKO argues that leaving the cult undermines the resistance against Iran and damages their struggle. By doing this they intend to create mental barriers for the members to keep them captive inside the organization.
Comparing
These reports from inside the MKO indicate that there is an ideological argument within the Organization which forbids the members to compare themselves with others.
Since the relocation process began in February several members who have been transferred to Camp Liberty have had routine interviews with UN officials in Iraq. These people were put forward by the MKO and the process is still ongoing. Others were puzzled as to why some people have been sent for the interviews and they haven’t. They have been asked to report to their superiors if they have such sinful thoughts.
The same argument has been introduced in Camp Ashraf. Some are wondering why they have not been sent to Camp Liberty and are made to remain in Ashraf. They also have to report that they are comparing themselves and their situation to that of others.
Possibility of going abroad
Another argument amongst the residents of the Liberty is about the possibility of their being sent abroad. Since the camp is located near to the airport, most inhabitants watch the airplanes taking off with sorrow and regret.
The cult leaders have asked the members to report such sinful desires to their superiors as a cultic practice. These kinds of thoughts are severely denounced and are considered as ideological weakness.
Keeping the members busy
One method of manipulation used by destructive mind control cults is to keep their followers busy with useless tasks all the time in order to prevent them from thinking freely. This method is used systematically inside the Rajavi cult to render the members so exhausted that their minds cannot function properly.
When members were transferred from Ashraf to Liberty they were only permitted to take personal possessions. But the MKO managed to also take some stretchers as medical equipment. These stretchers are now used to shift sand. They have the members move sand which is stored in one place and which is meant to be used to pave the passageways between the bungalows. The members are forced to relocate this sand from one place to another using the stretchers, and they keep doing this using various excuses. They are also asked to separate out large pebbles from the sand with the excuse that when they pave the pathways these would hurt the elderly residents.
The exhaustion caused by this kind of hard work prevents the members from thinking about their uncertain future and the deadlock they are in.
Conflicts
The reports from Camp Liberty also indicate that there is constant conflict between the members and their superiors. Such conflicts are due to the tense situation inside the camp caused by the uncertainty of almost everything and manifest in swearing and name calling. The extent of this conflict is at a stage that one can predict they will soon turn into physical conflict.
Guests
Further information reveals that some members who insist on leaving the cult are being coerced to stay as guests. Since they have been made afraid of the outside world and they believe they have nowhere to go, they have accepted this. This has been Rajavi’s latest technique to keep his followers inside the cult and prevent them from leaving. These people are also asked to participate in the meetings but they refuse and say that they are only guests.
Sahar Family Foundation, Baghdad