One of the MKO members has recently escaped the group’s camp in Iraq. We asked him why he escaped.
Abbaslou: I had some friends in the camp. I had no future in the American camp. It was an ambiguous future, therefore I and four of my friends could escape the camp July 6, 2005.
I personally thank the US forces, but the reality is that the cult has remained in Iraq due to the problems of the coalition forces.
BBC: you mean MKO officials tortured MKO members in coalition camps?
Abbaslou: well, US forces had surrounded Camp Ashraf and had no control over its internal affairs and this had allowed the MKO to apply their cult-like ideologies. I myself was beaten by the MKO officials, they injected sterilizers into my body, I was virtually executed, they hanged me, forced me into the septic tank, they forced me to admit to what I had not done. There are others like me, such as Amir Abbas Mashour (known as Mahmoud Moshtaghi). They had forced him to divorce his wife. He loved his wife and so, he set himself on fire. Other friends were on hunger strike for a long time, they had sewed their lips only because of the situation”.
Well, this is the violation of human rights”.
BBC: this was our conversation with Mohsen Abbaslou, former member of the MKO. We couldn’t reach MKO officials to have their comments.
BBC Radio, March 10, 2006