Official American version of events at Camp Ashraf
.
... There were allegations during the year that some of the 3,400 members of the MEK terrorist organization located at Ashraf were denied the right to leave under threat of reprisal from MEK leaders. These allegations were corroborated by several former Ashraf residents who had fled the camp. Individuals claimed to have been subjected to psychological and physical abuse ...
.jpg)
(Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, cult leaders)
State Department, USA, March 2010
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/nea/136069.htm
2009 Human Rights Report: Iraq
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
March 11, 2010
Link to the full report
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/nea/136069.htm
(...)
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
...
On July 28, clashes erupted at Ashraf in Diyala Province when the ISF attempted to establish a police presence inside the more than 3,400-person compound of the terrorist Iranian dissident group Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). The clashes resulted in the deaths of 11 MEK members and injuries to 30 ISF officers. The government credibly claimed the MEK provoked the clashes by staging a violent demonstration to block the ISF from entering the compound.
(...)
d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of Refugees, and Stateless Persons
...
There were allegations during the year that some of the 3,400 members of the MEK terrorist organization located at Ashraf were denied the right to leave under threat of reprisal from MEK leaders. These allegations were corroborated by several former Ashraf residents who had fled the camp. Individuals claimed to have been subjected to psychological and physical abuse, including threats of reprisal against family members and solitary confinement in Ashraf to discourage defections.
...
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Also:
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=5290
The secretary of US embassy exposed Mojahedin Khalq(MKO, MEK,PMOI, Rajavi cult) leadership
.
... The second secretary of the American embassy in Baghdad, published a documented report on the crimes committed by the MEK’s leaders who bloodshed their own colleagues, raped the women of Ashraf, poisoned and executed dozens of the defectors ...
Fars News Agency,Translated by Nejat NGO, October 22, 2008
http://www.nejatngo.org/en/post.aspx?id=2062
Link to the orginal reprot (Persian)
http://iran-interlink.org/fa/?mod=view&id=5281
(Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, cult leaders)
The Second secretary of US embassy report on the horrible crimes of MKO leader
The second secretary of the American embassy in Baghdad, published a documented report on the crimes committed by the MEK’s leaders who bloodshed their own colleagues, raped the women of Ashraf, poisoned and executed dozens of the defectors.
According to FNA reporter in Baghdad, the second secretary of American embassy in Baghdad, William, revealed the bloody violence of Masud Rajavi, MKO leader, against the dissident members, in the third and forth chapter of the report on the actual situation of Mujahedin.
The American official, who investigated the documents and files on Mujahedin, has been one of the authorities who control Camp Ashraf. The report reads:
Like Malik Farough, the former king of Jordan, Masud Rajavi abuses even his female colleagues.”
In another part of the report you can read:
” Rajavi has expanded sexual relations with the female military, political and administrative ranks of the group. He also ordered the doctors to do hysterectomy surgery on some of them.
He noted that he has watched the films of the confessions of the women.
The second secretary of the American embassy mentioned that Rajavi sent the husbands to the deadly operations so as he can reach the wives and possess them in Napoleon’s way. In the existing documents in Ashraf you find out that some of the deaths in the group were not random but intentionally planned. In his long report William noted three cases of the planned deaths and wrote:
”the confessions of some of group members reveal that Rajavi was involved in 19 cases of death personally ordering the assassination.”
This American authority points out poisoning of the members and writes:
“Rajavi ordered the silent death, poisoning some friends or colleagues.
He added:
Now, it is clear for the US that MEK’s leader was involved in the suspicious death of his colleagues who were killed under his order but their death was reported falsely as the result of sickness or accident.
He continued mentioning that the forces of MEK are disappointed at the present time in Iraq and present no benefit to the US administration in the current Iraqi scene.
In a part of the report he writes:
Most of Mujahedin forces are suffering dangerous mental diseases and are likely to commit suicide or homicide.
Besides the Iraqi security authorities stressed that the Americans investigated some individuals who confessed that the MEK leader was involved in the assassination of Iranians residing abroad and some defectors of the group. To commit the assassinations, MKO enjoyed the assistance of embassies of the Saddam’s regime and his security organizations.
(Camp Ashraf)
------------
Also read:
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=797
http://hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iran0505/
No Exit
Human Rights Abuses Inside the Mojahedin Khalq Camps 
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Rise of Dissent inside the MKO
IV. Human Rights Abuses in the MKO Camps
V. Testimonies
May 2005
-----------
Also
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=7975
Film from Camp New Iraq (formerly Ashraf)
.
.
Iran-Interlink, at the gates of camp Ashraf, Iraq, April 2010
http://www.iran-interlink.org
Film showing the violent reaction of Mojahedin-e Khalq to the families trying to visit their children who are being held captive inside the camp by the Rajavis.
(Link to the Video file Part one, 100MB)
(Link to the Video file Part one, 100MB)
* * *
(Link to the Video file Part two, 100MB) * * *
(Link to the Video file Part two, 100MB)
Also:
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=7973
Report on the Mojahedin Khalq (MKO, MEK) attack on the families
on Thursday night 14th April, 2010 in front of
camp New Iraq (formerly Ashraf)
.
... Iran-Interlink did, however, record some film that day, which will be broadcast in due course. This film will first be presented to the UN office, the Iraqi Judiciary and relevant human rights organisations.The knife wielding Mojahed woman has been identified and the families concerned are already in the process of submitting a law suit against her ...
(A cult session in Ashraf Camp Iraq)
Iran Interlink, at the gates of camp New Iraq (Ashraf), April 17, 2010
http://www.iran-interlink.org
This report is a short, logical addition to the mountain of statements which the MEK have issued in recent days. It has been published to further apprise those interested in this issue of what has taken place.
What was it that the MEK was after when they attacked the families?
One basic fact shouts louder than all others and that is, that for 66 days the MEK leaders have refused all access to the victims inside the camp. The MEK leaders did not let the families see their children even for a minute. It is also clear that the MEK began the attack and that they had planned and coordinated it with all the MEK’s systems ready to play their parts, in particular the MEK’s relentless propaganda system – resulting in the mountain of statements.
The families have been waiting for many weeks in front of the gates of the camp to see their children. The MEK leaders have obdurately refused them access. The families became so desperate to make contact that they started speaking over loud speakers so they would be noticed by the people inside. Their motivation has been to try to let their children know that they are there.
From last week, the families decided to expose the activities of the MEK leaders by reading out loud the interviews of Ms. Batool Soltani (a former member of the Leadership Council). The MEK leaders objected and complained to the Iraqis that the families are insulting them over the loud speakers. As evidence they referred to the Soltani interviews. The leader of the Iraqi security forces made enquiries with the families, who then submitted a copy of the Soltani interviews to him in Arabic.
The MEK have opened a so-called hospital in front of the gates which they call “The Hospital No. 2”. Only the trusted leaders and members of the cult are allowed to go in and out of this place. Even so, the reading aloud of the Soltani interviews has had some effect on them, and some have been communicating with the families with their hands and with various other signals, and in this way have actually encouraged the families to continue and not to give up.
In an inspired move, the families had the idea to broadcast the sound of laughter of a two year old child into the camp. The members have not heard such a voice for decades. It made some of them, who were allowed to be near the gate, smile. This was also noticed by the MEK leaders and has shaken them.
Three days ago, Mr. Iman Yeganeh Khorasani from Mashad, after 22 years, drove his lorry (which he works with) up to the gates of the camp and handed himself over to the Iraqi security forces. He later came to visit the families.
Iman told Iran-Interlink, “Just before the Norooz (New Year) holidays the leader of section one started insulting the families. I asked, ‘Why are you insulting the families’? He told me, ‘They have been sent by the Iranian regime’. I said, ‘Even if this was true, this would not give you reason to swear at these people. Would you swear at them even if my family was among them?' At that point I told them that I refuse to stay there".
Iman continued, “They started to arrange a few brainwashing sessions for me, but when they realised that I still refused to stay, they pleaded with me, ‘Stay until the end of Norooz because you have given your word and you have to keep your promise".
“A few days before Norooz they started to extract new promises from the members again to say that they would stay until next Norooz. I had no choice but to run away from the camp. But the problem is that the leaders do not allow anyone to go anywhere by themselves, or do anything by themselves, or even walk around in the camp".
He described his escape; “Yesterday, I was sitting in the lorry waiting for the second person to arrive. In the few minutes that he was delayed, I took my chance. I started the lorry and drove to the Iraqi post and asked for asylum and protection.”
Iman told Iran-Interlink, “The MEK leaders have been brainwashing the members against the Iraqis so they are really afraid of approaching the Iraqi officers. But I was even prepared to be killed by the Iraqi army rather than staying one more day in Rajavi’s garrison. When I realised how kind and human the Iraqis are, I was really ashamed of myself.”
Since Iman’s escape, the Mojahedin no longer allow rank and file members to carry out any maintenance or service work. The leaders are now doing all the work. For example, the leaders of each section now sweep the outside pavements themselves at nights.
The MEK is facing a serious problem in keeping its members people under control. They are doing everything to stop them hearing the voices of the families, and to stop them from escaping.
After Iman’s escape, the leaders increased the checkpoints inside the camp and have implemented restrictive laws to prevent people from escaping.
The leaders now know that they can no longer control every disaffected person – and there are many, many of them in the camp. And they now know that the families have no intention of moving from the gates of the camp.
It is this deadlock which forced the MEK to try to repeat the scenario of July 2009 and this time blame the families for the violence.
On Thursday morning they started clandestinely placing loud speakers about 100 meters away from the camp gates. From about 10.30 pm that day, they brought together around 200 people who started swearing at the families using the very powerful loud speakers. They then began to try to incite the families who were behind the closed gates to respond with violence.
Clearly, this kind of provocative attack aimed at the 11 family members outside the gate was intended to somehow engage the Iraqi security forces and provoke violence so that the MKO could cast itself in the role of victim – that is, 3500 people the victims of 11 families. At about 1.30 in the morning, the families, acting on the advice of the Iraqi security officers, retired to their makeshift beds. Without warning, two MEK women members appeared from out of nowhere with the intention of launching an attack on them with knives. Fortunately, they were intercepted by the Iraqis and were prevented from starting any violence or carrying out their assassination attempt.
The MKO continued to swear at the families over their loud speakers until 3.00 am. Then they broadcast an audio tape of the MEK military march ‘Victory’ on a loop, and threatened that they will do more and worse things to the families if they do not leave the gates of the camp.
On Friday morning, the families again gathered at the camp gates with good moral. That night they hung coloured bulbs and lights all over the gate of the camp celebrating the “victory” of the MEK leaders the night before. Their slogan, which they chanted that day, was, “You continue your war and victories and we will continue our persistence with singing and celebrating”.
Of course, as expected, the MEK is claiming that the Iraqi forces and the families have attacked them. It is interesting that, while they continue to film every second, day and night, they have not presented a single clip of film to show this alleged attack. Iran-Interlink did, however, record some film that day, which will be broadcast in due course. This film will first be presented to the UN office, the Iraqi Judiciary and relevant human rights organisations.
The knife wielding Mojahed woman has been identified and the families concerned are already in the process of submitting a law suit against her.
The families report that they are very happy to have news that Mojahedin leader Maryam Rajavi has been writing to the UN, so that someone there will be forced to take notice of their problems. They are waiting eagerly to see why it is that the UN does not take any action against the MEK’s hostage-taking terrorist leaders who are backed by some murderers in America and Israel.
The families have a clear message for all: They will not leave without their children. They also warn that other families are also on their way.
The families also wish to thank all the people, across the globe, who have given them support and encouragement.
(Mehdi Abrishamchi and Massoud Rajavi taking orders from Saddam's head of secret services General Haboush
(Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, cult leaders)
(Maryam Rajavi directly ordered the massacre of Kurdish people)
---------
Also:
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=7929
Nejat Families at Ashraf Gates
Mojahedin Khalq (MKO,MEK) Leaders bar the reunion of members with their families
.
... Another group of MKO members’ families who were mobilized by Nejat Society Khuzestan branch traveled to Iraq where they are hopeful to visit their beloved ones captured by Rajavi’s destructive cult ...
Nejat Society,April 08 2010
http://www.nejatngo.org/en/post.aspx?id=3057
Another group of MKO members’ families who were mobilized by Nejat Society Khuzestan branch traveled to Iraq where they are hopeful to visit their beloved ones captured by Rajavi’s destructive cult.
A number of families have already gone to Ashraf gates since two months ago, but they were prevented from visiting their children by MKO authorities.
The families who are members of Nejat Society Khuzestan branch joined the other families at Ashraf gates, awaiting for visit with their dear ones.
------------
Also read:
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=7915
America, are you listening?
If Rajavi harms even a hair on my sister's head, America, you are responsible!
.
... Iraqi media and local dignitaries visit families outside Camp New Iraq (Ashraf) where Washington-backed terrorist group, Mojahedin-e Khalq are holding 3500 people hostage. Human Rights groups say Rajavi refuses to allow family visits in the camp. The video shows Hoorieh Mohammadi from Canada asking Americans and the MKO for compassion...
Iran-interlink, outside camp New Iraq (Ashraf), February 2010
www.iran-interlink.org
Iraqi media and local dignitaries visit families outside Camp New Iraq (Ashraf) where Washington-backed terrorist group, Mojahedin-e Khalq are holding 3500 people hostage. Human Rights groups say Rajavi refuses to allow family visits in the camp. The video shows Hoorieh Mohammadi from Canada asking Americans and the MKO for compassion.
Link to the video file (200 MB, One hour)
Link to the video file (200 MB, One hour)
-------
Also:
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=7882
Human Rights Minister: documents confirm the illegality of the presence of people in Camp Ashraf in Iraq
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... For decades the MKO have been in this camp and have not been regarded as refugees. Now neither the UNHCR nor the International Organization for Migration deal with them on that basis. The Ministry has addressed these organisations formally more than once in order to lend a helping hand to them, but they always affirm in their responses that that the MKO is a military organization and has not demilitarized ...
Alsabah, Baghdad, March 18, 2010
http://www.alsabaah.com/paper.php?source=akbar&mlf=interpage&sid=99446
(Translated by Iran Interlink)
After investigations by the Iraqi Minister of Human Rights, Minister Salim said that the presence of the residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq is illegal. She stressed that the Iraqi government will deal with them in a purely humanitarian manner, and added that since 2003 it has secured the freedom of 300 of them who wanted to leave the camp.
In a statement summarised by al-sabaah newspaper, Minister Salim said that the government is dealing with the residents of the camp in Diyala province, members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, in a humane fashion. The absence of any official documents in their files of applications for asylum is an indication of the illegality of their presence in Camp Ashraf. However, between 2003 until the end of 2009, 300 have left the camp of their own free will and returned to their own country.
Minister Salim said that delegations from the Human Rights Ministry visit the camp from time to time to review the conditions of its population in coordination with the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations. In less than a year, 36 people have asked to leave the camp under the direct supervision of the Ministry. They asked to return to Iran without any influence from government bodies and they were brought to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which took responsibility for them.
For decades the MKO have been in this camp and have not been regarded as refugees. Now neither the UNHCR nor the International Organization for Migration deal with them on that basis and refuse to cooperate with them. The Ministry has addressed these organisations formally more than once in order to lend a helping hand to them, but they always affirm in their responses that that the MKO is a military organization and has not demilitarized. They can only deal with them once they leave the camp and claim civilian protection.
Minister Salim explained that the laws and agreements on the protection of populations who seek protection on the grounds of suffering because of armed conflicts or war do not apply to them because they are not in a nation in war or conflict.
Minister Salim indicated that since the beginning of the SOFA with the United States which transferred responsibility for the camp from the Americans to the Iraqis, the legal situation has changed completely for them. In particular after review of the records and papers which exist, officials did not find any requests for asylum or protection or evidence that their presence is in any way legal.
Minister Sailm said that in general it is necessary to deal with them in a spirit of humanity and not to deport them to countries where they may be exposed to harm or torture, asserting that the Iraqi government has committed itself to this principle. She expressed surprise at their refusal to be moved to another location which provides services and care since they have not rented and nor do they own the land they currently occupy.
حقوق الانسان: وثائق تؤكد عدم قانونية تواجد سكان معسكر أشرف في العراق
http://www.alsabaah.com/paper.php?source=akbar&mlf=interpage&sid=99446
اكدت وزيرة حقوق الانسان المهندسة وجدان سالم ان تواجد سكان معسكر اشرف في العراق غير قانوني فيما شددت على ان الحكومة العراقية تتعامل معهم بشكل انساني بحت لاسيما انها امنت منذ عام 2003 اخراج 300 منهم رغبوا بترك المعسكر.
واشارت في تصريح خصت بـه( الصباح ) الى ان الحكومة تتعامل مع سكان المعسكر الواقع في محافظة ديالى من عناصر منظمة مجاهدي خلق الايرانية بشكل انساني على الرغم من عدم وجود وثائق رسمية ضمن ملفاتهم تحوي طلبات لجوء ما يؤشر عدم قانونية تواجدهم في معسكر اشرف ، مؤكدة تامين اخراج 300 منهم رغبوا بارادتهم الخاصة ترك المعسكر وتوزعوا بين لاجئين وعائدين الى بلادهم منذ عام 2003 لغاية نهاية عام 2009 .
المهندسة سالم اوضحت ان وفودا من الوزارة تقوم بزيارة المعسكر بين الحين والاخر للاطلاع على احوال سكانه بالتنسيق مع مكاتب اللجنة الدولية للصليب الاحمروالامم المتحدة المتواجدة هناك ،كاشفة عن اعادة اكثر من 36 شخصا طلبوا الخروج من المعسكر خلال اقل من سنة وباشراف الوزارة المباشر ، منهم طلبوا العودة الى ايران بدون اي تاثير من جهات حكومية اذ تمت احالتهم الى اللجنة الدولية للصليب الاحمر التي تولت مسؤولية ذلك .
ونبهت الى ضرورة عدم السماح بنقل مشاكل دول الجوار الى العراق ، لافتة ان عناصر منظمة خلق الساكنين بالمعسكر منذ عشرات السنين ليسوا بلاجئين لاسيما ان منظمة الهجرة الدولية ومفوضية شؤون اللاجئين لا تتعاملان معهم على اساس ذلك وترفضان التعاون معهم ، اذ ان الوزارة خاطبت هاتين الجهتين بشكل رسمي لاكثر من مرة بغية مد يد العون لهم الا انهما تؤكدان في اجاباتهما دائما على ان اليات تواجدهم تدل على انهم منظمة عسكرية ليست منزوعة السلاح وانهما ستتعاملان معهم حال خروجهم من المعسكر بصفة مدنية،اما مسألة حمايتهم فاوضحت انه وفقا للقوانين والاتفاقات الخاصة بحماية الاشخاص فان على هذه الجهات توفير الحماية للسكان اذا ما توافدوا من بلد يعاني من نزاعات عسكرية او حروب ،مبينة ان ذلك لا ينطبق على هؤلاء كونهم ليسوا من دولة تعاني من حروب او نزاعات.
وبينت سالم انه منذ بداية سريان الاتفاقية الامنية المشتركة مع الولايات المتحدة والتي تم خلالها نقل مسؤولية المعسكر من الجانب الامريكي الى العراقي فقد تغير الوضع القانوني لهم بشكل كامل لاسيما بعد الاطلاع على ملفات المتواجدين هناك واوراقهم الرسمية التي لم نجد بها اية طلبات لجوء او حماية ما يدل على ان تواجدهم غير شرعي.
ودعت الى ضرورة ان تكون الصفة العامة في التعامل معهم هي الصفة الانسانية وعدم ترحيلهم الى بلدان قد يتعرضون بها الى اذى او تعذيب ،مؤكدة ان الحكومة العراقية التزمت بهذا المبدأ ولم تنقلهم قسريا الى مكان اخر لا تتوفر به خدمات او عناية، مبدية استغرابها من رفض سكان المنطقة الانتقال الى اية ارض عراقية اخرى غير ارض المعسكر علما انها غير مؤجرة او موهوبة لهم من قبل اية جهة.
----
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Also:
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=6789
New document on Mojahedin Khalq released by RAND
(The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq, A Policy Conundrum)
.
.
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RAND, August 05, 2009
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG871/
(Camp Ashraf)
A new document (133pages) was released today by RAND
* * *
Link to the document (pdf file)
... A RAND study examined the evolution of this controversial decision, which has left the United States open to charges of hypocrisy in the war on terrorism. An examination of MeK activities establishes its cultic practices and its deceptive recruitment and public relations strategies. A series of coalition decisions served to facilitate the MeK leadership's control over its members. The government of Iraq wants to expel the group, but no country other than Iran will accept it. Thus, the RAND study concludes that the best course of action would be ...
Link to the document (pdf file)
(Massoud and Maryam Rajavi the cult leaders)
-------
Also read:
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=6775
U.S. Handling of Mujahedin-E-Khalq Since U.S. Invasion of Iraq Is Examined
(The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq , A Policy Conundrum)
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Jeremiah Goulka, Lydia Hansell, Elizabeth Wilke, Judith Larson, RAND, August 04, 2009
http://www.rand.org/news/press/2009/08/04/?ref=homepage&key=t_iraqi_mek_flags
(Massoud Rajavi and Saddam Hussein)
At the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Coalition forces classified the Mujahedin-e Khalq, a militant organization from Iran with cult-like elements that advocates the overthrow of Iran's current government, as an enemy force.
The MeK had provided security services to Saddam Hussein from camps established in Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War to fight Iran in collaboration with Saddam's forces and resources. A new study from the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, looks at how coalition forces handled this group following the invasion.
Although the MeK is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States, coalition forces never had a clear mission on how to deal with it.
After a ceasefire was signed between Coalition forces and the MeK, the U.S. Secretary of Defense designated this group's members as civilian "protected persons" rather than combatant prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. The coalition's treatment of the MeK leaves it – and the United States in particular – open to charges of hypocrisy, offering security to a terrorist group rather than breaking it up.
Research suggests that most of the MeK rank-and-file are neither terrorists nor freedom fighters, but trapped and brainwashed people who would be willing to return to Iran if they were separated from the MeK leadership. Many members were lured to Iraq from other countries with false promises, only to have their passports confiscated by the MeK leadership, which uses physical abuse, imprisonment, and other methods to keep them from leaving.
Iraq wants to expel the group, but no country other than Iran will accept it. The RAND study suggests the best course of action would have been to repatriate MeK rank-and-file members back to Iran, where they have been granted amnesty since 2003. To date, Iran appears to have upheld its commitment to MeK members in Iran. The study also concludes better guidelines be established for the possible detention of members of designated terrorist organizations.
The study, "The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq: A Policy Conundrum," can be found here.
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG871.pdf
For more information, or to arrange an interview with the authors, contact Lisa Sodders in the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 393-0411, ext. 7139, or lsodders@rand.org.
Learn More
iconFull Document (http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG871/)
iconNational Security Research Area (http://www.rand.org/research_areas/national_security/)
iconE-mail sign up (http://www.rand.org/publications/email.html)
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Also:
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=7875
Remember the families of Rajavi cult victims in Camp Ashraf
(Norooz 1389)
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... At least some have been released temporarily even though with hefty bail to spend Norooz with their families. But on the side of the Mojahedin Khalq who claim to be the 'National Liberation Army' (that is, to liberate people) we do not even see this minimum ...
Hadi Shams Haeri, March 17, 2010
link to original (Persian)
http://iran-interlink.org/fa/?mod=view&id=7873
It is now a few months that the families of Rajavi cult victims trapped in Camp New Iraq (formerly Ashraf) have come to the gates of this camp in Iraq. They have risked the dangers posed by the remains of the Baathists and Al Qaeda and the situation of today’s Iraq only with a hope that they may visit their loved ones for a short time. They have undertaken this difficult and unusual journey only with the hope that the hard hearts of the MKO leaders may give way to some leniency and humanity and they be given the chance of a visit and a hug from their family members.
Prisons and prisoners have always been one of the most troubling problems for human beings, especially whenever a dictator is in charge, and inevitably the families are denied even their basic rights of visiting their loved ones.
On the other hand, we see that during the past few months the families of the prisoners, who are generally intellectuals, reporters and other more sophisticated layers of Iranian society, have gathered in front of Evin Prison in Tehran to get some news from their loved ones or get a visit perhaps. Their suffering is continuous.
I believe that prisoners and their families, irrelevant to ones belief or political views or affiliations, and irrelevant to whatever label - true of false - is given to them, have human rights which cannot be denied to them for whatever reason. It makes no difference whether the prisoner is a friend or an enemy. We have a duty to support their basic human rights, especially when it comes to the visits of families who have no connection to these issues whatsoever. Families have and should have the right to visit under any circumstances.
This denial of basic human rights and the suffering caused by that multiplies when it coincides with a time of celebration and rejoining of families like now, Norooz or the Persian New year. At a time when all families try to gather around the HAFTSEEN and congratulate one another on the arrival of Spring and the youngsters expect presents from the seniors, the absence of Rajavi's prisoners is harsher on the families.
It is years now that the residents of Camp Ashraf are missing the benefits of this historical and national day and the visits of families and friends on this occasion. It is years that they are trapped in a garrison far away from any human being. And now, 7 years after the fall of Saddam still not one of their leaders want to accept that Iranians in this day gather around each other and chat and eat and enjoy the festival.
On the side of the Iranian government, meaning the prison guards and the Judiciary, at least we have witnessed some sort of acknowledgment of Norooz. At least some have been released temporarily even though with hefty bail to spend Norooz with their families. But on the side of the Mojahedin Khalq who claim to be the 'National Liberation Army' (that is, to liberate people) we do not even see this minimum. They have not yet allowed a even a single family who are sitting in the front of the camp to visit their children.
These families in front of Camp Ashraf of course have a different situation compared with the families in front of Evin Prison in Tehran. These families are in a foreign land with a foreign language miles away from any city. Old men and women sitting in the middle of a desert with no facilities whatsoever. Their only wish is for a glance of their loved ones. If the leaders of Mojahedin Khalq allow them.
Even if we accept the Mojahedin leaders' claim that these old men and women are somehow affiliated to the Iranian Intelligence Ministry, still they have this minimum of right to see their children.
Does the MKO leadership have the right to refuse a visit between a father and a son in this case? If so , then what is the point of the Mojahedin’s so-called struggle for the people? If the MKO want to keep this legacy of denying rights for whoever is against me and to punish the father for what the son has done or visa-versa, and to punish a copper beater in a city for the crimes of an ironmonger in another city, then seriously what is the point?
This has been the question of many people from Mojahedin Khalq leaders for a long time. A question which has never been answered.
But on another front. Should we put our faith in the hands of the international human rights organisations and believe that there will one day be some ears to take notice of the suffering of these families?
With the hope for a very happy Norooz and with the reminder to everyone that this ancient celebration has been passed down from our very distant ancestors. We sincerely hope that one day all families could have their loved ones beside them around the table of haftseen and we ask everyone to remember the families sitting outside Camp Ashraf and pray for them.
We hope for a day that the goddess of freedom would spead her wings over everyone.
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Also
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=7858
Families of Rajavi cult victims maintain their vigil outside Camp Ashraf
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... For the families, it makes no difference now who will meet their loved ones first. Now the families, which are growing in number by the day, are in the sixth week of their picket in front of the camp. They have taken a collective oath not to leave the gate until they release all the children and all the hostages from Rajavi cult’s garrison ...
Iran Interlink, Camp New Iraq (Formerly Ashraf), March 15, 2010
http://iran-interlink.org
“…this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost but now he has been found!” (Luke 15:24)
In February, when the MKO leaders realised that a group of Iranian families were to visit Camp Ashraf and would insist on visiting their relatives who were resident there, they used their propaganda to claim that the families are actually agents sent by the Iranian intelligence services and they have been sent to kill the MKO members and destroy the camp.
However, when pictures of the families were published on various websites, the MKO removed their false messages from their western funded propaganda media; their television channel, websites and print media. They suddenly realised that people are looking at them and wondering how it is that the “National Liberation Army” which was supposed to liberate a country of 70 million people, is crying foul and saying that 25 pensioners are able to destroy them in their own camp with nothing in their hands. Having said that, the 25 pensioners themselves each believe that they will destroy the cult single-handedly as they know that once the gates of Camp Ashraf are opened and people are allowed to decide for themselves, no-one would be left for the leaders of this terrorist cult and all their hostages will leave.
For the time being, Maryam Rajavi and some of her henchmen are riding on the backs of these hostages trapped in the Iraqi camp. They issue their stream of advertisement statements paid for with money stolen from Iraqi banks. The MKO began to take video clips of the families suffering outside the gate of the camp. They ridiculed them and their desperate situation while showing Maryam Rajavi portraying herself as a film star, a celebrity.
This ridiculous CIA funded and CIA backed propaganda of the cult in the west continued until the families decided to turn their banners and loud speakers towards the residents inside the camp so that any film taken by the MKO from inside the camp would have inevitably shown and recorded the simple demand of the families (or as the MKO was trying to pretend, the ‘agents of the regime’). Suddenly all the filming and broadcasting from the cult outlets stopped. They could no longer show them since the simple demand would be seen on their simple banners – let us see our children.
The MKO cult leaders then waited and expected that the old men and women with no place to stay at the gates of the camp would one by one and in a matter of days, fall ill or become tired and would eventually leave. They would not be able to survive under simple tents for much longer. This may have been true and some of the older and sick families had to leave the gate after a while and go back home to attend their problems. But the MKO leaders did not imagine that others with the same goal and overcoming the same problems would not leave. And they little imagined that there are many more who will replace the ones who can no longer continue.
For the families, it makes no difference now who will meet their loved ones first. Now the families, which are growing in number by the day, are in the sixth week of their picket in front of the camp. They have taken a collective oath not to leave the gate until they release all the children and all the hostages from Rajavi cult’s garrison.
Latest pictures from the gate of Camp New Iraq (formerly Ashraf)
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Also
http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=7778
Mojahedin Khalq families denied meetings with their captured children in Camp Ashraf
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... The Iraqi government continued throughout the last month to convince them of the need to deal with this situation in a humane and approved way to allow meeting between Iranian families and their children, and not to accept false statements and counterfeit, which accuses the Iraqi government of violating human rights laws. The failed negotiations have resulted in the ...
Almotamar, Diyala, Iraq 28 February 2010 (translated by Iran Interlink)
http://www.inciraq.com/pages/view_paper.php?id=201024156
The Mojahedin Khalq Organisation (MEK, MKO) has refused to grant meetings to the families who have came from Iran to Iraq to meet their children who are members of the Mojahedin Khalq and who for years have been held captive by the organization’s leaders in Camp Ashraf.
Mojahedin leaders did not allow the families who came from Iran to Iraq with the consent and support of the Iraqi government to Camp Ashraf in Diyala province since last month, to meet with their children who are in Camp Ashraf in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad and who have been detained by the Organization since the eighties of the last century with the cooperation and support of the former regime.
The protest surprised officials of the Organization who refuse to allow members of the Organization meet relatives for fear they will leave the organization and Camp Ashraf and return to their homeland and their families. The Organisation launched excuses such as lack of names required for the interview between the elements of the organization, or failure of the children themselves to desire to meet with their families and their refusal to communicate with their families and their relatives.
Sources said that the Iraqi government has sought the presence of the delegation of the United Nations and International Red Cross and international human rights organization to hold direct negotiations with the leaders of the organization. The Iraqi government continued throughout the last month to convince them of the need to deal with this situation in a humane and approved way to allow meeting between Iranian families and their children, and not to accept false statements and counterfeit, which accuses the Iraqi government of violating human rights laws. The failed negotiations have resulted in the rejection of the absolute leaders of the organization to this humanitarian initiative. Ultimately, to reach an end to the sit-in by dozens of Iranian families outside the gates of Camp Ashraf, the Iraqi government and international community must intervene to pressure the leaders of the organization in Camp Ashraf in order to allow meetings with their children and allow them to make personal decisions in response to their emotions and their sensations.
منظمة خلق ترفض مقابلة العوائل الايرانية لابنائها المحتجزين في معسكر اشرف
ديالى – المؤتمر
http://www.inciraq.com/pages/view_paper.php?id=201024156
رفضت منظمة (مجاهدي خلق) مقابلة العوائل الايرانية الذين جاءوا من ايران الى العراق لمقابلة ابنائهم من اعضاء مجاهدين الاسرى من قبل المنظمة في معسكر اشرف بعد مرورسنوات طويلة.
فلم تسمح المنظمة لعدد من العوائل الايرانية الذين جاءوا من ايران الى العراق بموافقة ودعم الحكومة العراقية الى معسكر اشرف في محافظة ديالى منذ الشهر الماضي وذلك لملاقاة ابنائهم من اعضاء منظمة خلق المتواجدين في معسكر اشرف في محافظة ديالى شمال شرق بغداد والذين تحتجزهم المنظمة منذ عقد الثمانينات من القرن الماضي بتعاون ودعم النظام السابق ، حين تفاجأوا باحتجاج المسؤولين في المنظمة الذين يرفضون مقابلة اعضاء المنظمة بعوائلهم خوفاً من تركهم المنظمة ومعسكر اشرف والعودة الى وطنهم وذويهم ، وذلك من خلال اطلاق ذرائع اهمها عدم وجود الاسماء المطلوبة للمقابلة بين عناصر في المنظمة ، أوعدم رغبة الابناء انفسهم من مقابلة عوائلهم ورفضهم الاتصال بذويهم واقاربهم.
وذكرت مصادر ان الحكومة العراقية من جهتها سعت وبحضور وفد الامم المتحدة والصليب الاحمر الدولي ومنظمة حقوق الانسان الدولية الى اجراء مفاوضات مباشرة مع قادة المنظمة استمرت طوال الشهر الماضي من اجل اقناعهم بضرورة التعامل مع هذا الموقف بشكل انساني والموافقة على مقابلة العوائل الايرانية لابنائهم وعدم اطلاق التصريحات الباطلة والمزيفة التي تتهم الحكومة العراقية بخرق قوانين حقوق الانسان ، وفي النهاية فشلت كل المفاوضات نتيجة الرفض المطلق لقادة المنظمة لهذه المبادرة الانسانية ، الامرالذي انتهى الى اعتصام عشرات العوائل الايرانية امام معسكر اشرف مطالبين الحكومة العراقية والمجتمع الدولي التدخل للضغط على قادة المنظمة في معسكر اشرف من اجل مقابلة ابنائهم واتخاذ القرارات الشخصية استجابة لعواطفهم واحاسيسهم.
--------- Also: Fear and Slavery in the Mojahedin-e Khalq cult . ... This threat does not come from outside agencies, but arises directly from the cult nature of the organisation itself; hence the MKO leaders’ hysteria over eight family members knocking at the camp gate asking to see their relatives ... Anne Singleton, November 2009 Foreword The families in Iraq announced on Friday 6th that they had finally been able to meet with their relatives, but were far from satisfied with the circumstances. They said that when the MKO leaders discovered that they were coming to the camp accompanied by several Iraqi and American reporters, they accepted to negotiate. The MKO agreed that the families could meet with their relatives for a few hours on condition that they do not talk to the media. The families accepted and held meetings. * * * Fear and Slavery in the Mojahedin-e Khalq cult By Anne Singleton, November 2009 For those still interested enough to follow the dwindling fortunes of the foreign terrorist cult, Mojahedin-e Khalq, isn’t there something faintly ludicrous in the group’s desperate denunciation of anyone and everyone who does not fall on their side of a red line, drawn excruciatingly tightly around the organisation and its backers, as “agents of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry”? Is it really a case of ‘us few against the rest of the world’?
http://www.iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=7192
However the families also said that their loved ones told them not to pursue the issue any further and said they must cut all further contact with them otherwise they will come under severe pressure from the cult leaders.
The families have now decided to pursue the issue of the camp with the Human Rights Ministry of Iraq in private. 
An examination of the current crisis the MKO is facing reveals that it is not involved in a pitched battle to overthrow the Iranian regime – or has that aim been abandoned without them telling anyone – but the arrival at the doors of its camp in Iraq of eight elderly Iranian folk seeking contact with close relatives – sons, daughters, husbands –inside the camp, who they have not seen for many, many years and with whom they wish to meet. All eight have been denounced by the MKO leaders as “agents of the Iranian secret services” who have been deliberately sent to dismantle the camp and take its residents back to Iran.
Really?
These eight – and the other small groups and individuals who have arrived at the camp over the past six years - are terrifying agents capable of destroying Rajavi’s dedicated, self-sacrificing, totally committed force of Mojaheds? Surprising then that they have not come armed with dynamite and bulldozers, but instead come with kindness, warmth and words filled with both love and sorrow. They come with news and messages from family and friends, about births, deaths, marriages and all the little minutiae of ordinary life.
How interesting. How revealing. What a sad admission of the fragility and nihilism of the Rajavi cult that they are truly terrified by this.
Are we to believe that Iran’s “main opposition” - to quote its own self-publicity – which purports to be able to overthrow the Iranian regime in its entirety and establish a democracy in its place, is full of individuals terrified that their Mum or Dad will come along and pull their ear and make them go home? (And we must not forget that these are individuals with an average age of around 50 years.) Is it really that easy to turn a dedicated individual away from their struggle?
Isn’t the only rational interpretation of the MKO’s current hysteria that Massoud and Maryam Rajavi can only keep hold of their followers through deception and coercion and that the visit of these families will threaten to undermine that.
The fundamental, unavoidable fact behind all this is that the MKO is a dangerous, destructive mind control cult which holds its members in a state of modern slavery.
And the significance of this is far greater than the story of these eight families and involves the geopolitical future of Iraq and the region.
In brief, the MKO is described as a dangerous cult because it believes in using violence to achieve its stated aims. It is destructive because it destroys the lives, minds and spirits of its membership. The majority of the members are held incommunicado, with no access at all to the outside world. Within this isolation they are subjected to a systematic daily regime of psychological manipulation and coercion.
One of the most potent tools used by cult leaders to control their members is through the inculcation of irrational fears, or phobias, in the minds of cult members. Every cult has its own version of phobia. But all will be focused on creating an irrational fear in a cult member of critics and opponents of the cult, especially former members and family members; who of course are best placed to understand the cult mindset and be able to penetrate it. The member will become fearful anytime the phobia is activated. In the case of the MKO, the ‘code’ which activates the phobia is the tag ‘agent of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry’. No empirical evidence is required as the phrase works exactly to arouse irrational, not real, fear.
Members of the MKO live in a state of almost perpetual fear. It is through fear that the MKO not only enthrals its members but deceives uninformed politicians and media persons. The use of the word terror in this article is not for the sake of exaggeration. It describes the employment of irrational fears to ‘terrorise’ the subject. Western parliaments, media and humanitarian agencies are being ‘terrorised’ by a sophisticated campaign of psychological manipulation in which MKO lobbyists arouse a subtle level of irrational fear of spurious, deceptive spectres (usually these will be tagged ‘agents of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence’) facing the “main Iranian opposition movement”, the MKO.
Ironically this unarmed ‘terrorist’ campaign is waged by the MKO to avoid exposure and activation of the real existential threat hanging over the group. This threat does not come from outside agencies, but arises directly from the cult nature of the organisation itself; hence the MKO leaders’ hysteria over eight family members knocking at the camp gate asking to see their relatives.
But, those still interested enough to keep on following the dwindling fortunes of the foreign terrorist cult Mojahedin-e Khalq, will already know that this is not the whole story. Not even the real story. And those who may squirm at seeing see the emperor’s nakedness should look away now.
For six years the American Army provided protection for the MKO in Iraq, a group which both the U.S. and Iraq designate as a foreign terrorist entity. The RAND National Defense Research Institute report ‘The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq – A Policy Conundrum’ published in August 2009 describes the U.S.’ failure to deal decisively with the group; to dismantle it as should have happened, as successive Iraqi governments since December 2003 required should happen. According to the report, “Approximately 14 U.S. soldiers were killed and 60 wounded as they provided security for convoys escorting MeK [MKO] members to Baghdad to purchase supplies. Thus, it was often unclear just who was in charge of Camp Ashraf”. According to the report, the order to protect this useful little mercenary terrorist cult came from the very top, from former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Why?
Just as the MKO leaders denied families access to their relatives inside the camp, the firmly closed doors of the camp against this existential threat proved an extremely convenient location to reassemble members of the former Saddam Hussein’s regime. Over six years the MKO has played host to supporters and officials of the former Iraqi dictator’s regime. Insurgent violence in the Diyala province has been coordinated from the MKO camp under U.S. protection.
So, when eight family members arrive at the gates of the MKO camp, it is not only the MKO leaders who fear the existential threat to the cult, but the group’s western backers. For over two decades, the Mojahedin-e Khalq has been promoted by western interests as Saddam Hussein’s private army. Since 2003, the group’s Zionist and neoconservative backers, fronted by Lord Corbett in the U.K., Struan Stevenson and Alejo Vidal-Quadras in the European Parliament, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in the U.S. Congress, and U.S. lobbyist Raymond Tanter, have not been supporting the MKO for humanitarian reasons (otherwise they would surely support these family visits). They are protecting and promoting the group as a proxy for reintroducing Saddamists into Iraqi politics.
Those terrorised into believing they support the MKO for humanitarian reasons to protect them from destruction by the Government of Iran need to summon a little energy and a little courage to look beyond this false, superficial reasoning and really examine the facts. In doing so they will be faced with a stark choice: support the MKO as a proxy for the re-emergence of pro-western Saddamists in Iraq, or support the elected Government of Iraq as an independent, sovereign government.
That is clearly a political choice. But in the meantime, remember, the real victims of the MKO’s terrorism are the cult’s own members who are enslaved by fear.