Family Contact The Family Contact campaign has developed out of the original work of Iran-Interlink. That work was to establish a way for estranged families of Mojahedin members to regain contact with their loved ones. Since then there have been other efforts by people for contact, and we have now extended our work to help more families not only to have contact with their families, but to be able to visit them in Iraq. The issue at the heart of this campaign is the systematic denial of Mojahedin members to have free and unfettered contact with their families. This is due to the cult indoctrination of members which requires that relations with all normal life and relationships be severed and that members relate exclusively to the organization and to the leaders of the Mojahedin. Families protest to United Nations In October 2002, relatives of Mojahedin members gathered in Tehran to announce their dissatisfaction with the way that the Mojahedin have denied them access to their family members. The relatives issued a statement to the United Nations, requesting that the UN act on their behalf to trace the missing people.
Massoud Rajavi Invites
families to visit Mojahedin bases The Mojahedin denounced the
relatives as having been manipulated by the Iranian regime for political
purposes. However, Massoud Rajavi also issued a personal invitation to
the relatives and anyone else concerned about the welfare of their
family members in the Mojahedin to make a visit to the Mojahedin camps
in Iraq to see for themselves.
See statement (pdf
format)
Iran-Interlink's response
In response to Massoud Rajavi's invitation,
Iran-Interlink has compiled a list of fifty people from our existing
database of people who sought news of their relatives. These people, who
all live outside Iran, are willing to travel to Iraq to visit their
relatives in the Mojahedin. To this end, Iran-Interlink has tried to
make arrangements for the families to visit. This involves guarantees
for their safety and adequate supervision by external bodies (United Nations, International Committee
of the Red Cross,
etc) while in Iraq.
When Iran-Interlink tried to arrange visa's
for these families, we were informed by the Iraqi authorities that they
have no responsibility for the Mojahedin and that we should contact them
directly. The Mojahedin however appear to have ignored our letters and
requests to the extent that they haven't even acknowledged the existence
of these members. Copies of the letters have been sent to human rights
organisations.
While we are pursuing this issue, we appeal
to all our readers to contact the United Nations Special Rapporteur on
Iraq, Mr Andreas Mavrommatis, and ask him to put pressure on the Iraqi government to take
responsibility and facilitate the visits of these families under the
supervision of the UN.
For more information on the appeal
click here. Rajavi's effrontery over family visits (May 2003) MKO members' families meet in Baghdad to free their children (17 July) Families abused in Ashraf Camp, Iraq (24 July) |
