The legal process against Mrs Maryam Rajavi

Karim Haghi

Sometimes the recollection of some of these scenes has been intensely painful and difficult for the victims. The atmosphere of these meetings was often very emotional and usually ended with people weeping while remembering the exact details of their own particular histories. But if they would not bear this pain and would not talk, the world could never know what has happened in Ashraf Camp.

Since 1991, after the uprisings of the people of Iraq and the start of several waves of defections from the MKO of dissenters and victims who took refuge in the freedom of European countries, the possibility of prosecution and legal action on the grounds of human rights abuses inside the Mojahedin has been one of the deepest wishes of these people.

The core motivation of this wish has always been to shed light on the truth, and to have justice served and never for revenge or self satisfaction.

For many years we were not able to achieve this because:

1-     The MKO lived under the protection of Saddam Hussein's dictatorial regime in Iraq, which did not accept any international law or treaty and was openly and widely supporting  international terrorism. Support for the MKO, and others like them, was one of the fundamental principals of the Ba'ath regime.

2-     The defectors, due to the debilitating conditions of physical and mental torture they had experienced before being able to escape, were generally in a very vulnerable, weak and exhausted condition. For a long time, they did not have the capacity to enter into such a struggle.

3-     Their lack of experience also was another problem.

Despite the above mentioned constraints, some years ago we instigated legal actions in Germany, Holland, Britain and France and discussed the issues with our lawyers. But because at that time the leaders of the MKO, the people clearly responsible for all the human rights abuses, were living in Iraq, pursuing legal action in the European courts of justice was virtually impossible.

After the fall of Saddam Hussein, it was discovered that Mrs Maryam Rajavi had been sent into hiding in France with a false name and passport. When she was arrested by French police on terrorism charges, at last the victims and survivors of the MKO found the opportunity to start their claims and the pursuit of justice against her. After many, many meetings and discussions, and after comparing the laws of the various countries of Europe, and also considering that Mrs Rajavi is currently on bail in France, we decided in the end to pursue our claims through the French judicial system.

Over the preceding year, tens of victims and tortured people had been giving evidence of their experiences and producing documents to support their allegations for the lawyers. Sometimes the recollection of some of these scenes has been intensely painful and difficult for the victims. The atmosphere of these meetings was often very emotional and usually ended with people weeping while remembering the exact details of their own particular histories. But if they would not bear this pain and would not talk, the world could never know what has happened in Ashraf Camp.

After gathering the evidence, it was then for the lawyers to find the best possible ways and cases.

The file of individual claims against Mrs Rajavi was reaching its end when the momentous day, 17^th June 2003, arrived. On this day hundreds of French anti-terrorism police burst into the bases of the MKO in Auvers sur Oise and arrested Mrs Rajavi together with tens of other members of the MKO.

Top anti-terrorist judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, had given the order for the operation, which was one of the biggest anti terrorism operations of its kind in the history of France.

The legal process which Judge Bruguiere and the French government are pursuing is based on terrorism and related charges. The individual claims, on the contrary, are based on alleged human rights abuses.

From the time the MKO transferred to Iraq in 1986 and formed a close cooperation with Saddam Hussein, the Mojahedin's leaders have committed a variety of crimes which are in contradiction with basic human rights. Of course, it is widely known that the leaders of the MKO, the political path they have chosen, and the ideology they espouse has never accepted the laws or the spirit of human rights, even in theory.

A brief overview of the allegations of human rights abuses inside the Mojahedin Khalq Organization is as follows:

Extra judicial and mock court cases against its internal critics and disaffected members. Denying them the right to legal representation and using, as the heads and authorities of the court, people who did not have the qualification or capability to carry out the responsibilities of such functions.

Imprisonment of critics. (Some have spent up to 8 years in solitary confinement.)

Beating and torture of the prisoners to get confessions from them. There have been no limits to the tortures and some have resulted in the death of the prisoners, of which Mr Parviz Ahmadi and Mr Ghorban Torabi, and Mr Ali Khoshal … are among some of these victims.

Unresolved cases of suicide and murder inside the MKO which no independent body has ever investigated. In this respect we can refer to evidence concerning:

Ali Naghi Hadadi

Nalan

Mir Hussein Mousavi

Davoud Ahmadi

Nader Ojani

And others…

The establishment of a cult in which the members were forced to accept:

·        Forced divorces

·        Separation of children from their parents

·        Extracting public confessions, filming and recording them and imposing inquisition sessions.

·        Forcing people to reveal their personal secrets in public.

·        Transferring critics and disaffected members to Abu Ghraib prison (at the time of Saddam Hussein).

The above mentioned cases are just some of the allegations against Mrs Maryam Rajavi.

After completion of the file, the lawyers representing the victims handed it over to the judiciary of France. After around a month of investigation by the judicial system and consideration of the files, fortunately, the judiciary ruled that the cases against Mrs Maryam Rajavi can be considered.

The announcement by the French judiciary revived hope and joy in the hearts of the victims and restored their faith that it is possible to achieve justice in the world.

I ask all the people who read these lines, and everyone who believes in justice, to help us. Help us so that the ones who have more power and money will not be able to win over the ones who have suffered in their hands.