News in Brief

 

Killing Dissidents in Camp Ashraf, Iraq

Irandidban.com, April 27, 2005

Several instances of killing dissidents in Camp Ashraf have come to light during interviews with MKO defectors who have returned to Iran. The former members expressed willingness to testify in any court as to identities of the murdered members.
Alireza Spandar Fard, said in the interview:
“After they tortured me they took me to the cemetery in Camp Ashraf camp and told me that I should join the army or they would bury me there. They also said that they would write on my tombstone 'Martyred Mojahed' so they could take advantage of my death.
Even when we were in the US camp, some our friends showed a mass grave to the Americans. They dug the place and found 7 to 10 bodies. The bodies had been limed to catalyze the decomposition of the bodies.
Killing members was easy for the Mojahedin. If someone opposed them, he would be submitted to Iraq's Estekhbarat or would be killed. They said explicitly that nothing was needed except a packet of lime.”
Dar Mohammed Dahani, from Baluchistan, has taken legal action against Mojahedin. He says they (Mojahedin) killed his nephew Omar Dahani right in front of his eyes.
Mahmood Akbari, from the city of Uromia, testified that one of his friends Alireza Saremi from Mashhad had been killed by the Mojahedin and is buried in the cemetery of Camp Ashraf, where “Martyred Mojahed Alireza Saremi” can be seen on his tombstone.
Alireza Spandar Fard also reports of two suspicious suicides (a man called Soheil and a woman called Mohammedi.

 

 

Rajavi's Cult is disintegrating more rapidly than expected.

Brussels, April 25, 2005

The gathering of Mojahedin supporters in Washington DC in March was attended by three hundred people. Many of the historical neoconservative supporters of the organization - who have been hoping to find a way to use the MKO combatants in the event of military intervention in Iran - refused to participate. In a damage control project, the MKO staged another mass gathering in Brussels on 25th April 2005.

The organization did not announce the number of participants, but some sources have put the number as low as seventy six people. The event was covered by the local news agency Belga which also omitted participating numbers, but quoted the Mojahedin as having gathered support from 12 members of parliaments from different countries.

The organization has downplayed the failure of its event by blanking it from its Persian websites. But in order to keep face, it has resorted to Photoshop techniques to produce a retouched photograph on some of its English websites, while diverting visitors' attention away to the video link to Paris and Maryam Rajavi (whose trial on terrorist related charges is expected to start in the near future).

The rapid decline in support for Maryam Rajavi on the one hand and the increasing support for the victims of the cult among the opposition groups outside Iran, as well as western politicians and human rights personalities, is being viewed by many experts as highly significant.

Reports suggest that in the face of this new phase of disintegration, the Rajavi Cult is having doubts about continuing with another pre-arranged carnival event organized for Sweden.

 

Mercenaries for sale!

London, April 20, 2005

A half page advertisement appeared in the Guardian newspaper advertised Maryam Rajavi's willingness to work as a mercenary in an imaginary pre-emptive war against Iran in exchange of taking her cult off the terrorism list.

In a letter published the following day, the Iranian Embassy in London complained about the advertisement.

But analysts believe that the Islamic Republic of Iran benefits when any attention is diverted away from the true democratic Iranian opposition toward this organisation which sided with Iraq in the 8-year war between the two countries. The Islamic Republic of Iran prefers to accept this cult as its opposition rather than democratic peaceful organisations which unlike MKO have roots in the Iranian community inside and outside Iran.

The MKO has previously spent money stolen from the Central Bank of Iraq on lavish advertisements, most notably in the International Herald Tribune. And Fox News frequently airs their willingness to be used by whoever would like to wear the dirty shoes of Saddam Hussein.

 

Kidnap case brought to trial

Germany, April 19, 2005

A court started its preliminary procedures in a case against two MKO agents who tired to kidnap Mr. Farhad Javaheiyar from the streets of Cologne in Germany last year.

The Judge interviewed one of the accused (the whereabouts of his accomplice is as yet unknown) and asked questions about his involvement. The MKO had brought some of its agents into the court to intimidate Mr. Javheriyar and on some occasions threatened him, which was of course added to the complaints.

In Iraq, Mr. Javaheriyar had been handed over by Mr and Mrs Rajavi to Saddam's Intelligence agency and had been imprisoned in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison for refusing to cooperate with the anti-human expectations and orders of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. It is believed that the kidnapping attempt by the MKO had been a futile attempt to silence Mr. Javaheriyar. Since his arrival in Europe, Mr. Javaheriyar has written many articles and books about his experiences in both MKO and Iraqi prisons. The trial is expected to continue over the next few months.

 

MKO Considered Terrorist by European Parliament

IRNA, April 18, 2005

Head of the Board of European Parliamentary Relations with Iran Angelica Beer conferred with several religious minorities MPs here on Sunday.
In the meeting, Robert Beglarian, the MP representing southern Iran's Armenians pointed to the two articles in Iran's Constitution (13 and 84), saying that five religious minorities MPs are active in the Majlis.
Religious minorities in Iran enjoy religious and social freedom and participate in social and economic activities, he added.
…The representatives expressed dissatisfaction over the issuance of several resolutions in the European Parliament (EP) against Iran, calling on officials to adopt serious measures to pursue the case of members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO).
Angelica Beer, for his [sic] part expressed gratitude over her negotiations with Iran's parliamentary and political officials, adding that the EP assesses MKO as a terrorist group.

 

Germany and MKO

APGC, April 2005, Germany.

The Authority for Protecting Germany’s Constitution in Bayern Province, has published its new annual report on its website. A part of this report reads as follows:
“Mojahedin-e Khalq, among exiled Iranian opposition groups, has been isolated for years. They claim that they’re the only democratic alternative for the current regime. But in fact the organization itself shows that it has critical democratic flaws. They are ready to use violence. The evidence for this claim is the iron hierarchy which exists as a sect around the couple, Rajavi (Massoud and Maryam)...
Sympathizers and supporters collect money for the group by moving house to house and asking for help for so-called “needy human beings”.
A cover organization for helping Iranian refugees was dismantled in October 2003, but there are signs that there have been other associations, for example the association of Human Rights for Refugees. The members of this association are looking for the donors to the previous association.
MKO and NCRI are still looking for politicians to take part in their (MKO’s) ceremonies in order to show themselves as a democratic movement in Exile.”

 

Terrorists Are Not Supported

Dan Robinson, VOA, April 14, 2005

A U.S. Congressional Committee has approved legislation seeking to strengthen existing U.S. sanctions on Iran and put more pressure on Iran's government on the issue of weapons of mass destruction, while providing greater support for Iranian democracy groups.
The Iran Freedom Support Act declares it should be U.S. policy to support human rights and pro-democracy forces in the United States and abroad opposing what it calls the non-democratic government of Iran.
…The legislation would authorize funding for groups pressing for democratic reform, human rights, and civil liberties in Iran.
However, it requires that such groups also oppose the use of terrorism, a provision linked to the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, still officially listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization.
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen cautions there will be strict standards for assistance, adding in her words, it is not that you can just re-invent yourself as a pro-democracy group in order to get funding.