304th ‘Night of Memorials’-3

When I was in a dark room...

Maryam Rajabi
Translated by: Zahra Hosseinian

2019-8-21

Then, the host of ‘Night of Memorial’ event, Seyed Davood Salehi, said, ‘Tell us about the ‘Nejat Society’, so that the audience of ‘Night of Memorial’ know what you, Mr. Alizadeh, and your other friends are doing?’ Mr. Khodabandeh said; ‘I don’t know if you have heard that The Supreme National Security Council of Iran has an approval which has also been approved by the leadership. On the strength of this approval, if the members of Mujahedin repent and abandon the organization, would be enjoyed of amnesty, they could return to Iran and live freely. I am in the know that about seven hundreds of them now live freely in this way in Iran. Many of these people did not want their identities and backgrounds to be disclosed, and the Iranian judiciary has accepted that too. They live and work in Iran without anyone knowing their background. We, some of these people, have formed a community called ‘Nejat Society’. This society was founded in 2005 and we tried to make contact with families of members of organization. Many families were unaware that their children were in Ashraf Camp. Actually, they were missing. We arranged for these families to travel to Iraq. They went on many times. We have provided them that their children with these specifications are in Ashraf Camp. We could prepare a list of members, in order if someone asked us about the membership of a person in organization, we can largely determine whether they are in the organization or not. Many had been killed and their families were unaware; they were missing, and we were informed they were in the organization. We’ll continue to do so.

Our attempts tend to rescue. And what do we mean by rescue? One is that we can rescue people who are caught by the organization or even mentally are possessed and deceived by the organization's advertising. It is a very difficult task because they cannot be connected! But during this time we were able to disclose, to inform. I myself have gone to all the universities in Iran and have spoken. I did a lot of interviews on television. We produced a lot of documentation. The MEK is still recruiting young people under various names; for example, they hired reporters in cyberspace. A youth who had volunteered was asked to collect information in the university and he was paid. After a while, he was asked to do other duties, and later he had realized that what they want is spying and that information was not to be found and given to others. He had said them that he do not cooperate anymore, and he was told these two years you worked for us, you were actually working with the MEK. If we report this to the security authorities, it is clear what will happen for you. For fear, the poor young continued his cooperating for a year, until he went and reported. The organization is very skilled at attracting people. Massoud Rajavi said: ‘One of our most important recruitment has been recruiting the first president of the regime.’ I myself heard Rajavi said that when the revolution occurred, everyone was looking for establishing a party and doing political activities, but we were looking for military structure, militia and collecting weapons. We sent our infiltrations everywhere, and they left impression on people anywhere they could, like the presidential office of Bani-Sadr; and anywhere they could not influence, blew it up, like the office of the Republican Party. He said over and over they have been preparing themselves for a military confrontation with Iran since the beginning of the revolution. Before 1981, Massoud Rajavi traveled secretly to France twice. There, through the French government, he was linked to the Iraqis and it was intended that in 1979, Iraqis from abroad and the MEK from inside, have finished with Islamic Republic of Iran.

About prisoner’s camp, I remember Mehdi Abrishamchi, one of organizations’ authority, declared that they arranged with the Iraqi government to make the conditions of the camps extremely difficult. Then the members of the organization went there and without say anything about the MEK, introduce themselves as an Iranian charity organ, which tended to help them and then to take them to Europe. Especially prisoners who were physically injured and tolerated a lot of pressure, deceived. I was in touch with some of these people. They said that they had not seen shampoo, soap and hot water for two years, or they had suffered toothache for two years but no treatment was provided. But in the organization they were provided with the facilities, and treated, and then little by little were told these are belong to Mujahedin. Many of them wanted to come back, but were told you were here and if came back, no one believed and you would be executed. I mean, they stayed in the organization for fear of being executed. Many of them had Red Cross code. The Red Cross interviewed with them and said that you could go back to Iran or stay in the organization. Massoud Rajavi held a meeting after that. I was at that meeting. He gathered all of them and said that a trap has been set for you, they want to take you to Iran, torture and then execute. When appeared before the Red Cross authorities, tell them you want to go back to the organization. Many individuals were scared and said to themselves, ‘If we go back to Iran, tell them why we have been in the Mujahedin Khalq Organization?’ A number of them also returned to Iran, with most of whom I were in contact. They explained that there was not even the slightest harassment. They were forgiven and even their captivity record was taken into account. That is to say, the authorities have treated them with such kindness and have been so cooperative. Some who were scared, of course, stayed in the organization, but as little by little Saddam’s government fell, they went to the Albania and then abandoned the organization.

Unfortunately, there is very little information about the organization, its plots and treachery. With the exception of a handful of specialists, the general public is unaware of what happened, that is the aspects of its crime and treason. In Iraq, for example, members of the organization were told to call their families to see whether they are safe or not, because Saddam rocketed Tehran. It was strange to us that the organization was thinking about families. Later, through a system called ‘corner’, they called Germany or France from Iraq, and from there to Iran in order the contact thought that the call had been from Germany or France. They called and asked: ‘are you safe?’ And their family answered: ‘We're good.’ They asked: ‘Tehran has been rocketed?’ Iraq then rocketed Iran, and with these calls it was cleared where has been hit. The organization collected this information and was a free observer for Iraqis to rocketed Iran later more accurate. Neither that member of organization nor that family knew what they were doing. They obtained information from inside Iran in the most complicated way, and they do now. They are now making the most use of cyberspace. For example, they post to Instagram with different posts and plan to make friends. They don't introduce themselves at all and try slowly to attract young people. They are, by no means, seeking to encourage masses and the general public. They want to encourage an element. Especially those who have key position or a young man whose father has key position, so that they can infiltrate into Iran.’

One of audiences gave a written question to the host which read; ‘How you were in the organization for 23 years and didn't realize these evil and wickedness and now you are talking about them?’ the host continued: ‘We see the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and the Judiciary say if anyone repents, come back and start their normal lives. That is to say, they believe, after many research, that there was an important brainwash. They could say that the person who come back, is maybe a spy, or perhaps come with a dirty plan, but they know what happened there. That means that brainwashing has been so deeply that you've been involved in for 23 years and have served. Tell us what happened to you there all those years?’

Khodabandeh said, ‘In Europe and especially in France, a society called ‘Mothers, Forgotten Victims’, has been founded. They are mothers of ISIL members. They say, for example, a Frenchman has been converted and become Muslim, then has gone to Syria to fight, and eventually reached the point where he has beheaded. The point is mind controlling. I have translated a book titled, Sects among us. The author of this book, Mrs. Margaret Thaler Singer has written that both the MEK and ISIL use the sectarian destructive method of mind controlling, described in this book, under the pretext of Islam or Christianity. Zionism, for instance, is a kind of sectarian mind controlling which draws people to Judaism under the pretext of Judaism, and then practices and uses it against the ideals of the same religion.

The way I came to Iran was that I had a mission in Syria. As an Iranian businessman who traveled from Iran to Syria to trade, I was moving $ 2 million from Iraq to Paris. In Syria, I was arrested along with one of my friends. Two months later, our identity in Syria were revealed. We were sent to Iran in a semi-conscious state. We were sent to Evin Prison. The interrogator came to me. I immediately said that my flesh and bones are mixed with Rajavi; end of story. You can’t extract any information from me! The interrogator asked: ‘Have you had dinner?’ I replied: ‘No. Apparently my head had been covered on the plane’ He said: ‘with empty stomach we can’t talk. I'm going to look for food.’ He went and came back and said, ‘Unfortunately the dinner is over. Let's go cook something.’ He took me to guard’s room. It looked like a pantry. He made fried egg and brought with halva ardeh[1]. My friend said: ‘I haven't eaten halva ardeh for many years.’ We ate and talked until morning. We completely forgot that here is the Islamic Republic of Iran and as Rajavi said, there is a sea of blood between us and the Islamic Republic! Then he said, ‘Go and sleep.’ The next morning they came and drove us and showed Tehran. I hadn't come to Iran for 32 years. I didn't know anywhere in Tehran. The second day was the same. The formal interrogation finally began. The interrogator appeared and said: ‘The interrogator asks a question and the accused answers. I have no question. Whatever I want to know, I know. If you have any questions, ask me. That means here can be the opposite. You, who are the accused, question; and I, the interrogator, will answer.’ We discussed a lot. I said: ‘You executed pregnant women in Evin prison!’ The interrogator said: ‘If I can prove one of the reasons that a prisoner is not executed in Evin Prison is that she is pregnant; you stop supporting the organization?’ I said: ‘No!’ Our interrogation continued the same. We went, he brought chocolate and pastry for us, and we began discussion, and then came back. We went two months by two months and he extended our detention.

In Evin Prison, I didn't watch TV and didn't read the newspaper; I said: ‘This is the regime television, I don't watch it!’ I didn't read the book! I was trying to keep my mind as it had been trained and controlled. Until my brother, Massoud Khodabandeh, a close friend of Rajavi in England, got separated or somehow escaped. He sent me a book titled Sects among us. I leave through it and noticed it was about sects in America. I thought this book had nothing to do with Iran or the MEK, so I started reading. It was as if a curtain was drawn aside, when I read this book. It was about mind controlling and brainwashing. I learnt that all of the techniques in this book have been implemented in the organization. Massoud later said that the book was sent to Rajavi from the United States. He gave it to me and I translated it. Many psychological book were sent. The reason Massoud left the organization was the same psychological books that were sent from the United States, and all of techniques in these books were implemented in the organization. My brother has written a book titled Living in Ashraf Camp. He has written that one day four American journalists visited Rajavi in Paris. Their clothes were similar. Their appearance was not like journalists. They were more like spies. Rajavi, unlike all his meetings, spoke with them without an interpreter. Rajavi's English was not good enough to speak fluently, but he refused to have an interpreter. After that meeting, he decided to go to Iraq, and the Iraqi and Liberation Army plans started. Massoud, my brother, said that he was sure it was the US plan for him to go to Iraq. Iraq was then popular with the West. Mohammed Mohadesi was in charge of international relations. We had a meeting at Department of Defense of England, in which I was an interpreter. They said that you are with Saddam Hussein and it was clear that he was popular with the West. Tariq Aziz went to America and Reagan welcomed him in front of fireplace of White House. The highest protocol of guests’ reception in the White House is entertaining them in front of fireplace; Netanyahu, for example, is entertained there. Rumsfeld, who later became secretary of defense, visited Saddam along with a delegation during war. Saddam could provide weapons and supplies from wherever he wished.

In answer to the raised question, which of course is asked by everyone, let me say that you assume you are in a dark room for 23 years. They just tell you what's going on in this room. Then suddenly someone lights the lamp. How long does it take you to find out what's in this room? It takes 23 years? No! In a moment you realize that all you were told was a lie. This book did the same. Suddenly the curtain is pulled. In the Syrian jail, if I was allowed to choose between Evin Prison and Abu Ghraib Prison, I would definitely choose Abu Ghraib. For instance, we were told that one of the tasks of Tehran's municipal agents is to collect the bodies from inside street gutters early in the morning, before people appear! It was said that if a woman have a make-up, her lips would be cut by razor! I recently heard Trump has said: ‘Iranian people can hardly buy a loaf of bread!’ Enemy’s propaganda is constantly going on. To some extent I know English and as a second job, I works as an interpreter for tourists. I have dealt with many foreigners or spoken with journalists traveling to Iran. During these 16 years since I live in Iran, I have never heard a foreigner doesn’t say: ‘What I saw in Iran is completely contrary to what I had in mind. That is totally different.’ The organization was promoting that anyone who goes to Iran, has betrayed; because going to Iran means cooperating with the Ministry of Intelligence, otherwise how they go to Iran and come back alive?! There have even been those who have reversed immigration. I mean, I know a lot of people who immigrated around 1981, but again packed their bags and returned to Iran.

Mind controlling, advertising and brainwashing are very serious issues that are also used in ISIL itself. When I was in prison, there were two al-Qaeda prisoners who were also in our block. One of them said: ‘It is written in such and such book, Imam Ali (AS) said that your greatest enemy is your reason!’ I said: ‘One of the pillars of the jurisprudence is reason. You know what you are talking about?’ For example, when Seyed Hassan Nasrallah was shown on TV, that prisoner went toward the TV and spit on it and fight with that image! All the interrogators worked with patience and calmness, so that I was even bored sometimes! The interrogators tried to make known the reality. When I went to Evin Prison, had prepared myself for everything. I was ready to endure the worst tortures. I was even ready for execution. I wasn't ready for only one thing; to sit down and talk. The thing didn't happen in the organization. I could not argued logically. For example, I saw the interrogator criticized and accepted a lot of criticism, but I couldn't accept the slightest criticism toward the hypocrites. My mind-set was unsettled; how he could be the integrator of Ministry of Intelligence but accept the criticism? He accepted and said: ‘You tell the truth; we have such and such shortcomings.’ I couldn't be like him. I felt like I was crushed little by little. At one point I lost my mental balance. Suddenly I felt that I have missed my footing. As long as I believed in organization, I was comfortable and ready for being tortured, executed or anything else; but in a moment I realized that what I had heard so far was a lie. It was like I had been weeping over a grave in where there has not been a corpse. The interrogators came to my rescue then. They even helped me to be on my foot again. Even the first day they said that we wanted to make you the same Ibrahim Khodabande you were, the one who was in the Islamic community, the one in Neauphle-le-Château. At one point everything was clear.’

One of the attendees asked, ‘Tell us about the end of story of Massoud Rajavi? Is it true he has suffered brain death, or there is another story?’ Khodabandeh replied: ‘Massoud Rajavi tied the fate of Saddam to the fate of organization. In fact, he was passed over after Saddam's execution. The organization was looking for a substitute for Saddam Hussein in the West. The best alternatives were Israel and Saudi Arabia. They didn't want to use the organization as it was. It means, in the West it was impossible to accept an organization which killed Americans during the Shah’s reign, violated its own human rights law, and collaborated with Saddam. They wanted to clear these records and use a non-terrorist organization that abandons weapons and does political activities. So Saudi Arabia offered the plan of passing over Massoud; but if the organization did so, it would become paradoxical. Mind controlling and brainwashing was based on Massoud Rajavi's charisma. I mean, if they were told in the organization that Massoud Rajavi was passed over, the whole foundation would have been destroyed. On this account, Massoud Rajavi both exists and doesn’t exist. He is not involved in international activities. Nowhere. There is no photo or audio and no writing of him, but inside the organization his messages are read in order to show he exists. It is no matter whether he exists physically on the ground or not. It is important that the West has make use of the organization minus Massoud Rajavi and passed him over. For this reason, at the MEK meeting, Turki Faisal deliberately used ‘the late Massoud Rajavi’ twice. The organization denied it, but Turki Faisal later refused to deny it and did not respond. One member of the organization was asked why he used these words for Massoud Rajavi. He replied that these words were said out of respect! Whatever happened to him, in any country he is, whether he is alive or dead, he has no place in the political and social scene. They are leading the organization with Maryam Rajavi. This year they did not allow the annual Vilpant meeting is held, in where all Americans attended and talked about changing the regime. Guests like Bolton, Gingrich, Giuliani and so on didn't come. The organization was forced to stage a brief demonstration in Brussels. It seemed that The US are passing over the use of MEK, after bluffing and intimidating against Iran and seeing the resistance of Iran. Now it is rumored that Maryam Rajavi has cancer. Maybe she is going to be passed over like Massoud Rajavi and they try to bring someone else.

The memories and experiences of hundreds of separated members are available in the ‘Nejat Society’ website. One of the places where the highest level of dictatorship in the world is implemented is Ashraf Camp. The image we show is very small and insignificant. Inside the Ashraf camp, the one who criticizes is given hell. Asking questions is forbidden. Thinking about family is forbidden. Marriage and affection are forbidden. So far, several human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have spoken with members who have separated from the organization, and declared that within the MEK, the most basic human rights are being violated, both in Iraq and now at their headquarters in Albania.’

To be continued…