Rally Demands De-Listing of the MEK
US Department of State, August 26, 2011
ABOUT THE RALLY:
More than a year since the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals’ ruling in favor of the main Iranian opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), thousands will rally outside the State Department to demand the group’s removal from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). At its core, today’s rally represents the Iranians’ national desire for democratic change.
Fourteen years since MEK was designated as an FTO to placate Tehranrulers, the call for the MEK delisting has now become a national demand by Iranians from all walks of life and political persuasions. This demand is not just about the injustice done to the MEK or about the safety and security of its members in Camp Ashraf. Today, demand for the MEK delisting is the embodiment of Iranians’ national desire for democratic change; desire for a secular, democratic and non-nuclear republic in Iran.
The dire implications of the unwarranted FTO designation of the MEK far exceeds the loss of life and injury it has caused to the group’s members in Camp Ashraf in Iraq and to their families and sympathizers in Iran. The terrorist stigma has gravely handicapped the MEK’s political, diplomatic, financial, and organizational wherewithal at a very crucial juncture when every Iranian democratic opposition needs to function at full throttle to achieve democratic change. The continued blacklisting of the MEK has been seen by Iranians as a sign of Washington’s preference for the status-quo in Iran.
Not surprisingly, the State Department’s blacklisting of the MEK has been hugely popular within Iran’s theocratic leadership and its most suppressive organs. In recent weeks, senior Iranian regime officials, including commanders of the notorious Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have urged the United States to maintain the MEK on its terrorist list.
In addition to Iranians, a growing roster of former seniorUSgovernment officials and some 130 Members of Congress have called for the removal of the MEK from the FTO list, emphasizing that any decision to the contrary would violate the statutory criteria and bring irreparable damage toIran’s democratic movement.
RALLY’S DEMANDS:
- Considering the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals’ ruling in favor of the MEK;
- Recognizing the absence of any evidence – classified or otherwise – to satisfy the statutory requirements;
- Noting the call by a bi-partisan and multi-discipline list of former senior U.S. government officials for the MEK delisting;
- Considering the Congressional resolutions co-sponsored by some 130 members of Congress from both parties urging the MEK delisting;
- Considering the looming humanitarian disaster for 3,400 members of the MEK atCampAshrafinIraq; and
- Recognizing the Iranians’ national call for MEK delisting as a prelude to adopting the policy of support for democratic change in Iran.
We are resolved in tandem with H. RES. 60:
- The Secretary of State must promptly remove the MEK from the FTO list;
- The Secretary of State must remove all restrictions imposed on the MEK, its members, and its affiliates, which has emanated from its designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.