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Iran's Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK) Wins Removal from England "Terror Group" List

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 

[Another fascinating legal story. The US has listed the MEK as a
"terrorist" group for years; they were given houseroom by Saddam
Hussein for years, because of their armed struggle against the Islamic
Republic of Iran. They are still being given a free pass by the US
Occupation in Iraq, whether "terrorist" or not. Before the 1979 Islamic
Revolution in Iran, the group struggled against the US-backed Shah
Mohammed Reza Pahlevi. At that point, there were two factions of the
MEK, designated in English as "minority" and "majority" factions, though
they used the same name, Mujahedeen e-Khalq. Most people would consider
them a terrorist organization, since they do things like bombing
facilities where there are civilians, such as the Iranian Majlis
(Parliament). The US has, on and off, given them covert funding and
training, as well as not hunting them down and seizing them.
They actually brought a court case in the UK to get themselves removed
from the Brits' Bad Boys list, and won! We've added all the
links as End Notes. -NYTransfer]


sent by Michael P 

[UK refusal to do so is declared "perverse" - MP]


The Jurist - Nov 30, 2007
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/11/uk-court-orders-iran-opposition-group.php

UK court orders Iran opposition group removed from terror list

Britain's Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission [1] Friday
ruled[2] that the UK should remove the People's Mujahedeen Organization
of Iran (PMOI) [3; website] from its list of terrorist organizations.
PMOI is Iran's main political opposition organization and part of the
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) [4; group website], an
umbrella coalition of Iranian opposition groups. The commission ruled
there was no evidence that the PMOI had been involved with terrorism
since 2003 and so no longer satisfied any of the criteria for appearing
on the blacklist. NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi called the six
year battle [5; press release] to remove the organization from the list
a "magnificent victory for justice and the Resistance as well as a
message of firmness to religious fascism."

UK Minister of State Tony McNulty [6] said that the government was
disappointed with the decision and intends to appeal. The PMOI was
added to Britain's list of proscribed organisations under the Terrorism
Act 2000 in March 2001 [7]. In December 2006, the European Court of
First Instance annulled an asset freeze [8; Jurist report] on PMOI by
the Council of the European Union. The judgment prompted the Council of
the European Union to revise [9; press release][10; Jurist report] the
procedures used in establishing and maintaining the EU's terror lists.

Reuters [11] has more; The Guardian [12] has additional coverage (both
below).

End Notes:

[1]http://www.siac.tribunals.gov.uk/poac/

[2]http://www.siac.tribunals.gov.uk/poac/Documents/outcomes/PC022006%20PMOI%20FINAL%20JUDGMENT.pdf

[3]http://www.english.mojahedin.org/pagesEn/index.aspx

[4]http://www.ncr-iran.org/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

[5]http://www.english.mojahedin.org/pagesEn/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=1105

[6]http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/organisation/ministers/tony-mcnulty/

[7]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts2000/20000011.htm

[8]http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/12/eu-court-annuls-asset-freeze-on-iran.php

[9]http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/misc/95034.pdf

[10]http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/06/eu-overhauls-terror-blacklist.php

[11]http://wap.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30631925.htm

[12]http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2219863,00.html

                               ***

Reuters - Nov 30, 2007
http://wap.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30631925.htm

Iranian group wins appeal over UK terrorism list

By Jennifer Hill

LONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A British tribunal ruled on Friday to remove
Iran's main opposition movement from a government a list of proscribed
terrorist organisations.

The People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, a resistance group, said
it was a "magnificent victory for justice", after a six-year battle to
annul the listing. But Britain's government said it was "disappointed"
and it intended to appeal.

The group will stay on the proscribed list until the matter is
resolved. The organisation is the armed wing of the France-based
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which says it renounced
military activity in 2001.

Following the judgement, Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the NCRI,
called on the European Union (EU) to echo the appeal verdict and remove
the group from its blacklist.

"We have always said and repeat again that the fundamental solution to
the Iranian crisis is neither foreign military intervention nor
appeasement," she said in a statement.

"The solution is democratic change by the Iranian people and
resistance, making it imperative to remove the barriers placed in the
path of this resistance."

Britain's Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission ruled there was
"no evidence that the PMOI has at any time since 2003 sought to
re-create any form of structure that was capable of carrying out or
supporting terrorist acts".

Its 144-page final judgement document said there was no evidence of any
attempt by the PMOI to "prepare" for terrorism or encourage others to
commit acts of terrorism.

"Nor is there any material that affords any grounds for a belief that
the PMOI was 'otherwise concerned in terrorism at the time of the
decision in September 2006," it said.

GOVERNMENT DEFIANT

In a letter to the PMOI last year, Britain's home secretary said he
recognised there had been a "temporary cessation of terrorist acts" but
was "not satisfied that the organisation and its members have
permanently renounced terrorism".

Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said on Friday the government did not
accept the ruling.

"The government adopted a cautious approach in relation to the
de-proscription of the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran," he
said in a statement.

"I remain convinced that where terrorism is concerned, the rights of
the law abiding majority and the overriding need to protect the public,
both in the UK and abroad, must lead us to take such a cautious
approach."

The PMOI, known as "the Mujahideen-e-Khalq", was added to Britain's
list of proscribed organisations under the Terrorism Act 2000 in March
2001. It first applied to be de-proscribed in June that year.

Earlier this year, it launched legal action to annul its listing as a
terrorism group by the EU and to win damages.

The EU blacklist also includes the Palestinian Hamas group, Sri Lanka's
Tamil Tigers and the Kurdistan Workers' Party. Blacklisting means
groups are banned and have assets frozen.

The PMOI, which has bases in Iraq, began as a leftist-Islamist
opposition to the late Shah of Iran, but fell out with Shi'ite clerics
who took power after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

It is said by Western analysts to have little support in Iran because
of its collaboration with Iraq during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. 

[Editing by Steve Addison and Michael Winfrey]

                                  ***

The Guardian - Nov 30, 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2219863,00.html

Court tells UK to remove Iran opposition from terror list

by Staff and agencies

Iran's main opposition movement should be removed from the British
government's list of banned terrorist organisations, a court ruled
today.

The decision by the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (Poac)
is a major victory for the People's Mujahideen of Iran, which has been
engaged in a long-running legal battle to be taken off the list, which
includes groups such as al-Qaida and the Kurdistan Workers party, or
PKK.

Poac ruled that the decision not to remove the organisation from the
proscribed terrorist blacklist, drawn up under the 2000 Terrorist Act,
was "perverse".

Article continues "We recognise that a finding of perversity is
uncommon," Poac ruled. "We believe, however, that this commission is in
the (perhaps unusual) position of having before it all of the material
that is relevant to this decision."

The home secretary was asked to lay a draft order before parliament to
remove the group, which is considered a terrorist organisation in the
US and the European Union, from the list.

Lawyers for the home secretary said they would apply for permission to
appeal.

The home office minister Tony McNulty said: "I am disappointed at this
judgment. We don't accept it and we intend to appeal.

"The government adopted a cautious approach in relation to the
de-proscription of the People's Mujahideen organisation of Iran.

"I remain convinced that where terrorism is concerned, the rights of
the law-abiding majority and the overriding need to protect the public,
both in the UK and abroad, must lead us to take such a cautious
approach. I firmly believe that we should be entitled to take this
view."

The minister said the government would review the process by which
groups were added to the proscribed list.

"We will look at these processes again in the light of this judgment to
ensure that we continue to treat all proscribed organisations fairly,
proportionately and in accordance with the law," he said.

The appeal against the People's Mujahideen's inclusion on the blacklist
was brought by 35 cross-party senior MPs and peers, including the
former home secretary Lord Waddington and the former law lord Lord
Slynn of Hadley.

Last year, the group successfully challenged an EU decision to freeze
its assets, although it was unable to get its name removed from the EU
list of terrorist groups.

The group is officially banned in most western countries, but its
standing is complicated by the looming confrontation between the US and
Iran over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.

The group's ambition of overthrowing Iran's theocratic regime has won
the praise of US politicians concerned by allegations that the country
is attempting to build a nuclear weapon.

The People's Mujahideen, originally a Marxist-Islamist group, was set
up in the mid-1960s to oppose the US-backed dictatorship of the late
Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi. It participated in the country's Islamic
revolution but fell out with the clerical government and launched a
campaign of assassinations and bombings to try to topple it.

The group moved to Iraq in the early 1980s and fought Iran's Islamic
rulers from there until the US invaded in 2003. The US has since
disarmed thousands of the group's members and confined them to a camp
near Baghdad.

Despite occasional run-ins with the law, supporters of the group
continue to operate openly in Europe, where they regularly organise
protests, rallies and news conferences denouncing the government in
Tehran.

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