16 Point Plan

This is the text of the Charter of Freedom announced by Maryam Rajavi in the Dortmund meeting in Germany on June 16, 1995.

Maryam Rajavi, Iranian Resistance's President-elect announces:

CHARTER FOR FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS FOR FUTURE IRAN

1 - There will be complete freedom of belief, expression and the press. Any form of censorship or scrutiny of beliefs will be forbidden.

2 - Parties, assemblies, political groups, unions, associations, councils and syndicates - except those factions loyal to the dictatorships of the shah and Khomeini- are totally free. There will be no limits to this freedom, up to the point of armed uprising against the legitimate government and law of the land.

3 - General elections and suffrage will be the basis for the legitimacy of the government. Laws not enacted by the elected legislators of the country are not official and lack credibility.

4 - The judicial and professional security of all citizens, as well as individual and social rights, as stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, will be guaranteed.

5 - All repressive organs remaining from the Khomeini regime, and all extraordinary courts and tribunals will be abolished. Freedom to defend oneself, the right of associations of jurists to carry on activities, and public trials in the presence of a jury will be guaranteed.

6 - Women will enjoy social, political, and cultural rights absolutely equal to those of men, including those outlined below:

7 - All privileges based on gender, ethnic background, or beliefs will be abolished, and all citizens shall enjoy equal political and social rights.

8 - All forms of discrimination against the followers of various religions and denominations in the enjoyment of their individual and social rights will be prohibited. No citizen shall enjoy any privileges or be subject to any deprivations with respect to nomination for election, suffrage, employment, education, judgeship or any other individual or social right, for reason of belief or non-belief in a particular religion or denomination. The qualifications of judicial officials will not be determined by their religious or ideological position.

9 - Any form of compulsory religious or ideological teaching, and any compulsion to practice or non-practice of religious rituals and customs will be forbidden. The rights of all religions and denominations to teach, proselytize and freely perform their rituals and traditions, and the respect for and security of all places belonging to them, shall be guaranteed.

10 - To secure and strengthen as much as possible the popular sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the national consolidation and unity of the country, the people of Iranian Kurdistan's just right to autonomy is recognized in accordance with the Plan adopted by the National Council of Resistance.

11 - Any form of dual oppression shall be abolished against any ethnic or national minority, whether Kurds, Balouchis, Arabs, or Turkmen. All rights, and cultural, social and political freedoms will be guaranteed for them within the framework of national unity and Iran's territorial integrity.

12 - The workers, farmers, and multitude of toiling masses of the cities and villages are the driving force for progress, reconstruction and prosperity. Thus, all anti-labor and anti-peasant laws and regulations, and all debts owed by peasants and workers to the Khomeini regime, are abolished. New laws will be ratified in consultation with them, as the true owners of the fruits of their labor.

13 - In tomorrow's Iran, all nationalist and patriotic specialists, scholars, and artists, anywhere in the world, are welcome to take part in the reconstruction, prosperity, progress and independence of the country and in the service of the public. Their ideas, expertise, and efforts will be valued as our most precious human and national resource. In addition, all those forced to live in exile due to participation in the Resistance or to the Khomeini regime's pressures , will be warmly welcomed to return to Iran.

14 - The free market, national capitalism, individual and private ownership, and investment to develop the country's national economy and increase in production will be guaranteed.

15 - Provision of basic necessities, such as jobs, housing, health care and education to the poor and low income families, including workers, farmers, and government employees, in particular teachers, administrators and retirees, will be a priority.

16 - Iran will base its relations with the international community and its ties with other countries on independence, equality, and the safeguarding of its national interests and territories. It will refrain from interference in the affairs of others, and will prevent others from interfering in Iran's internal affairs. It will defend the interests of peace, peaceful co-existence, and regional and international cooperation.