[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 108 (Monday, July 22, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1339-E1342]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            MARYAM RAJAVI CHALLENGES ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JAMES A. TRAFICANT

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 22, 1996

  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I wish to draw your attention to Iran, 
but not to the ugly image often cast by this country. I want to talk 
about the hope for democracy emerging from Iran, about those who are 
resisting against the ruling regime, about those striving to rescue not 
only the people of Iran, but also the whole world, from the terrorist 
mullahs who have held us all hostage for too long.
  On Friday, June 21, a crowd of 25,000 people gathered in London for a 
program of speeches and musical performances in celebration of the 15th 
anniversary of this resistance movement against the mullahs. The 
keynote speaker was the resistance's president-elect, Maryam Rajavi. In 
remarks entitled ``Women, Voice of the Oppressed,'' Mrs. Rajavi called 
for ``a world coalition against fundamentalism.''
  The speakers and spectators were not limited to Iranians. A large 
number of British parliamentarians and dignitaries, various groups of 
European and Arab intellectuals, politicians, writers, artists and 
women's rights activists were among the crowd. Marzich, the Grande Dame 
of Persian music, performed the ``Operetta in Solidarity,'' accompanied 
by the London Festival Orchestra and an ensemble of traditional Iranian 
musicians.
  Associated Press Television reported that Maryam Rajavi ``not 
surprisingly received a standing ovation from the audience at the 
London festival and her defiant speech was interrupted several times by 
deafening applause.''
  Mr. Speaker, I think that it is important to heed Mrs. Rajavi's 
message, which is diametrically opposed to that of the fundamentalist 
mullahs in Iran. I am, therefore, submitting a copy of her speech at 
London's Earl's Court Exhibition Centre, for publication in the 
Congressional Record.

Women, Voice of the Oppressed--Speech by Maryam Rajavi, President-Elect 
            of the Iranian Resistance, London, June 21, 1996

       I wish to thank you all for your generous sympathy and kind 
     support. Greetings to my dear follow Iranians who are 
     listening now in the meetings honoring June 20th in different 
     countries.
       I am very happy to see you all and part take in this 
     magnificent event. I had come to London on a private visit, 
     and was invited to speak about the topic this gathering is 
     addressing: Women, Voice of the Oppressed.
       Each year, on this occasion, we speak of June 20th and of a 
     cry for freedom that will reverberate forever in the history 
     of Iran. It is only fitting for me to begin by honoring the 
     15th anniversary of this turning point.
       June 20th for us, the people of Iran, was a day of destiny 
     the day the Iranian people arose against the suppression of 
     freedoms. It is the day the pervasive and tortuous resistance 
     against religious tyranny began. It is the day when the 
     nation's will became crystallized in the formation of the 
     National Liberation Army of Iran. June 20th is rightly 
     designated as the Day of Iranian Martyrs and Political 
     Prisoners, those shining stars who pierced the night of 
     oppression with their enormous sacrifice to the cause of 
     freedom and popular sovereignty.
       I also wish to pay tribute to the women the world over who 
     have striven for equality and emancipation, and to salute the 
     oppressed women of my homeland, Iran from whose ranks tens of 
     thousands have fallen in the struggle for freedom.
       Please allow me to pay my special respects to the memory of 
     Ashraf Rajavi, a woman and pioneer in our nation's 
     Resistance, who endured much torture under the shah's regime 
     and was martyred in February 1982 by Khomeini's henchmen. 
     [Ashraf was the wife of the Iranian Resistance leader Massoud 
     Rajavi] Before the eyes of other detainees in Evin prison, 
     her murderers desecrated her lifeless body and then slapped 
     around her infant son. Along with the other martyrs of this 
     struggle, she has an immortal place in the history of our 
     people. Hail to Ashraf and all standard-bearers and martyrs 
     to the cause of freedom.


                        history-long oppression

       Indeed, suffering and sacrifice are the price we have to 
     pay to attain our freedom. This is the essence of the 
     relentless tug-of-war which gives meaning to human existence. 
     This is why the song of freedom has never been silenced by 
     the tyranny of despots, and why the flaming range of the 
     oppressed shall overturn the foundations of oppression.
       Women are history's first victims of oppression. Besides 
     having to endure political and socio-economic oppression, 
     they must repent for the sin of being women.
       Yet half of the human beings on this planet are women, and 
     inevitably gender oppression and the culture inherent to it 
     directly affect and enchain the other half of the human race 
     as well, the men Hence, genuine freedom for the individual 
     and society is ultimately attainable solely through the 
     emancipation of oppressed women. In other words, 
     discrimination against women transcends and affects all other 
     domains of human existence.
       Sa'di, the great 12th century Iranian poet, has put it 
     eloquently:

     Of one body are the children of Adam
     All created from a single gem
     If fate afflicts one with great pain
     How can others rest calm and sane.

       History often tells us of slaves and celebrates their 
     freedom, but so little is said about ``the slave of slaves,'' 
     the most tormented and oppressed members of human society. 
     Today, we have assembled here so that their voice, lost in 
     the chilling silence of centuries, may be heard: The voice of 
     women, the voice of the oppressed.
       The history of humankind is the history of human being's 
     glorious quest for freedom, and at the same time a wretched 
     chronicle of oppression. While man gradually succeeded in 
     freeing himself from the absolute dictates of nature, he soon 
     found himself enchained by his fellow man. Thus, history 
     began with the oppression of man by man. Slavery, that great 
     tragedy of human history, was directed by the likes of Nero 
     and Pharoah, and the voice of the oppressed was drowned out 
     by the cracking whips of their masters. All that remained was 
     the rattling of the shackles, as the dark age of slavery 
     prevailed.
       Was mankind to remain forever at the mercy of this blind 
     destiny? One answer came on that fateful day near Nazareth, 
     when Jesus Christ proclaimed: ``He anointed me . . . to 
     preach a release to the captives . . . to send the crushed 
     ones away with a release.''
       The message of Jesus was a clear proclamation of human 
     destiny. ``One can and must rebel against bondage and 
     slavery.''
       The revolt by Spartacus was doubtless rooted in the belief 
     that slavery was not forever and that freedom could 
     ultimately be achieved. Spartacus and his fellows, however, 
     knew that for them, at least, freedom was inconceivable, 
     unless upon a cross. On the eve of the last battle, Spartacus 
     cried: ``My friends, we have come a long way together, 
     longing to return to our land and live free. But tomorrow, we 
     have to fight again. Perhaps there is no place for us in this 
     world. But one thing is certain. We are free!''
       The next day, 6,000 slaves were crucified along the road 
     from Rome to Capua. That was the price of freedom. But the 
     day came when the thunderous voice of the oppressed resonated 
     everywhere and put an end to the age of slavery. Indeed, the 
     pages of history may abound in oppression, pain and blood, 
     but on the other side of every bitterness and humiliation 
     lies the sweetness and magnificence of liberation.
       There was a time when such tyrants as Attila, Genghis Khan 
     and Hitler roamed the earth, but now, in the new age of 
     global communications and information, the interdependence of 
     civilizations and the new relationships among nations inhibit 
     such roguish aggression. History has never ceased to move on. 
     By relentlessly challenging all obstacles to liberty, 
     humanity has liberated itself from the fetters of antiquated 
     social and political relationships, and charged forward.
       But one cry, and one cry alone, has remained unanswered, 
     stifled in the depths of history: It is the cry of ``the 
     slave of slaves,'' the cry of women, the voice of those 
     enduring the ugliest of all oppressions. Gender oppression 
     ran so deep that no one believed it even existed. Gender 
     oppression was not considered as oppression at all, rather as 
     natural for women.

     I am woman
     My bare feet
     Pacing the parched earth
     Since the First Day
     In search of a drop of water. . . .

       Women were doubly enslaved once as all other slaves and 
     oppressed people, those subjugated and exploited in every age 
     of history,

[[Page E1340]]

     and once as women. Yes, the footprint of woman can be seen in 
     all shackles of bondage, and the voice of the oppressed can 
     be heard in her smothered cries.
       Extracting the root of oppression from the dusty pages of 
     oblivion, Simone de Beauvoir said: ``All subjugated social 
     classes did not exist at some point. They came to exist 
     later. But women have always been there. They are women due 
     to their physiological traits. But spontaneously, the very 
     word ``woman'' has an insulting ring to it in a man's ears 
     and produces in his mind a mixture of sexual exploitation and 
     humiliation.''
       The story of women is a tale of a latent oppression woven 
     into the depths of their lives and very existence. The bonds 
     that tie women to their omnipresent oppressors are unique. 
     Not even in their dreams do these first slaves on the face of 
     the earth reject and annihilate their masters. When they 
     assume that their bondage is eternal, the tragedy is 
     complete.


                           misogynous mullahs

       But there exists an even more painful story: the tragedy of 
     women in my fettered homeland, Iran, under the reign of the 
     inhuman mullahs, who not only consider woman as eternally a 
     slave, but also negate her humanity. Can one speak of women 
     and the movement for equality without exposing the misogyny 
     and barbarism of the fundamentalists who rule Iran?
       About which aspect of this bitter, unbearable tragedy 
     should I tell you? Should I speak of the hundreds of women 
     who are assaulted in the streets everyday? Or of those 
     arrested and lashed? Or of the respectable women forced to 
     sign confessions that they are prostitutes, just because of 
     the color of their dress or a lock of hair showing from 
     beneath their scarves? Or of the women ruthlessly stoned to 
     death?
       Or should I tell you the tragic story of nine-year-old 
     girls, who, according to the mullahs' laws, must be wed? Or 
     about the 12 or 13-year-olds who are sold to 50 or 70-year-
     old men? Innocent children who wither away under physical and 
     psychological stress. Or should I speak of the many victims 
     of self-immolation and other forms of suicide?
       In early 1992, the state-controlled dailies wrote that in 
     the impoverished regions in northeastern Khorassan and 
     southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan, small children are sold 
     for $60 to $70. In north Khorassan alone, 1,700 such girls 
     had been abandoned.
       You have probably heard of the tragedy of millions of girl 
     carpet weavers in Iran, who labor in damp, filthy workshops, 
     where they contract paralysis, tuberculosis and scores of 
     other diseases. These children weave the prime of their youth 
     into the fabric of the carpets they make.
       Or should I tell of the multitude of women office 
     employees, teachers and workers who were expelled from their 
     jobs simply because they were women? According to official 
     statistics by the national census bureau in 1986, only nine 
     percent of people with jobs were women. The situation has 
     only gotten worse.
       Or should I recount the untold tales of suffering of the 
     millions of homeless widows and orphans, women and children 
     who fell victim to the unpatriotic war? Shall I speak of the 
     pain of homelessness, slander and humiliation, the pressures 
     of destitution, rape and suppression?
       Or should I tell you about the epic resistance of tens of 
     thousands of women who were savagely tortured or executed for 
     their defiance of the ruthless, despotic theocracy and for 
     joining the ranks of the Resistance for freedom?
       Or should I tell of the brutality and cruelty of the 
     clerical regime's executioners, who sent elderly 
     grandmothers, pregnant women and little girls before firing 
     squads without even establishing their identities?
       Or should I tell you the shocking stories of young women 
     who were crushed under vicious tortures, raped and their 
     blood drained on the eve of their execution, all in 
     accordance with the mullahs' official decrees?
       I tell you that neither the people, nor history nor God 
     will ignore these atrocities. These criminals will be held 
     accountable for destroying so much talent and potential. As 
     the Quran says [in condemning the burial alive of infant girl 
     children]: ``For what crime she was killed?''
       Hail to these martyred heroines in chains, who despite all 
     the savagery, never surrendered, but continued to resist for 
     freedom and liberation. They rushed headlong in search of 
     freedom, guiding lights in the quest for liberty. Indeed, as 
     Ashraf Rajavi said: ``The world has never known what the 
     Iranian people, and particularly the women of my homeland, 
     have gone through in these years.''
       The head of the regime's Judiciary, Mullah Yazdi, has 
     officially proclaimed: ``A woman needs her husband's 
     permission to leave her home, even to attend her father's 
     funeral''
       Mullah Azari Qomi, one of the regime's ideologues, says: 
     ``They Vali-e Faqih (the regime's supreme leader) can 
     forcibly marry girls against their own and their fathers' 
     wishes.''
       Mullah Sadouqi, who was Khomeini's representative in 
     central Iran, once said during a meeting of the Assembly of 
     Experts: ``It would be a shame and an utter disgrace for us 
     to have a woman as president or prime minister.''
       In their theological teachings, the mullahs try to justify 
     their astronomical lies by stressing that three groups of 
     people must be lied to: Women, infidels and hypocrites
       The inhuman mullahs' most sinister sin, however, is that 
     they attribute their misogynous atrocities and reactionary 
     stances to Islam. As the Quran warns, ``Woe to those who 
     write the book with their own hands, and then say: This is 
     from God. To traffic with it for a miserable price.'' In 
     truth, the mullahs perpetrate these atrocities and engage in 
     demagoguery only to maintain power.
       Iranian women have risen up against this monster, a monster 
     which has emerged from the depths of the Dark Ages, whose 
     very survival depends on misogyny and gender apartheid. This 
     beast is not just the enemy of the Iranian people, it is at 
     war with humanity.


                             global threat

       From Tehran, the beating of theocracy, the octopus of 
     fundamentalism has extended its blood-drenched tentacles into 
     Islamic states and Muslim societies around the world. It is 
     the main threat to global and regional peace. Exploiting the 
     religious beliefs of more than one billion Muslims, the 
     mullahs ruling Iran promote expansionism, while exporting 
     crisis and discord. Their foreign policy consists of meddling 
     in the affairs of Islamic countries, issuing fatwas to murder 
     foreign nationals and launching terrorist operations abroad. 
     Other aspects of this policy include spending huge sums on 
     armaments of all kinds, especially weapons of mass 
     destruction such as biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.
       Such a foreign policy is inherent to the fundamentalists' 
     nature. The theocracy ruling Iran thrives on crisis. It is 
     hostile to the most important global peace initiative in the 
     Middle East, and its policies and actions only nourish 
     warmongering extremists and fundamentalists.
       These realities demonstrate how the ominous specter of 
     religious fascism haunts global peace. The world community, 
     for its turn, has a moral duty to confront and overcome this 
     phenomenon.
       I again emphasize here that these reactionaries who 
     suppress the Iranian people, and particularly Iranian women, 
     and export terrorism and fundamentalism under the cloak of 
     religion, have nothing to do with Islam. They are the 
     peddlers of religion and exploit the name of Islam to advance 
     their sinister, inhuman objectives. Islam is the religion of 
     peace, freedom, liberty, equality, love, mercy and 
     liberation. The mullahs' fundamentalist mindset, however, 
     rests upon vengeance, enmity and ignorance and is at war with 
     human values and world peace.
       As we approach the end of the twentieth century, 
     fundamentalism's brazen enmity toward human values and world 
     peace has spilled onto issues of international concern. In 
     1993, during the International Conference on Human Rights in 
     Vienna, the Iranian regime opposed the principle of the 
     universality of human rights. In 1994, during the World 
     Conference on Population Control in Cairo, it opposed women's 
     right to family planning. In 1995, during the World 
     Conference on Women in Beijing, it opposed the principle of 
     equality between women and men. And in 1996, adamant in its 
     pursuit of terrorism and enmity toward peace, it rebuffed the 
     Sharm Al-Sheikh summit.


                              United front

       The international community has failed to demonstrate 
     enough sensitivity to the dangers of appeasing the religious, 
     terrorist dictatorship ruling Iran. Hence, the mullahs still 
     find opportunities to take advantage of such conciliation. 
     Through terrorist blackmail, they take the policies and even 
     the moral principles of governments hostage.
       Events in recent months confirm that the clerical regime 
     always takes advantage of its diplomatic facilities to 
     interfere in Middle Eastern countries and engage in 
     assassinations in the West. Two months ago, the mullahs 
     declared for the umpteenth time that the issue of the fatwa 
     against British Novelist Salman Rushdie can only be settled 
     by his murder. Faced with such a regime, decisiveness is the 
     only policy. It is not only a moral and humanitarian 
     obligation, but a political and historical necessity as well. 
     The future of democracy, development and peace on a global 
     scale depends on such a policy.
       Here, the issue of women and the movement for equality join 
     with the fight against fundamentalism. Not only are women the 
     standard-bearers of the movement for equality, but they are 
     also the driving force behind development, peace and social 
     justice. In this context, the documents of the World 
     conference on women in Beijing unequivocally underscore that, 
     ``Women's empowerment and their full participation on the 
     basis of equality in all spheres of society, including 
     participation in the decision-making process and access to 
     power, are fundamental for the achievement of equality, 
     development and peace.''
       Yes, in my view, humanity will be rid of the foreboding 
     specter of fundamentalism only when women take on their 
     leading role in this global challenge, and use every 
     democratic means to block appeasement of the misogynous, 
     inhuman mullahs of Iran. This is particularly the case 
     because the issue of fundamentalism is at one and the same 
     time the key political problem confronting Islamic nations, 
     and the most critical foreign policy problem facing many 
     other countries.
       Allow me, therefore, to call upon my sisters, women 
     throughout the world, to arise and form a world coalition 
     against fundamentalism. Such a coalition would comprise all 
     humanitarian, progressive women and men, who will doubtless 
     rush to the assistance of Iranian women, the prime victims

[[Page E1341]]

     of the Mullahs' oppression. A common front against 
     fundamentalism serves the interests of global peace, and will 
     preclude a repeat of the bitter experience of appeasing 
     fascism on the eve of the Second World War.
       I wish to underscore here that women's leading role in the 
     fight against fundamentalism doubly serves the movement for 
     equality and the effort to uproot sexual discrimination. The 
     only way to propel that movement forward is to link it with a 
     progressive political movement. If women have no share in 
     political power; if they are not part of the leadership and 
     the decision-making processes on social issues; if they do 
     not have a serious, equal role in economic management, and if 
     they are not actively and visibly involved in international 
     politics, all the talk about equality between women and men 
     rings hollow. Real equality only comes about when women take 
     on key roles in tackling the primary challenges of the day.


                           Women lead the way

       In order to overturn the system of gender discrimination 
     and bring about fundamental change, women must predominate 
     political leadership for a specific period of time. The 
     objective of such a predominant role in leadership is to 
     guarantee equality and uproot sexual oppression, not to 
     replace patriarchy with matriarchy. Thus, all the 
     prerequisites and consequences are liberating in their 
     essence. Once the oppression has been eradicated, the 
     energies thus set free will break through the impasses 
     currently confronting human society and will help to 
     establish a new system of human relations, both within a 
     community and on a global scale.
       Now, in the great era of women's emancipation, the victims 
     of centuries of the most dreadful historical oppression will 
     echo the voices of all oppressed peoples. Today, the voice of 
     women is indeed the voice of the oppressed, those whose cries 
     reach no one; the voice of the children denied all rights and 
     means to grow; the voice of the poor and destitute, who moan 
     not just for lack of bread, but for lack of compassion.
       Now it is the turn of women to rebel against all forms of 
     oppression, to rise and end gender-based oppression and 
     inequality, to unite women and men in their true human 
     identity. They must rebel and give a new lease of life to 
     human society, rise and topple the pillars of all oppression, 
     tear asunder the status quo and chart a new course.


                        Resistance's experience

       Ladies and gentlemen,
       Please allow me to speak of the achievements of the women 
     in the Iranian Resistance, achievements which in reality 
     belong to all women in the movement for equality. To enhance 
     our gains, we look to our sisters' ideas and experiences the 
     world over.
       After a century of active participation in the social 
     struggle, Iranian women came face to face with the onslaught 
     of religious, terrorist dictatorship, namely the 
     fundamentalists ruling Iran. As the reactionary beast 
     awakened, the mounting difficulties had only one message for 
     our women: all-out resistance Capitulation and submission 
     were impossible. women took part in the political struggle 
     and rose up to resist the reactionaries and defend democratic 
     freedoms. Now, they convey the cries of an enchained and 
     oppressed, yet proud and resistant, nation.
       After 15 years of struggle against the reactionaries, these 
     pioneering women occupy key positions as leaders of the 
     Resistance movement. Fifty-two percent of the Resistance's 
     parliament are women. The General Command of the National 
     Liberation Army of Iran is made up essentially of women, and 
     the Leadership Council of the Mojahedin, the pivotal force 
     within the Resistance, is comprised entirely of women. Women 
     also command and manage at different levels in the combat, 
     technical and specialized units of the army, in the 
     movement's political structure and in organizational affairs. 
     Under their directorship, the male-female division of labor 
     has become a thing of the past.


                          Women's emancipation

       But how did we manage such achievements?
       Twelve years ago, locked in a life-or-death struggle 
     against the rule of the mullahs, the Resistance movement 
     realized that women must take on greater responsibilities. At 
     that juncture, our women played a prominent role in the fight 
     against the clerical regime, but one thing was blocking the 
     gates to change: doubts about women's capabilities.
       In the story of women's liberation, tragedy and heroism are 
     often ironically entwined. This is my constant feeling in my 
     dealings with the women's struggle. See for yourself how 
     well-entrenched male-dominated thinking is, in the roots and 
     veins of society and culture.
       Within our organization, which was fighting against the 
     mullahs, all the heroism of women and the sacrifice of tens 
     of thousands of women martyrs were still not enough to make 
     us believe in their equality, to break the barriers of sexual 
     oppression and discrimination. I sometimes thought to myself, 
     what else must women do to make others believe in them? How 
     is it that these women defeat the executioners in prisons 
     with their bare hands, but cannot come to grips with 
     political concepts and lack the necessary resolve to manage 
     our affairs? Had this will and these emotions been created 
     for women only to offer comfort to their husbands at home? I 
     found that hard to believe.
       Most tragically, these same women did not see themselves as 
     sources of admirable heroism and lacked the will to change. 
     After all, women had historically brought about many wondrous 
     achievements; the crux of the matter was their lack of faith 
     in themselves. hence the need to rebel against such 
     misgivings.
       It was then that we reached the conclusion that gradual 
     change would prove useless, that the missing element and the 
     real solution to break this mindset was women's participation 
     in leadership.
       Indeed, in our confrontation with the ruling reactionaries, 
     we needed to rid ourselves of the residue of their thinking 
     and values. Inevitably, we had to crush the heart of the 
     reactionary misogyny which negates women's human identity and 
     ability to lead the society. In this way women could break 
     through the barriers of historical degradation and oppression 
     embedded within their own thinking, and believe in 
     themselves. It was also necessary to convince the men that 
     they need no longer question the capabilities of the women 
     who had fought alongside them on all the battlefields of the 
     struggle for freedom. Once these changes had overturned the 
     mindset of all the Mojahedin in the form of an internal 
     revolution, our women broke the spell of self-doubt. Not 
     merely as isolated examples, but as a generation of 
     emancipated women, they ably assumed key leadership 
     responsibilities.


                               new values

       The most outstanding characteristics of these women were 
     their sense of responsibility, their willingness to learn, 
     their commitment to discipline, their impressive 
     decisiveness, and most important of all, the selfless 
     devotion which emanated from their human qualities. These 
     traits also had a constructive impact on the work place.
       These women had learned to believe in themselves; that they 
     were free and equal human beings; that they were not created 
     for men and not identified with them; that they were no one's 
     possession; that they owned their own body, life and 
     emotions. They overcame the world of ``the weaker sex,'' a 
     world of subordination and irresponsibility, and were reborn 
     in their true human image.
       The first signs of this birth were the new relationships 
     among women. They realized that they first had to like the 
     women around them, if they were to act in solidarity with one 
     another and accept each other's command.
       It is perhaps appropriate for me to speak, beyond the many 
     new values that blossomed in the revolution in our thinking, 
     about the role of these women in maintaining a healthy 
     relationship between women and men. It was only in this way 
     that a mixed army in which the relationships among people 
     were pure and the combat capability enormous, took shape, 
     arousing the admiration of many observers.
       And finally, one of our greatest achievements was that our 
     women's emancipation immediately affected the liberation of 
     our men, and improved their capabilities. Those men who 
     rushed to welcome this change, despite its hardships, were 
     proud to forge ahead in the path to equality.
       Needless to say, in the world of discrimination, men, too, 
     are enchained and enslaved by a domineering and authoritarian 
     attitude. Truly, to deny the humanity of those human beings 
     closest to him--his mother, sister and wife--must not a man 
     first negate his own humanity? How else can a human being 
     accept such oppression with a clear conscience? We have seen 
     a generation of men regain their lost human identity in the 
     movement to reject gender oppression, men who displayed the 
     ultimate form of freedom and emancipation by accepting the 
     leadership of women.
       Yes, we have witnessed the birth of a generation of 
     liberated women and men, shining beacons in an auspicious 
     transformation of human relationships. This transformation 
     came about through the leadership of Massoud Rajavi. Because 
     of it, our generation and our Resistance movement were thrust 
     forward on the road of human evolution and advancement. Of 
     course, this generation, under this leadership, was tempered 
     in an all-out anti-fundamentalist resistance. Its most 
     important trait has been that in the political arena, it 
     submitted to no compromise with the fundamentalists. This was 
     a generation that arose on June 20th, 1981, to protest the 
     suppression of liberties. In never relenting, despite 100,000 
     martyrs, it demonstrated that it will not stop until it 
     achieves--at whatever cost--the Iranian people's fundamental 
     rights, namely, freedom and national and popular sovereignty.
       This generation crushed the mullahs' demagoguery about the 
     war and obstructed the export of fundamentalism by 
     campaigning relentlessly for peace in and out of Iran.
       This generation broke the spell of the inhuman mullahs' 
     posturing about religion through sacrifice and selflessness. 
     It charted a resistance that has today emerged as the 
     democratic, progressive and popular answer to fundamentalism, 
     and is recognized as the antithesis of fundamentalism.
       Along this path, the Mojahedin and combatants of Iran's 
     freedom had to forsake everything to guarantee the liberation 
     of their beloved people and homeland. They had to cleanse 
     themselves of all the pollutants of the ruling reactionaries' 
     mindset. They had to arise and eradicate concepts based upon 
     gender discrimination, and ensure women's emancipation and 
     acceptance of responsibility.


                             crucial steps

       Permit me in this brief opportunity to mention the most 
     important points learned

[[Page E1342]]

     from our experience, as time limitations make it impossible 
     to discuss our accomplishments in any depth.
       First, to begin the process towards eradicating 
     relationships based on gender oppression, women must enter 
     the field of political and social activity.
       Second, to this end, women must occupy positions of 
     political and social leadership. Within the movement for 
     equality itself, at least 50% of key positions of 
     responsibility must be held by women. Through a policy of 
     positive discrimination for a certain period of time, women's 
     historical deprivation must be compensated for. Accordingly, 
     a system of quotas is needed, that favors ever greater 
     assumption by women of social responsibilities. The spirit, 
     essence and hallmark of such privileges are a greater sense 
     of responsibility by women and men and an end to exploitation 
     and sexual oppression.
       Third, women's emancipation is a prerequisite to the 
     liberation of men, and must lead to it. Solutions which aim 
     only to swap the places of women and men will only result in 
     the latter's destruction, aggravating the alienation of the 
     sexes and the conflicts between them. Obviously, that will 
     not bring about women's emancipation either. On the other 
     hand, there is nothing unrealistic about creating a new set 
     of human relationships and equality between the two sexes, 
     given their monistic human essence.
       Fourth, contrary to the misogynous reactionaries, we must 
     underscore the principle that women's rights are human 
     rights. These encompass all individual and social rights 
     stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On 
     this basis, a woman's body and emotions are her own, and she 
     has the right to birth control.
       Fifth, the conflicts between the family and social and 
     political responsibilities are common, erosive problems for 
     all women. We believe that it is the right of all women, 
     particularly combatant women and those who struggle in the 
     movement for equality, to choose freely. This right must be 
     fully recognized, so that they can, whenever necessary, 
     choose to give priority and precedence to political and 
     social responsibilities.


                          women and the future

       Women's participation in the resistance movement prepares 
     the cultural and ideological grounds to eradicate sexual 
     oppression. Such active participation, albeit difficult and 
     abound in sacrifice, gives credence to the equality of 
     Iranian women and the recognition of their rights. In 
     contrast to Khomeini, who never recognized women's minimum 
     rights, Iranian women's rights and freedoms are unequivocally 
     and specifically recognized in the platform of the National 
     Council of Resistance and the provisional government, as well 
     as in a specific declaration ratified by the NCR on the 
     freedoms and rights of women.
       Accordingly, I reaffirm the recognized rights of women in 
     the Iran of tomorrow.
       1. Women's social, political and economic rights will be 
     completely equal with men's;
       2. Women will enjoy the right to free political and social 
     activity, social intercourse and travel without the 
     permission of another person.
       3. Women's associations will be recognized and their 
     voluntary organizations supported nationwide;
       4. In order to eradicate inequality and dual oppression, 
     special privileges in various social, administrative and 
     cultural arenas will be considered.
       5. Women will have the right to elect and be elected in all 
     elections, and the right to suffrage in all referendums;
       6. Women will have the right to employment and freedom of 
     choice of profession, the right to hold any public or 
     government position, and the right to serve as judges in all 
     judicial bodies;
       7. Discrimination between women and men in hiring and 
     during employment is banned. Women and men will receive equal 
     pay for equal work. They will receive identical retirement 
     pensions, disability payments, children support and alimony 
     and unemployment insurance;
       8. Women will have the right to use, without 
     discrimination, all instructional, educational athletic and 
     artistic resources, and will have the right to participate in 
     all competitions and artistic activities;
       9. Women will be completely free to choose their clothing 
     and covering;
       10. Women will be completely free to choose their spouses, 
     to marry and divorce, and will enjoy the same rights as men;
       11. Legal inequalities regarding testimony, inheritance, 
     and guardianship of children will be eliminated. During 
     pregnancy, child birth and child rearing, women will enjoy 
     special rights and accommodations. Widowed or divorced women 
     and the children under their care will be supported by the 
     country's social welfare system;
       12. Any sexual exploitation of women, under whatever 
     pretext, is banned. Any coercion or imposition on women in 
     family life, as well as marriage before legal age, is 
     forbidden.
       13. Polygamy is banned;
       14. Employment of minor girl children is banned, and they 
     will enjoy special educational privileges.
       Ladies and gentleman, dear compatriots, what I have 
     enumerated are the natural expectations of women. They are 
     rights that for centuries have been ignored and denied, as 
     the women trying to attain them have been suppressed. They 
     are the common demands of our sisters around the world.
       My homeland, however, tells a different story, because:
       The mighty resistance of Iranian women and the pain and 
     blood of tens of thousands of martyred and tortured women 
     have given new meaning to these words, and have colored them 
     with a brilliant courage, seriousness, love of life and hope 
     of construction.
       The women of Iran have defied the mullahs' humiliation and 
     proudly challenged the guardians of inequality.
       Women and mothers forsook their marriages for the freedom 
     of their people and country, and bid farewell for an 
     indefinite period to their beloved children.
       Women undertook the heaviest and most complex 
     responsibilities in the battle against the misogynous and 
     inhuman fundamentalists.


                            historic mandate

       My sisters, you women who have rebelled against inequality.
       My brothers, you men who chose to follow your conscience 
     rather than opt for the special privileges of male 
     domination.
       I call upon you to come to the aid of our Resistance 
     movement against the most evil religious tyranny in history. 
     I ask you to rise up and join hands to form a global 
     coalition and a front against fundamentalism.
       The misogynous, inhuman mullahs are intent on destroying 
     the rights and freedoms of women and trampling upon their 
     human dignity in order to bolster the pillars of their 
     regime. But I say to these mullahs, you are gravely mistaken. 
     The world will bear witness when you become an example for 
     those who ponder enslaving, suppressing and beguiling the 
     people.
       And I say, if you think that you can get what you want 
     because the yearning to live freely and think freely has died 
     in the world, you are gravely mistaken. You have done your 
     utmost to humiliate, suppress, torture and slaughter Iranian 
     women, but rest assured that you will receive the blow from 
     the very force you discounted, the very force whom your 
     reactionary mindset cannot allow you to take into 
     consideration. The era of demagoguery and deceit under the 
     cloak of religion has ended.
       On the eve of the 21st century, enlighten people the world 
     over, the proud Resistance of Iranian people and the 
     combatants of freedom will not allow you to abuse religion.
       In closing, and in again calling upon all my sisters--here, 
     across Iran and gathered in other countries--I wish to 
     stress;
       The women of the past, who endured a history of torment and 
     oppression, and the women, children and men of the future, 
     today turn their eyes to you. They ask you to rise to the 
     occasion and assume your historic role. It is you who will 
     propel human history into the golden age of equality, peace, 
     democracy and development.
       Hail to all free-thinking women and men everywhere, who are 
     paying the high price of liberty. Victory lies before you, 
     belongs to you and awaits you. Indeed, the oppressed of today 
     are the victors of tomorrow. Their voice will resonate 
     throughout eternity.

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