Platform

Platform (A.D.P.F)

Political Platform and General Program with amendments in 2007

Ahwazi Democratic Popular Front (ADPF)

(1990)

Chapter I:


Introduction: 

The Ahwazi Democratic Popular Front (ADPF ) is a leading nationalist organization struggling to regain the rights of the Arab people of Ahwaz on the basis of international laws and norms, especially concerning the right of peoples under colonial and foreign domination and alien subjugation: inalienable right to self-determination, freedom and independence in accordance with General Assembly resolution 1514 and International resolutions and conventions known for peoples to reach their self-determination and establish their independent states. 

Why the ADPF? 
The aim of founding the ADPF was and still is to rally the Ahwazi people and national potentials on a wide scale national  framework of struggle to be used together to reach the right to self-determination and liberation.
 

Founding of the ADPF came to achieve this goal and to rally the largest possible number of people of all nationalist and revolutionary forces and segments, regardless of their ideology and divisions, and to mobilize them in a political, revolutionary organization that struggle for self-determination and independence. Also to move the struggle of our people from political organizations with limited movement and maneuver and unable to communicate and directly impact on all the Ahwazi masses, to the popular and mass struggle involving all segments of society believing in the right of our people to self-determination and liberation of their homeland. And also works for the salvation of our people from all kinds of, economic, cultural and humanitarian oppression and all forms of deprivation and underdevelopment and manifestations of individualist, fascist and undemocratic rule and  it move it to the stage of just economic and social humane relations contributing to the development of Ahwazi community and stage it to an appropriate position that keep its Arab and humanitarian identity based on democracy, social justice and guarantee the rights of all segments of people and classes. 

The goals of the ADPF are led by the principle of self-determination, which guarantees our people the future and the regime of its own choice, after getting rid of the restrictions of oppression, racism, slavery and occupation, whether was this through the implementation of international resolutions which guarantee the rights of colonized peoples, or through a struggle that ends up with the Ahwazi Arab people’s right to its land and wealth and finally its independence.

The existence of the ADPF and its struggle does not mean denying the existence of the other Ahwazi organizations that work on the ground for reaching our people’s goal of self-determination and national liberation, but rather, the ADPF is ready to work together with all organizations and parties acting in this framework at all levels and in all areas of direct and indirect struggle. Also the ADPF fully believes that the final salvation comes through the struggle of a comprehensive and continuous participation of all the living and active forces, which will alleviate the suffering of our people that has been deprived of all its economic, social, national, and political rights and from its Arab identity and language.

We in the ADPF, which is a vanguard of the struggle of our people, believe that the and in view of its fundamental duties, it must build and maintain deep relations with masses through the unity awareness and interaction between the ADPF and the masses.

The ADPF seriously strives to raise mass political, social and national awareness until reducing the difference of awareness between the masses and the forefront of struggle, where only difference would be in the level of assuming responsibility and the duty, in the sense that the forefront specializes in leading the political and revolutionary action, and it is strongly committed to achieving victory through the power of the revolutionary masses and with the participation of most segments in this vanguard. The responsibility of the ADPF (commitment to achieving victory) would be derived from people’s free confidence in this vanguard. We fully believe in the capability of the masses and believe that an organization without the masses must eventually become a gang exercising tyranny on the masses on behalf of the masses.

 ADPF Goals: 

1: Right of Self-determination (1) 

Our Ahwazi Arab people, living under the domination of the Iranian occupation, has the right to adhere to its of political, social, economic and cultural rights and to make use of its natural wealth and its right to self-determination and establish its independent state. These rights were granted within the inalienable rights of the oppressed and colonized peoples in all United Nations treaties and signed by Iran itself. Many peoples reached their full independence by applying these rights. Our Ahwazi Arab people has also the right to decide its own political future by itself and to build its own independent state and to choose the system that deems appropriate and to have authority over its wealth and this right can not denied by any other party and no party has the authority to dictate conditions in this regard on our people. 

B: Justice 

Social, political, economic, judicial and cultural justice and guaranteeing the fundamental rights of individuals and professional groupings are the basis of social progress, evolution and wellbeing. This means that justice and equal rights are the first guarantee to the safety of the society and the participation and contribution of everyone in its development so as to build a sense of citizenship and dedication and competition to serve.

The conflict between classes and segments and sects was and still going on between what is old and clung to stay and what is new and trying to change. This leads us to maintaining balance and equality for all members of society and guaranteeing their rights to benefit from the national wealth, prosperity and justice for all and the arrival of everyone to a dignified free life. 

So we have to turn the conflict in the society into a positive and humane competition for the evolution society.

We in the ADPF believe that the struggle of people without social, economic, democratic and political objectives ends up with totalitarian dictatorships that suppress and deprive all, even if it achieves freedom from occupation and colonialism or provides some of the wellbeing to the society. 

From this point, the ADPF believes that justice and equal rights and opportunities are the real guarantee to preserve independence of the land and human being from foreign colonialism and all kinds of persecution and to preserve a free and dignified life and to guarantee citizen’s rights on the basis of the Constitution.

Therefore, the ADPF calls on all affiliates in any post and all stages of the struggle to spread national, social and humanitarian awareness and to prevent brokers and owners of private interests from absorbing and stealing the national wealth which force the vast majority (which will free and build the nation) to live in poverty and deprivation. 

C – Democracy 

Democracy is one of the main pillars in which the ADPF believes to ensure the right of everyone to participate in building a democratic society, and the ADPF is faithful of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The ADPF seeks to achieve democracy to preserve the rights of the people, the owner of the real power and the rights of individuals and groups working to serve the society within the framework of the national interest. 
The ADPF respects the rights of all individuals, civic and political groups of all kinds in the phase of the liberation struggle and in building the liberal society of the Ahwazi Arab people.

 We are confident that the people that is struggling and give thousands of martyrs for its future, would not allow, in the future, its destiny to be controlled by others and this is the guarantee for all segments of society to reach their intellectual, political, social and cultural rights.

 D – Popular Education Policy 

The Iranian enemy, through direct military occupation of Ahwaz, uses its military repressive power and all energies to Persianize the Ahwazi Arab people and keep it in ignorance and plunder its national identity and impose backwardness and dependence. For this reason, the ADPF dedicate paramount importance to the national, popular and revolutionary education.
The aim of popular education is to raise the educational and cultural levels of the masses in general, and the organizational level of cultural struggle and spread the knowledge about the Ahwazi cause and its political, social and historical dimensions in particular, through continued public action and the deployment of revolutionary literature and the inherent humanitarian Ahwazi Arab heritage and everything that raises the level of the liberation struggle of our people.

In this regard, the ADPF will have special directions to build civic communities and civil society institutions to be the main organizing force supporting the liberation action and struggle, and in the future, the nucleus of building the Ahwazi society institutions. The ADPF will dedicate special importance to the dissemination of popular, struggle and liberation literature,

Because the allegations of the de facto regime about Islam and the revolution are false, and because our heritage is directly affected by the Islamic heritage and that the majority of our people embrace the Islamic faith, we will try to provide the humanitarian true picture of Islam far from the Islam of the regime, the Islam of violence, persecution, terrorism, backwardness and racism. 
We in the ADPF respect the religious sectarian beliefs of all segments of the people and intellectual groupings  and we fully believe in the rights and freedom of individuals and communities to exercise  their own beliefs and we do not differentiate between the various beliefs, whether inside or outside the front. This stems from our principled and objective position in this regard, particularly as we believe that we are in the stage of the national struggle for self-determination and independence and that’s why the ADPF works to activate all segments of the Ahwazi Arab people. 


Given the lack of education suffered by our people since the start of the occupation to this day, on the one hand, and the policy of Persianizing during all these years and preventing our people from learning Arabic and opening schools and affecting our Arab society by this racist policy on the other hand, we consider that keeping the Arabic language as a vital social instrument between members of the Ahwazi Arab community represents a pressing need.
 

We consider the task of education and dissemination of the Arabic language as a duty at this stage. Also we consider that adherence to the Arabic language, not only between the highly educated people and in visits, only in the exchange of letters between intellectuals, but also the dissemination of education in the popular communities, in towns and cities, in the market and streets, in the cafes and in vicinity of schools, in students, workers and peasants communities, and particularly in the house which represents the firs nucleus of individual education. 
On the other hand, we must work to deploy the national, humanitarian progressive thought at all levels. The ADPF will fight reactionary ideas and attitudes, historically and culturally back warded; those ideas left by colonial domination and reactionary era of reactionary classes and feudal relations and dictatorial regimes. The ADPF will work according to the Arab Ahwazi inherent particularities and to the Charter for Human Rights in the face of any sectarian or tribal tendencies that hinder the development and wellbeing of the Ahwazi community besides its respect to all sects and denominations and the positive aspects of tribal relations. The ADPF will also work for the deployment of human rights culture and brotherhood among peoples and renounce to violence and all forms of terrorism at a time differentiate between terrorism and national resistance, according to international law. 

E – Women 

Given the ADPF belief in the equality and human rights and the importance of the role of women in the struggle and building a democratic society, which is half of the society, and the importance of their participation in the cultural and social levels and based on our attempts to ensure the participation of all segments of oppressed people to reach for their human, economic, social and political rights, we se the need for women to enter the struggle as an essential, effective and influential element, specially, in order to restore their human, social and economic rights and their right to equality, particularly as women suffer double deprivation because of the sectarian, unbalanced and unfair relations that deprived them from most of their rights.
Unfortunately, the Ahwazi women, despite their role in the economic and educational process and in the family and society, were not given the adequate opportunity to obtain their freedom to co-participate with men in the quest for liberation and revolution to restore people’s rights and their usurped rights. Based on this fact, women constitute half of the Ahwazi society and marginalizing their role deprives us from our half struggling power.

 Their participation in building the Future Ahwazi society and in the revolution requires us to recognize their human rights, which is based on equality with men in all areas, where such rights were robbed under occupation and the control of reactionary forces in the fate of men in general and the fate of women in particular.

We must put forward new and effective ideas in the Ahwazi community to ensure women effective participation in the struggle and the social work guaranteeing women right of equality and human relations as well as men. 

Given the suffering of Ahwazi women of marginalizing their economic and social, legislative role being women, The ADPF declares that the Ahwazi women have equal rights as men in all legal, political and social fields. Women are an important element in the struggle and revolution, and the ADPF declares that the Liberation of Ahwazi land and human being goes together and women have the right to participate in the process of struggle and in building society. And finally they have the right to obtain all their rights on equal terms with men.

Chapter II, ADPF slogans: 

A – Revolutionary Struggle is our Way 

The ADPF believes that the Ahwazi Arab people has the right to use all available legitimate means, in accordance with international law and resolutions (3), especially those concerning the right of oppressed and colonized peoples, to restore their rights and to put an end to the Iranian occupation.

 Based on our belief that the nature of the struggle changes and is influenced by local, regional and international environment, we have the right to choose the appropriate methods of struggle according to the local and international changes and we do not cling to a particular kind of the various kinds of struggle.

The struggle and the movement are followed by changes and with every change we choose the best method for the struggle according to the new circumstance. 
We believe in victory through our masses’ support and through our knowledge of the field and historical conditions of the struggle. Our knowledge, added to our people’s own capabilities come out with militant capabilities that certainly lead us to victory. 

B – Our People

The ADPF believes that the Ahwazi Arab people is the primary force to expel the Iranian occupation. The revolutions of other peoples which won victory against colonialism fromSoutheast Asia to Latin America, Africa and the Middle East have proved that a united front of people from all sections is the strongest front capable of embracing the final victory and salvation.

The ADPF considers that all the masses of our people are militant and involved in the process of liberation and every individual or group has the right to participate and influence according to their capacity to mobilize, organize and influence the course of events of the struggle without allowing any party to affect negatively on our people at any stage of the struggle. 
In this historic struggle to restore our political and economic rights, social justice and equality and to expel all the forces of evil and dictatorship, backwardness and colonialism, our fundamental strength lies in the masses of our people of all sections and classes. Historical experience has shown that oppressed and most affected segments by colonialism are the main sacrificing segments that assume the responsibility of liberation, not the external forces that we have to deal with and take advantage of their influence on regional and international arenas to the national interest, and not by counting on them for salvation and therefore surrender the fate of the people to them.

 These influential powers, unless they secure a prosperous future and a dignified and honorable life for their subsequent generations and salvation of all kinds of national and class oppression, will not participate in the liberalization process, but only through deals and retreats, which means full cessation, final melting and the failure of the liberation process, such as many peoples were melted in the culture of colonialism and became a deprived part and follower of the policy of colonization. 
We in the ADPF believe in a parallel process of liberation from colonialism and from the constraints of outworn social relations. Therefore, we consider that the salvation of the Ahwazi people starts from the stage of the struggle against slavery and injustice faced on daily bases. The salvation of our people and its freedom comes necessarily parallel with its salvation from backwardness and social injustices. Therefore, we must wage a struggle for the salvation of the human being and the land together for all segments of our society and oppressed masses to reach their usurped legitimate rights.

In this case, the revolutionary action and the struggle become part of the daily lives of these masses for their salvation and liberation. 

Chapter III, Our Relations 

A – Our Ahwazi Relations: 

Undoubtedly,  the circumstances of the Iranian occupation and oppression of all segments and classes of the Ahwazi society create intellectual diversity  and multiple visions in the society on how to deal with this occupation and oppression, where every segment  and class has an individual vision that could be different from the other, depending on the economic, social, political, intellectual and even historical location of each of us.

As a result of this intellectual diversity, the proposed solutions to resolve differences and get rid of the occupation and oppression, would be diverse, and sometimes conflicting but also appropriate with the vision held by of the active political groups. There would also be specific goals for each group that could differ mainly with the others.

All the liberation movements have passes through this experience, some of them have overcome these difficulties, but other revolutions were torn apart by internal conflicts. This depends on our awareness and responsibility towards our masses. For us, the Ahwazis, despite the existing differences, there are many factors uniting us and if we do not capitalize on this, it would be a waste of energies and giving the opportunity to the occupier the to commit more vandalistic and criminal acts against our people. 
We in ADPF, based on our vision to the present Ahwazi situation and the regional and international conditions surrounding us, and through our understanding to the nature of the struggle waged by the masses  against the Iranian authorities, declare that we will make every effort to build a strong bridge between us and the Ahwazi progressive and national forces to unite our own Ahwazi energies and capabilities in the same trench in order to reach self-determination for our people and for the salvation of our people from Persian chauvinist colonialism. 

We respect the views of our people and its struggling vanguard and we accept and welcome any proposal to work jointly with any Ahwazi faction with which we share the main objectives of the struggle. 
 Our relationship with the masses is the relationship of the part with larger whole and the ADPF leaders and cadres must build this relationship and be present in every thing that serves our people in this phase of the liberation struggle, both in the direct and indirect confrontation fronts. Therefore, the door of the ADPF is always open to all honest and loyal to the Ahwazi cause, conditional to the acceptance of its approach and its political project. 

B – Our Relations with the Arab Nation 

Our Ahwazi people is an integral part of the Arab Nation; on this basis, the Arab circumference represents the political support to our struggle and the Arab culture and civilization is the fountain of our daily social and cultural life.

  At this stage of liberation in particular, the ADPF believes that our Ahwazi struggle for liberation has a strategic depth in the Arab geography; also the Arab support for the liberation struggle is part of the duty of the Arab Nation. It also considers that our people’s struggle is part of the struggle of the Arab nation for liberation and salvation, where all its active political masses aspire to a decent life, peace and a true democracy. 
We in the ADPF emphasize that the Ahwazi Arab people is in dire need for the support of our Arab brothers in its just struggle to put an end to the occupation and oppression. We consider this is a pan-Arab national and human duty that stems from the unity of destiny of our nation in general.  We in the ADPF are working to strengthen the ties of brotherhood with the living democratic forces in the Arab nation and with official authorities that respect our decision and support us in our struggle to put an end to the occupation.

C – Our Relations with the Nationalities Based in Iran and their Political Organizations

The so-called political geography of Iran today is the result of the occupation of neighboring peoples’ territories, including Turks and Kurds, Bloch, Ahwazi Arabs, Turkmen and others. From this premise, these peoples are also fighting for the restoration of their national rights and get rid of the Iranian occupation. This unites us under several common goals; the first of them is the struggle to get rid of oppression and occupation of a common enemy, the Iranian authority. We are also united by the need for coordination between the struggle of these peoples in the internal and external arenas. Based on this, we see that the relationship with these people is in our national interest to put an end to the repugnant Iranian occupation. The level of our relations with these peoples is based on the seriousness of their political organizations because what gathers us with most of these organizations and parties is a common struggle for self-determination of peoples in Iran, although this does not mean we do not build a relationship with organizations that have limited objectives or specific demands. 

We are making every effort to ensure coordination between us and these organizations to build a mass power in different regions in Iran to face the same heavily armed enemy, which does not hesitate in using its weapons at any moment against innocent people of peoples under occupation.

We are dealing with these organizations on the basis of mutual respect and the respect of the will of peoples and their right to self-determination. There is no doubt that our relationship with these peoples comes primarily to shorten the road of victory for our people and other peoples in Iran. We also stress that our relationship with these peoples did not and will not come at the expense of the historic principles of our people and its right to national independence and the establishment of an independent Ahwazi state. 
  
D – Our Relations with Iran and Iranian Political Parties 

Any relationship with Iranian organizations comes primarily for the benefit of our people and for the benefit of our struggle for self-determination, justice and democracy. On the light of this, the thread that connects us to these organizations and parties is that they admit our people’s right to self-determination and demonstrate through action the acceptance of our right to struggle to reach this Goal.

 We appreciate the positions of some of these parties and organizations that stand with the right of peoples to self-determination and our struggle for this right. We deplore at the same time, the Persian chauvinist organizations and parties that want to continue dominating peoples’ resources and capabilities, despite the fact that they recognize some of the injustices suffered by these peoples.

We agree with some of mainly left-wing organizations in Iran, which in addition to its public recognition of our right to self-determination, they share with us the struggle for liberation from slavery and human exploitation and to achieve social justice and equality among peoples and to restore the rights of the disadvantaged. 
We call on Iranian organizations that claim democracy and struggle for human rights, to take clear and open positions towards the rights of the oppressed and colonized peoples in Iran and condemn, without reservation, the daily oppression and chauvinist policy of Persianizing our people. Slogans expressed by some parties change nothing if behind them there are other facts serving the regime and the chauvinist parties known by flagrant racist attitudes toward non-Persian peoples in Iran. 
 Demanding the right to self-determination is a legitimate right of colonized peoples and is a fixed asset of their struggle, but unfortunately, this was forgotten by some organizations and parties that claim struggle in this area. 

E – Our Regional and International Relations  

The ADPF believes that the struggle for liberation, independence and human rights is not confined to one front, but it is wide in all fields, Therefore, the ADPF is seeking to build wide ties with all regional and international, popular and official parties and human rights organizations and civil community and with all forces that reject hegemony and colonialism, respect the rights of oppressed peoples in thier struggle to restore their rights including the legitimate rights of the Ahwazi  Arab people.

The ADPF also strongly seeks that the Ahwazi Arab people be present in every major international and regional institution, especially the United Nations and its institutions. It also works to win official and popular friends and allies in the international and regional arenas for the recognition of our people’s right to self-determination and to win their support against of the Iranian occupation. 

Human Rights:

  • The ADPF is committed to all United Nations resolutions and conventions aiming at respecting human rights, in particular, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and rejecting violence and the ADPF seeks to disseminate and apply. 
  • The ADPF contravene ending the life of any human being regardless of the magnitude of his crime and reject the death penalty for any reason whatsoever, in any form and under any pretext, and considers the death sentence pursuant to an inhuman act, incompatible with human rights.

 
                                                   Ahwazi Popular Democratic Front

 

P.S. The name the Ahwazi Popular Democratic Front was Ahwazi Arab Democratic Popular Front for the Arab Ahwazi People

Annexes 
(1) The General Assembly, Reaffirming its faith in resolution 1514
 

(d -15) of December 14,1960, containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial countries and peoples, and the working program for the full implementation of the declaration, contained in resolution 2621 ( D – 25) of October 12,1970, Recalling the many resolutions, including resolutions 2588 B (d – 24) of December 15,1969, and 2787 (d – 26), dated on 6  (Dec) 1971, and 2955 (d – 27) of December 12,1972, and 2963 E (d – 27) of December 13,1972, and 3059 (d – 28), and 0730 (d – 28) of November 3, 1973 and the Security Council resolutions on this matter, 
(2) Adopted by the General Assembly resolution 217 A (D-3) of December 10, 1948.

Resolution No. 3246 (session-29) on 29, November 1974
(3)
1 – – Reaffirms the inalienable right of all peoples under colonial and foreign domination and alien subjugation, to self-determination, freedom and independence in accordance with General Assembly resolution 1514 (d – 15), and other United Nations resolutions in this regard.

2. Renews its appeal to all States and recognizes the right of all peoples that are subjugated to colonial foreign and alien domination, to self-determination and independence, and provide them with moral and material assistance and other forms of assistance in their struggle for the full exercise of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.

3. Reaffirms the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for their liberation from colonial and foreign domination and alien subjugation by all available means.

 

Ahwazi Popular Democratic Front (ADPF)
20-1-1990