Comité International pour la Transition à la Démocratie en Iran	International Committee for Transition to Democracy in Iran	Comitato Internazionale per Transizione a la Democrazia nell’Iran	Comité Internacional por Transición Democratica en Irán	Internationales Komitee für den Übergang zur Demokratie im Iran
Members/Membres Samir Amin, Economist Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics Costa Gavras, Film Director Albert Jacquard, Scientist José Saramago, Nobel Laureate, (Literature) Jean.-Pierre Vernant, Historian (Collège de France) * Hélène Antoniadis-Bibicou, Hitsorian André Guillou, Historian Maurice Godelier, Anthropologist Alain Joxe, Sociologist Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Historian (Professors at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales) * Paul Noirot, Publisher Roland Sublon Dean, Theology Faculty (Strasbourg) Jean Ziegler, Sociologist, Geneva, UN Special Rapporteur ******* Supporters Soutenu par C. Fuehrer; Pastor, Leipzig Harold Pinter Playwright Edward Said Professor of Literature Immanuel Wallerstein, Sociologist	Manifesto for Iran Founded on the principles and values enunciated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and various conventions adopted by the United Nations since, Comité International pour la Transition à la Démocratie en Iran (CITDI) sets itself the task of contributing to and facilitating the transition of Iran to a republic, based on parliamentary democracy and the separation of the state and the religious authority, expressing the unfettered will of the Iranian people. In order to achieve this aim, CITDI will use all legal, democratic, and nonviolent means at its disposal. In particular, CITDI will endeavour to mobilize the international public opinion and draw the attention of international authorities concerned with the application of the principles of Human Rights in order bring pressure to bear on those clinging to a power that is not based on the democratic will of the people of Iran. We are cognizant of the present international situation and the serious attempts being made atseizing totally the vast natural resources of Central Asia, and of the fact that Iran, having proven itself, throughout the 20th century the centrepiece of the region, today constitutes the major obstacle to the realization of such ambitions. Given such a perspective, we hold that the peaceful transition of Iran to a democratic republic, free of all interference by religious authorities in the affairs of the state, would enable the decisive forces of the society—such as wage-earners, women, the youth, university students and professors, who have demonstrated their democratic will over the last six years— to play the principal role in the destiny of their country. Such a transition could spare the entire region the specter of a civil war in Iran—a tragedy with incalculable consequences for the region and a world that aspires to the legitimate desire to live in peace. Indeed, in the most optimistic scenario, the consequences of such a tragedy could be no less than those of the turn the Iranian revolution took in 1979. Such a democratic Iran would undoubtedly be a powerful and central element in establishing and safeguarding peace in the region, thereby facilitating the just exploitation of the resources in the region for the economic progress and welfare of their owners as well as the satisfaction of economic wants of the countries that need access to them. On the path to the establishment in Iran of democracy within a secular republic, CITDI will do all in its power to: 1- Help establish unconditionally all fundamental liberties;  2- Ensure the freedom of the media and journalists; 3- Help free all political prisoners, irrespective of their political or religious creeds; 4- Contribute to putting an end to the arbitrary rule of illegal courts that have acted contrary to the principles of Human Rights; 5- Help to bring about conditions in which those responsible for the imprisonment, kidnapping, and murder of Iranian opponents, dissidents, and intellectuals will be brought to trial under the newly established international laws judging crimes against humanity; 6- And finally, to contribute to the conditions in which a referendum could be held under the auspices of international observers, so that the people of that country could express their will for a democratic future, exercising full sovereignty over their economic resources and putting them at the service of their development and prosperity, in such a way that they could contribute to the creation of peaceful conditions and justice in Western Asia as in the rest of the world.

Address: citdi@yahoo.fr / Fax: 0033 (1) 4876 6045 / http://www.iranebidar.com/citdi.html

Comité International pour la Transition à la Démocratie en Iran	International Committee for Transition to Democracy in Iran	Comitato Internazionale per Transizione a la Democrazia nell’Iran	Comité Internacional por Transición Democratica en Irán	Internationales Komitee für den Übergang zur Demokratie im Iran
Members/Membres Samir Amin, Economist Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics Costa Gavras, Film Director Albert Jacquard, Scientist José Saramago, Nobel Laureate, (Literature) Jean.-Pierre Vernant, Historian (Collège de France) * Hélène Antoniadis-Bibicou, Hitsorian André Guillou, Historian Maurice Godelier, Anthropologist Alain Joxe, Sociologist Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Historian (Professors at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales) * Paul Noirot, Publisher Roland Sublon Dean, Theology Faculty (Strasbourg) Jean Ziegler, Sociologist, Geneva, UN Special Rapporteur ******* Supporters Soutenu par C. Fuehrer; Pastor, Leipzig Harold Pinter Playwright Edward Said Professor of Literature Immanuel Wallerstein, Sociologist	Press Communiqué We call upon all the democrats of the world to lend their support to the CITDI (International Committee for Transition to Democracy in Iran) and its Manifesto, thereby contributing to the mobilization the greatest support for Iranian democrats who are trying to bring about a peaceful transition to democracy in their country. Given the dangerous international situation and with the avowed intention of the Bush Administration to reshape Western Asia geo-politically, with the intention of controlling the vast resources of the regions as well as those of Central Asia, it is imperative to do everything possible in order to avoid a further extension of the disastrous conflicts in the region. One of the means to attain this objective is preempting peace through bringing pressure to bear on the clericrats in power in order to compel them to yield to the will of the people who demand a referendum for the establishment of a secular and democratic republic. Such a solution could ensure a stable peace in a region that has suffered so much under the harsh rule of local autocrats and their foreign benefactors, who bring them to power in turn and remove them as their interests require. The events of recent weeks and official declarations of the present American administration have demonstrated that the hawks in Washington to eventually seize Iran under the pretext of targeting the anti-democratic regime in Tehran. In such an eventuality, there can be no doubt that, as opposed to neighboring countries, it would be very difficult to avoid the outbreak of a civil war in Iran, whose consequences would be as devastating as incalculable—consequences that, at any rate, could be by far more serious than those witnessed after the turn the Iranian revolution took after 1979. Given this perspective, the CITDI stresses the necessity of a peaceful transition to a secular and democratic republic in Iran. Only the Iranians themselves, who have repeatedly demonstrated their democratic will, particularly over the last six years, could play the decisive role in averting a civil war. World public opinion can exercise a great influence on the course of events that are rapidly unfolding in the region. In this honorable enterprise, the CITDI hopes to be able to count on the active support and solidarity of the democrats of the entire world. The repetition of the tragedy in Iraq by the American army of occupation must be prevented in Iran if the lives of thousands of innocent people, children, women, and men, as well as journalists are to be spared. Let us mobilize world public opinion in to order help bring about the departure of the clericrats in power and help organize a referendum for the establishment of a democratic and secular republic in Iran!   Please send your messages of solidarity and support to International Committee for Transition to Democracy in Iran: citdi@yahoo.fr Fax : 331-4876 6045 Today, world public opinion is the Alter-Super-Power. Let’s mobilize it!

Address: citdi@yahoo.fr / Fax: 0033 (1) 4876 6045 / http://www.iranebidar.com/citdi.html