II. Recommendations to the Government of Iran

Arbitrary Arrests and Treatment in Detention

• Release all individuals currently deprived of their liberty for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression and association.

• Investigate promptly all complaints of torture and ill-treatment;

• Discipline or prosecute, as appropriate, officials responsible for the mistreatment of detainees.

• Ensure that any prosecutions of press-related offenses occur in a court open to the public and in the presence of a jury, as required by Iranian law.

Legal Reform

• Amend Article 9 of the constitution by removing "in the slightest way" from the prohibition against infringing on the country's independence or territorial integrity "under the pretext of exercising freedom."

• Amend provisions of the Press Law that are excessively broad and used to curtail freedom of speech beyond the limits allowed by international law, specifically:

§Article 2, which "endeavor[s] to negate the drawing up of false and divisive lines, or, pitting different groups of the community against each other…"

§Section 4 of Article 6, which prohibits publishing material that "creates discord between and among social walks of life especially by raising ethnic and racial issues." Any restrictions on expression must be strictly limited to speech likely to incite directly and imminently violence, discrimination, or harassment and intimidation against an individual or clearly defined group.

• Amend broadly-worded provisions in the Islamic Penal Code entitled "Offenses against the National and International Security of the Country" ("Security Laws") that permit the government to punish individuals arbitrarily for peaceful political expression, including the following provisions:

§Article 498, which criminalizes the establishment of any group that the government charges with "disrupt[ing] national security and which the government has used to prosecute peaceful dissent.

§Article 500, which sets a prison sentence of three months to one year for anyone convicted of "propaganda against the state of the Islamic Republic of Iran or propaganda for the benefit of group or institutions against the state."

Minority Rights

• Respect and enforce Articles 15 and 19 of the Constitution, which recognize the rights of ethnic minorities to have publications and instruction in local languages alongside that of the national language (Persian) and which confirm that all Iranians enjoy equal rights without regard to color, race, or language.