Human Rights Watch urges the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to take steps to enable its citizens to participate equally and fully in the conduct of public affairs, specifically, to:
· Amend the constitution to remove discriminatory provisions that prohibit women and members of Iran's religious minorities from serving as president.
· Allow candidates to stand for election to the presidency without regard to their religious, political or other beliefs.
· Exclude candidates from running for president only on the basis of reasonable and clearly-defined criteria that are applied impartially to all candidates. Those denied permission to stand should be informed of the reasons and given the opportunity to challenge them before an impartial body.
· Uphold the right of peaceful assembly for all, including supporters of opposition groups and parties.
· Halt the prosecution, imprisonment and harassment of writers, publishers and editors for exercising their internationally recognized right to express themselves; and repudiate the edict calling for the death of British writer Salman Rushdie for writing deemed apostasy.
· Take appropriate punitive and preventive measures to curb the activities of groups commonly known as "hezbollahi," whose use of violence to violate others' rights to freedom of assembly and expression is presently tolerated by government and religious authorities.