The right to freedom of assembly is provided for in the constitution of the Islamic Republic, but qualified by a requirement that exercise of this right "should not violate the principles of Islam."13 Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states:
The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognized. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
The context of the presidential election highlights again the severe restrictions placed on this right by the Iranian government. Non-clerical opponents to the government like Ebrahim Yazdi, the leader of the Freedom Movement, and Ezzatollah Sahabi, the former minister, have been prevented from addressing political gatherings in the run-up to the elections. For example, on May 7, 1997, Sahabi, who is also the editor of Iran-e Farda magazine, was prevented from addressing an audience at a mosque in Shiraz on the presidential election.14
The lack of respect for the right to freedom of assembly has even interfered with the election campaign of one of the candidates approved by the Council of Guardians. At a meeting held at the Howz-e Loqman mosque in Mashhad in northeastern Iran on April 22, 1997, a small group of ansar-e hezbollahi (partisans of the party of God)15 vigilantes disrupted a gathering addressed by Hojatoleslam Khatami while security forces reportedly stood by and did not intervene. The hezbollahi, according to the April 24 edition of Hamshahri, carried knives and iron bars and injured some of the people in the crowd. Khatami was unable to complete his remarks, according to Hamshahri, a daily that supports Khatami. In Isfahan, on April 24, Khatami's speeches at the Sadr Theological Seminary and the Seyyed mosque were disrupted by groups in the audience chanting slogans against him.16 The disruption of Khatami's political gatherings, and indeed Khatami's candidacy generally, has sparked a lively debate betweendifferent factions within the clerical leadership. For example, after the events in Mashhad, seminary students and teachers in that city issued a statement condemning the disruption as "unethical and an affront to the sanctity of the house of God." They stated, "such action will only harm the hallowed Islamic system." Their protests were echoed by seminarians from Tabriz and several other cities.17
Apart from the context of the election, the government has repeatedly shown its intolerance of nonviolent gatherings critical of its policies. For example, on February 16, 1997, riot police broke up a protest by striking oil refinery workers outside the oil ministry in Tehran. Hundreds of demonstrators were detained by the authorities and taken away in buses. The fate of the detainees is unknown, although Human Rights Watch has received unconfirmed reports that four people were executed for participating in this demonstration. Use of force by the security forces or by civilian groups operating with official support is habitually used to break up unauthorized gatherings critical of government policies. Participants in such protests may be detained indefinitely without charge or trial and without access to lawyers or family members. Such tactics inevitably have a chilling effect on the right to freedom of assembly.
13 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, art. 27.
14 Ettela'at International, May 8, 1997.
15 Hezbollahi groups frequently have allegiance to various figures in the government and the clerical leadership. They have usually targeted government critics and free-thinkers of all kinds, burning property, beating individuals and disrupting gatherings, while government security forces take no action to restrain their activities.
16 Iran newspaper, April 24, 1997, as reported by BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, May 3, 1997.