Submission of the Bill on 'Conducting Gatherings and Marches' to Parliament; Increase in Restrictions

After years of discussion and review, the government of the Islamic Republic has sent a bill to the Islamic Consultative Assembly, claiming it will 'organize' the 'conduct of gatherings and marches.' However, an examination of the content of this bill shows that if it becomes law, it will not only fail to guarantee the 'right to assembly and association,' a universal human right, but will also provide a 'legal' framework for further restrictions. According to news sources from Iran, the bill on the conduct of gatherings and marches, proposed by the legal deputy of Ebrahim Raisi, was approved with 'urgent consideration' in a cabinet meeting on January 22, 2023, and was sent to the Islamic Consultative Assembly on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, just two days after being signed by the head of the thirteenth government. This ten-page bill, consisting of 46 articles, bears the signatures of Ebrahim Raisi, the president of the Islamic Republic, and Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior and 'Head of the National Security Council,' who has a background in the Ministry of Defense and command of the 'Quds Force of the IRGC.' The bill has been sent to the parliament at a time when there have been numerous civil and professional gatherings in recent months and weeks. In recent decades, protesters against various policies and actions of the Islamic Republic, who have engaged in public and sometimes nationwide protests, have demanded the right to peaceful assembly. However, this right has not only been unrecognized but has also been violently suppressed. Meanwhile, supporters of government policies have held gatherings and marches without obtaining 'permission' whenever they wished, with all the resources of public and administrative institutions at their disposal. An examination of the articles and clauses of this bill indicates that the aim of its drafters is not to recognize the 'right to protest' against government policies and to guarantee ways to express it, but rather to further restrict this right. According to Article 27 of the current Constitution of the Islamic Republic, the formation of gatherings and marches is free 'without carrying weapons' and provided that it 'does not disrupt the foundations of Islam,' although, according to protesters, this principle has never been operationalized and remains merely on paper. The proposed bill increases these two conditions from the Constitution to four, adding 'disruption to the independence, national unity, and territorial integrity of the country' and 'disruption to the content of the unchangeable principles of the Constitution' as legal conditions to prevent 'freedom of gatherings and marches.' Article 2 of this bill exempts 'gatherings and marches announced by the Coordination Council for Islamic Propaganda' from the scope of this law. The Coordination Council for Islamic Propaganda is the main governmental body that plans, prepares, and holds official gatherings and marches for the government and its supporters. According to this article, government marches do not require 'permission.' Article 5 of this bill states that if holding a gathering or march causes 'disruption in traffic,' 'disruption in the daily services of the government' to citizens, or 'direct damage' [potential destruction of public property], it will be prohibited. Article 8 of this bill requires organizers, at the time of applying for permission, to provide authorities with 'slogans,' speakers, 'topics of speeches,' and 'persons or entities that are the main audience of the organizer's demands.' Article 17 grants officials the authority to revoke any issued permit 'immediately' and notify the organizer if 'new reasons and evidence' are discovered that fall under the prohibitions of this law. Sections of this bill state that county security councils, as the highest local security authorities, are 'obligated' to designate at least one location for cities with 'less than 300,000 people,' at least two locations for cities with '300,000 to 500,000 people,' at least three locations for cities with '500,000 to one million people,' at least four locations for cities with populations over 'one million,' and at least ten locations for the city of 'Tehran' for 'holding gatherings.' Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic, stated on November 20, 2022, at the height of nationwide protests, that the selection of 'locations for holding gatherings' had been discussed and approved once before but needed to be reviewed again due to 'issues' raised by 'agencies outside the government.' Now, with the submission of this bill to the Islamic Consultative Assembly, it seems that the issues raised by 'agencies outside the government' have been resolved without naming these governing agencies or their objections. This bill also specifies conditions such as accessibility, security and police protection, and distance from locations with 'protective ranks' for the predetermined locations of the gatherers. Mohsen Mansouri, the former governor of Tehran, who is now the executive deputy of Ebrahim Raisi, stated on October 21 last year that applicants for holding gatherings must submit their requests 'in writing' and that '2 or 3 points' in Tehran will soon be designated for 'holding gatherings.' Kambez Nourouzi, a legal expert, has previously deemed the 'designation of specific locations for protests' as a violation of the Constitution.