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Amnesty International has today called on the Iranian authorities to ensure that the forthcoming presidential election to be held on 12 June 2009 are free of discrimination – particularly against women - and that candidates and voters are guaranteed effective exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and assembly during the election campaign. The organization's appeal was made in a letter addressed to Ayatollah Jannati, the Chair of the Council of Guardians Council of Guardians is a body which interprets the Constitution, supervises elections, and vets legislation for conformity to Islamic Law and the Constitution., following the recent closure of registration of candidates for the presidential election.

The Council of Guardians screens all candidates for election to "ensure their suitability for the Presidency".  Article 115 of the Constitution stipulates that candidates must be from amongst "religious and political personalities" [Persian: rejal] and possess: "Iranian origin; Iranian nationality; administrative capacity and resourcefulness; a good past-record; trustworthiness and piety; convinced belief in the fundamental principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the official religion of the country."  In previous elections, the majority of candidates registered were disqualified under these criteria, including all women.  The exclusion of women appears to have been on an interpretation of the word rejal ... >>>