A/HRC/31/69 640 of the 801 candidates registered for the election to the Assembly of Experts, including the 6 women.37 To date, no woman has ever been approved by the Council to serve on the Assembly of Experts. 46. On 19 August 2015, President Rouhani reportedly called on the Guardian Council to play a less intrusive role in elections, calling the Council an “eye that cannot do the job of a hand”.38 Highlighting the Council’s practice in recent years of disqualifying entire political groups, Mr. Rouhani said that all legal groups should be respected and individual candidates should be judged on their merits rather than their political affiliations. On 11 December, President Rouhani said that all individuals wishing to serve the country should be allowed to run for office.39 47. On 20 January 2016, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei commented on the disqualification of thousands of candidates, saying: “Nowhere in the world do decision makers allow those who have no faith in the system to run.”40 He had previously called on all Iranians, including those who do not approve of the Government’s views, to vote in the February elections.41 48. On 14 October 2015, parliament voted against the recommendation of the Domestic Affairs Commission that blind candidates be qualified for election to parliament. Among the reasons cited by the parliamentarians for voting against the bill was the great financial burden such a move would create for the Government. 42 Article 28 of the election law prohibits individuals with hearing, visual or speech impediments from registering as candidates, in violation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party. 49. The Special Rapporteur expresses serious concern that as of 14 February 2016, former presidential candidates and reformists Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard, will have spent five full years under house arrest in the absence of charges or a trial. The Special Rapporteur has repeatedly called on the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately and unconditionally release these opposition figures from house arrest. Security and intelligence forces placed the three under house arrest in February 2011 after they protested against the results of the disputed 2009 presidential election. In response, the Government notes that the charges levelled against Mr. Mousavi and Mr. Karroubi are “strongly founded and ascertained”, and that their current situation reflects “the Islamic establishment’s clemency towards them” and the need to “protect their lives”. 50. In November and December 2015, at least 12 public gatherings related to elections were reportedly cancelled or disbanded, as a result of threats to speakers or participants. 43 On 19 November, in the city of Varamin, several men reportedly attacked the Minister of the Interior under former President Mohammad Khatami after he attempted to give a speech about the upcoming election, and security forces dispersed the crowd with tear gas.44 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 14 See www.radiofarda.com/content/f2-iran-elections-tens-not-vetted-women-left-outkhomeini/27512087.html (in Persian). See http://ir.voanews.com/content/iran-president-election/2924066.html (in Persian). See http://www.irna.ir/fa/News/81873881/ (in Persian). See http://bigstory.ap.org/article/69738e15e76f48f6beed498b667fa4e3/iran-reformists-call-reversalcandidate-ban; http://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=32040. See http://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=31906 (in Persian). See http://www.ilna.ir/ (in Persian). See www.ilna.ir/ (in Persian). See www.radiofarda.com/content/o2-mosavi-lari-was-attacked/27375994.html (in Persian).