04.2005 - Source: UK Border Agency (Home Office)

Funding for the Guardian Concil ("Country Report - April 2005") [#31980],  [ID 8306]

"[...]5.7 On 03 March 2003 it was reported in a BBC News Report that on 28 February 2003 Iran held only its second ever municipal council elections. They resulted in the worst electoral defeat in six years for Khatami and his reformist allies. These results were considered to be caused by voter apathy and low turn out at the polls caused by disenchantment with the slow progress of political reform. [...]"

Document(s): Open document

13.01.2005 - Source: Human Rights Watch

The Guardian Council ("World report 2005") [#28233],  [ID 8307]

"[...]Iran’s Guardian Council is a body of twelve religious jurists: six are appointed by the Supreme Leader and the remaining six nominated by the judiciary and confirmed by Parliament. The Council has the unchecked power to veto legislation approved by the Parliament. In recent years, for instance, the Council has repeatedly rejected parliamentary bills in such areas as women’s rights, family law, the prohibition of torture, and electoral reform. The Council also vetoed parliamentary bills assenting to ratification of international human rights treaties such as the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women.
The Council also has the power to vet candidates for elected political posts, including the presidency and the national parliament, based on vague criteria and subject only to the review of the Supreme Leader. The Council wielded its arbitrary powers in a blatantly partisan manner during the parliamentary elections of February 2004 when it disqualified more than 3,600 reformist and independent candidates, allowing conservative candidates to dominate the ballot. The Council’s actions produced widespread voter apathy and many boycotted the polls. Many Iranians regarded the move as a “silent coup” on behalf of conservatives who had performed poorly during previous elections in 2000. The Council also disqualified many sitting parliamentarians whose candidacy had been approved by the same Council in 2000. [...]"

Document(s): Open document