Executive Board, the candidate could submit their objection to the Guardian Council, which will announce its definite opinion to the Interior Ministry on the approval or rejection of the candidate’s qualification 20 days after the release of the opinion of the Central Supervisory Board.30 In cases when the reports and complaints received by the Guardian Council makes it evident that members of the Supervisory Board have violated the laws and regulations, the Guardian Council is, in theory, obligated to act lawfully in proportion to the violation committed.31 In practice, this means the Guardian Council is the sole party responsibility for investigating its own alleged wrongdoing and that of its subordinate bodies, which violates the principle of impartiality in monitoring the elections.32 Although Chapter 8 of the Islamic Parliament Elections Law specifies a mechanism for reviewing complaints, it is an inefficient mechanism because it is itself part of the electoral process. In recent years, steps have been taken to amend some articles of the Election Law, including those mentioned in the recommendation, yet to date the Guardian Council has approved none of these proposed changes. There are reasons to question the veracity of the Iranian government’s election figures, which do not always add up, for example there were major discrepancies in Iran’s 9th Presidential Elections won by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.33 In addition, the Revolutionary Guards has become more involved in controlling the political process including by allegedly interfering with voting stations during presidential elections, raising fears of undue influence.34 Iranian Election Law further prohibits disrupting the elections, including by protest, and publishing content with the intent of encouraging boycotts or reducing voter participation is prohibited. The publication and propagation of “anti-revolutionary and enemy group views,” of libel or satire, or any insulting content against the elections on the Internet is against the law. The use of images of females as a “tool” in campaign ads and/or the depiction of women in campaign advertisements that do not observe Islamic values under the law is also strictly prohibited.35 On April 25, 2009 Maryam Malek was arrested and charged with “propaganda against the system” under these laws in connection with her activities with the Campaign for Equality.36 Article 25 ICCPR recognises that citizens “also take part in the conduct of public affairs by exerting influence through public debate and dialogue [or] their capacity to organize themselves.”37 Thereby, laws that interfere with the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly 30 Article 52 of the Islamic Parliament Elections Law Article 54 of the Islamic Parliament Elections Law 32 See Article 52, 54 , and Chapter Eight of the Islamic Parliament https://www.iranrights.org/library/document/2098/iran-fair-vote-impossible 33 Bill Sami'i, "Iran: Do The Presidential Vote Numbers Really Add Up?" Radio Liberty, 30 June 2005. 34 http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/06/25/iran.claim/index.html 35 Islamic Election Law, art. 64-66. 36 Amnesty International, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/039/2009/en 37 Human Rights Committee General Comment No. 25 (CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.7), para 8 31 Elections Law. 4