By Kourtney Pompi, NDI citizen participation program manager

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Published on August 4, 2009

• Hourglass turned over fate of Iran vote detainees
  – headline in the Iranian run English-language PressTV

By Sophie Bordbar

Article 26 of the Iranian constitution provides for civil society organizations (CSOs), stating that organizations are permitted if they “do not violate the principles of independence, freedom, national unity, the criteria of Islam, or the basis of the Islamic Republic.”  Subsequently, Iran’s 1982 “Law Concerning the Activities of Parties, Associations, Political Associations and Guild Associations, Islamic Associations or the Associations of Recognized Religious Minorities” outlines four types of allowable organizations.

By Elizabeth Spiro Clark

Millions of Iranians reacted with outrage to the June 12 election that has returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. In the days that followed, massive numbers turned out in the streets to protest the election results that they believe were determined by fiat of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and not by Iranian voters. Some seven weeks later, protestors have not retreated, even in the face of brutal repression.

The Iran Bulletin is a biweekly publication covering domestic political and election issues in Iran.

International and domestic election monitoring organizations in Kyrgyzstan, working closely with NDI, fielded observers throughout the country during the July 23 election in which President Kurmanbek Bakiev was elected to a second five-year term. Two such groups released comprehensive election statements, included below.