“Freedom does not come from me or you, but it can and in fact happens from the relationship between us and among us.” Judith Butler.

Freedom of assembly and peaceful gathering is one of the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This right should be respected for all citizens regardless of the location and content of the gathering, race, gender, religion, language, ethnicity, and political and social affiliations. The history of the right to assembly dates back to decades before the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Some historians attribute the concept of the right to assembly to the King of England and the Magna Carta in 1215, as well as the French Constitution of 1791 and some others to the first amendment of the American Constitution.

Today, on a global level, this right is considered as a process of cultural development and human rights and is respected as a universal right. Even those in power who violate it do not openly deny it; therefore, the actions of governments and their acceptance of it by placing their signatures on international documents are the criteria for their performance in respecting the human rights of citizens.

At the global level, the first international document is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which in its Article 20 explicitly states the right to assembly.

Other international documents, contracts and charters that guarantee the right of citizens to assemble are as follows:

Article 5 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Article 7 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Article 15 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Convention No. 87 of the International Labour Organization on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize.

Regional agreements also restrict the rights of citizens to gather and form free associations.

Article 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Article 15 of the American Convention on Human Rights.

Article 12 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Article 28 of the Charter of Arab Countries on Human Rights (2004).

It should be noted that on August 5, 1990, the “Islamic Declaration of Human Rights” was adopted in Cairo by the foreign ministers of Islamic countries. This declaration remains completely silent on the right to assembly.

The right to assembly and participation in meetings has been defined by international organizations as a fundamental right; however, one of the clearest definitions is provided by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which also emphasizes the role of human rights organizations. It is defined as: “The right to assembly means the conscious and intentional temporary presence of an individual or a group of individuals in a public place for a specific and transparent purpose.”

Freedom of societies and the right to assembly can be of great importance. According to international documents, the private sector is under the control of citizens and interactions and gatherings in it are generally outside the scope of government power. Therefore, emphasis should be placed on the right to assembly in the public sphere and public places. However, in many countries where dictatorial and authoritarian governments hold power, citizens do not have the right to assembly not only in public places but also in private spaces.

Freedom of societies and the rights of citizens to join associations, labor unions, and civil society organizations are one of the key pillars and tools for social change, and in many cases, it is even one of the most fundamental rights that can pave the way for achieving other rights.

The right to assembly is both a voice and a thought, and a luminous interaction that can keep hope alive in confronting those in power. It is one of the most effective weapons that marginalized parts of society can use to impose their demands on those in power and capital through mobilization and organization. John Inazu calls the right to assembly of citizens a “sanctuary of freedom”.

If citizens in Yemen were not deprived of the right to assembly, neither ethnic minorities around the world could fight for self-determination and independence, nor African Americans could demand their human rights, nor could California farm workers stand up against large companies and the use of harmful toxins that endangered their health, nor could students protest against investments in environmentally damaging industries, nor could women in different countries fight for equal human rights. The right to assembly could have allowed them to achieve their rightful rights. The right to assembly is the catalyst and pathway to a multi-voiced society, democracy, stability, and the integrity of civil society. In fact, all of these impossibilities have become possible through the emphasis on the right to assembly.

During the 69 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, people and civil society organizations around the world have increasingly emphasized this right and its applications in their own demands.

General and peaceful demonstrations have doubled worldwide. This increase not only includes the number of these gatherings in public places, but also the number of participants in these protests and assemblies. Between 2006 and 2013, 37 major demonstrations with one million or more participants have been held globally.

Despite these realities, the 21st century has also witnessed continuous and persistent attacks on citizens’ rights to freedom of assembly. The risk of this right being compromised is not only present in countries with a history of human rights violations, but also in Western democracies. In America, human rights organizations have expressed serious concerns about restrictions on citizens’ enjoyment of this right, which is also enshrined in the first amendment of the US Constitution.

The violation of citizens’ right to assembly takes place in various ways. Some are obvious, while others are carried out through administrative obstacles, city regulations, and discriminatory practices that reek of racism, xenophobia, and misogyny. From the cost of obtaining a permit to the lengthy process of issuing it, to harassment and intimidation, pursuit and threats against participants, the use of tear gas and pepper spray, and mass arrests, beatings, and shootings towards participants in public spaces, all of these are violations of citizens’ right to assembly.

The paradox is that governments that do not support the rights of citizens to gather and have freedom of assembly, themselves create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation for citizens, especially those working in the government sector, by forcing them into large public gatherings in order to strengthen their absolute power and impose it on the majority of society. They use the excuse of “endangering national security” to suppress peaceful citizen gatherings, make arrests, and use imprisonment to silence the community.

The right to peaceful assembly and women.

On a global level, women are half of an unequal society. Gender power relations are one of the oldest and most challenging obstacles to creating a society where justice is upheld for all citizens. Therefore, the right to assembly and free participation in society is one of the most important democratic freedoms for women and other marginalized social groups who are in a subordinate position in terms of power.

The challenges of women in achieving gender and sexual equality and justice, from eliminating violence in both private and public spheres, to the economic disadvantage and lack of access to equal job opportunities, to the lack of conducive conditions for political participation, to widespread violations of human and citizenship rights, can all be addressed and supported by relying on the right to assembly and presence in democratic societies. Essentially, throughout history, the patriarchal system with gender division of labor and the creation of a gap between public and private spaces has created extensive barriers for women’s presence in the public sphere, keeping them in a subordinate position. The phrase “women in the home and men outside” is one example of these traditional beliefs in society that have been outdated. In the literature of women’s human rights at the global level, two important documents that explicitly mention the right to assembly for women can be cited.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), also known as the “Declaration on the Rights of Women,” was adopted by the majority of member countries of the United Nations in 1979. However, the United States, Iran, and two newly independent and very small countries in the Pacific Ocean, Palau and Tonga, have not ratified it.

Article 3 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women states that: “States must take all necessary measures in all fields, especially political, social, economic, and cultural, to ensure that women enjoy human rights and fundamental freedoms on the basis of equality between women and men.”

Article 7 of this Convention states that: “States must take all necessary measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public sphere of their country.”

Guideline 23 of this convention refers to Article 7, which emphasizes the “special importance of women’s presence in public life in their country.”

Despite international commitments, women in even relatively democratic and free countries do not have equal rights when it comes to the right to assembly. The public space in many countries is not considered a welcoming or safe place for women to gather and participate due to cultural, traditional, social, and political reasons, and women do not have an equal share in democracy.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in its Article 23 states: “The concept of democracy will only be dynamic and sustainable when women are involved in political decision-making and the interests of both genders are equally considered.”

Beside and alongside the patriarchal culture, which has created serious obstacles for women to have effective and purposeful presence in public spaces to achieve their desires and demands, discriminatory laws and lack of political will among those in power to draft and enforce equal laws for women and respect for women’s human rights, are significant barriers for women’s right to freedom in societies and presence in public spaces.

The growth of fundamentalism in all religions, especially in Islam which we have witnessed in the late 20th and present century, has created new challenges for respecting the human rights of citizens, particularly women. Religious extremists and fundamentalists seek to redefine the role and position of women in the home and society, in order to reclaim the achievements that women have gained through their social struggles. This has deepened the gender divide between the private and public spheres and limited the participation of women in political and economic activities.

Researchers and human rights defenders believe that the concept of “fundamentalism” can be expanded and encompass groups and movements that are not only religious, but also have characteristics of economic, political, and cultural fundamentalists. Fundamentalists, whether they are capitalist monopolists, cultural extremists, or those who are commonly referred to as “national fundamentalists,” all share in exclusivism, authoritarianism, intolerance of diversity, pluralism, and the foundations of democracy, and lack of respect for universal human rights. Among the rights that fundamentalists violate in their entirety is the right to assembly and freedom of association. They only consider freedom of association and public space for themselves, and not for others. It should be noted that freedom of religion, beliefs, and political, social, and religious views of every individual, even fundamentalist ideas, are not in violation of human rights on an individual level. This right is enshrined in Articles 18 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Religious fundamentalists in all religions try to limit and control women’s rights and freedoms by redefining them, in order to monopolize public space and maintain power. However, in the face of this wave, men and women who seek equality resist, not only to defend women’s right to gather and participate in public gatherings, but also to create a safe space for women in the public sphere. From the events of International Women’s Day in 2016 in Beyazit Square in Istanbul, Turkey, where the police used tear gas against protesters, to the arrest of members of the Armenian Women’s Front in Yerevan, Armenia, to the gathering of hundreds of women in Cologne, Germany and widespread sexual harassment during a public gathering on New Year’s Eve, to the peaceful women’s march in March 2016 in Luxembourg against gender discrimination, to the women’s protests in Poland in December 2015 to make abortion illegal, to the fight of Italian mothers and women to create a

Iran.

The second clause of the Supplementary Constitutional Law explicitly states the rights of the nation and refers to the right to freedom of assembly in Article 21. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic also mentions this in the chapter on the rights of the nation and Article 27. However, the reality is that Iran, like many other countries in the world, is deprived of true and popular democracy. International institutions, including the Human Rights Council, human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, have repeatedly mentioned the violation of the right to peaceful assembly of Iranian citizens, both men and women, in their reports over the past 37 years.

Although the right to assembly does not exist for grassroots organizations, social groups, and human rights defenders, large gatherings are occupied by “self” forces to demonstrate power and monopolize public space.

The violation of citizens’ rights for women, ethnic and religious minorities, and social groups who advocate for diversity and political participation is more prominent. Women face numerous challenges in public spaces, from universities to the workplace to sports stadiums, due to gender-based policies.

The arrest, harassment, and abuse of human rights defenders who are women have been widely documented by human rights organizations. These champions of equality and freedom, who should be respected and appreciated, are being prosecuted under the label of “endangering national security.” Meanwhile, respecting the human rights of citizens and creating conducive conditions for women’s participation in political and social activities are crucial pillars of development, the fertility of civil society, and the overall benefit of society.

Iran and the United States are two countries that have not accepted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (although the US has signed it, it has not ratified it). Iran has also signed the Beijing Conference documents with some reservations. While the signing and ratification by governments can be seen as a way for civil society to hold those in power accountable, the fact that many countries have signed international human rights treaties and documents related to women’s rights but have no commitment to implementing them, shows the true measure of political will to respect women’s human rights and gender equality.

The pursuit of respect for human rights and gender equality is a wave that has not yet calmed down, neither in Iran nor in America and other parts of the world, until the establishment of a society in which social justice, gender equality, and peace will continue to progress.

Sources and further study:

• 
  “Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly” by Judith Butler.

• This is a joint submission to the 20th session of the UPR Working Group at the United Nations, submitted on March 15, 2014.

• The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

• تعریف جهانی حقوق بشر

  Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

• The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

• معاهده آمریکایی حقوق بشر

  American Convention on Human Rights

• The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.

• The Arab Charter on Human Rights was adopted in 2004.

• The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam was adopted on August 5, 1990.