Regulations for Intensified Action Against Students
Regulations for intensified action against students, from the Parliament’s proposal of fines and a 10-year travel ban for protesting students to the new disciplinary guidelines approved by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, have led to the arrest of dozens of students across the country following recent protests in Iran and the issuance of heavy sentences for some of them. This comes as the latest disciplinary guidelines for students, signed by the Ministers of Science and Health, suggest that the life of the student movement will increasingly be overshadowed.
It seems that during every protest event, students become the scapegoats, to the extent that in 2009, after protest events and the Green Movement, the student disciplinary regulations were changed to impose stricter measures and limit student activities. However, in 2019, during Rouhani’s administration, the regulations were revised again to support individual and collective student rights, open up the political space in universities, and recognize students’ right to protest.
Rouhani’s Regulations Were Set Aside
However, the new regulations lasted only three years. Now, the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution has quickly prepared and approved new disciplinary regulations for students, and it seems that Raisi’s administration was not at all inclined to implement Rouhani’s guidelines. So much so that the Deputy Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of the Ministry of Science claims that the actions of university presidents in banning students from entering universities were based on the regulations approved in session 358 on September 5, 1995, of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
According to this official, based on Note 2 of Article 7 of the student disciplinary regulations of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, the university president is allowed to prevent a student from entering the university until their case is reviewed by the disciplinary committee. For cases referred to the central disciplinary committee for review and decision, the university president can prevent the student from entering the university for up to two months.
The lack of legal documentation for banning students from entering and suspending them had led students to demand the preservation of their basic rights by referring to the executive guidelines of the student disciplinary regulations. However, students were told that a new directive had been sent to universities, allowing the university president to suspend and ban students from entering without following legal procedures.
From the Requirement of Permits to Intrusion into Personal Space
In the guidelines prepared during Rouhani’s administration, the number of members of the primary and appellate review boards was increased, faculty members were added to these boards, and a legal member was included. Also, the requirement to obtain a permit for gatherings, which was in the 2009 disciplinary guidelines, was removed, and it was announced that if a gathering was peaceful and did not cause damage or disrupt educational programs, it was not considered an offense.
However, in the new guidelines written by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution and communicated by the Ministers of Science and Health, obtaining a permit for gatherings is once again required, and the restrictions and punitive measures are even stricter than the 2009 guidelines. Student activities in the virtual space are also subject to monitoring, with a list of 20 punitive actions ranging from temporary suspension to a five-year ban on education mentioned.
This is while in 2019, when the issue of dealing with student offenses in the virtual space was raised, the Ministry of Science under Rouhani’s administration strongly stated in a notice that there was no intention to intrude into students’ personal space. The notice stated that one of the principles considered in drafting these guidelines was not to intrude into students’ personal space. It is worth noting that no specific changes were foreseen regarding the virtual space, and currently, disciplinary councils in universities address clear violations in the virtual space that have a private complainant, and this is not a new issue.
Banning from Education for Up to 5 Years
According to this new guideline, where the student disciplinary committee is considered the authority to address student offenses, Articles 40 to 43 of this guideline pertain to students’ political offenses. Providing false information or deliberately concealing facts regarding oneself, armed groups, or individuals affiliated with them can result in warnings to temporary suspension of education for one semester or from one to six months, including the offender’s tenure. If the student continues their protest activities, they can be banned from education for one and a half to even two years.
Supporting or promoting dissident groups and atheistic schools of thought, if the activity and promotion are in favor of armed and opposing groups of the Islamic Republic of Iran or illegal dissolved groups determined by judicial rulings or security authorities to be opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran, can result in deprivation of university welfare benefits up to the maximum expulsion from the university or a ban on education in all universities for up to 5 years.
Membership in armed, corrupt, atheist groups or deviant sects, cooperation with foreign intelligence organizations, or membership in armed, corrupt, atheist groups determined by security authorities to be armed, corrupt, atheist, or deviant sects can also lead to expulsion from the university with a ban on education in all universities for up to five years.
Insulting Islamic or national symbols and sanctities, official religions of the country, or committing acts against the Islamic Republic system such as verbal or written profanity through slogans, distributing leaflets, and virtual space can result in deprivation of university welfare benefits to temporary suspension of education for two semesters or from 6 to 12 months, including the offender’s tenure. If these offenses are committed collectively, it may lead to expulsion from the university with a ban on education in all universities for up to five years.
Visible violations of Islamic laws such as eating during fasting can result in temporary suspension of education for two semesters or from 6 to 12 months without including the offender’s tenure, and so on.