On Sunday, September 10, former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami lectured at Harvard on "The Ethics of Tolerance in the Age of Violence." Khatami's appearance on campus was a challenge to the Iran Freedom Concert coalition, which in March held a solidarity concert with Iranian student activists.

Though Harvard's academic year still had not started, students from across the political spectrum joined with Iranian human rights activists and community members for a rally outside Khatami's speech protesting his human rights record. Under Khatami's rule newspapers were shut down, dissidents were silenced, and hundreds of students were imprisoned for exercising their basic right to protest.

Because real dialogue means holding Khatami accountable for the horrendous treatment of students that occurred under his rule, we could not be silent. We exercised our right to do what our counterparts in Iran have been imprisoned for. We demanded the release of imprisoned student activist Ahmed Batebi and all prisoners of conscience in Iran. Here are highlights from the rally:

• Iranian women's rights activist Lily Mazaheri's challenge to Khatami
• Former Iranian student dissident Ala Khaki's challenge and poem
• Strong statement by the Harvard Student Democrats
• High-profile media coverage, including the AP, New York Times, Washington Post, ABC News, and CBS News (see complete list)

Inside the Kennedy School of Government, Khatami tried to portray a positive vision of Iran's human rights record. Yet when challenged by a student questioner on Iran's capital punishment for homosexuals, Khatami frankly expressed his views: "Homosexuality is a crime in Islam, and crimes are punishable. That a crime could be punished by execution is debatable." The audience was silent.

"It would be very bizarre if he came here to speak on ethics and violence and did not acknowledge and discuss his own record in Iran," noted Eric Lesser, president of Harvard College Democrats, which teamed with Harvard Student Republicans to support the protest. "Students were arrested and thrown in prison for speaking their mind in the same way we’re doing right now."

Click below to watch a video with brief excerpts from the rally, featuring Lily Mazahery and Ala Khali:

Khatami confronted by university students in Iran:

Feb, 10, 2005 - President Khatami addresses a unity rally as the crowd shouts: "Merg ber Omrika" - "Death to America."

AT LEAST 18 WOMEN WERE STONED TO DEATH UNDER KHATAMI'S RULE (1997-2005)

GAY TEENAGERS EXECUTED UNDER KHATAMI'S RULE