In 2016, the Iranian High Council for Human Rights issued a booklet entitled “Some measures
taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran on demands of ethnic groups, religious minorities and
sects”.44 The same year, President Hassan Rouhani issued a Charter on Citizens’ Rights, a
government-endorsed declaration providing guidance for the implementation of the principles,
norms and laws stipulated in the Constitution. 45 In 2019, the Special Rapporteur on the situation
of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite noting that measures have been taken to
improve the situation of minorities, said that they “do not alter the fundamentally discriminatory
nature of the Constitution, legislation and Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in
particular in relation to the country’s unrecognised minority communities.”46
In light of the above, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran does not fully respect the
rights of religious and ethnic minorities and does not ensure that all those who reside in the
country have equal protection before the law, regardless of ethnicity, religion or belief.47
Recommendation Status:
This recommendation has NOT been implemented.
44
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 18 July 2019,
https://undocs.org/pdf?symbol=en/A/74/188
45
Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Islamic Republic of Iran, 27 December 2019,
https://undocs.org/A/HRC/43/12
46
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 18 July 2019,
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N19/222/62/PDF/N1922262.pdf?OpenElement
47
See more : Small Media, https://smallmedia.org.uk/work/national-fabric-irans-ethnic-minorities and
https://smallmedia.org.uk/work/heretics-irans-religious-minorities
KMMK-G, https://kmmk-ge.org/sd/annual-report-2020/
6