row, and has received information that there are at present at least 100 individuals who have been sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were under 18 years of age”.8 B. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran: ensure that all children are treated equally and without discrimination within the criminal justice system. Article 20 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran guarantees that all citizens of Iran, men and women, enjoy the equal protection of the law and of rights, “in conformity with the Islamic criteria.” Article 21 emphasizes that “the government must ensure the rights of women in all respects, in conformity with Islamic criteria”.9 While these provisions supposedly safeguard the human rights of women and protect them from discrimination, such legal guarantees exist only as long as they are in conformity with “Islamic criteria.” The opportunity for interpretation allowed under the qualifications such as “in conformity with Islamic criteria” has often resulted in provisions that discriminate or have a discriminatory impact on various grounds, including gender. The Iranian Islamic Penal Code (2013) is largely based on the Government’s interpretation of Islamic Sharia precepts and contains provisions which directly discriminate between girls and boys under the criminal justice system. One of the most telling examples is the age of criminal responsibility, which is set at nine lunar years for girls (equivalent to eight years, nine months in solar years) and fifteen lunar years for boys (equivalent of fourteen years, seven months in solar years).10 The Islamic Republic of Iran has not increased the age of criminal responsibility for girls, nor does it appear that the Government has considered such change. Other provisions under the Iranian criminal justice system discriminate between girls and boys. To name a few, a girl over the age of nine or a woman’s testimony is valued at half that of a man’s11, or not even considered12, in some proceedings. Another instance is that the Islamic Penal Code (2013) penalizes women and girls over the age of nine who do not comply with the Islamic dress code in public, notably with wearing the compulsory hijab.13 8 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2020, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_Special_Rapporteur_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_ Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4361.pdf 9 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, English translation, https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/constitutionenglish-1368.pdf 10 Criminal responsibility, Articles 140, 146 and 147 of the Islamic Penal Code, 2013 https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-ofbooks-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/ 11 Islamic Penal Code, 2013, Articles 74, 75 199, English Translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/islamic-penal-code-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-book-one-book-two/ 12 Islamic Penal Code, 2013, Article 119, English translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/islamic-penal-code-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-book-one-book-two/ 13 Islamic Penal Code, 2013, Article 638, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/islamic-penal-code-ofthe-islamic-republic-of-iran-book-five/ 2

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