Moreover, Article 43 of Iran’s Constitution states that Iran’s economy will be based inter alia on
respect for an individual’s freedom to choose an occupation, preventing the exploitation of
another’s labour and from compelling anyone to engage in a particular job. Under Section 6 of
the Labour Code, it is prohibited to force a person to perform work against one’s will or to
exploit others. Section 172 of the Labour Code also prohibits all forms of forced labour.
In addition to domestic law, countries must have cross-border cooperation, both bilaterally and
multilaterally, to ensure the effectiveness of their fight against human trafficking. In this regard,
Iran claims that "in recent years, it has taken great strides at all national, regional and global
levels in the fight against human trafficking. At the international level, Iran is a member of
several international conventions and has signed separate memoranda of understanding with the
International Organisation for Migration and the International Labor Organisation to strengthen
the capacity of its institutions to combat human trafficking."8 Reliable information and statistics
are nevertheless unavailable, making it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of
these measures.
A few years after the Anti-Human Trafficking Law was enforced, Iran’s judiciary drafted a bill
to amend and improve this law and to fill gaps that authorities had identified during its
implementation. The amendment is currently before parliament for review and adoption.9 In the
text of the amendment, special attention is paid to children, women and immigrants in addressing
trafficking and the sale of human organs. However, the current draft of the amendment does not
address all of the gaps within the law, including the need to measure the incidence of trafficking
and sale of children; to provide a mechanism for protection of children (including the power to
identify risk factors for children at the risk of abduction, sale of or trafficking and the ability to
remove the children from such situations as a preventive measure); and a clear procedure to
investigate and report violations of the law.
Additionally, in March 2020, the head of Iran’s judiciary released guidelines (“Judiciary
Guidelines”) on how non-governmental organisations can engage and collaborate with the
judiciary, which included a provision on cooperating with public institutions in “identifying and
collecting evidence related to individuals, groups, and institutions involved in trafficking in
women and children.”10 There is no available information on the implementation of these
guidelines yet.
8
ISNA, Statement by the Permanent Mission of Iran to Vienna: https://www.isna.ir/news/98062210165/
https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/legal_draft/show/1151427
10
Article 21 of the Judiciary Guidelines: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/1459763
9
2