with its Balochi majority, are generally underdeveloped with a significant part of their population
living under the poverty line.14 Civil society has reported a pattern of arrests, detention and
prosecution disproportionately targeting members of ethnic minority or other marginalized groups
in attempting to exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly.15 In 2018,
prison data revealed that at least three quarters of Iran’s political prisoners are from ethnic
minorities.16 Ethnic minorities, especially Kurds and Balochis, are also over-represented in death
penalty statistics.
Structural discriminations deeply entrenched in the Iranian legal system frequently translate into
widespread discrimination against women, especially women from ethnic and religious minorities,
in many aspects of their daily lives.17 There are a number of domestic mechanisms where Iranian
citizens can report violations of their rights, including the Article 90 Commission of the
parliament,18 or Oversight Bodies for the exercise of Citizenship Rights in the country's provincial
courts.19 However, as previously mentioned, gender discrimination is embedded within the Iranian
legal framework. Consequently, one’s complaint may not be adequately addressed and properly
adjudicated in compliance with due process and international human rights standards. There is also
no independent National Human Rights Institution to receive complaints from children, including
girls, in Iran. With regards to illegal acts of violence against women under Iranian law, there is no
readily available information that might suggest that complaints are adequately addressed,
investigated and adjudicated.
The Government of Iran has engaged in various programmes designed to provide support to
women living in rural areas, thereby including provinces predominantly inhabited by ethnic and
religious minorities.20 However, there is no readily available information that might indicate (i)
whether such domestic programmes or any others are aimed at women who belong to ethnic or
14
Minority Groups, https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rights-Denied-Violations-against-ethnic-andreligious-minorities-in-Iran.pdf
15
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2021/03/deaths-rising-in-sistan-and-baluchistan-as-unrestcontinues-amid-internet-shutdown/. See also Association for the human rights of the Azerbaijani people in Iran,
http://www.ahraz.org/association-for-the-human-rights-of-the-azerbaijani-people-in-iran-ahrazs-repot-regarding-the-currentsituation-of-the-azerbaijani-arrestees-that-are-arrested-during-the-recent-protests-nove/; Kurdistan Human Rights Geneva,
https://kmmk-ge.org/sd/annual-report-2020/; United For Iran, https://ipa.united4iran.org/en/prisoner/; Center for Human Rights
in Iran, https://iranhumanrights.org/2020/10/more-bahais-begin-serving-prison-sentences-in-iran-simply-for-their-beliefs/; and
Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from All Human Rights for All in Iran, Association for Human Rights in
Kurdistan – Geneva, Association for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani People in Iran, Iran Human Rights Documentation
Center, OutRight International, Siamak Pourzand Foundation, Small Media, Impact Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_NGO_IRN_42317_E.pdf
16
Minority Groups, https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rights-Denied-Violations-against-ethnic-andreligious-minorities-in-Iran.pdf
17
See also Minority Rights, https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/MRG_CFR_Iran_EN_Sept191.pdf
18
The Article 90 Commission was established to receive the citizens' complaints against government institutions and has the
responsibility to review them and transmit cases for judicial procedure accordingly.
19
These committees have the responsibility to oversee the strict implementation of the "Law on Respect for Legitimate Freedoms
and Civil Rights”
20
https://www.imna.ir/news/390245/. See also https://www.imna.ir/news/441104/; https://www.imna.ir/news/390245/; and
National Report, Islamic Republic of Iran, UPR 2019, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/WG.6/34/IRN/1
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