the prohibition of torture or other ill-treatment, cannot be justified on the basis of inconsistent
domestic laws.22
While it is technically possible to file complaints about violations if individuals are subjected
to torture, inhumane treatment or detention, there is, as of now, no evidence that judicial
actions are taken in response to complaints. The judicial disciplinary courts, the Armed
Forces Judicial Court, the Article 90 Commission of the Parliament and Oversight Bodies for
the exercise of the Citizenship Rights in the country’s provincial courts are among the
institutions tasked with receiving and reviewing complaints. There is as of yet no readily
available information as to how many complaints have been made and whether investigations
are promptly and impartially undertaken, or whether remedies are made available to victims.
Furthermore, the degrading nature of flogging deters many victims from reporting on their
cases.23
B. The Islamic Republic of Iran should also explicitly prohibit all forms of corporal
punishment in child-rearing and education, including by repealing the legal
defences for its use in article 1179 of the Civil Code, articles 49 and 59 of the
Penal Code and article 7 of the Law on the Protection of Children.
Concerning the use of corporal punishment in child-rearing and education, Article 1179 of the
Civil Code allows for the ‘reasonable punishment of children’.24 The previous version of the
Islamic Penal Code (as amended up to 2012) provided for the right of parents or guardians to
impose corporal punishment on their children under Article 49 and 59. Such provisions
appears now under Article 158 of the 2013 Islamic Penal Code provides for the chastisement
of children by parents or guardians within customary and religious limits. 25 Article 7 of the
previous Law on Protection of Children (2002), prohibited “all kinds of abuse leading to
physical, mental or moral damage to the child endangering their physical or mental health”
(Article 2) but excluded from this protection actions taken under Article 59 of the Penal Code
and Article 1179 of the Civil Code (Article 7).26 On June 7, 2020, the Guardian Council
approved a bill amending the Law on Protection of Children which, while including new
penalties for certain acts that harm children and adolescents’ physical and mental health, does
not explicitly prohibit corporal punishment on children.27 Due to this, Iranian law remains in
22
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 27 September 2018,
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N18/300/93/PDF/N1830093.pdf?OpenElement
23
Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee, Abdorrahman Center, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
(IHRDC), Impact Iran and Human Rights Activists in Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCCPR%2fICS%2fIRN%2f42
313&Lang=en
24
Article 1179 of the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran as referenced by the Committee on the Rights of the Child
(CRC), CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4, 14 March 2016,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2fC%2fIRN%2fCO%2f34&Lang=en. The full translation of the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran is available at Iran Human Rights
Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/the-civil-code-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran/
25
Islamic Penal Code (2013), English translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/englishtranslation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
26
Law on Protection of Children and Adolescents (2002) as referenced in “Country Report of Iran”, Global Initiative to End
All Corporal Punishment of Children, https://endcorporalpunishment.org/reports-on-every-state-and-territory/iran/#_ftn1
27
Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/23/iran-child-protection-law-positive-insufficient
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