contradiction of Article 23 of the Constitution, it also bars minorities or anyone who are unable or unwilling to accept these requirements from seeking employment in the public sector.8 Members of religious and ethnic minorities have reportedly been the target of denial of employment in the Islamic Republic of Iran.9 For example, members of the Yarsan community reported the denial of public sector jobs through the application of gozinesh requirements. 10 11 Members of the Baha’i faith have been reportedly barred from employment in the public sector.12 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”.13 The same year, President Hassan Rouhani issued a Charter on Citizen’s Rights, a Government-endorsed declaration providing guidance for the implementation of the principles, norms and laws stipulated in the Constitution. 14 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 unrecognized minority communities.”15 The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that “the gozinesh requirements are a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.”16 In its General Comment No.18, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stipulates that the Covenant “prohibits any discrimination in access to and maintenance of employment” on grounds including race, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin or civil, political, social or other status, “which has the intention or effect of impairing or nullifying exercise of the right to work on a basis of equality”.17 The Committee adds that it is a core obligation to State parties “to avoid any measure that results in discrimination and unequal treatment in the private and public sectors of disadvantaged and marginalized 8 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 9 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 10 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 11 Center for Human Rights in Iran, www.iranhumanrights.org/2017/05/most-yarsani-religious-minority-candidatesdisqualified- from-irans-2017-councils-elections/ 12 Baha’i International Community, Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Iran, 2019, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/WG.6/34/IRN/3 13 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 14 Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Islamic Republic of Iran, 27 December 2019, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/43/12 15 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 16 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 17 General Comment No. 18: The Right to Work (Art. 6 of the Covenant) https://www.refworld.org/docid/4415453b4.html 2

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