Concluding Observations Human Rights Committee CCPR/C/IRN/CO/3 para 20
Full recommendation:
The State party should take steps to combat and prevent the trafficking and sale of persons under
18 years of age. The State party is also requested to provide the Committee in its next periodic
report with statistics, on an annual basis, on the number of arrests and convictions under the
2004 law to combat trafficking.
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
As of February 2021, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime has not been ratified nor have steps been taken towards its
ratification by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Since 2004, the Islamic Republic of Iran criminalises the trafficking in persons by means of the
threat or use of force or coercion, abuse of power, abuse of a victim’s position of vulnerability
for purposes of prostitution, slavery or forced marriage.2 The Iranian judiciary has drafted a bill
to amend this piece of legislation which, as of February 2021, is under the parliament’s review.
The draft bill includes higher penalties for crimes of human trafficking involving children,
adolescents, women, persons with disabilities, victims of floods and earthquakes, or for cases
where the offender is the legal guardian of the child victim.3 The bill that is currently under
review exempts women, children, and adolescents, who have been trafficked by their husbands
or legal guardian and illegally crossed borders, from criminal liability.4
The guidelines adopted by the Iranian judiciary entitled “How NGOs could engage and
collaborate with the judiciary", provide for the cooperation of public institutions with civil
society in “identifying and collecting evidence related to individuals, groups, and institutions
involved in trafficking in women and children.” 5 However, there is no readily available
information that would enable a comprehensive assessment of such cooperation, nor on the
institutions’ performance in implementing the law.
The current draft of the amendment to the law on human trafficking does not resolve the
conflation of the crimes of human trafficking and human smuggling under Iranian law. Instead, it
limits human smuggling for the purposes of exploitation listed in the law. It also excludes other
1
CCPR.8.1.S.1; CCPR.8.3.S.1; CCPR.8.1.P.1; CCPR.8.1.P.2; CCPR.8.3.P.1; CCPR.8.1.O.1; CCPR.8.3.O.1
https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/94178
3
http://cabinetoffice.ir/fa/print/4997
4
http://cabinetoffice.ir/fa/print/4997
5
Article 21 of the guidelines How NGOs could engage and collaborate with the judiciary",
https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/1459763
2
1