Impact Iran

He also encourages the Government to consider committing to a voluntary midterm review that may contribute to its ability to advance the pledges that it may undertake at the outcome of its second UPR in March 2015.

Vigorously enforce the prohibition on torture, to investigate fully and publicly all allegations of torture, including the case of Zahra Kazemi, to hold perpetrators accountable and to ensure that victims of torture receive compensation and rehabilitation;

The Committee further recommends that the second periodic report of Iran should contain information not only on legislative measures adopted, but also on the application of these measures, on the difficulties encountered in the process of their implementation, and on the issues dealt with in the present concluding observations.

The State party should adopt legislation criminalizing domestic violence and take steps to effectively combat domestic violence. It should ensure that victims have immediate access to means of redress and protection, including through the establishment of a sufficient number of safe houses for victims. The State party should ensure that acts of domestic violence are effectively investigated and that perpetrators are prosecuted and sanctioned. The State party should also ensure that a husband is not exempted from punishment for voluntary manslaughter, in the event that he murders his wife on suspicion of adultery.

Ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and protect women victims of trafficking, ensure accountability of the traffickers and provide compensation to the victims;

Fully implement the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/15/Add.254) and of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, contained in the report on his mission to Iran (E/CN.4/2006/41/Add.2);

Implement the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in order to ensure that women human rights defenders are able to carry out their work with full autonomy and without being subjected to retaliation by the State or other actors.

Prevent early and forced marriages

Remove obstacles to women's rights with regard to child custody, divorce, inheritance and freedom of movement

Raise the age of majority for girls and boys to 18 in conformity with the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

Prohibit by law cruel corporal punishments such as stoning and flogging;

Ensure that the right to a fair trial is fully respected and that all women detainees are brought to trial, with access to a lawyer and legal aid where necessary, without undue delay;

The State party should take immediate steps to ensure and protect the full independence and impartiality of the judiciary, and guarantee that it is free to operate without pressure and interference from the executive power and clergy. The State party should also ensure that judges, in interpreting legislation and in relying on religious principles, do not reach verdicts that are in contravention of the rights and principles as laid down in the Covenant.

The State party should take steps to ensure full respect for the right to freedom of religion or belief, including ensuring that legislation and practices fully conform to article 18 of the Covenant. This also entails that the right of everyone to change his or her religion, if he or she so chooses, is unconditionally and fully guaranteed. The Committee also urges the State party to revoke article 225 of the draft Penal Code. The Committee recalls its general comment No. 22 (1993) on the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

Promote women's participation in the formal labour market by ensuring equality of opportunity and eliminating discriminatory laws and practices related to women's work;

Institute special measures to increase women's political participation and appoint more women to high-level government positions;

Provide special programmes for women from minority groups who suffer multiple forms of discrimination;

Ensure that women have equal rights to enter into marriage and during the marriage relationship, as well as at its dissolution;

The State party should introduce legislative amendments to ensure that articles 3 and 28, sections 1 and 3, of the Majlis Elections Act are in conformity with the rights guaranteed in article 25 of the Covenant. It should also take adequate steps to guarantee that elections are conducted in a free and transparent manner, in full conformity with the Covenant, including through the establishment of an independent electoral monitoring commission.

The Committee recommends that the State party address the high drop-out rate of girls in rural areas and of Ahwazi Arab children. The Committee recommends that the State party take measures to address the high illiteracy rates among Ahwazi Arabs and Azeris. It also recommends that the State party take steps to improve the quality of instruction in and physical infrastructure of schools in rural areas, and to increase the number of female teachers in rural areas.

The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to ensure that all children receive birth certificates and that the lack of such a document is not an impediment for school enrolment of a child. It recommends that the State party take measures to ensure that refugee children have access to education, regardless of whether their parents have registered with the authorities, and that primary education, including enrolment thereto, is offered free of charge. The Committee also recommends that the State party intensify its measures to guarantee an inclusive education for children with disabilities, including through the Organization for Special Children and the Seven-Point Guideline for Universal and Consolidated Education for Children and Students with Special Needs, and to ensure that all children of nomadic communities have access to primary education, including through the establishment of mobile schools.

The Committee requests the State party to submit in a timely manner its third periodic report, prepared in accordance with the revised reporting guidelines of the Committee, adopted in 2008 (E/C.12/2008/2), by 31 May 2018.

The Committee, in line with its previous recommendation (CRC/C/15/Add.254, para. 7) and in the light of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of 1993, urges the State party to review the general nature of its reservation and encourages the State party to withdraw it in a clear timeframe. The Committee recommends that the State party bring its domestic laws and regulations into compliance with the Convention and ensure that the provisions of the Convention prevail whenever there is a conflict with the domestic law.

In the light of its general comment No. 2 (2002) on the role of independent national human rights institutions, the Committee recommends that the State party take measures to expeditiously establish, in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (Paris Principles), an independent mechanism for monitoring human rights, including a specific mechanism for monitoring children's rights that is able to receive, investigate and address complaints by children in a child-sensitive manner, ensure the privacy and protection of victims, and undertake monitoring, follow-up and verification activities for victims.

The Committee recommends that the State party take measures to provide adequate living conditions in prisons for all mothers with children and that it ensure that prison has the most limited effect possible on children's mental and physical development.

The Committee draws the State party's attention to its general comment No. 15 (2013) on the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, and recommends that the State party take all necessary measures to prevent early pregnancies by prohibiting child marriages and providing access to contraceptives and to safe abortion, and to post-abortion care services, throughout the country. It also recommends that the State party decriminalize abortions in all circumstances and ensure that the views of the pregnant girl are always heard and respected in abortion decisions. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party take measures to increase the allocation of public funds to improve the health situation of inhabitants of remote areas, focusing in particular on the health infrastructure. In doing so, the State party should seek financial and technical assistance from UNICEF and the World Health Organization, among others.

The Committee urges the State party to fulfil its reporting obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, the report for which is overdue as of 16 April 2013.

The Committee recommends that the State party take all appropriate measures to ensure that the recommendations contained in the present concluding observations are fully implemented. The Committee also recommends that the combined third and fourth periodic reports, the written replies to the list of issues of the State party and the present concluding observations be made widely available in the languages of the country.

The Committee invites the State party to submit its combined fifth and sixth periodic reports by 11 August 2021 and to include therein information on the follow-up to the present concluding observations. The report should be in compliance with the Committee's harmonized treaty-specific reporting guidelines adopted on 31 January 2014 (CRC/C/58/Rev.3)

The Committee invites the State party to submit an updated core document, not exceeding 42,400 words, in accordance with the requirements for the common core document in the harmonized guidelines on reporting under the international human rights treaties, including guidelines on a common core document and treaty-specific documents (HRI/GEN/2/Rev.6, chap. I) and paragraph 16 of General Assembly resolution 68/268.