Impact Iran

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 Committee recommends that the State party take urgent legislative steps to specifically criminalize domestic violence, including marital rape. It also recommends that the State party take steps to ensure that victims of domestic violence have access to effective means of redress and immediate protection, including through a sufficient number of safe houses.

The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to ensure that ownership of houses and land, in particular in rural areas, is formally registered, and that the State party actively raise awareness among affected groups of the population, including through the dissemination of knowledge, on relevant legal provisions and registry procedures. It recommends that the State party take steps to prevent arbitrary interpretations of article 49 of the Constitution, and to ensure that persons affected by such confiscations have access to an adequate remedy, restitution of their property, and compensation, as appropriate, including in line with the Committee's general comment No. 7 (1997) on forced evictions. The Committee also requests the State party to include in its next periodic report information on the extent and the root causes of homelessness in the State party. The Committee draws the State party's attention to its general comment No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing.

The Committee urges the State party to refrain from forcibly evicting individuals and expropriating land in the context of development projects, including in regions traditionally inhabited by ethnic minorities. It recalls that in cases where eviction or relocation is considered to be justified, it should be carried out in strict compliance with the relevant provisions of international human rights law.

The Committee recommends that the State party take urgent steps to counter the impact of river diversions and industrial activity in Khuzestan, including environmental pollution and water shortages, on agriculture and human health.

The Committee recommends that the State party increase its efforts to combat unemployment through specifically targeted measures, in particular, aimed at women and youth, including by addressing mismatches between education and labour markets through increases in the quality of technical and vocational training and education. The Committee also urges the State party to adopt temporary special measures to address the very high unemployment rates in areas with ethnic minorities, and to include information in its next State party report on the progress achieved.

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 recommends that the State party take steps to ensure that independent trade unions can be formed and carry out their activities without interference, including unions of teachers, bus workers and sugar-cane workers, as well as the Iran Free Workers' Union. It recommends that the State party ensure that workers can participate in strikes without facing reprisals The Committee also calls upon the State party to immediately release labour rights activists and members of independent trade unions currently serving prison sentences who acted in conformity with internationally recognized trade union standards.

The Committee calls on the State party to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 years for both boys and girls, and to ensure that marriage can be entered into only with the free consent of the intending spouses.

The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to strengthen its national legislation prohibiting child labour in accordance with international standards, in all sectors, including in agriculture, domestic service, and clay/brickmaking. The Committee also recommends that the State party ensure that the implementation of legislation pertaining to child labour is effectively monitored and enforced, including through labour inspections in agriculture and the informal sector, ensuring that employers exploiting child labour are held accountable and that victims of child labour are rehabilitated and are ensured access to education. The Committee recommends that the State party undertake awareness-raising campaigns with a view to eradicating child labour.

The Committee encourages the State party to consider signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to extend the application of its labour law to all workers, including to those working in places with fewer than five workers and those working in export processing zones.

The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that the national minimum wage is set at a level sufficient to provide all workers and their families with a decent standard of living, and strengthen its efforts towards the progressive increase of the minimum wage in accordance with article 7 (a) (ii) of the Covenant. The Committeealso recommends that the State party take steps to ensure that Afghan workers are not paid a wage below the level of the minimum wage.

The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary steps to further reduce poverty and extreme poverty, in particular in provinces populated by ethnic minorities, such as Sistan and Baluchestan, Khuzestan and Kordestan. The Committee requests the State party to include in its next periodic report disaggregated and comparative data, by year and province, on the number of men and women living in poverty and extreme poverty.

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 recommends that the State party take immediate steps, inter alia by increasing budgetary allocations, to improve housing and living conditions in regions traditionally inhabited by ethnic minorities, including access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, electricity, transportation facilities, schools and health-care centres.

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 recommends that the State party take steps to ensure that ethnic minorities have the opportunity to receive education in their mother tongue, in addition to Farsi.

The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to ensure the full and unrestricted enjoyment by ethnic minorities, including Kurds, Arabs, Azeris and Baluch, to their right to take part in cultural life, including through the protection of publications and newspapers in minority languages from imposed closure. The Committee also recommends that the State party take measures to protect cultural diversity, promote awareness of the cultural heritage of national and ethnic minorities, and ensure favourable conditions for members of those minorities to preserve, develop, express and disseminate their identity, history, culture, language, traditions and customs in line with the Committee's general comment No. 21 (2009) on the right of everyone to take part in cultural life.

The Committee recommends that the State party ensure full compliance of the gozinesh process with the standards under the Covenant, and thus ensure that employment is not made conditional upon political opinion, previous political affiliation or support, or religious affiliation.

The Committee recommends that the State party should spell out a clear legislative, judicial and administrative basis for giving fullest possible effect to the provisions of the Covenant "with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures." (art. 2 (1) of the Covenant).The Committee invites the Government of Iran to undertake necessary steps, both legislative and practical, in order to ensure that the rights enunciated in the Covenant are able to be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, especially in the case of ethnic or religious minorities. The Committee notes that the obligation to ensure equal opportunity for women warrants particular attention, especially in relation to the right to work, family related rights and the right to education.

The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that all the obligations of the Covenant are fully respected under all circumstances and that Constitutional provisions, in particular articles 4 and 20, are applied in a manner consistent with the provisions of the Covenant.

The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to establish an independent national human rights institution with a broad human rights mandate, including for economic, social and cultural rights, in line with the Paris Principles, and provide it with adequate human and financial resources.

The Committee urges that the State party take steps to ensure that people with beliefs other than the religions recognized by the State party can fully enjoy all aspects of economic, social and cultural rights, without any discrimination.

The Committee recommends that the State party repeal or amend all legislation that results or could result in discrimination, prosecution and punishment of people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to combat and prevent discrimination and societal stigma against members of the LGBT, and ensure their enjoyment of all the rights enshrined in the Covenant, including unhindered access to employment, social services, health care and education, in line with article 2, paragraph 2, of the Covenant and the Committee's general comment No. 20 (2009) on non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights.

The Committee encourages the State party to sign and ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Conventionagainst Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and withdraw its reservation to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Committee requests the State party to disseminate the present concluding observations widely among all levels of society, in particular among State officials, the judiciary and civil society organizations, translate and publicize them as far as possible and inform the Committee of the steps taken to implement them in its next periodic report.

The Committee encourages the State party to engage all the relevant actors, including non-governmental organizations and other members of civil society, in the process of discussion of the present concluding observations at the national level and facilitate their participation prior to the submission of its next periodic report.

The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to lift all restrictions on access to university education, including bans on female and male enrolment, limited quotas for women in certain fields, and gender segregation in classrooms and facilities.

The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to address the declining participation of women in the labour force. The Committee recommends that the State party amend the Civil Code and the Family Protection Law with the aim toremove the power of a spouse to prohibit the other spouse from entering employment.The Committee also recommends that the State party take steps to increase the number of women in decision-making and judicial bodies at all levels and in all areas.

The Committee recommends that the State party adopt a comprehensive anti- discrimination bill in compliance with article 2, paragraph 2, of the Covenant and taking into account the Committee's general comment No. 20 (2009) on non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights.

The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to ensure universal access to health insurance, providing for coverage for a minimum essential level of benefits to all individuals and families,including access to health facilities, goods and services on a non-discriminatory basis; provision of essential drugs; access to reproductive, maternal (prenatal as well as post-natal) and child health care; and immunization against the major infectious diseases occurring in the community.

The Committee recommends that the State party take urgent and effective steps to address the very high number of children living and/or working in the street, address the root causes of the phenomenon, and provide all street children with access to health services and education.

The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to ensure that members of the Baha'i community are protected against discrimination and exclusion in every field, including denial of employment and benefits of the pension system. The Committee also recommends that the State party take steps to guarantee, in law and practice, the unhindered access of Baha'i students to universities and vocational training institutions, and to prevent refusals of access and expulsions of students from such institutions based on their belonging to the Baha'i community.

The Committee recommends that the State party take urgent steps to increase the allocation of public funds to improve the health situation of inhabitants of the province of Sistan and Baluchestan,in particular focusing on the health infrastructure and the provision of adequate water and sanitation.

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 strongly urges the State party to review the provisions of the Act on Determination of the Nationality of Children Born into Marriages of Iranian Women with Men of Foreign Nationality amending the Civil Code, and to ensure that all children who are born to Iranian mothers, including children born out of wedlock, are entitled to Iranian citizenship on the same conditions as children born to Iranian fathers. The Committee also recommends that the State party provide information on the number of children born to Iranian mothers who have been naturalized, in its next periodic report.

The Committee recommends that the State party take the necessary measures to ensure full respect for the right of children to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, and that those rights not be subjected to undue and vague limitations but that restrictions to those rights comply with international standards. The Committee urges the State party to review its legislation in order to ensure that children under the age of 18 years are exempt from criminal responsibility for such content-based offences.

The Committee urges the State party to take measures to prevent and eliminate discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief and to ensure that members of religious minority groups, in particular persons of the Baha'i faith, are not persecuted, imprisoned or ill-treated on the account of their religion. The Committee also recommends that the State party review its hijab laws and regulations and ensure that the right of girls to wear or not to wear the hijab is fully respected.

In light of its general comment No. 13 (2011) on the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence, and taking note of Sustainable Development Goal 16.2 to end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children, the Committee strongly urges the State party to immediately repeal all provisions which authorize or condone cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of children. It also recommends that the State party put an end to public executions, which have an irreversible negative effect on the mental health of children who witness them, by implementing the above-mentioned decree. Furthermore, the Committee urges the State party to ensure that LGBTI children are not subjected to cruel and degrading treatment such as electric shocks and the administration of hormones and strong psychoactive medications, and that those responsible for these acts are held accountable.

The Committee urges the State party to revise the Act on the Protection of Children and Adolescents with No Guardian or Abusive Guardians of 2012 in a way that prohibits any marriage or other sexual arrangements with an adopted child. It also recommends that the State party take all necessary measures to ensure the right of all children, especially children belonging to ethnic minorities, to grow up in a family environment. The Committee recommends that the State party take into account the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, which are annexed to General Assembly resolution 64/142.

The Committee urges the State party to repeal all legal provisions that authorize, condone or lead to child sexual abuse and to ensure that perpetrators of child sexual abuse are brought to justice. The State party should also increase the legal age of consent to sexual relations to 16 years. The Committee also urges the State party to increase the legal age of marriage to 18 years and to criminalize marital rape. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party develop programmes and policies for the prevention, recovery and social reintegration of child victims, including child brides, in accordance with the documents adopted at the World Congresses against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.

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.

Commute all existing sentences for offenders on death row who committed a crime while under the age of 18 years.

Ensure the provision of qualified and independent legal aid to children in conflict with the law, if possible by the choice of the child defendant, at an early stage of the procedure and throughout the legal proceedings.

Ensure adequate human, technical and financial resources to schools in rural areas.

Systematically collect disaggregated data on its refugee and asylum-seeking children in order to be able to develop programmes and policies that respond to their needs;

Alternative measures to pretrial detention should be strengthened and applied as much as possible in order to ensure that this deprivation of liberty is really a measure of last resort and is for the shortest time possible;

In the light of its general comment No. 5 (2003) on general measures of implementation, the Committee urges the State party to strengthen its data collection system. The data should cover all areas of the Convention and should be disaggregated by age, sex, disability, geographic location, ethnic origin and socioeconomic background, in order to facilitate analysis on the situation of all children, particularly vulnerable children. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the data and indicators be shared among the ministries concerned and be used for the formulation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, programmes and projects for effective implementation of the Convention. In this context, the Committee also recommends that the State party provide the necessary human and financial resources to support the new database and that it strengthen its technical cooperation with, among others, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

The Committee recommends that the State party take all possible measures to raise the awareness of its public, including children, about the provisions of the Convention through awareness-raising programmes, such as campaigns, and that it ensure that the Convention is part of the mandatory curriculum in all schools for children of all age groups. The Committee also recommends that the State party continue to provide regular and systematic training activities on the provisions of the Convention for law enforcement officials, the judiciary and other professionals working with and for children throughout the country.

The Committee urges the State party to put an end to repression against non- governmental organizations working in the area of children's rights and to hold those responsible for harassment and persecution of human rights activists accountable.

The Committee recommends that the State party take all measures necessary to address its previous recommendations of 28 January 2005 (CRC/C/15/Add.254), which have not been sufficiently implemented, in particular those relating to non- discrimination, the right to life, protection from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and juvenile justice, among others contained therein.

With reference to paragraph 27 of the present document, the Committee urges the State party to revise its Civil Code and all other relevant legislation to ensure equal rights of girls in family relations and provide girls with the right to inheritance on equal terms with boys. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party consider ratifying the Hague Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, the Hague Protocol of 23 November 2007 on the Law Applicable to Maintenance Obligations, and the Hague Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Cooperation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children.

Take legislative measures to abolish the death sentence for persons who committed a hudud or qisas crime while under the age of 18 years, that is currently established in the Islamic Penal Code without leaving any discretion to the courts;

The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to further reduce poverty and extreme poverty, in particular in provinces populated by ethnic minorities, such as Sistan and Baluchestan, Khuzestan and Kurdistan. The Committee recommends that the State party take immediate steps, inter alia by increasing budgetary allocations, to improve housing and living conditions in regions with ethnic minorities, including the provision of access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, electricity, transportation facilities, schools and health-care centres.

The Committee draws the State party's attention to its general comment No. 17 (2013) on the right of the child to rest, leisure, play, recreational activities, cultural life and the arts, and urges the State party to stop discriminating against girls in access to these rights, and to ensure that they are guaranteed the same rights to enjoy cultural, artistic and sports activities on equal terms with boys.

The Committee recommends that the State party provide the National Body on the Convention on the Rights of the Child with a clear mandate and sufficient authority to coordinate all activities related to the implementation of the Convention at cross-sectoral, national, regional and local levels, that it strengthen its capacity and that it ensure that its relevant working groups are provided with the necessary human, technical and financial resources.

Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the budget needs of children and allocate adequate budgetary resources, in accordance with article 4 of the Convention, for the implementation of children's rights, and in particular, increase the budget allocated to social sectors and address disparities on the basis of indicators related to children's rights;

In the light of its general comment No. 14 (2013) on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration, the Committee recommends that the State party revise its Civil Law accordingly and strengthen its efforts to ensure that this right is appropriately integrated and consistently interpreted and is applied in all legislative, administrative and judicial proceedings and decisions as well as in all policies, programmes and projects that are relevant to, and have an impact on, children. In this regard, the State party is encouraged to develop procedures and criteria to provide guidance to all relevant persons in authority for determining the best interests of the child in every area and for giving this due weight as a primary consideration.