Iran”31, a charge that is often levelled against individuals from linguistic and ethnic minorities when peacefully practicing their religion or other activities.32 This exclusion and the condition of “conformity” with the Islamic criteria allows for legal discrimination and persecution against religious minorities, as well as the members of linguistic and ethnic groups, including children.33 34 35 Members of the Baloch minority, estimated to be between 2 and 3 million,36 speak the Baluchi language, with a majority being Sunni Muslim. Arabs in Iran represent up to 5 million individuals in Iran,37 a significant minority being Sunni Muslim. Similarly, Kurds, estimated between 8 and 10 million38 have a majority Sunni Muslim and include a minority Yarsanis. 39 As a consequence, these communities face intersectional discrimination, based on their ethnicity and language as well as religion. 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”.40 The same year, President Hassan Rouhani issued a Charter on Citizens’ Rights, a government-endorsed declaration providing guidance for the implementation of the principles, norms and laws stipulated in the Constitution. 41 In 2019, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 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 unrecognised minority communities.”42 31 The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, General Principles (Chapter I, Article 14):< http://www.iranchamber.com/government/laws/constitution.php> 32 Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from All Human Rights for All in Iran, Association for Human Rights in Kurdistan – Geneva, Association for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani People in Iran, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, OutRight International, Siamak Pourzand Foundation, Small Media, Impact Iran, 2020, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_NGO_IRN_42317_E.pdf 33 Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from All Human Rights for All in Iran, Association for Human Rights in Kurdistan – Geneva, Association for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani People in Iran, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, OutRight International, Siamak Pourzand Foundation, Small Media, Impact Iran, 2020, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_NGO_IRN_42317_E.pdf 34 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, January 2020, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_Special_Rapporteur_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_ Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4361.pdf 35 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 36 Taheri, A., The Baloch in Post Islamic Revolution Iran: A Political Study, University of Pune 2012, p. 24. 37 Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/29/iran-sweeping-arrests-ahwazi-arab-activists 38 UNPO, https://unpo.org/members/7882 39 Minority Rights Group, https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rights-Denied-Violations-against-ethnic-andreligious-minorities-in-Iran.pdf 40 Ibid. 41 Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Islamic Republic of Iran, 27 December 2019, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/43/12 42 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 5