-- - : - A _) cr T TT ' T ON THE ELIMINATION CERDjC'9l 1 . 31 OF.g4LL FORMS OF . - 22 C zober 19E2 RACIAL DISCRIMINATION Orizinal: GLISH I 0NMITTEE ON THE fl 2fl( TION . OF RACILL DISCRfl TION Twenty—seventh session . . CONS )ERATI0N OP REPORTS SUBIITTHD BY STATES P. RT -S . DIWER J BTICLE 9 OF ‘ CONV TION . . Seventh period .ic reports of States parties due in 1982 Addendum . , IRAN j . . . , . [ 30 September 1952] Preamble , . . . , OEe country of Iran has since long, been the abode and dwelling 1ace. of various nations, peoples'and sects-with different-races—and--religions. In the course of the History of Iran, the said peoples have always lived with each other in peace-' and ‘ tranquility, and the -central government has treated afl. i s ub jscts indiscriminat I all its edicts and orders to the local governors, representatives and satraps, the central government has instructed and emphasized on the cbservance of their human rights and the respect for their dignity and honour. . The present status of different racial -and religious groups existing in Iran reflects this reality and friendly and indiscriminative historical record that the question of racial segregation has-never existed in Iran. The Government of Iran, however, due to the commitments it bad undertaken on the basis of .Article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, passed - July 1977 the law on the punishment of the propagation of racial segregation. This law is still in force, but no one has so far. been prosecuted for this cffence due to the non—existence of any racial hostility or conflicts. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the law makern paid . careful and emphatic attention to this important fact and took it into consideration when preparing the Constitution of th Islamic Republic of Iran, and deemed its observance as binding and indispensable. i/ For previous reports submitted by the Government of Iran and the sinnm vy cords of meetings of the Con ittee at which such reports were considered, see: (i) Initial report — CERD/C/R.3/Acld.1 (CERD/c/sR.31, 33 and 56); . (2) Second periodic report .nd . .dd .45 . (cEP.1/c/sR.127 and 179); 3) Third periodic report — CERD/C/R.7o/ dd.1 (CE?.D/c/SR.l79); (4) Fo' rth periodic report — CERD,C/R.9o/ dd.2 (cEflD/c/ R.279); (5) Fifth periodic report — C .D/C/2c'/ dd.1 (C /c/sR. 7l) (6) Sixth periodic report — c D/C/66/Ldd.5 (C D/C/SR, 72). GE. 82—17725 BP000673
,,. . Par ra h C, Pr c_pJ .e 2 Cf -t 6 Cc t1t t1 fl of :he Islar. .c RepL .olic of Ira'i :rovides for the eli: .inatiOfl cf all forns of oppression 1 exploatatioO, conanation and being dominated, and is of this .opifli-Ofl that justice and equity and political, economic, social and cultural indep ridenCe ensure the national solidarity. . . OEe Tnird Paragraph of Principle 3, prc des for the free education and ;hysical training for everybody at all levels as well as the faciiita ing and generalizing the higher education. . The Eighth ;aragraph stipulates the participation of the public in the ‘ eterminatiofl of their own political, economic, social and cu.lturaj. destity. The Ninth Paragraph provides or the elimination of unjust discriminations and the ensuring of all people the equitable p ss!bilities in all material and spiritual fields. . . The Fourteenth Para aph provides for the ensuring of all—encompassing rights of individuals, men and.womeri, and. .ju t legal security for everybody as well as he equality of all the people before the law. Principle 28 of the Constitution reads that the government ‘is bound to :.rovide, with due regard to the need of the society to different professions, all the people with possibility of employment and equal conditions to g employed. According to Principle 29, it is the right of everybody to benefit from' the social security in cases of retirement, unemployment, old age, disablement, ,. . ‘uoprotectedness, running short of ‘otie's money while being away on a journey, accidents, the need to he lth and treatment services and medical care, in the form of insurance and the like OEe Governme it is bound to provide the individual . ; eople of th couiitry with IIe foregoing services and financial assistance' to be financed from the public revenues and the income derived from public participation. . . On the basis of ?rinci le 30, the Government is bound to provide the means Qf free education until the completion of the high school for the hole nation and to expand the means of free higher studies until the attainment by the country to elf—sufficiency. . . . In accordance with Principle 34, it is the inalienable right of any individual to seek justice, and refer to competent courts to plead. All individuals are ntitled to have such courts to which, according to law, they are entitled to recourse. . . . . . Besides, in connection ‘with religious minorities, mention should be made that the religion of Islam has a deep respect for other religicns , and considers the observance of rights and dignity and free conducting of religious rites and uties of other divine religions and sects as respected. Principles 13, 14, 15 and 19, among other important principles of t:ie Constitution, provides for -the ‘. Dreservation of the rights of the religious minorities, the contents of ;hich are . xplained for information.
: : ‘ -I - principles on the Rights of ReligiOus N!noTiti . Principle 13: OEe Zoroasterian, Jewish and Christian Iranians shall be the sole recognized religious minorities that are free to perform, in accordance witn ‘ law, their religious rights and act in ccmpliance .itn tneir religion as far as their personal status and religious teachin are ccncerned. Princinle 14: s specified in the Nunificent verse of the C-1oriou Koran: “Allah does not forbid you to show idndness to an 5 deal justly vith those who did not war against you on account of your religion and did not drive you out of your homes. Allah loves the just dealers”, the Government of the Islanic Republic of Iran and MuslimS are bound to deal with non-Nuslirn individuals with good morals and Islamic justice nd equity and respect their human rights. OEe present principle applies only to those who -do not conspire and act against Islam and the Islamic Republic of Iran. . Principle .15: •OEe state and coimiion language and script of Iran is Persian... Official documents, correspondence and texts and school books shall be written in this language and script. Rowever, the use of local and ethnic languages in the press and mass media and the teaching of their literature in schools, along with Persian, is allowed. . . Principle 19: OEe people of Iran belonging to any ethnic or tribal group,. shall enjo equal rights •and colour,_race, language and the like shall not be considered as a privilege .. -. . On the basis of these principles religious minorities are free to practise their religion and teach their rituals through the religious instruction books they teach in school. OEe Constitution binds the Nuslims to resbect the religious minorities. The non- uslims similar ‘to Nus im should enjoy Islamic justice and ‘.equlty. ‘ . . . . , . . . . . Religious minorities have independent publications peculiar to thsrLeelVeS , -the nurber of whiQh has, after the victory of the Revolution, increased several times by comparison to what existed before the Revolution. . For the implementation of the above principles, the Ni.nistry of Islamic Guidance has created a unit to deal with the affairs of the religious minorities. This section is charged with the duty of investigating and settling the difficulties of the minorities, satisfying their cultural needs and facilitating their religious ceremonies. This section extends its assistance to official religious minorities in the following cases: . 1. Participation of the members of the .official religious minorities in religious conferences held abroad to which they are invited. 2. Inviting non—Iranian missionaries needed by religious minorities for the . performanCe of their religious ceremot.ies , 3, Provision, fran abroad, of religious books and panphlets needed by the religious minorities as recuested by them. 4. Provision of the necessary facilities fo: the -rerformance of their national and religious ceremonies or. various OcCasions. 5. acilitatir.g the visit of the foreign leaders and personalities of the religious minorities to ir Iranian cegior Lsts. .
cE /C/91/1 31 page 4 To sun up, this section has the duty to endeavour to establish a closer relatiotishiP between Nuslims and Iraiuafl rslig -O- .nd their “ Q 51igi0 5t 5 abroad and the creation of u derstafl ing between Euslims and ... religious minorities, and. that the religious minorities too, nay enjoy Islamic justice and equity. . . Statistic fth 1 O S Nino ieS . . For the tine being there axe about 60,000 Jews, 20,000 Zcroasterians, 110,000 Armenians and 30,000 Assyriatis living with their Nusli fe11ow OOuflt1 5fl in Iran. - . . . . . . The population statistics of the country divided on IIe basis of sex and age in different urban and rural regions as well as the oopulatiOfl of Iran divided on the basis of different religions are given in the following tables.. As regards the activities of foreign workers in Iran, the attention of the Co ittee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is drawn to this fact that no racial.. . . discriminat.IIfl is exercised as far as the employment of foreign specialists is conc ed. : - . . . ,. . . ... . . . 1. For the tine being, there are 14,180 foreign nationals working i i Iran who hive work permits. Out of this number, 11,942 personS, because of the form of ownership . of the workshop, work in the public sector, .nd 2,238 persons in the private sector, which.are separatelY shown in Table No. 1. . . . 2. Out of 14,180 foreign workers, 1O,083.peoPle are from sia, 5,016 people from Europe, 31 people from . merica (the. continent), 30 people from Africa and 21 people from Australia, as shown separatelY for each country, in Table No.2. . 3. Out of the 14,180 foreign nationals working in Iran, there are 61 religiouS m .ssionarieS,. 24 persons of whom are Roman CatholiC, 29 persons are Chaldaic, 6 personS are Armenians and 2 personS are Zorc,asterian missionarieS. . OEe work permit of these perso r1s have been issued and extendad as confirmed by the N.II.istry of National Guidance. . .
Rural population Urban population Total_population_of the country Age Female flab Total Female Male Total Female Male Total _________ 8 789 ] 9 : 4 696 17 854 064 7 563 229 8 291 451 15 854 680 16 352 397 17356 347 33 700 744 Total 1 538 111 1 701 342 3 239 453 1 066 658 11 236' .01 2 190 259 2 604 769 2 824 943 5 429 712 4—0 1. 455 155 1 584 934 3 040 009 1 066 388 1 150 056 2 236 444 2 541 543 2 734 990 5 276 533 9—5 ) 072 014 1 160 565 2 232 579 972 469 1 098 070 2 073 539 2044 483 2 258 635 4 303 118 14—10 (39). 744 792 919 1 684 663 889 982 1 025 620 1 915 6d2 .i. 781 726 1 818 539 3 600 265 19—15 710 2 '7 551 799 1 262 006 741 150 789 059 ]. 530 ‘2 9 1 451 351 1 340858 2792 215 2420 550 024 /140 558 99t:. 582 551 366 569 637 1 121 003 1101 390 1 010 195 2 li i 585 29—25 444 236 385 35 829 591 420 308 457 098 877406 86 544 842 453 1 706 997 34_30 /124 1(8 408 3.87 832 295 377 171 417 153 794 3 4 801 279 625 340 ]. 626 619 39—35 ‘123 734 476 603 900 337 349 750 410 598 768 3 8 . 773 464 825 201 1 668 605 44—40 3/14 5/12 412 855 757 3 8 293 896 338 171 632 067 638 439 75] 026 338 965 / 19—45 326 591 4c7 893 735 3 4 27'.; 785 322 880 . 593 6 597 376 731 673 1 329 049 54_5(. 157 764 . 212 425 370 189 3.49 418 184 280 333 69 30718? 391 4' 2; 703 837 59—55 3.52 4C5 168 525 32]. 930 129 337 132 877 262 21 4 282 742 30]. 402 584 344 64—60 . 297 532 360. 036 657 568 264 551 263 451 . 528 902 562 083 624 387 1 106 47(; 65 years , axu more . . i: () . , . CD t:' . . J1 0. . . . CL . ,_ L ._. . ..
Other religionn Chri itian ; — I Zoroa trian Others Msyri n Aniienian . Jewiah Mualim Total •33 396 908 17 196 024 884 8 148 633 17 822 9 047 8 774 i 7 8 391 787 33 708 744 Total population 17 16 356 347 Male 352 397 Female Urban population .15 854 680 Hale &nd. f em le . 8 291 451. Male 7 563 229 Female . . Rural population 17 854 064 Male ann female . 9 064 896 Male 8 789 168 .v ) P1 ::‘.‘ .— 0/ () — SO ;D . 0. 0. 59 585 3]. 113 20 472 39 079 21 695 8 184 25551 12 880 12 671 103 51 51 163 957 206 62 258 31 833 30 425 46 304 24 032. 22 222 H 35 515 1!] 829 16 686 21 760 10 871 10 889 21 400 10845. 10 555 19 l9 O 9 664 9 534 2 202 ] 181 1 021 98 498 49 337 49 161 4 665 2 620 2 045 13 7 (; 201 03]. 250 4 364 2 866 1 498 58 30 28 3 1 1 3 791 2 009 1 782 675 035 640 583 798 785
Tab1e. No,. 1 CE ,'CI9. /Add .31 page 7 OEepresent status.of foreign nationals working in Iran , in accordance with the forn of workshop ownership . jForm of the ownership of the workshop tkjor employment groups . . 1 Private Public Specialized, technical and ‘ professional employments ]. 034 1 8 718 Employment as sellers 418 24 : Governmental and industrial management 301 . 1 408 Secretarial affairs 85 . 5 l 4 Employment in the field ‘of agriculture, . . fishing, hunting and forestry . 15 433 . Employment in the field of IIines and .. . extracting metals and ores , 17 . . 48 Employment in the field of transportation . . and communication . . . 24 156 . Technicians and workers in the field of . ! production not classified elsewhere 284 . .767 Workers in different sections of sports ( . and recreation . 42 : . 184 Total . . 2 238 1]. 942 General total 14 180 . 1
CZRD/C/91/Add .31 page 8 2 : ConditiOn of employed alien nationalsin the country according to nationa1itY . $.IAN. QQN . ‘:‘. 3583 . 1 219 797 717 626 475 398 170 .70 62 57 4]. 33 . 29 30 - . 2L 16 ‘I. 7 5 5 6 4 1 ]. India .- .-.. o WiI&n Pakistan. H Japan Philippines ira.qi Refugee& Bangladesh .SOUII ora Mgbaiustan• .. Nalaysia . .-. Lebanon Taiwan .: OE4fiand ... Indonesia .. Sri. Lanka No. of per o is. . . . . employed , . . -: . ..: NationalitY presently , .—...—. ; .; .... ... . . Syria. . Singapore Nepal Joi'dan People's Republic of China Hong Kong Kuwait Saudi Arabia Bahrain Yemen Burma 10 083 TOTAL .
2 : Condition of employed alien nationals in the ccuntry according to natio a1i Y CERD/C/91/.4dd.31 page 9 EURGPEA.N CONTINENT . 1485 598 246 164 222 192 . . 173 .: 130 110 95 109 81 69 53 . .. 52 . . 53 44 34 32 23 ‘24 12 6 3 3 2 1 Italy West Gei a y Romania Prance Yugoslavia . Poland . OE g1 and Czechoslovakia ‘ Greece . ‘ . Austria Spain, ‘ .--. ‘Switzer1 nd Sweden Bulgaria OErkey Belgium. Portugal Runga l7 Netherlands East Germany Denmark Ireland Finland Norway L uxembourg Cyprus Malta NO. of persons . employed ‘ .. . Nationality . presently , 4 016 TOT . ,
CE'RD/C/91 /Add .31 page 10 2 : Condition of emp1o ed alien iationals in the count j ! cc0rdir1 to nationali . ‘ No. of persons . .. , . employe4. Nationality presently ‘ . RICLN cOIf i ENT 7 United States of America 5 Uruguay 5 .. Argentina 4 : Peru . 3 .. Canada 4 . . Brazil 2' . Chile . . . 1 . . Ja maica 1 Colombia 32 ‘. : . , TOTAL . LFRIC.AN COI TINENT - 4 - . . E rpt . . Mauritania 2 Morocco . . , • . . . Ghana . . 2 . Algeria . Mauritius 4 - , Tanzania . ]. Tunisia . 1 Kenya 1 . South Africa 1 : Zaire 1 • : Ethiopia . ]. Somalia .. --—— -.--- , — -....- . . TOTAL . .-.
CERD/CI9iiAdd.31 page 11 2 : Condition of emDloyed alien nationals in the countr r according to nationality No. of persons e p1oyed presently Nationality AUSTRALIAN CO1 TINENT 14 7 . Australia New Zealand 21 TOTAL 14 180 GRAND TOTAL
-l OUTLINE OF PROPOSED PAPER FOR SUBMISSION TO OF RD Author's note : cERD is primarily concerned with examining the legal aspects of any discriminatory situation rather than the humanitarian aspects, and the outline is drafted with this in mind. It also tries to anticipate the points likely to be raised by Iran's representative in response to questions about the Baha' s and to nullify them in advance. 1. Iranian government has stated in its report to CERD IIat IIere is no discrimination of any kind in Iran and IIat, in particular, religious minorities enjoy full protection, rights and freedoms. 2. We would like to draw attention of CERD to plight of Bah ' f community of 300,000 who have suffered discrimination for over a century, have absolutely no rights or legal status under present Constitution of Iran, and who are victims of discriminatory practices/legislation affecting every area of their lives. 3. Situation arises because of omission of Bah 'Cs from Constitution. Explain whole legal system based on Islamic law — civil rights and liberties all depend on religious affiliation. Denial of recognition means not just denial of freedom to practise religion but denial of all or any rights/protection under Constitution. . 4. Principle 13 of Constitution (quoted by Iran in its report) identi- fies “sole recognized religious minorities”. They are only on to enjoy freedoms/privileges enumerated on page 3 of Iran's report. 5. Principle 14 (also quoted) states that Muslims must deal with non—. Muslims. with justice and equity and respect their human rights. Might appear to offer some protection to Bah ' s but is negated by rider . , stating that principle applies only to those who “do not conspire . against Islam and the• Islamic Republic of Iran”. . 6. Bah 'i:s regarded, de facto , as enemies of/conspirators against Islam. Explain - rebut. , . . 7. Principle 19 (quoted) covers only ethnic groups and not (as stated by Iran) religious groups. In any case, Baha' s have no rights under any principle of Constitution, as explained above. 8. Bah 'Ls not listed as a religious minority in Iran's report and not included in “Other Religions” total of under 60,000. Iran's 300,000 Baha'a's (Iran has sometimes claimed 30,000, but this not so) presum- ably included in “Muslim” total. Cite representative of Iran at com- mission on Human Rights stating that Baha' s considered to be part of Muslim majority. Might imply Baha'is therefore enjoy same constitu- tional rights as Muslims. Emphatically not so — see below. 9. Iran has frequently claimed BahS' s excluded from Constitution because political group, not religious. Rebut (along with other false charges). 10. Briefly describe persecutions, noting discriminatory legislation on basis religion, fact that denial of faith will secure education/employ- ment, summary arrests, torture to force recantation, summary executions on false charges — all charges dropped/lives spared if recant, etc. etc. Also mention non-recognition ah ' marriage, confiscation properties etc. —1— .4
OtYPLOE'E OF PROPOSED PAPER FOR SUBMISSION TO CERD page 2 11. All this demonstrates aha'is not ega de a5 and that perse- cution springs from religious prejudice. 12. Explain persecution inspired by religious fanaticism on part of cer- tain elements among fundamentalist Muslim clergy — some of them now in power and determined eradicate Baha' community/obliterate all traces Faith land its birth. 13. underlying rationale is assertion IIat, since Muhammad is IIe last of the prophets, the Baha'( FaiII cannot be considered a religion and that, in claiming to be a religion, it is either concealing its trne nature or is attempting to set itself up in opposition to Islam. This is clearly ridiculous. 14. point out that no Christian country persecutes its Muslim minority simply because majority of population doesn't believe in Muhammad. 15. Baha' Faith is an independent world religion with own Founder, Scriptures, teachings. Bah 'Ls in Iran (all indigenous Iranians) constitute a distinct religious coimnunity. Simply wish to be recog- nized as such as accorded the right (to which entitled.under inter- national law) to have and to follow their own beliefs. . [ Appropriate documentation will, of course, accompany the report] Query ‘ committee member Mrs. sadiq Ali of India said (in 1980) that “she knew that between 30,000 and 40,000 Sikhs were treated with tolerance in iran”. The Sikhs, of course, are not named in the Constitution as an officially— recognized religious minority. They are thus in exactly the same position as the Baha' s although (if Mrs. Sadiq Au is correct) they are not suffer- ing for it. Perhaps oIIer, even smaller, unrecognized religious minorities exist and are allowed to practise their religion in peace. . We appreciate that the Iranian government does not have the same religious reasons for persecuting the Sikhs (or others) as it does for persecuting the Baha' s, Nevertheless, if the question comes up in the Committee — and it may well do so, since Mrs. Sadiq Ali is still a member — it might tend to cloud the whole issue. The representative of Iran could, for instance, draw an analogy between the Sikhs and the Baha' s and use it to support the argument that all religious minorities are protected in Iran, whether or not they are specifically named in the Constitution, He could also argue from this that (as Iran has frequently claimed in the past) any punishment meted out to the Baha' Cs is because of their criminal misbehaviour and has nothing to do with their religious beliefs. We would be most grateful for any comments or guidance from IIe universal House of Justice on IIis point. 25 january 1983
Jean-Marie APIOU . S Eugenio Carlos Jos ARAi i3UBU Yuli BAB EV Pedro BP IN MARTINEZ Andr DEO2E7 J . S Silvo DEVET .PX Dinitrios J. EVRIG IS Oladapo Olusola F .AFOWORA .Abdel Mo ein GHONEOE! Jos D. INGLES George 0. LAMPTEY Erik TTEL Karl Josef P.ARTSCE Shanti S.ADIQ ALl Agha SEA I Michael E. SBEPIFIS- Gleb Borisovieb STARUSB 1X0 Countiy of nationa1ity Upper Volta Argentina Bulgaria Panana Term expires on 19 January 1986 1981; 1981; 1981; 1981; 1981; ‘ 1986 1986 1986 19814 1986. 1981; 1986 1981; 1986 1986 19814 ERSEIP OF TNE C0I• •iITTEE ON THE ELIflINATION OF RACIAL DISCBn• .al A ION 1982—1983 Name of ]neinber fir. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. ‘. Mr. ‘Mr. Mr. .,, !• .rs. Mr. Mr. Mr. France Yugoslavia Greece Nigeria E rpt Philip ines Ghana Austria Gerxaany, Federal. P(epublic , md i a Pakistan Cyprus Union of Soviet Socialist Repiibli as - ‘ 4- Mr. Luis VALE [ ICIA RODRIGUEZ Ecuad .or 1986