Rights of the Child in Iran: March 2015 Joint Stakeholder Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

Last week, twenty-one human rights and civil society organizations including the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) presented a joint stakeholder submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in advance of the committee’s review of the Islamic Republic’s record with regard to its commitments pursuant to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The submission points to numerous areas in which the government and judiciary of the Islamic Republic have fallen short of their commitments to Iranian children, including custody and guardianship, early and forced marriage, the right to health, and access to justice. The submission also explores at the practical effects of the IRI’s general reservation to the CRC, especially with regard to criminal justice and the executions of juvenile offenders. This stakeholder submission can be viewed below.