Damning report on an ignored issue: Discrimination against
ethnic and religious minorities in Iran
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Iranian League for
the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI) make public today a report on discrimination
against ethnic communities and religious minorities in Iran. The report, entitled
“The Hidden Face of Iran”, highlights an unknown aspect of Iran: the
severe discrimination faced by ethnic communities and religious minorities in every
domain/area.
“Iran is a real mosaic: the country has many minorities – Azeris, Kurds, Arabs and Baluchis, among others
constitute the population of entire provinces of the country, although there are no official statistics on the composition
of the population; such a subject is taboo for the authorities,”said Karim Lahidji, vice-President of FIDH and
President of LDDHI. “Religious minorities also face discrimination in addition to being victims of persecutionsuch as through arbitrary detention, extrajudicial executions, destruction of cemeteries and holy places
,” he
added. These persecutions not only target the Baha’is, a religious minority not recognised by the Iranian Constitution,
but also target Christians, Sunni Muslims and Sufis and others.
It is through repression and terror that the Iranian regime responds to peaceful calls to put an end to attacks on
minority rights: it reacts with violence, arbitrary arrests, torture, unfair trials and even executions.
FIDH and LDDHI present in their report concrete recommendations to the attention of the Iranian authorities that
include a major reform of the Constitution and Iranian legislation both of which are deeply discriminatory. They also
recommend the adoption of concrete measures particularly in the areas of education, employment, access to public
services and housing, in order to put an end to the persisting discrimination against ethnic communities and religious
minorities. In addition, the Iranian authorities should fully implement the recommendations that have been addressed
under the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations and by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination.
While the UN General Assembly, which should adopt a resolution on the situation of human rights in Iran, is currently
at session in New York, FIDH and LDDHI call upon the international community to ensure that the issue of ethnic
communities and religious minorities in Iran is an integral part of this resolution. Furthermore, our organisations
reiterate their call that this resolution include – at last – a monitoring mechanism on the situation of human rights in
Iran.
