Individual Case (CAS) - Discussion: 2003, Publication: 91st ILC session (2003)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Iran (Islamic Republic of) (Ratification: 1964)

A Government representative stated that her country accorded high priority to the protection and promotion of fundamental rights and had taken concrete efforts to ensure that the Iranian people enjoyed all fundamental rights. The Islamic Republic of Iran was facing various challenges in its movement towards development and the cornerstones of the reform policies were upholding, among other matters, the promotion and protection of non-discrimination. The speaker pointed out that her Government was not claiming that there was no discrimination in the Islamic Republic of Iran as no country had a perfect record on this issue, but that it was important to recognize that the overall movement was highly positive and encouraging. Nevertheless, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran continued to be fully committed to the protection and promotion of human rights and was determined to pursue the necessary policies to this end. Recalling her Government's preparedness to cooperate closely with the ILO to eliminate and combat discrimination in employment and occupation, the speaker listed a number of measures taken in the Islamic Republic of Iran. These included the expansion of the "human rights advocates network" in 2002 ; the holding of training courses for human rights advocates on the Islamic Republic of Iran's commitment in terms of human rights and ILO Conventions; meetings by high-ranking officials aimed at developing expert approaches and solutions to combat discrimination against unrecognized religious minorities; and two conferences held in 2002 within the framework of the agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Denmark, concluded in 2001, on "Women's Rights" and "Freedom of Expression and Belief" (Tehran) and on "the Rights of the Child" and "Rights of Minorities" (Copenhagen). Furthermore, the Women's Friendship Society jointly established by Belgium and Iran promoted ties between the women of the two countries aimed at capacity building and empowerment of women. In addition, an increasing number of women had been appointed to higher judicial ranks and the Islamic Republic of Iran's female head of court had started her work at the bench in the Isfahan Province. The speaker further provided information on the number of women holding licences to publish magazines, women chief editors, and women employed in the Islamic Republic News Agency and female managers in the Iranian Defence Ministry, and pointed to the increase in the number of women's non-governmental organizations and the inauguration of a Women's Technical and Professional Institute in May 2002.

With respect to the legal measures taken and modifications in the legislation requested by the Committee of Experts, the speaker mentioned that the judiciary had established the High Council of Judicial Development which had studied the necessity of amending certain articles of the Civil Code. An ad-hoc Commission of the Council was working in close cooperation with the Parliament's Research Centre to remove shortcomings in legislation with regard to women. The reviews and amendments of laws and regulations covering all aspects of civil life was currently taking place and three projects in three different organizations to amend the legislation on women's civil rights were ongoing.

With respect to certain provisions of the Civil Code, the speaker noted that the Women's Social and Cultural Council had designed a comprehensive project for amending the Civil Code, the proposals of which would be presented to Parliament. The Women's Participation Centre had submitted a proposed amendment to section 1117 of the Civil Code and the Committee of Experts would be notified of any changes on this subject in due course. The attention of the Conference Committee was also drawn to the modifications made to certain other sections of the Civil Code, notably, section 1107 (alimony allocations for women), section 1110 (payment of alimony to widows), section 1130 (grounds of divorce) and section 1133 (women's rights to divorce).

Regarding women's employment, the speaker provided some examples of the Government's efforts, such as certain laws passed to speed up privatization and attract foreign capital and efforts to prohibit government monopolies in strategic areas and to lower interest rates by banks, aimed at encouraging development and improving the employment situation in general, including women's employment. The Government representative further recalled that the Government had invited a technical team from the Office to assess the needs of technical assistance in the area of the promotion of women's employment. This was a significant step towards using international expertise and technical assistance to build up national capacity. In March 2002, the ILO team had met with the relevant officials in Iranian universities and with representatives of the Government and of non-governmental organizations. As the first phase of the ILO's Project on Women's Empowerment, a National Tripartite Conference on Women's Empowerment was due to be held in October 2003. It was hoped that the holding of such a gathering would contribute to further national capacity building in this area. The Government also hoped that it would be able to inform the Committee of Experts, in its next report, on positive and tangible results of the ILO project.

With respect to the promotion of equal access of religious minorities to work, the speaker highlighted several aspects in law and practice of an improved situation of these minorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In implementing the principles contained in articles 20 and 28 of the Iranian Constitution regarding equal legal protection of all Iranian citizens, the Government had declared in a circular the observance of the social and civil rights of all Iranian citizens as the country's official policy. This had been reiterated in Government Circular No. 11-4462 of February 1999 under which all ministries, organizations and governmental institutions were required to make effective efforts to ensure full observation of the rights of recognized religious minorities in the area of recruitment and employment. Government bodies were equally required to include and specify the issue in job vacancy advertisements, so that in the case of a successful recruitment test, the Government could benefit from the expertise of minorities by the Government. Further, with respect to religious minorities, the National Recruitment Board had issued an official Circular No. 2/47474 of November 2002 to the Interior Ministry, to be communicated to the provinces, which emphasized the need of further observance of the rights of recognized religious minorities, particularly with regard to employment and recruitment. Regarding the employment of religious minorities in the education sector, the speaker noted that 200 posts of the recruitment quota of the 3rd Five-Year Development Plan had been allocated to the recruitment of religious minorities in the Education Ministry for the academic year of 2003-04. Religious minorities had also been allocated financial facilities through presenting "job-creation investment projects" to executive bodies countrywide. In the housing sector, executive plans and projects were focused on low-income minorities, and the construction of rental housing units and of rural housing for both Muslim and religious minorities had been planned and implemented.

The Government representative further indicated that the efforts taken to promote the establishment of trade and expert associations in order to promote trade and business owners and specialized occupations had resulted in the setting up of more than 200 associations. A list of associations and organizations of religious minorities had been submitted to the Committee of Experts. She further stated that for 2001, 520 Christian women, 385 Zoroastrian women and 177 Jewish women had been recruited and employed in governmental bodies. The number of Christians employed in the public sector had risen to 520 women and 593 men, compared to only 363 women and 470 men in 1979. For the same period, the number of Zoroastrians employed in the public sector rose to 385 women and 276 men from 185 women and 113 men; the number of Jews employed rose from 177 women and 169 men compared to 86 women and 132 men.

Finally, the speaker once again, drew the attention of the Committee to her Government's readiness for cooperation based on mutual understanding with the ILO. It was notable that during recent years, cooperation and ties between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the ILO had improved considerably. Regular consultations and ILO missions to Iran had taken place at various levels on reviewing the Labour Code, improving social dialogue, upgrading freedom of association, expanding cooperation with the ILO Training Centre in Turin, developing a Project on Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality in the Islamic Republic of Iran, implementing the ILO/UNDP Project on Poverty Eradication, and on many other issues. Invitations had also been extended to the ILO, ICFTU and WCL. The speaker concluded by expressing the hope that the Committee would appreciate and apply a stronger and more constructive role in this process. If Convention No. 111 were indeed to be fully implemented due consideration needed to be given to promotional activities and national capacity building. In this respect the Islamic Republic of Iran wished to continue its cooperation with the ILO mechanisms and invited the Organization to make its technical and advisory services available to the Islamic Republic of Iran to review its laws and regulations in terms of their compliance with the provisions of Convention No. 111.

The Employer members thanked the Government representative for the detailed information provided to the Committee. They recalled that the Committee had some 20 years of experience with the issues of this case and noted that considering the Committee of Experts' report, this was overall a case of progress. Progress had been very slow, but improvements were obvious, as numerous institutional and other measures to eliminate discrimination had shown. The Employer members noted positively that even though discrimination on the basis of sex had a long tradition in the Islamic Republic of Iran, progress had been achieved in the participation of girls and women in the educational system from primary school up to university. A further translation into a comparable participation of women in employment was necessary. The Government was requested to provide further statistics in this regard. The Employer members further noted that female candidates for parliamentary elections had increased and that the number of women employed in male-dominated professions had risen as well. Despite the fact that there were now a number of female judges, there was no equality yet in the judiciary, as the issuing of verdicts appeared still to be the domain of male judges. The Employers members requested the Government representative to comment on whether female judges would be on an equal footing with men in this profession in this respect. The Employer members further noted the improvement of opportunities for women to obtain work in technical professions.

Referring to the statement of the Government representative to the effect that not all problems had been resolved, the speaker referred to the obligatory dress code, wondering why no progress was possible on this issue. The possible sanctions for violations of a dress code certainly had a negative impact on the position of women in the labour market, particularly in the public service. The Government was asked to provide the requested information to the Committee of Experts on this issue. The Employer members further stressed the need for progress with regard to section 1117 of the Civil Code, noting the involvement of the Centre for Women's Participation in efforts to address this question. They hoped that further progress would be possible on the outstanding issues in the near future.

In addition, the Employer members noted that the overall employment situation of women belonging to recognized religious minorities was better than average, but wondered how the situation was in the public service. They recalled that the members of the Baha'i faith had been subjected to discrimination for a long time and that the Labour Code would not prohibit religious discrimination. Despite the fact that the Special Representative of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran had been able to note some signs of hope and the opening of one university to the Baha'is, this community remained in practice the object of discrimination in employment and education. The Islamic Human Rights Commission considered that legislative changes were also necessary. Referring to the situation of ethnic minorities, the Employer members asked the Government to provide the information requested by the Experts. The speaker also highlighted that the recent collective contract covering workers in workplaces with less then five employees did not contain a non-discrimination clause. Finally, the Employer members took note of the impressive work programme adopted for 2002-03 under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and the ILO, including with regard to the formulation of policies for creating greater access of women to the labour market. In this context, the Employer members stated that progress in the Islamic Republic of Iran would ultimately depend on political developments, and experience had shown that substantial setbacks might occur in the field of civil rights. They reminded those who looked backwards that States which did not live up to their international obligations in the field of human rights would isolate themselves, damage their economies and development and finally their own people. The Employer members supported those who wanted to eradicate discrimination, which had existed for decades.

The Worker members stressed that inclusion on the list of individual cases was not a negative sanction, but discussions in the Conference Committee were constructive work that could help to overcome existing problems. Likewise, a footnote in the report of Committee of Experts, which was considered by all as objective, impartial and independent, and even special paragraphs in the Conference Committee's report, should not be perceived as sanctions. This case had a long and bad history, but it had finally resulted in some progress. However, in no way the situation could be simply left in the hands of the Government, as this was a process of checks and balances. The Worker members only trusted information that had been examined and analysed by the Committee of Experts. They had sympathy for the Government and for the ILO missions when they argue that the progressive forces in the country should be strengthened by praising the progress made, rather than playing in the hands of the conservatives who want to roll back the reforms. However, one should note that politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran were made by politicians, as elsewhere, and that they had their own interests. If these interests were not at odds with ILO values, they would promote them; if not, they would stab the values in the back. On a critical note, the Worker members deplored the fact that the Government had exploited that the Islamic Republic of Iran had not been put on the list of individual cases last year at home by giving the public the impression that the ILO now considered that all problems had been solved. That this was not the case was well known by the Government, particularly as the Worker members had asked the Committee of Experts last year to provide another comment to the Conference Committee with a view to discuss it this year.

The Worker members noted that the general tone of the Committee of Experts' report was positive, drawing attention to the functioning of human rights mechanisms, improvements as regard discriminatory practices on the basis of sex and religion, as well as regards contacts and cooperation with the ILO. There was indeed an impressive work programme for the years 2002-03 with very interesting elements and the Worker members were confident that the cooperation efforts would bear fruit. These improvements should however not divert from the shortcomings. According to the Committee of Experts, there were only a small number of remaining problems. These included the well-known points relating to the obligatory dress code, section 1117 of the Civil Code and the restriction on women judges to issue verdicts. In addition to these critical main points, the Committee of Experts asked for further progress and additional information on a number of other issues, including with regard to the situation of recognized and unrecognized minorities. The Government should in particular take a broader approach to combat discrimination against the Baha'is by taking active promotional measures to correct misperception held by the population, which the Government itself had encouraged. The Employer members had also urged the Government to make a serious effort to answer all the Committee of Experts' questions and the ILO was encouraged to do its own fact-finding. The Worker members suggested that a permanent ILO presence in the country should be given serious thought, despite the financial implications.

However, the Worker members raised serious doubts as to whether the issues taken up by the Committee of Experts were in fact the only remaining problems. For instance, according to indications given by Worker representatives from the Islamic Republic of Iran, several discriminatory practices against women existed in the fields of social security, pensions and in employment, both in law and practice, which were so common that the Iranian workers would call them the "unwritten law". The Worker members expressed their disappointment that these alleged shortcomings had not been brought to the attention to the Committee of Experts. The Iranian workers also had reported that the ILO missions had entered into an intensive dialogue with the Government, while paying less attention to the workers and employers. However, the Worker members stated that it was believed that the ILO would not have made such a mistake. Nevertheless, the matter should be clarified. A further issue of importance that the Committee of Experts should discuss in their next report was the practice of gozinesh, as reported by Amnesty International in their document prepared for this International Labour Conference. According to Amnesty International this practice of cooperation for all those seeking employment in the public sector and in parts of the private sector impaired equality of opportunity in employment and occupation on the grounds of political opinion, previous political affiliation or support, or religious affiliation. This practice contravened article 23 of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Constitution. The speaker stated that he would formally submit Amnesty International's document to the Office, with a request that the Committee of Experts take this issue up with the Government.

The Worker members concluded that its was useful to discuss the case of the Islamic Republic of Iran again in the Conference Committee in order give the Government credit for positive developments and to address ongoing violations or possible violations of the Convention. The Worker members hoped that the Government would recognize the constructive spirit in which these observations had been made. It was hoped that the Committee of Experts would be able to confirm in its next report the basic assessment that things were significantly changing.

The Employer member of the Islamic Republic of Iran thanked the Committee of Experts for their report which contained welcome advice. He recalled that the Confederation of Employers of Iran had been formed four years ago, which had led to stronger participation of social partners in decision-making. His organization appreciated the ILO's activities in the Islamic Republic of Iran and he urged the Government to continue to take action that would result in the elimination of all existing divergences between the Convention and the national situation. It was hoped that the increasing technical cooperation from the ILO would facilitate this process and that the Government would be soon able to report further progress. The comment made by the Committee of Experts on the absence of a non-discrimination clause in the collective contract mentioned in paragraph 14 of their observation would be taken into serious consideration and further action would be taken accordingly. In his view, the employers respected Convention No. 111 and there was no religious discrimination on their part. With regard to the position of women in the labour market, the speaker emphasized that women now chose a variety of jobs; they were running factories, small and medium-sized enterprises, and are engaging in research and engineering and other non-traditional occupations. There were female members of his organization, the Chamber of Commerce, and women also worked in several ministries and constituted 70 per cent of managers of non-governmental organizations. Women entrepreneurs should play an important role in job creation.

The Worker member of the Islamic Republic of Iran noted that this case was an old case with more than two decades of history with ups and downs in its process. He mentioned that there had been some improvements but there were still things to be done to fully comply with Convention No. 111. The speaker referred to the Act which exempts the application of the Labour Code in workplaces and businesses of five or less employees and stated that this law was an open violation of Convention No. 111. Although a collective agreement had been signed and duly confirmed by the Ministry of Labour, this agreement had still not been implemented in some of the provinces and discrimination continued to exist. He recalled that his trade union had lodged a complaint against the Government in relation to the law on support and growth of the carpet industry, which exempted carpet weaving units from labour and social security laws. The speaker wondered why the Committee of Experts had not referred to this law, as this was an open contradiction to Convention No. 111. He also referred to the question of the Baha'is, their percentage in relation to the total population was very nominal and to the fact the Baha'is did not have general public acceptance due to their religious and cultural particularities. He stated that the measures taken by the Government regarding this question were recommendable and no further pressure should be exerted as it would have a negative impact on public opinion. The workers had more important issues than the question of the Baha'is, such as the legislative problems mentioned above.

In addition, the speaker referred to two instances of discrimination on the basis of sex. He indicated that where husband and wife, both being insured workers, retired, the wife was neither entitled to receive child allowance, nor to her husband's pension benefits if the latter died. The speaker requested the review of the relevant provisions of the law as not only men should be considered to be breadwinners. The speaker also referred to the common practice that at the time of employment girls had to agree to not get married and to confirm that they would not get pregnant. This practice was not allowed under law but occurred nonetheless, since many women worked under short-term contracts, which were not renewed if they did not abide to these requirements. Finally, he urged for more efforts to be undertaken so that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran fully implement Convention No. 111.

The Worker member of Pakistan endorsed some of the concerns expressed by the Worker members and the Worker member of the Islamic Republic of Iran concerning the issue of social security and effective application of labour laws. He had noted the commitment expressed by the Government representative to abide by the international obligations and to further improve the situation. Referring to the comments made by the Committee of Experts, he recalled a number of points where progress had been made, but concerns remained as expressed in paragraph 9 concerning certain restrictions on women's employment and in paragraph 12 concerning the education and employment of members of unrecognized religions. These points needed rectification. He confirmed that the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Government and the ILO was a positive step, but that the social partners needed to be strengthened in order to play an effective role in the social and economic development of the country. He urged the Government to take steps to improve the current situation and to eliminate any remaining contradictions with the Convention, including matters regarding social security and the abuse of contract labour.

The Government member of India supported the measures taken by the Government and underlined that no country in the world was perfect with regard to the application of this Convention. He expressed his surprise at the large number of issues related to human rights taken up by the Committee of Experts. These should rather be discussed within the United Nations than the ILO, which dealt with labour and employment issues. The speaker also was of the opinion that there were some inconsistencies in the Committee of Experts' observation. One could, for instance not speak of discrimination against minority women if in fact these groups were in a better position than others. The Government member stated that it was unclear how the list of cases was selected, observing that only developing countries had been targeted. Finally, he stressed the need to ensure cultural sensitivity in the conduct of missions.

Another Government representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that he did not believe that Iran should have been included in the list of individual cases. However, his Government attached great importance to the international mechanisms, including those of the ILO, which helped to improve the situation of workers and employers and of human society as a whole. Noting that the discussion should focus on progress made and not on isolated cases, he pointed to the importance of promotional activities and the contribution provided by ILO technical services. He agreed with the Worker members in reference to the need to eliminate misperceptions in the population about unrecognized minorities, but would like to conclude that social, legal and cultural changes required time and a consensus needed to be built. There was a need for dialogue and interaction with the various institutions of civil society in order to have a common position. The problem was not only in the legislation but also in people's perception of certain groups. He stated that his Government was committed to discussing and focusing on the promotion of the civil rights of all citizens regardless of their religious or ethnic background. The speaker further indicated that it was important that these changes be perceived as advantageous by all citizens. He was heartened by the fact that every Iranian citizen believed in what the country was doing. He added that the ongoing reform was undertaken, not for the ILO, but for the Iranian people and was deeply rooted in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Referring again to the statement of the spokesperson for the Worker members to the effect that the Islamic Republic of Iran was playing games with the ILO mechanisms, he stressed that this had not been and would not be the Government's intention. As regards the comments related to the dress code, it should be noted that there had not been any dismissals of those who had not complied with this dress code. As for the situation of women judges, this was a tradition and Iranian women were actively promoting their rights. In response to the questions raised concerning the practice of gozinesh he agreed that this needed to be discussed with the Committee of Experts. He informed the Committee that a Bill had been adopted in Parliament asking for a review of this institution. He concluded by expressing his Government's interest in continuing the cooperation with the ILO.

The Employer members welcomed the new explanations provided by the Government representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran and raised again the issues of the restrictions for women judges on the issuing of verdicts and the dress code. They asked the Government to clarify whether a difference in the judicial profession existed as requested by the Committee of Experts in its observation. Referring to the observation on the existing dress code, the Employer members recognized that an exact assessment of the real situation was not possible, but that sanctions could have deterrent effects and existing legislation also had a considerable symbolic effect.

The Worker members welcomed the stated commitment of the Government towards further change. With regard to the Baha'is, they clarified that the relevant laws and practice must be in line with the Convention. The Worker members hoped that the Government would provide replies to all the open issues to the Committee of Experts and that they would be able to find them in the Committee of Experts' next report.

The Committee noted the statements made by the Government representatives and the discussion which followed. It recalled that this case had been discussed in the Committee for more than 20 years, most recently in June 2001, when the Committee noted with interest the developing dialogue between the Government and the ILO. The Committee had requested that this dialogue should include a new mission by the Office to monitor the application of the Convention, joint efforts to implement it in practice and assistance to make progress in the adoption of the relevant legislation. In this regard, the Committee noted that the Office carried out such a mission in March 2002, and that the report of the mission was reflected in the Committee of Experts' observation. The Committee took note of the positive but very slow progress, including institutional measures against discrimination.

The Committee welcomed the continuing positive trend in the level of women's participation in education and training, and the measures taken to promote women's participation in the labour market, as well as the growing cooperation with the ILO in this regard. It encouraged the Government to continue its efforts to promote gender equality in the labour market and hoped that the Government would soon be in a position to report progress in improving the participation rate of women in economic activities, including among women university graduates.

The Committee noted certain legislative changes removing restrictions on women and hoped that the amendment to section 1117 of the Civil Code would be adopted in the near future. Noting that a review of national legislation was under way, the Committee strongly urged the Government to address, as a matter of priority, the important issues of the obligatory dress code for women, which could have a negative effect on the employment of non-Muslim women, and the restriction on women judges issuing verdicts, to which reference had been made over many years, and to bring them into compliance with the Convention. It also requested the Government to supply information on the application of social security laws to women in practice.

The Committee also noted the efforts made to promote the application of the Convention with regard to religious and ethnic minorities, including the adoption of a national plan of action and the work of the Islamic Human Rights Commission. The Committee looked forward to receiving full information on the implementation of this plan, while noting that discrimination in law and in practice continued against the Baha'is. The Committee requested the Government to provide detailed information to the Committee of Experts on the measures taken to address these important issues, including on the points raised by the Worker members of the Committee, and statistical data on the participation in private and public sector employment of women and men, and of members of minority groups in general, including ethnic minorities and non-recognized religious minorities. It hopes that the Government would give consideration to launching of an awareness campaign for these minorities. The Committee expressed the firm hope that it would be able to note progress with regard to the remaining restrictions imposed on women in the very near future. It encouraged the Government to continue to request the support and technical assistance of the ILO to resolve these substantial issues preventing the full application of the Convention in law and practice.