THE COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD 71st Session (11 – 29 January 2016) IRAN Additional Information for the consideration of the Committee in relation to the right of every child to acquire a nationality under Article 7 CRC 15 December 2015 1. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (the Institute)1 welcomes the opportunity to submit additional information for the consideration of the Committee on the Rights of the Child regarding Iran’s compliance towards every child’s right to acquire a nationality under Article 7 CRC. The Institute’s submission frames some comments on Iran’s written replies to the List of Issues. 2. The List of Issues contained two questions relevant to the focus of this submission. In question 8 of Part 1 of the List of Issues, the Committee asked Iran to: “Please indicate the measures taken to eliminate persistent discrimination in law and practice against girls, children with disabilities, children born out of wedlock, unregistered children, refugee and migrant children as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children” 3. In its written reply, Iran stated that: “In 2006, ‘The Law on Determining the Status of Children Born in Marriages between Iranian Women and Foreign Men’ was passed. According to this law, children born from the above-mentioned parents in Iran or those born in Iran at most one year after the adoption of this law, can plea for Iranian citizenship after they come of 18 years of age. Based on this single Article, children subject to this Article are granted residence even prior to acquisition of Iranian citizenship.” (para. 50, emphasis added) 4. Furthermore, under the heading ‘practical measures’ Iran stated that it was: “Devising a research plan on ‘Determining the Citizenship of Children Born in Marriages between Iranian Women and Foreign Men’ by the office of vice president for family and women affairs in order to acquire the advisory opinion of private international law experts and specialists and determine the best legal initiative to support these children.” (para. 57) 5. The Institute would like to draw the Committee’s attention to the following concerns relating to these written answers by the state of Iran: a. Iran is one of 27 countries that continues to discriminate against women in their ability to confer nationality to their children, in violation of CEDAW Article 9(2) and CRC Articles 7 and 2. The Committee has made over 35 recommendations to states to end 1 The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion is an independent non-profit organisation committed to addressing statelessness and disenfranchisement in the world through the promotion of human rights, participation and inclusion. (www.institutesi.org)