Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Consideration of reports submitted by Statesparties under article 35 of the Convention

Initial reports of States parties due in 2011

Islamic Republic of Iran * , **

[Date received:20 December 2013]

Contents

Paragraphs Page

I.Introduction1–63

II.General issues7–1853

General provisions (Arts. 1–4)13–185

Article 5: Equality and non-discrimination19–236

Article 6: Women with disabilities24–256

Article 7: Children with disabilities26–287

Article 8: Awareness-raising29–327

Article 9: Accessibility33–389

Article 10: Right to life39–4111

Article 11: Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies42–4511

Article 12: Equal recognition before the law46–5312

Article 13: Access to justice54–6513

Article 14: Liberty and security of the person66–7115

Article 15: Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment72–7516

Article 16: Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse76–8016

Article 17: Protecting the integrity of the person81–8317

Article 18: Liberty of movement and nationality84–8518

Article 19: Living independently and being included in the community8619

Article 20: Personal mobility87–8819

Article 21: Freedom of expression of opinion, and access toinformation89–9620

Article 22: Respect for privacy97–9821

Article 23: Respect for home and the family99–10021

Article 24: Education101–10521

Article 25: Health106–12723

Article 26: Habilitation and rehabilitation128–14827

Article 27: Work and employment149–15132

Article 28: Adequate standard of living and social protection152–16135

Article 29: Participation in political and public life162–16837

Article 30: Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport 169–17738

Article 31: Statistics and data collection17840

Article 32: International cooperation179–18141

Article 33: National implementation and monitoring182–18542

Explanation of the names43

I.Introduction

On 3 December 2008, the law on the accession of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted by the Parliament, and on 24 December 2008 the law was approved by the Guardian Council.

The then President of the Islamic Republic of Iran passed the legislation for implementation to the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare on 14 January 2009. The instrument of ratification was deposited with the United Nations on 23 October 2009.

Following the adoption of the Convention by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has embarked on measures to implement the Convention. All branches of the Government, the Parliament, and the Judiciary have been asked to adopt measures to implement provisions of the Convention. The law of accession to the Convention, designated “the Foundation of Martyr and Veterans Affairs” (FMVA) Bonyad Shahid Va Omor Isargranand the State Welfare Organization (SWO) as national bodies for the implementation of the Convention.

The present report is submitted in accordance with Article 35,Paragraph 1, of the Convention which requests states party to submit a comprehensive report on measures taken to give effect to its obligations under the Convention within two years after its entry into force.

Preparation of this initial report was coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Human Rights Office) with the cooperation of related Governmental bodies and non-governmental experts.The following ministries and institutions participated in drafting of the report: Parliament (Legislature Research Center and Parliamentary Fraction on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, relevant ministriesincluding the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Ministry of Interior Affairs, Ministry of Cooperative, Labor and Social Welfare, Ministry of Road and Urban Development, Municipalities, the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs (FMVA), State Welfare Organization (SWO), Red Crescent Organization, Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, Office of Deputy of the President for Women and the Family,Iran Broadcasting Organization, Special Education Organization, and the civil society.

The national report of the Islamic Republic of Iran gives an overall picture of the current situation of policies for persons with disabilities as well as developments in this field during the past four years.

II.General issues

Since the Islamic Revolution, the situation of disabled persons and the protection of their rights have been of particular importance. In this line, the SWO was created to realize provisions of Articles 3, 21, 29 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The SWO was formed through merging of 16 organizations, institutions and societies to give non-insurance services while protecting human dignity, and relying on people cooperation. The aim of SWO mainly is to improve services on rehabilitation and protection of persons with disabilities and prevention of disability and social damage, and to help secure the basic needs of persons with disabilities.

The majority of persons with disabilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran are related to theeight-year war between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran. To respect and pay tribute to the martyrs, war disabled persons and POWs (Isargaran) and their families, the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs (FMVA) was established and given the mandate to provide services to these people since the early days of the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

To address more effectively the rights of persons with disabilities, the Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran adopted “Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities” in 2004, which was sent to Governmental bodies for implementation.

The Comprehensive Law on Provision of Services to Veterans (Isargaran) was ratified by the Islamic Consultative Assembly in 2007. This law (coming into force in 2011) paves the way for providing comprehensive services to war disabled persons (WDPs) and POWs and their families.

In the Fourth and Fifth development plans of the Islamic Republic of Iran a number of provisions were included in addressing the rights ofpersons with disabilities.

A fraction was formed within the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament) to protect the rights of disabled persons and to prevent disability. The fraction advocates the improvement of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, as well as the formation of new mechanism in support of such persons.

General provisions (arts.1 to 4)

Article 1 of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities defines disability as follows:

“Persons with disabilities are those who diagnosed by the medical commission of the SWO to have been inflicted by continuous and considerable disorder in health and public functioning through physical, mental and intellectual injuries in a way that their personal independence in social and economic fields is reduced”.

Prohibition of discrimination: according to Articles 3, 19 and 28 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran all people are equal in rights and before the law. Persons with disabilities without discrimination and on the basis of the Constitution and ordinary laws are entitled to the full and equal access and enjoyment of facilities as non-disabled persons.

Though persons with disabilities along with others can benefit from public protection laws and facilities, there are special welfare facilities for them in addition to what is available to others. For instance, according to Article 7 of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities the Government is obliged to assign at least 3% of the employment permits to the qualified disabled persons.

Article 2 of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities is related to communication of persons with disabilities. According to this article, all the ministries, Governmental organizations, institutions, corporations and public and revolutionary institutions are obliged to plan, manufacture, and establish the public buildings, places, passages, and service means to provide the disabled with equal access and use, as other people. The article also allows municipalities not to issue permits for the construction or completion of buildings and public spaces and passages that did not obey the professional standards relating to persons with disabilities.

Language: languages appropriate for persons with disabilities are widely used at different levels. For example, in education, Braille text, large print books, audio books and courses, special lighting to enhance the visual opportunities, hand and facial gestures for the deaf and presence of secretaries in quizzes and exams for blind children are used. Despite the existence of separate news broadcast for the deaf since several years ago, many television programs are broadcasted with sign language for the deaf.

Standards: Iranian National Standards Organization has so far succeeded to develop and implement 7 national standards in the field of disability rights. These standards can be accessed at the website of the organization. These 7 standards are: Standard No. 3093: on regulations concerning design and equipment of passages for persons with physical-mobility disabilities.Standard No. 3094: on regulations concerning design and equipment of public buildings for persons with physical-mobility disabilities. Standard No. 2948: on regulations concerning basic principles for environment designing for persons with physical-mobility disabilities. Standard No. 4576: on regulations concerning designing safety and technical guidelines for indoor swimming pools for persons with physical-mobility disabilities. Standard No. 2464: on classification of wheelchairs for persons with disabilities. Standard No. 3044: on regulations concerning design and equipment of houses for persons with physical-mobility disabilities. Standard No. 12251: on technical support for persons with disabilities on systems of environmental control for daily life.

Article 5 – Equality and non-discrimination

In Paragraph 9 of Article 3 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran abolition of all forms of unjust discrimination and the provision of equitable opportunities for all, in both the material and the intellectual spheres is considered one of the obligations of the Government;

According to Article 19 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran all people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights; color, race, language, and the like, do not bestow any privilege.

Furthermore, according to Article 20 of the Constitution, all citizens of the country, both men and women, equally enjoy the protection of the law and enjoy all human, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, in conformity with Islamic criteria.

Above-mentionedArticles 19 and 20 address “all people” of the country which include persons with disabilities, without discrimination.

A society of persons with disabilities consists of women and men. In providing all kinds of services including health, care and rehabilitation services gender plays no role, and therefore, all people of the society regardless of their gender enjoy from all required services.

Article 6 – Women with disabilities

In Article 21 of the Constitution, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is obliged to ensure the comprehensive rights of women. Women with disabilities in addition to special protection enjoy the general protection of this article of the Constitution.

In the Islamic Republic of Iran many measures have been taken for the empowerment of women with disabilities. In the present report, references are made to some of them, as follows, which has been done by the SWO (in the framework of Community Based Rehabilitation), Office of Deputy of the President for Women and the Family and Iran’s Special Education Organization: (for details please refer to Annex 1)

(a)Reinforcement of special learning, cultural and sports centers for women by supporting pre-vocational training for school girls with special needs and support of vocational training of girls in high schools.

(b)Supporting the educational and cultural initiatives to deepen and consolidate the religious beliefs and family dynamics, by assisting the education of families with disabled children, and preventing family breakdown due to the children and also by supporting educational programs to promote the empowerment of girls with disabilities.

(c)Organization and participation in meetings, exhibitions, workshops, assemblies and festivals in the areas of women and family at national and international levels, such as:

(c1)Holding special workshops for mothers with disabled children aiming at empowering families of children with disabilities;

(c2)Organizing workshops with the theme of effective communication styles;

(c3)Holding educational workshops on rights and responsibilities;

(c4)Holding workshops on entrepreneurship.

Article 7 – Children with disabilities

To ensure respect the rights of children, the Islamic Republic of Iran ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography in 2007 and signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict in 2010.

Given the situation of children with disabilities in terms of their age and social needs, special protection and attention should be rendered to them. In this regard, in the Islamic Republic of Iran situation of children with disabilities has been particularly addressed, and their cultural and educational services and enjoyment of free time has always been considered. The reorganization plan to support disabled children which is based on the elimination of discrimination against children with disabilities, tries to realize equal opportunities and integration of efforts to protect children with disabilities.

To protect children with disabilities, extensive measures in the area of ​​vaccination and prevention of congenital disabilities have been taken, some of which are as follows:

Provision of support services to the cochlear implant surgery;

Provision of health care to patients with PKU to support patients and their families;

Support of families to raise a healthy baby (at birth) with the help of educated health care providers. The figure has risen to 96.42 per cent in 2010 across the country;

Ninety-five percent of tetanus vaccination coverage and usage of supplementation during pregnancy was achieved in 2010s;

Dissemination of information to women about the possible birth of a disabled child in pregnancies at older ages;

Caring for mothers and offer free consultation and examination to them to deliver a healthy baby. In 2010, 96.42 per cent of pregnant women were under the care services.Vaccination of children of tuberculosis disease 99%, polio 95%, triple 96%, hepatitis B, MMR more than 96 percent was achieved in 2010.It should be noted that these figures include non-Iranian citizens as well; (Annex 2)

Free and universal vaccination at higher levels continues in schools and universities.

Article 8 – Awareness-raising

Article 12 of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities obliged the IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) to allocate at least 2 hours of its weekly programs, at the proper time, to the SWO’s programs and to introduce publicly the capabilities of the disabled persons.

Effective measures have been taken in conducting training classes for persons with disabilities at different age levels by the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee.These courses are sensitive to the social status and ecology of the region and are developed and offered by trainers, taking into account needs of families.

In order to increase public awareness in the society, educational system and in the mainstream media, the following actions have been taken:

Publishing magazines, brochures and technical articles for the knowledge of society and parents, including:

Publication of scientific – advocacy Journal on special education;

Provision of brochures on multi-disabled children;

Preparation of a brochure to introduce aurally-impaired and physical-mobility disabled children and students;

Obligation of State’s Office of Special Education to raise awareness ofparents through mass media, meetings, parent training, health centers, pediatricians, counseling centers and rehabilitationclinic (speech therapy, and occupational therapy...);

The production of learning sources to raise awareness of the staff of the special education and regular education institutes in collaboration with the collage of special education on integrated – inclusive training;

Call for papers in the field of children’s rights, with an emphasis on children with special needs;

Call for papers in the field of education and vocational rehabilitation for students in special needs in special education magazine (Issue 82, October 2008 Issue 106, Special Education, March 2010);

Organizing two conferences on the prevention of disability in 2009 and 2011;

Holding series of scientific – technical and functional meetings;

Organizing more than 10 provincial seminars for the staffs of regular and special education schools on the subject of universal education to create and promote positive attitudes to education of all children and young people disregard of their individual differences;

Training sessions for parents and families on rights of persons with disabilities, especially the rights of children with disabilities.

Increase knowledge and awareness of people with disabilities and other sectors of society on the rights contained in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities through:

Compilation and publication of brochures on the International Day of Disability;

Introduction of students with special needs to normal students in two groups; primary and junior schools;

Organizing conferences on International Day of Disability;

Holding a special conference (with support of Tehran Municipality), called “A City for All”. In this conference the participants were familiarized with the difficulties that a person with disability may face and the possible solutions for eliminating such difficulties;

Preparation and dispatch of training packages on the rights of persons with disabilities;

Introduction of World Autism Day;

Organizing various competitions (painting, tract, etc.) on disability rights;

Exhibiting a variety of activities of students with special needs to introduce those activities to the society;

Organizing specific training courses for persons with disabilities and their families, and for the general public about disability rights such as life skills, strategies to increase self-esteem, fighting stress, promotion of mental health, needs of disabled people in their care taking, strategies for the prevention of disability and increase knowledge on genetic disability;

Preparing and distributing educational materials such as booklets on the Comprehensive Law to Protect Rights of Persons with Disabilities, books presenting principles of favorable urban spaces, and the like, in order to raise awareness of the society about the rights of the disabled persons;

Awareness raising using the capacity of municipalities such as local newspapers, billboards, television and the like;

Training courses for teachers and parents of children with disabilities;

Raising awareness of families of persons with disabilities in the areas covered by the initiative of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) through training manual “Training in the community to help persons with disabilities” and instructional CDs.

Article 9 – Accessibility

According to article 2 of Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities all the ministries, Governmental organizations, institutions, corporations and public and revolutionary institutions are obliged to plan, manufacture, and establish the public buildings, places, passages, and service means to provide the disabled with access and benefit, as with usual people.

Note 1: Ministries, organizations and institutions, and Governmental companies and public and revolutionary institutions are obliged, for accessing of disabled persons, to build a favorable environment in buildings and public places as well as in sport and recreation places, roads and service facilities, within the approved annual budgets.

Note 2: Municipalities are obliged not to issue permits for the construction or completion of buildings and public spaces and passages that did not obey the professional standards relating to persons with disabilities.

Note 3: The SWO is allowed to monitor the building environment of the Governmental and public buildings of Governmental bodies and request report of their activities in this regard.

According to Article 169 of the Fifth Economic, Social and Cultural Program of Iran, the High Council of Urbanization and Architecture is obligated to formulate Islamic-Iranian patterns of urbanization and architecture, with the formation of a working group consisting of representatives of related bodies and experts of architecture and urbanization, to prepare plans for improving living environment in urban and rural areas and in buildings for physical-mobility disabled persons. Municipalities and rural administrations too are obligated in accordance with this article to improve the environment of roads and public rural and urban areas.

According to Article 30 of the Fourth Economic, Social and Cultural Program of Iran, the Government in order to give identity to the urban and rural landscape, to increase building and construction resistance, to attain sustainable development and to improve the living environment in urban and rural areas,is charged with conforming urban and rural spaces to the needs of physical-mobility disabled persons and war disabled veterans , and enforcing these criteria in public and Government places till the end of the Program.

In line with the improvement of the personal life of war disabled persons, extensive efforts have been made to some of which is referred as follows:

(a)The improvement of housing for WDPs with 70 per cent disability (people with spinal cord problems using wheelchairs, the blind, the mentallyill, victims of chemical weapons and amputees) in order to establish peace and prosperity for such persons who have special mental and physical condition. In this regard, building homes free of barriers to facilitate movement of WDPs, without the help of others and in order to meet their personal needs were envisaged. The following measures have been taken for about 6,500 WDPs:

Installation of elevators: 604 cases;

Installation of electric door openers: 1,835 cases;

Installation of compliant bowls and baths: 3,812 cases;

Installation of intercom systems;

Modification of barriers inside homes;

Creation ofentry ramps: 1,348 cases;

And other services (intercom and home interior services, etc.): 3,325 cases.

In cases where there was no possibility for improvement; accommodation of persons with disabilities was moved. Credit costs for this group of persons amounted to 217 billion Rials.

(b)The improvement of housing of WDPs approximately 2,000 people, were made in 2012. The measures taken were such as installing bathroom closets and entrance ramps.

To improve buildings affiliated to the FMVA to which good numbers of war disabled persons refer, considerable measures were taken on about 500 buildings in 2011 and 2012.

As creation of movement facilities for persons with disabilities is the main task, widespread measures have been adopted for the improvement of the urban environment with the following programs:

Creation of a bureau within municipalities, with the presence of related organizations and institutions, representatives of disabled persons, NGOs active in the field of disabilities and experts, for building suitable environment;

Provision of Urban Master Plan to organize pathways and identification of urban symbols, technical guidelines on design and implementation details of streets and urban areas by the Municipal Beautification Organization;

Improvement of urban spaces such as parks, office buildings, sidewalks, bus stations, pedestrian level crossings, pedestrian bridges, bus terminals, parking areas to facilitate the movement of disabled persons;

Construction of especial way for the blind in the bus stations (BRT) (Bus Rapid Transit);

Supply and install special signals at lights for the blind;

Construction of parking lots for disabled and handicapped persons and installation of signs across the city for the disabled street crossing;

Leveling bus stops for disabled people to enter the station;

Construction of safe shelter for pedestrian in order to secure crossing of pedestrians, the elderly and the disabled persons;

Allocation of 21 vehicles for the disabled community to facilitate transportation of disabled people;

Equipment of a number of bridges in the streets of Tehran with escalators and lifts in addition to ease access of disabled persons;

Allocation of at least two units of bathrooms under construction to disabled persons with entrance ramps;

Design of suitable toys for children with physical-mobility disabilities;

Design of urban furniture especially for persons with disabilities in order to create the appropriate grounds for disabled persons in society.

Article 10 – Right to life

According to Article 22 of the Constitution, the dignity, life, property, rights, residence, and occupation of the individual are inviolate, except in cases sanctioned by law.

Noting the above mentioned Article, the right to life of all people is respected in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and in this regard there is no difference between ordinary people and persons with disabilities. Intentional violation of this right is forbidden, except in cases of most serious crimes and after observing due process of law by competent courts.

According to the regulations of the Islamic Republic of Iran, nobody has the right to violate the right to life of others, and in this regard there are no differences between citizens or foreigners within the territories of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The death penalty can only be issued for most serious crimes according to the criminal law of the country, and by a competent court. The Provincial Criminal Courts are formed, according to the Constitution and the law establishing general and revolutionary courts adopted in 2002, with the presence of 5 senior judges. This court according to article 4 of the said law is competent to hear crimes leading to life imprisonment or death penalty. The proceedings in this court would be done in accordance with criminal procedural law.

Article 11 – Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies

Managing supplies and providing immediate relief to injured patients, accident management measures, such as education on infrastructure of buildings, identification of vulnerable areas, crisis management such as cooperation with responsible agencies to determine specific areas of responsibility, identifying and organizing of designated areas and recognition of volunteers and humanitarian aid in times of crisis to reach all people, especially the disabled are among measures which have been taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran to protect persons with disabilities in situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies.

As a large part of the Islamic Republic of Iran is prone to earthquakes and because of massive earthquakes in Bam and Roudbar, the role of helping forces to the vulnerable groups is of vital importance.

The Iranian Red Crescent has always been considered the most active organization at the time of natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies. In this regard, the organization has implemented extensive measures to help people with disabilities.Those measures are: provision of rehabilitative services, evaluation and equipment, provision of health services and training classes before and after the accident for learning how to deal with disasters and reduce damages. These services have been rendered to the persons with disabilities for example in the following earthquakes: Rudbar 1989, Bam 2003,Ahar & Varzeghan in (eastern Azerbaijan) 2012, Bushehr 2012, Zahedan (in South Khorasan) 2012.

NGOs are active in situations of emergencies. For instance, during the Bam earthquake in 2002, NGOs were very active in providing education to children and disabled persons to face natural disaster. Among those activities, reference can be made to the following:

(a)Protection and education of disabled persons in Bam earthquake, immediately after the earthquake,

(b)Training of the disabled to overcome the crisis after the earthquake

(c)Supply and distribution of special healthcare equipment to the disabled,

(d)Instructions for proper use of disabled special health equipment immediately after the earthquake,

(e)Manufacturing temporary center for rehabilitation of disabled persons after the Bam earthquake and accommodation of these persons in the center of health care and treatment.

Article 12 – Equal recognition before the law

Based on paragraph 14 of Article 3 of the Constitution, securing the multifaceted rights of all citizens, both women and men, and providing legal protection for all, as well as the equality of all before the law is one of the obligations of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to Article 37 of the Constitution, innocence is to be presumed, and no one is to be held guilty of a charge unless his or her guilt has been established by a competent court.

Article 90 of the Constitution stipulates: whoever has a complaint concerning the work of the Assembly or the executive power or the judicial power can forward his complaint in writing to the Islamic Consultative Assembly.The Assembly must investigate his complaint and give a satisfactory reply.In cases where the complaint relates to the executive or the judiciary, the Assembly must demand proper investigation in the matter and an adequate explanation from them, and announce the results within a reasonable time.In cases where the subject of the complaint is of public interest, the reply must be made public.

In order to better enforce Article 90 (which is a right for all people, including people with disabilities) a committee was formed within the Parliament which is called the Committee of Article 90.

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to its Constitution, all people enjoy equal rights, and persons with disabilities in addition to enjoying from general legal protection enjoy the special protection, too.

According to the employment law, approved in 1993 and its executive by-law No. 9866/245 approved in 1994, war disabled veterans over 25% of disability, with the approval of the Medical Commission, based on the harmonization of salaries of the Government employees; enjoy the same salary and benefits as ordinary employees.

Ownership and inheritance: like other ordinary people, persons with disabilities enjoy the right to own property and inheritance, and none of the applicable law of the country deprives them of these rights. The important issue on mentally disabled persons relates to their guardianship which was mentioned in details in the civil law and the law of non-litigious matters. According to these laws, the prosecutor will oversee all matters of persons under guardianship, and for such persons guardians are appointed. The financial performance of the guardian and observance of best interest of the incapacitated persons are always under the scrutiny of the prosecutor.

Equal access to financial resources as other people: no difference exists between disabled persons and other people in terms of equitable access to financial resources, and no discriminatory law has been adopted in this respect.

Article 13 – Access to justice

Article 19 of the Constitution stipulates: “all people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights; color, race, language, and the like, do not bestow any privilege”. Furthermore, according to Article 20 of the Constitution, “all citizens of the country, both men and women, equally enjoy the protection of the law and enjoy all human, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, in conformity with Islamic criteria”.

Moreover, according to Article 34 of the Constitution, it is the indisputable right of every citizen to seek justice by recourse to competent courts. All citizens have the right of access to such courts, and no one can be barred from courts to which he has a legal right of recourse.

According to Article 35 of the Constitution, “both parties to a lawsuit have the right in all courts of law to select an attorney, and if they are unable to do so, arrangements must be made to provide them with legal counsel”.

According to Chapter 5 of the Constitution, the functions of the judiciary are to be performed by courts of justice, and are vested with the authority to examine and settle lawsuits, protect the rights of the public, dispense and enact justice. Because of the special conditions of persons with disabilities, special regulations and facilities have been provided for them.

As some of the persons with disabilities may not be aware of their legal rights they may encounter with some problems to realize their rights. Therefore, in such cases, legal experts as an advocate for disability rights, taking into account the existing regulations, grant the guidance and counseling to disabled persons and exert their efforts to the extent possible in realization of the rights of persons with disabilities.

Certain legal services are provided for war disabled persons some of which are as follows:

Providing advice and legal counseling;

Measures to accelerate proceedings in the courts;

Pursue claims and complaints filed in courts, including courts of first instance, appeal and the Supreme Court, as well as in administrative courts including first and appeal courts and Directorate General of the Judiciary for Special Supervision. These measures are applied, depending on the nature of complaint, for WDPs over 50% disability;

Participation of legal representatives of SWO and FMVA in courts hearing, to prevent possible violation of the rights of the disabled persons and to provide necessary support to them;

To lodge a complaint, prepare legal statements and judicial petition to the competent judicial authorities to protect the rights of WDPs;

Provision of assistance to war disabled veterans in the financial conviction of unintentional crimes such as Diya as a result of car accidents or civil disputes under title of money request or financial guarantees they made;

Paying part of the cost of the legal proceedings. This help is possible if the request for the insolvency of the claimant or defendant is turned down (they have to pay the cost), and if the Office of Legal Assistance of the FMVA endorses under the current regulations;

Paying part of the cost of lawyers in unintentional convictions and in family disputes if the dispute is not as a result of wrongdoings of the WDPs. Recognition of this case is made by the Office of Legal Assistance of the FMVA;

Settlement of disputes of war disabled persons in case of their request, through reconciliation and consent;

Communication with different authorities to obtain documents needed by war disabled persons in line to protect their rights, and finally sending those documents to related judicial authorities;

Cooperation with the judicial authorities in matters related to guardianship;

Cooperation with the judicial authorities, prison organization and Imam Khomeini Relief Committee to receive services of those bodies for persons with disabilities;

Introduction of war disabled veterans to legal counselor center, lawyers and judicial experts to enjoy the support of assistant lawyers.

It is noteworthy that if rights of persons with disabilities are violated by Governmental bodies the case would be referred to the High Court of Administrative Justice which was established in 1982 according to Article 173 of the Constitution to address complaints of people against Government agents and regulations.

To secure access to justice for all persons with disabilities in particular women and children, the Judiciary established Offices of Protection of Rights of Women and Children in 2004. According to the directive of the Head of the Judiciary, provincial judicial offices are obligated to establish these offices allowing for work of at least one judicial expert and two expert-counselors in these offices. The task of these offices is to protect women and children and to supervise proceedings of addressing complaints of women and children who were ill-treated. The supervision should be conducted in a way to help court judges in the process of judicial proceedings.

According to Article 13 of the Comprehensive law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, the SWO is obliged to act toward the guardianship of the disabled by adopting a suitable mechanism. The courts are obliged to appoint or remove the guardians of the disabled and to issue the verdict only through SWO.

Note 1: To defend the rights of persons with disabilities, the SWO is obliged to introduce lawyer to the related court.

Note 2: To prevent violation of rights of disabled persons without guardianship, the SWO is allowed, in necessary cases, to lodge complaints in courts on their behalf.

There are other articles in the Criminal Procedures Code that ensure justice in judicial proceedings. Article 192 states:

“The suspect who is in detention shall appear in court accompanied by officers. After formally commencing the hearing, the judge should first ask the identity of the claimant or the complainant and then hear the claim or the complaint. Afterward, he inquires about the identity of the suspect, according to article 129 of the Criminal Procedures Code and warns the suspect and other persons present in the court not say anything that is contrary to the truth, rules and etiquette of the court during the hearing. Next the court informs the suspect of the claim, he charges or the complaint against him/her, and then hearing begins”.

Article 575 of the Islamic Penal Code states:

“If a judicial official or other competent officers of law detain or order the arrest and prosecution of a person contrary to the rules of law, the offender shall be dismissed from judiciary position and barred from government employment for five years”.

Treatment of disabled inmates in prison: “State Prisons and Security and Corrective Measures Organization” is obliged, according to civil rights laws, to offer its utmost assistance to the disabled prisoners. Among the practical measures taken in prisons in this regard the following can be named:

Exempt from daily programs after issuance of excuse letter by the prison physician;

Accommodation of such persons in special nursery rooms and allocation of the special hospice beds downstairs for them. Also, with regard to the note related to Article 118 of the Code of Conduct of the Organization, the Association for Prisoners Protection has the obligation to provide facilities such as special toilets, wheelchairs, crutches, dentures, glasses and the like for the poor and disabled persons;

Units of aid workers constantly try toward obtaining pardon and commutation of sentences of disabled inmates and also spare no efforts to obtain consent of plaintiffs for the release of these persons.

Article 14 – Liberty and security of the person

According to Article 37 of the Constitution, innocence is to be presumed, and no one is to be held guilty of a charge unless his or her guilt has been established by a competent court.

According to Article 32 of the Constitution, no one may be arrested except by the order and in accordance with the procedure laid down by law. In case of arrest, charges with the reasons for accusation must, without delay, be communicated and explained to the accused in writing, and a provisional dossier must be forwarded to the competent judicial authorities within a maximum of twenty-four hours so that the preliminaries to the trial can be completed as swiftly as possible. The violation of this article will be liable to punishment in accordance with the law.

On the basis of Article 33 of the Constitution, no one can be banished from his place of residence, prevented from residing in the place of his choice, or compelled to reside in a given locality, except in cases provided by law.

According to Article 3 of the Constitution, political and social freedoms within the framework of the law is ensured for all, and according to Article 9 no authority has the right to abrogate legitimate freedoms, not even by enacting laws and regulations for that purpose, under the pretext of preserving the independence and territorial integrity of the country.

Based on the criminal laws of the country, violation of freedom and security of individuals belonging to any group is not allowed, especially if such violation is perpetrated by the public officials, whose punishment would be more severe than ordinary people.

Article 584 of the Penal Code is about giving assistance to the above mentioned crime which says: “anyone who knowingly prepares a place for committing the crime mentioned in previous article, and therefore aids the principal to the crime, shall be sentenced to three months to one year’s imprisonment or a fine of one million and five hundred to six million Rials”.

Article 15 – Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

According to Article 38 of the Constitution, all forms of torture for the purpose of extracting confession or acquiring information are forbidden.Compulsion of individuals to testify, confess, or take an oath is not permissible; and any testimony, confession, or oath obtained under duress is devoid of value and credence.Violation of this article is liable to punishment in accordance with the law.

On the basis of Article 578 of the Penal Code, any civil servant or judicial or non-judicial agent who corporally mistreats and abuses an accused person in order to force him to confess, in addition to qisas and diya, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment; and if it is done under someone’s order, only the person who has issued the order shall be sentenced to the aforementioned imprisonment; and if the accused person dies as a result of the abuses, the principal to the murder shall be sentenced to the punishment provided for a murderer, and the person who has issued the order shall be sentenced to the punishment provided for the person who has ordered a murder.

On punishment harder than the verdict Article 579 of the Penal Code stipulates: if a civil servant punishes a convicted person harsher than what was ordered in the verdict or punishes him to what is not ordered in the verdict, he shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment; and if the act is carried out pursuant to someone else’s order, only the person who has issued the order shall be sentenced to the prescribed punishment; and if the act is punishable by qisas or diya the main principal to the crime shall be sentenced accordingly; and if the act consists of other crimes, the principal to the crime and the person who has issued the order shall be sentenced accordingly to the relevant punishment.

According to Article 168 of the Penal Code, any confession extracted under duress, compulsion, torture or intellectual or physical persecution is devoid of value and credence, and the court is obliged to re-question the suspect. Also on the basis of Article 218 “...if the suspect claims that his/her confession was obtained by threat, intimidation or torture, such claim would be acceptable without evidence or oath.”

Article 16 – Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, forced labor, servitude or exploitation are considered crimes under the law, and perpetrators receive punishments. If victims are two or more than two or the victim, due to physical, mental or intellectual condition, is prone to vulnerability, punishment of perpetrators is aggravated.

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes rejection of any kind of tyranny, oppression and slavery. Hence Article 2(6-c) of the Constitution, while emphasizing the dignity of human being negates all forms of oppression, both the infliction of and the submission to it, and of dominance, both its imposition and its acceptance.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party to several conventions against slavery and racial discrimination, some of which are as follows:

Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery;

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;

International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid;

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Moreover, the Law on Combating Human Trafficking was adopted in 1383 (2004). Article 1 of this law relates to trafficking of humans from and to the country or illegal transit of persons from borders of Iran by force or coercion by threats or deception or by abuse of power and position or taking advantage of the situation of the person for the purpose of the sex trade, using body parts, slavery and marriage. The second part of article 1 relates to delivery transfer or concealment or abetting in the concealment of the aforesaid persons after crossing of the border.

In this context, the law on the protection of children without guardians or with irresponsible guardians, which was adopted on 22 September 2013 by the Parliament, is noteworthy:

According to Article 2 of this law, any abuse of children that cause physical, mental or moral harm to them, and put in danger their mental or physical health is prohibited;

Article 3 states, any purchase, sale, exploitation and use of children in order to commit wrong acts such as trafficking is prohibited, and perpetrators in addition to compensation for damages shall be sentenced to imprisonment or paying fines;

Article 4 of the law states: any damage, harassment, persecution, physical and psychological torture of children, and willful disregard of their health, mental and physical well-being and preventing them from education is prohibited, and the perpetrator will be punished;

Article 5: Child abuse is considered as public offense and does not require a private plaintiff;

Article 6: All individuals, institutions and centers that somehow are responsible for the custody and guardianship of children have the obligation to immediately declare cases of child abuse to the competent judicial authorities for legal prosecution. Any breach of this obligation will result in punishment.

Article 17 – Protecting the integrity of the person

The Islamic Republic of Iran highly respects human dignity, and the disability must not be considered as a weakness diminishing dignity and position of human beings. All laws and legal texts in the Islamic Republic of Iran are on the basis of Islam, and in Islam value and position of the human being is evaluated on the basis of piety and virtue. It is quite possible that persons with disabilities have a loftier position than others.

To promote dignity and status of persons with disabilities, extensive measures have been taken, to some of which are referred in the following:

Production of 52 ten minutes duration program on sport of WDPs with spinal cord injuries under the name of Janbaz (war disabled), Sport, Health;

Production of 10 (25 minutes duration) programs on transportation and favorable urban space for persons with physical-mobility disabilities. In these programs, a comparison made between various countries and necessary standards with the aim of society acculturation;

Production of a 30 minutes duration documentary program of researches done on “victims of chemical weapons (chemically injured veterans)’ enjoyment of sport activities”, in line with their health and hilarity;

Production of 17 programs on sport activities training to blind veterans under the name of “sport, war disabled (janbaz), treatment”;

Production of TV documentary programs on capabilities of veterans who suffer from different disabilities;

Organization of various annual ceremonies to glorify disabled veterans and their families;

Production and publication of books on war disabled veterans’ memoirs;

Organization of poem congresses with “martyred veterans” subject. The organization of such congresses suggested by the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran;

Collection of written and verbal documents of WDPs;

Preparation of war disabled persons names dictionary (in the process);

Construction of internet web on victims of chemical weapons;

Support of artists WDPs in different fields;

Production and performance of theater therapy for WDPs with nerve and psyche illness.

According to Article 608 of the Penal Code any insult to people warrants punishment. Moreover, Article 700 of this law stipulates: “anyone who satirizes an individual, whether in poetry or prose and whether verbal or written, or publishes a satire, shall be sentenced to one to six months’ imprisonment”.

Article 18 – Liberty of movement and nationality

In the Islamic Republic of Iran disability is not considered an impediment to acquire a nationality. According to Article 41 of the Constitution, Iranian citizenship is the indisputable right of every Iranian, and the Government cannot withdraw citizenship from any Iranian unless a person requests it or acquires the citizenship of another country.Moreover, according to Article 42 of the Constitution, foreign nationals may acquire Iranian citizenship within the framework of the laws.Citizenship may be withdrawn from such persons if another State accepts them as its citizens or if they request it.

The Interior Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken extensive measures in the identification of non-citizens who are requesting identity cards, residency and nationality. These services include persons with disabilities.

Article 19 – Living independently and being included in the community

To live independently and participate actively in the society, persons with disabilities are in need of assistance, employment, entrepreneurship and welfare facilities. In the ensuing paragraphs references are made to some of the assistances which were given to these persons:

Using training protocol of WHO to teach families and disabled people to achieve independent living in the framework of Community Based Rehabilitation Programs (CBR);

Visit of social workers to families of disabled persons in addition to general visiting, to follow up solving their problems;

Visit to war disabled persons in the framework of SEPAS Plan (thanks plan)in the homes and rest homes;

Visit to disabled children of martyrs in rest homes;

Formulating and implementing programs of family education to disabled persons and their families aiming at preventing psychological and social damages as well as promotion of their intellectual health in the forms of organizing class or camping;

Distributingbrochures and booklets on family education to disabled persons and their families aiming at preventing their psychological and social damages;

Offering of individual counseling in all specialized counseling centers (85 centers) for disabled persons and their families aiming at preventing their psychological and social damages;

Offering of group counseling for disabled persons and their families taking into account their problems and with the aim of prevention and alleviation of their pains and problems;

Granting marriage gifts to disabled persons in order to consolidate the family;

Provision of program for medical care ( in the form of medicine subsidies and taking care of disabled persons);

Signing agreements with some local air lines to grant a 50% discount to the disabled persons;

Improvement of conditions of automobiles of disabled persons;

Issuance of special car plate number for persons with disabilities;

Payment of disability pension;

Formulating and implementing SEPAS PLAN ( visit to disabled persons) across the country aiming at respecting and following up their problems in all walks of life including employment, economic difficulties, etc.

Article 20 – Personal mobility

In order to provide suitable residential space for persons with disabilities and make a convenient urban environment for the mobility of these persons, extensive works have been done at the county and provincial levels. For example, municipal health offices implemented initiatives, in addressing and resolving the problems of disabled persons, to facilitate the movement of disabled persons in public places and in their homes. This project includes making convenient roads, supply and installation of elevators and making convenient entrance ramps to the homes of disabled persons.

Improvement and making suitable roads in cities, especially the installation of street signs and markers and provision of equipment and support to the empowerment of persons with disabilities are considered as part of measures to facilitate the mobility of the disabled persons.

Article 21 – Freedom of expression and opinion, and access toinformation

According to Article 23 of the Constitution, the investigation of individuals’ beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or prosecuted for holding a belief. Furthermore, in Article 3 of the Constitution, the Government is obliged to ensure political and social freedoms within the framework of the law;

There is no prohibition as a result of disability for disabled persons to access to information. These persons can, through different channels such as Internet, mass media and active presence in the society, have access to information. On Iranian television, a number of programs and news are broadcasted for the deaf using sign language.

Article 175 of the Constitution stipulates: “the freedom of expression and dissemination of ideas must be secure in the Radio and Television of the Islamic Republic of Iran with due observance of Islamic norms and the country’s interests.”

Among other important symbols of freedom is the freedom of societies, political or professional associations, and religious societies. Articles 26 and 27 of the Constitution are devoted to this subject. Article 26, on the one hand, underscores the formation of parties, societies, political or professional guilds, as well as religious associations, Islamic or pertaining to one of the recognized religious minorities, is permitted provided they do not violate the principles of independence, freedom, and national unity, Islamic criteria and the basis of the Islamic Republic. No one may be prevented from participating in the aforementioned groups, or compelled to participate therein. Article 27 of the Constitution stipulates public gatherings and marches, held without carrying arms, are allowed, provided they are not injurious to the fundamentals of Islam.

The Constitution neither in this nor in any other article precludes any class, group, or professional association from forming or entering political parties or groups.

Some articles of the Constitution contain rules and regulations that may be viewed as practical guarantees for protection of freedoms stipulated in the constitution. These include articles 25 and 168.

Article 25 of the Constitution states: “the inspection of letters and the failure to deliver them, the recording and disclosure of telephone conversations, the disclosure of telegraphic and telex communications, censorship, or the willful failure to transmit them, eavesdropping, and all forms of covert investigation are forbidden, except as provided by law.”

To ensure access of persons with disabilities to news and other information, and also to facilitate their interaction with each other, the website of Tehran Disabled Persons Association was posted on the Internet. The website started its work with the support of the Tehran Municipality and is run by members of the Disabled Persons Association.

Article 22 – Respect for privacy

According to Article 580 of the Penal Code any civil servant and judicial or non-judicial official or anyone who holds a state duty enters someone’s house against the law and without the owner’s permission and consent shall be sentenced to one month to one year’s imprisonment, unless he proves that he has acted on his superior’s order and he has had no choice but to obey his orders, in which case the prescribed punishment shall be given to the person who has issued the order; and if he commits or causes any other crimes he shall also be sentenced to the relevant punishment provided for that crime; and if the offense is committed in the night, the principal to the crime and the person who has issued the order shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment provided.

On arbitrary and illegal detention Article 583 of the Penal Code states if any state official and civil servant or armed forces or the like, without any order from competent authorities [and] in cases other than those in which the law permits arrest or detention of people, arrests or detains an individual and forcibly conceals him in a place, he shall be sentenced to one year to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of six to eighteen million Rials.

Article 23 – Respect for home and the family

According to Article 6 of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities one of the children of the disabled parents (both or one of whom may be disabled) or those with at least two disabled children are exempted from military service. Furthermore, husbands who are guardians of their disabled wives are exempted from military services, too.

The family is the most principal platform for growth and development of human beings, and thus the first element for having a healthy, dynamic and active society is to preserve the purity of the family. As the presence of a disabled person in a family makes that family different from others, extensive measures have been taken to educate such families to accept disability and the way they would deal with it. In the Islamic Republic of Iran creation of healthy and active family environment for disabled persons has received due attention. Activities in this regard include financial facilities, dowry, loan, counseling services and making camps for disabled persons and their families.

Article 24 – Education

According to Article 8 of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, the needy qualified disabled persons of different ages can benefit free education in educational units which are dependent on Ministry of Education, Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, and on the other Governmental institutions as well as the Islamic Azad University (private establishment).

In materializing Article 8 of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, communications were made with Azad University to discount tuition fee or to exempt disabled students from tuition with the introduction letter from the SWO. In 2012, 17,047 university students benefitted from this program.

Organizing recreational -therapy camps has been one of the programs which in recent years made progress. One of the major programs of training camps, which are held with the participation of people with disabilities, is education. The training programs will always try to focus on the fact that the disability is not an irreversible impairment. And Disabled persons can, using science and technology, efforts and practices, overcome disability. It is to remind them that their own mental and physical disorders and disabilities are not only for them and many people in the world may have the same problems, and with different ways could overcome them.

Cultural and educational services and cares are provided also in Governmental centers for blind people affiliated with the State Welfare Organization to which it is referred briefly in the following:

Cultural services

Conversion of books into Braille texts;

Conversion of books into audio format;

Scanning of student materials;

Provision of library services (distributing or lending books to help seekers either in person or by mail);

Publication of periodicals (dailies, weeklies, monthlies, quarterlies and annuals in Braille and audio formats).

Educational services

Organizing computer courses on ordinary or special software for the blind;

Providing different types of software to applicants;

Establishment of a two-way communication channel with the blind;

Organizing sewing, handicrafts, pottery, dole making, flower making, carpet weaving, cooking and typing courses;

Teaching artistic activities such as music, chorus activities, painting, mosaic making, theater, etc.;

Teaching the skills of moving and direction finding;

Teaching Braille;

Organizing literacy courses for blind illiterate adults;

Pre-school education services to children with serious disabilities;

Support to elementary and complementary education of persons with disabilities.

The plan to integrate special students in regular schools has been commenced since October 2013. Among measures for better implementation of this plan the following are mentioned:

Recruitment of expert personnel in the regular education system who are trained to deal appropriately with students with disabilities;

Flexibility of school curricula;

Proper management of schools;

Increasing participation of parents of special childrenin schools’ affairs and their timely and appropriate intervention;

Dissemination of information on the benefits of having integrated schools and classes, and opportunities which are created for contact and interaction between regular and especial students;

Promotion of skills of children with disabilities to go along with ordinary students through education aids appropriate to their needs such as Braille texts, picture education and the like;

Establishment of centers to address learning problems of especial students who attend integrated schools.

Article 25 – Health

Health and medical services provided to the disabled persons are appropriate to their needs and type of disabilities. The services include an extensive area of identification, treatment and prevention. With regard to the treatment, it is noteworthy that disabled persons are provided with some specific medicines using official foreign currency rate and subsidies.

To benefit from health and medical services, WDPs should be first examined by the Special Medical Commission to identify the level of their disability then plans will be made, based on the type of disability, to provide them with the free of charge services, without discrimination.

Table 1Population of veterans whose disability percentage was determined by the Medical Commission

Percentage of disability	1-24%	25-39%	40-49%	50-69%	70%	T otal
P ersons	319 , 523	161 , 287	27 , 110	24 , 364	9 , 244	541 , 527
Percentage of whole disabled veterans	59	30	5	4	2	100

The establishment of various consultative committees with the participation of groups of disabled persons, is among measures which have prepared the ground for their social presence in particular in the fields of health and treatment,while taking advantage of their views on the care and rehabilitation services and exercising their viewpoints in macro-planning.

Necessary infrastructures have been prepared for the enjoyment of the war disabled persons from health, medical and rehabilitation facilities. To that end, the service procedure is in a way that provides equal opportunity to all, in other words taking advantage of facilities and services by some, does not exclude anybody else.

Access to the services is facilitated and expedited, through expansion of the medical insurances and diversification of the private hospitals which are parties to the contracts as well as through the development of other centers needed by all persons belong to the targeted groups including the war disabled veterans and the martyrs’ aged parents.

Coverage of insurances

War disabled persons covered by basic insurances	541 , 527 persons
War disabled persons covered by complementary insurances	541 , 527 persons
Disabled persons covered by basic insurances	450 , 000 persons
Disabled persons covered by complimentary insurances in SWO	500 , 000 persons

Additionally, the Health and Medical Department of the FMVA as the caretaker (administrative body ) of providing health and medical services, while fully covering the targeted groups, provides them with necessary services, all around the country and as close as possible to their own residences. In the meantime the highest level of services is provided to continue the treatment of those persons who cannot be further treated in the country and there is a chance for their treatment abroad. In cases of existence of extensive number of persons who need such services, the world’s top specialists are invited to the country to give medical care to the WDPs. The five-year report of the said measures is as follows:

Sending the war disabled persons (WDPs) abroad:30 to 50 war disabled persons are sent abroad annually. (This includes 12 to 20 WDPs with eye problem who are sent abroad annually);

Inviting specialists from abroad (Visiting specialists): They are specialists in the fields of paroxysm, neurology, orthopedic, chemical, larynx, urology, coronary artery and digestion diseases, as well as rehabilitation teams from Germany, Canada, England and Sweden.

On the promotion of disabled persons’ health, various services are rendered to them within or without insurance liability. These services include:Dispatch and settlement of patients, the cost of medical supplies and rehabilitation equipment, the cost of sanitary devices and hospital services, etc.

Standard of free or affordable health care and health programs as are presented to others including in the field of sexual and reproductive health and population-based public health programs are also provided to disabled persons.

The Health Department of the FMVA implemented different health programs including environmental health for residential buildings of WDPs such as spraying of homes.Also, on rehabilitation centers, programs such as professional health for personnel and environmental health, such as kitchen and departments hygiene has been implemented. Supervision of the implementation of health plans has always been on the agenda.

In therapeutic-recreation camps attended by WDPs groups and their families special medical visits are conducted in diverse fields and different screening tests are performed. Health education to families in areas such as personal health and women’s health, are among other programs which are implemented in the context of health monitoring and medical camps.

Health services needed for persons with disabilities, including the identification of disabilities and early intervention as appropriate, such as amblyopia screening tests, and services designed to minimize and prevent further disability (including among children and the elderly) has been among the priorities.

As prevention has priority over treatment, in recent years, programs such as health monitoring was implemented for war disabled persons of critical condition and all parents of martyrs who are considered elderly. According to this program, all qualified individuals are periodically visited and medically tested. So that any abnormalities are detected, controlled and treated from the beginning. In this process, health and preventive needs of individuals are detected and meet. Also, programs such as distribution of therapeutic items among the WDPs, in particular spinal groups regularly and periodically, financing health materials and general and specialized vaccination for the given group in order to prevent the occurrence of new lesions or progression of existing problems are among activities of the Health Department of the FMVA.

Report of health monitoring for WDPs:

Table 2Spinal-cord injury center

Process of plan implementation	Outset of the plan	Population of the targeted society	Clients	Results
Number	Percent
Monthly health monitoring, monthly visit by physician in residence of WDPs and sending them to special physician if necessary	2005	1 , 984	1 , 900	95%	P erformance of : - M ore than 185,000 visits by physicians – 45,600 specialized visits ; - M ore than 50 , 000 cases of medical tests and ultrasound scan during 7 past years .
Specialized concentrated monitoring in ultra specialized hospital of Khatam for WDPs with spinal cord injuries	2009	1 , 984	870	44%	Specialized concentrated monitoring in ultra specialized hospital of Khatam for WDPs with spinal cord injuries

Note : F ew spinal cord injured veterans for various reasons including work in medical group did not take part in this program, and in term of acceptability index, spinal cord injury group ranks the first.

Table 3Victims of chemical weapons ( Disabled by chemical weapons)

Process of plan implementation	Outset of the plan	Population of the targeted society	Clients
Number	Percent
-The number of victims of chemical weapons is about 60 , 000 persons. However, only veterans with severe and mild injuries as well as some veterans with difficulties are covered in health monitoring program. -WDPs are categorized on the basis of severance and type of injury, and each group based on special chronological table is visited by general physicians. Reference to specialized physicians has no specific limitation.	2005	60 , 648	7 , 951	13%

Table 4Physical health center

Process of plan implementation	Outset of the plan	Population of the targeted society	Clients	Results
Number	Percent
Health monitoring of veterans with nervous and mental diseases, moderate to severe injured veterans, and those released from psychological hospitals of the FMVA are visited on monthly basis, and other members of the targeted group, depending on the condition of the veterans, are visited at home at least every 3 months by general physicians.	2005	25 , 128	8 , 186	33%	- C ompletion of SF36 form before and after health monitoring program; - C onsidering life condition of persons under coverage; - P lan for monthly psychological visit; - F ollow-up aid to veterans who were released from psychological hospitals of the FMVA.

Health services, to the extent possible, are provided to the nearest places to the people with disabilities, including rural areas. Intervention plans including health monitoring, distribution of medications (medical items) and rehabilitation equipment are implemented in individual’s houses. In cases specialized services are needed, these services would be provided in cities or in villages where patient’s residents are located.In these plans transferring of patients is also envisaged.

Health professionals are required to provide care services to the people with disabilities, at the same quality they are provided for ordinary people, through education and promotion of ethical standards for personal and public health care.

According to the law, all WDPs and their families as well as the families of martyrs are covered by public and supplementary insurance. In this context, it is emphasized that all medical services are covered by the insurance, and the insurance coverage is the most comprehensive service in the country in a way that patients do not share the payment while all their needed services are covered.

At the moment, the number of WDPs covered by basic and complementary insurances is 541,527 persons.

Education as a whole is one of the main tasks of the health and treatment section of the FMVA. Education is provided to WDPs, their families, office personnel, medical staff and public society. Methods to implement education programs include educational pamphlet and brochures, CDs, face to face training, and mass media and audio-visual communications. Examples of such training courses are: scientific seminar for medical doctors of the health monitoring plan, national and international congress for specialized physicians to grant services to WDPs, provision of books and training booklets for different groups of WDPs, training pamphlets for elderly and finally education program in Salamt Radio.

In centers for spinal damages, chemical inflicted, intellectual health and special groups, education facilities such as Internet, books and magazines, workshops, seminars and congress, brochures are used for the education of persons with disabilities.

Establishment of Brain and Spinal Injury Repair Research Center with the participation of related organizations and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. http://cns.blogsky.com

In order to reduce the risk of disabilities, preserving and promoting physical and mental health and reduce the burden of disability in the society, measures are currently being implemented in the Islamic Republic of Iran which briefly are as follows:

(a)Prevention of amblyopia and other vision disorders: programs are annually implemented for screening and early detecting of amblyopia and other vision disorders of children 3-6years old who are under the coverage of nurseries and preschools, and children 4-6 years for those who are not under the coverage of those institutions. Public awareness and persuasion of parents to timely visit to ophthalmologists and opticians to control visual status of children is the main objective of this program;

(b)Awareness-raising to prevent disabilities and social damages in rural and urban regions: the aim of this program is to increase awareness of low-knowledge people in urban and rural areas using simple training methods such as teaching texts and using training movies. This program is being implemented with the cooperation of Literacy Movement Organization, Ministry of Agriculture and rural communities;

(c)Program for screening, diagnosis and timely intervention in hearing status of infants: identification of hearing disorders such as speech, communicative, cognitive, social, occupational and economic disorders is an objective of this program which is implemented annually;

(d)Country program for the prevention of disabilities caused by genetic disorders;

(e)Prevention of mental disability resulting from congenital hypothyroidism;

(f)Prevention of disability caused by detonation of land mines in contaminated areas;

(g)Promotion of mental ability of infants;

(h)Prevention of burns.

In dealing with health related issues of person with disabilities, there are various difficulties owing to unfair unilateral and multilateral sanctions imposed by certain countries against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Lack of access to medical and other health related issues for the disabled persons are among these difficulties.

Article 26 – Habilitation and rehabilitation

On the basis of the approved framework of the credits in the annual budgeting rules, the SWO is obliged to do the following:

(a)To provide the necessary rehabilitative, supportive, educational, and vocational training services for the disabled, with the participation of the disabled persons’ families and cooperation of the non-governmental sector (private, cooperative, and charity ones), and by paying subsidies to the NGOs and the families;

(b)To develop special centers with residential, educational, and rehabilitation purposes for the qualified disabled people (the needy, unsupervised, or anonymous ones, and the ones with behavioral disorders) with collaboration of non-governmental sector, and by paying them credit facilities and subsidies;

(c)To provide and offer necessary rehabilitation assistive devices to the disabled;

(d)To organize training, supportive, and productive workshops for the disabled persons, and offer vocational rehabilitation services to these persons.

The SWO pays subsidies (allowance) to non-governmental (day and residential) centers for caring the disabled and providing rehabilitation, educational and occupational training services for them.

Through SWO and under its supervision, taxpayers can establish rehabilitation, health, and vocational training centers; they can as well construct houses for the disabled. The cost certificate of taxpayers, in the above mentioned cases, which has been approved by SWO will be considered as their acceptable tax costs.

Fifth Social and EconomicDevelopment Plan, in Article 29, requests the Government to take the following measures to empower individuals and groups, especially women headed households and the needful disabled persons, taking into account family and society oriented plans while using the government budget and donations:

Design prioritized system of protection and empowerment services suitable to local and regional conditions as well as targeted groups;

Implementation of empowerment programs for at least 10 per cent of families who are under the coverage of protective institutions, and their expulsion from direct protection coverage, except the elderly and mentally disabled persons;

Provide social insurance for needed women heading household, orphans and disabled persons in need during the program;

Exemption of individuals under the coverage of protective organizations and institutions from building permit fees, municipality’s tax and cost of water split, sewer, electricity and gas for all their allocated apartments, only for once.

In the Fourth Social and EconomicDevelopment Plan,Article 101, the Government is obliged for expansion of social protections (social security, unemployment insurance, creating, development and strengthening compensatory mechanisms, social protection of employed persons in the informal labor market, rehabilitation of the disabled, and equalization of the opportunities for female and male, and enabling women in order to take advantage of suitable job opportunities).

To empower persons with disabilities, appropriate and effective policies have been adopted through including protection of such persons to gain utmost independency, professional, physical, mental and social ability and full participation in all walks of life. To this end, the Islamic Republic of Iran continuously implemented comprehensive rehabilitation and empowerment plans and services, in particular in the fields of health, occupation, education and social services. These plans have the following qualifications:

Start from early stages, to the extent possible, on the basis of multiple grounds evaluation of personal needs and abilities;

Support presence and participation of persons with disabilities in the society, and thus all aspects of the society are made available to these persons on a voluntary basis. Those facilities would beas close to their residents including in rural areas as possible.

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, rehabilitative and recovery services to targeted groups are provided within the following frameworks:

Daytime centers for education and rehabilitation of mentally disabled persons;

Daytime centers for education and rehabilitation of physical-mobility disabled persons;

Daytime centers for education and rehabilitation of persons with spinal injury;

Daytime centers for rehabilitation of elderly;

Daytime centers for treatment and rehabilitation for patients with chronic mental illness;

Daytime centers for rehabilitation of patients with Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD);

Daytime centers for education– rehabilitation of family and blind or low-vision children;

Daytime centers for education-rehabilitation of family and deaf or hard of hearing children. (Annex 3).

Caring, health and treatment needs of patients with chronic mental illness are met through creation, development and promotion of services in round-the-clock treatment and rehabilitation centers as well as in home care centers and halfway houses. Boarding rehabilitation and treatment centers are those in which patients with chronic mental illness, who are without shelter and lack adoptability with other members of the family, are accommodated, taken care of and learn necessary skills. Residential treatment centers are those which provide mobile treatment and rehabilitation services to patients with chronic mental illness at home or at work. These centers are obligated to provide services which were defined in advance by their professional group consisting of trained physicians, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric nurses, social worker, labor therapist and the like.

In halfway houses, mentally ill patients have more independence than patients in 24‑hour centers and social skills are taught in a freer environment with less monitoring. 4 to 8patients live in a home under the 24-hour surveillance of a nurse, and, if necessary, benefit from the help of other professionals. In these homes, interpersonal skills, self-control and participation in household activities are taught and practiced. In a crisis situation and emergence of possible problems, staff will monitor and provide necessary support.

The health, care and treatment needs of persons with physical-mobility disabilities and the elderly are met in the framework of 24-houre centers or care at home. These centers provide rehabilitation services to the targeted group on the basis of specialized manuals while benefiting from necessary equipment and specialized manpower appropriate to the needs of the patients.

In relation to the health care needs of mentally disabled persons, there are two types of rehabilitation centers and 24-hour foster care across the country, which provide needed services to mentally disabled persons under age 14 and above and mild mentally disabled orphans. These centers in addition to provide ongoing services to the disabled persons, provide temporary care services to families with mentally disable member which face at some point of time with the problem of caretaking. In line with the promotion and protection of rehabilitation services in homes, a number of day and 24-hour centers, along with their activities in the section of mentally disabled persons, have embarked efforts in this field, too.

At present, 589 providers of medical rehabilitation units are active across the country, which include physiotherapy, labor therapy, audiometric, optometric, speech therapy and technical orthopedic units. 506 units out of 589 are governmental and 83 units assigned to non-governmental sections.

Table 5Medical rehabilitation units

Situation of medical rehabilitation in terms of handover to non-governmental sectors is as follows:

Of total number of 589 medical rehabilitation units,196 units are physiotherapy, 101units are labor therapy, 102 units are audiology, 51 units are optometry, 118units are speech therapy, 21 units are technical orthopedic;

196 physiotherapy units: 178 governmental, 18 non-governmental;

101 occupational therapy units: 84 governmental, 17 non-governmental;

102 audiometric units: 84 governmental, 18 non-governmental;

51 optometry units: 44 governmental, 7 non-governmental;

118 speech therapy units: 100 governmental, 18 non-governmental;

21 technical orthopedic units: 16 governmental, 5 non-governmental.

Table 6Number of Medical Rehabilitation Units in the State & Private Sector

Number of persons who received services from medical rehabilitation units: in total 501,972 cases received services from medical rehabilitation units, 453,893 cases from governmental units and 48,079 cases received services from non-governmental sectors.

Table 7Number of clients in rehabilitation units (in state and private sectors) in 2010

Sort of the unit	Physiotherapy	Occupational therapy	Audiometric	Optometry	Speech therapy	Orthotics and prosthetics	Sum
State managed	139 , 787	61 , 194	109 , 800	64 , 351	60 , 876	17 , 885	45 , 893
U nits assigned to the private sector	12 , 554	7 , 143	13 , 234	6 , 346	6 , 204	2 , 598	48 , 079
Sum	152 , 341	68 , 337	123 , 034	70 , 697	67 , 080	20 , 483	501 , 972

Table 8Number of experts in rehabilitation units (in state and private sector)

Under the SWO support, about 20000 persons received aid items and 100 persons received funds for cochlear surgery.

On rehabilitation centers, their services, number of clients and beds, Annex 4 can be considered.

Furthermore, in recent years, on the basis of needs assessment measures, rehabilitation items have been distributed among war disabled persons, which were quite effective in preserving their independency, and which made grounds for their presence in the society. Different types of wheelchairs and advanced prosthodontics are among distributed rehabilitation items. With these items, independency and presence of persons with disabilities in the society is maintained at the same time their health in particular health of persons with spinal cord cut is protected.

Table 9Statistics of rehabilitation facilities distribution in the past 5 years

Equipment	Active Wheelchair	Standard Wheelchair	Bathroom Wheelchair	Double Handrim wheelchair	Stationary Wheelchair	Electronic Wheelchair	Lifter	Bed	Facilitator	Bike Fixed	Raging Mats	Stretcher Wheelchair	Smart & Sophisticated Joints
Sum	5 , 103	3 , 913	1 , 962	205	249	135	544	290	472	896	524	226	1 , 219

Statistics of the orthotics and prosthetics in the past five years:

Construction and repair services of prosthetics: 24,000 cases;

Construction and repair services of orthotics: 3,600 cases;

Hearing aid services: 9,000 cases.

In order toimprove thestandard of assistive devicesandproduce themdomestically, the Islamic Republicof Iran has always provided necessary support to NGOsand manufacturersof these devices.

In the existing psychiatric centers, benefiting from workshops on labor therapy, targeted persons receive rehabilitation. With this method in place, while reinforcing a sense of confidence in WDPs (Janbazan), their return to work, family and community are facilitated. Moreover, plans such as group treatment provide suitable grounds for WDPs to be present in the community.

In table 10, psychological hospitals under the support of FMVA are mentioned:

Table 10Psychological hospitals under the support of Foundation of Martyrs and Veteran Affairs

Name of the Hospital	Allocated Beds	Active Beds	Acute Care Beds	Chronic Care Beds	Emergency Care Beds
Isar (Ardabil)	128	128	90	38	4
Sadr (Tehran)	40	40	40	_	4
Shahid Rajai (Isfahan)	100	100	77	15	8
Bostan (Ahvaz)	126	86	50	36	2
Niayesh (Tehran)	100	85	60	25	3
Jannat (Shiraz)	50	35	20	15	_
Fajr (Tabriz)	36	36	26	10	3
Salman (Yasuj)	30	30	24	6	3
Vilashahr (Mashhad)	25	25	15	10	_
Milad (Shahriar)	64	64	_	64	_

Article 27 – Work and employment

Under article 7 of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, the Government is obliged to arrange the following facilities to provide job opportunities for the disabled persons:

(a)Assigning at least 3% of the employment permits (official, contractual, labor) of the Governmental and public entities including ministries, organizations, institutions, corporations, public and revolutionary institutions and other organizations which use public budget to the qualified disabled persons;

(b)Supplying the insurance premium of the employer by the SWO, and paying it to those who employ the disabled persons;

(c)Paying credit facilities to the productive, service, constructive and retail units as well as to supportive workshops in reward for employing the disabled persons whose numbers are specified in the annual budgeting act;

(d)Paying credit facilities of self-employment (the managed funds) to disabled persons, the amount of which is specified in the annual budgeting rules;

(e)Paying credit facilities (the managed funds) to employment units where more than 60% of their share and capital is possessed by the disabled, in order to establish employment productive and service units;

(f)Assigning at least 60% of the organizational positions as a telephone operator, clerk and typist to the blinds, semi-blinds, physically-disabled and mobility-impaired people in Governmental organizations and corporations and public institutes;

Note 1:All ministries, institutions and governmental corporations and public and revolutionary entities are allowed to employ the qualified blind, deaf, physically-disabled and mobility-impaired people, up to the ceiling of their annual employment permission, directly on an ad hoc basis and without employment testing.

Note 2: The Organization of Management and Planning is obliged to extract 3% of annual employment permissions of ministries, organizations, Governmental institutions, public and revolutionary corporations and entities and put them in the access of the SWO that organizes special employment testing for the eligible disabled in cooperation with the Organization of Management and Planning and accordingly introduce the admitted qualified disabled persons to the related institutes, depending on the case.

Note 3: The SWO is allowed to establish the Employment Opportunity Fund for disabled people and assistance seekers and obtain the approval from the Cabinet for its statute.

Note 4: The Technical and Vocational Training Organization is obliged to provide disabled people with the technical and vocational training, either free or semi-free, in proportion to the labor market.

The following measures have been taken by the FMVA in the area of employment and entrepreneurship for disabled people:

Granting the special score of WDPs, according to the rules and regulations;

Grantingan advantage corresponding to a higher educational level and a higher recruitment level;

Preparing grounds for the WDPs to return to their former jobs;

Providing the disabled with positions appropriate to their physical and mental conditions;

Reduction of daily work-time for the persons with disabilities;

Taking into calculation the duration of service in the ex-war fronts as well as the duration of hospitalization as the acceptable working periods with regard to the retirement conditions;

Granting extra recruitment periods to be calculated at the time of retirement;

Improvement of WDPs employment status;

Offering the technical and skill trainings and occupational empowerment;

Occupational internship;

Occupational consultations and awareness-raising;

Paying subsidies for the minimum salary and wages to the employers for the purpose of training and employment of the WDPs;

Financing employment loans (in case of eligibility and unemployment etc.);

Financingemployment infrastructure (projects), if fund is available and there is no application for (the services mentioned) in the previous paragraph and in case of unemployment;

Paying subsidies for the interest rates and bank charges of the eligible productive projects;

Providing facilities to support entrepreneurship by WDPs;

Utilizing facilities available to the home-based occupations.

Table 11Rate of 3 percent employment quota

Year	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	Sum	Total
Employment r ate	14 , 730	10 , 035	13 , 727	12 , 203	24 , 931	75 , 626	76 , 182
Employed with 3% quota	279	92	85	50	50	556	_

Following up implementation of the law, adopted in 2006 by the Parliament, which allocated 3% quota for employment of disabled persons in the ministries and governmental and non-governmental organizations;

Continuing making favorable environments in the governmental and non-governmental organizations’ buildings in order to facilitate access of disabled people;

Allocating funds to finance the portion of insurance costs paid by private sector employers who employ disabled persons;

Allocating credits to compensate inefficiency of those disabled persons who are not able to do full-time workin order to encourage private sector employers to employ disabled;

Financing self-employment loans for the employment of the skillful disabled persons who are able to carry on business via home based occupations or small firms/ micro business;

Establishing and running special rehabilitation and vocational training centers with the contribution of non-governmental sector. The centers are designed for disabled persons who are not able to take the ordinary vocational training together with non-disabled persons;

Establishing and running productive and supportive workshops in order to employ disabled persons who are not able to work in ordinary environments;

Carrying out an evaluation, consultation and preparation of persons with disabilities to return to their work and to become accustomed to it.

Table 12Employment rates of persons with disabilities

Employed with the 3% Quota	Employed through self-employment	Employment by the employers	Working in supportive -productive workplaces	Educated by Special Vocational Training Centers
740	16 , 729	8 , 052	2 , 447	11 , 238

On initiatives for the employment of persons with disabilities it should be mentioned that Firooz factory which produces health items, with about 39 years of experience, presently the largest factory in the Islamic Republic of Iran for children’s health products, is managed by people with disabilities. The presence of 210 disabled persons (86% of total staff), blind, deaf, physical and mobility disabled persons and MS patients in the factory, and the reliance of disabled persons on their abilities and efforts, promote their active participation in the field of employment. (For details refer to www.firooz.com).

Article 28 – Adequate standard of living and social protection

According to Article 9 of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the Housing Bank, and the Islamic Revolutionary Housing Foundation are obliged to allocate at Least 10% of their rental and low cost constructed residential units to the disabled persons in need of houses and to offer them houses after being introduced by the SWO.

Note 1: The banking system is obliged to fund the subsidized credit facilities that are necessary for constructing and purchasing houses for disabled people by granting loans to either disabled persons or their cooperative firms and charity institutions that construct house for persons with disabilities.

Note 2: The National Organization of Land and Housing is obliged to make the necessary lands available, at a (reasonable) verified price, for constructing residential units for disable persons who do not possess a house,and provide the lands to either such persons or cooperative firms and charity institutions that construct houses for disabled persons.

Note 3: Disabled persons are exempted from paying charges for a construction permit, land preparation and municipal renovation taxes.

Note 4: The SWO is obliged to take measures for the construction of residential units for disabled persons within the approved annual budgets and by allocating subsidies to real and legal entities as well as to transfer their ownership or the rights to use to disabled persons, as set forth in a by-law that shall be prepared by the SWO in cooperation with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the State Organization of Management and Planning and subsequently shall be approved by the Cabinet.

According to Article 5 of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, persons under the guardianship of disabled persons, after being recommended by the SWO, are covered by both basic and complementary health insurance.

In providing housing for disabled people, a number of measures have been taken using facilities and resources such as bank loans for constructing and purchasing house, gratuitous financial assistance, interest free loan, donating lands, transferring ownership of apartments under lease-purchase contracts, undertaking construction projects and purchasing residential units from reliable companies. The aforementioned measures are taken on the basis of the following legal grounds:

Article 24 (L) of the Law of the Fifth Development Plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran;

Articles 125 and 126 of Annual Budget Act of 1390 ( 21 March 2011-20 March 2012);

The Decision approved by the Commission on the Article 138 of the Constitution;

The MOU concluded with the Ministry of Road (Housing) and Urban Development;

The Comprehensive Housing Plan for WDPs.

Allocating gratuitous financial assistances and interest-free loans to the eligible houseless persons, is among complementary measures which is taken for providing houses to the WDPs.

108,737cases of gratuitous loan;

81,019 cases of granting interest-free loans from Isar financial and Fund Institute;

10,112 cases of housing deposit.

Since the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, on the basis of existing laws, is obliged to provide the WDPs with housing, it granted lands to a number of WDPs over the past several years:

116,690 cases of land transfer;

30,210 cases of payment for land preparation;

4,103 cases of payment for cost of land (in cash).

The bank loan is an instrument and facility which plays a more effective role in providing houses to the WDPs than other services. Therefore, the issue of loan appears annually as a note in the annual budget of the country ever since the Housing Department of the FMVA began to work. The loans would be granted to the WDPs via agent banks, in coordination with the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It should be noted that for the moment, 198,759 bank loans for construction or purchase of homes were allocated to WDPs.

Mehr Housing Plan for the WDPs: Bearing in mind that a great number of the war disabled persons under 25% disability are houseless, providing housing services to the said group was taken into consideration. In line with the policy of the Government to solve housing problems of the WDPs, Mehr Housing Plan’s facilities and under 99-year lease contracts were implemented. To that end, a tripartite MOU entitled “Mehr Housing Plan for the WDPs” was concluded on 27 December 2008 between the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs (FMVA), the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

113,942 statistically recognized;

13,768 persons benefited from land transfer;

For 4,799 persons, the plan is in the construction phase.

Housing projects, constructing and transferring ownership: within the scope of the projects on ownership transfer to the WDPs, a large number of residential units have been constructed over the past years that in its turn have solved problems of many disabled persons. In this regard, 9,841 cases of housing project were provided.

To secure the basic livelihood of disabled persons, elderly people and persons with chronic psychotic, the following ways and means have been used:

Paying financial aids for in-home care of disabled persons, elderly persons and persons with chronic psychotic who already have been discharged from medical centers;

Paying financial aids for supportive and rehabilitative services(pension) and increase of the allowance proportionate to the needs of the target groups and the rate of inflation;

Paying allowance and increase of the allowance proportionate to the needs of disabled persons and the daily social services, with the view to empower the target groups and to remedy the problems that they are facing as well as to improve their life quality;

Complementary medical insurance (welfare supports): Under the contract concluded with Atiyehsaz Hafez Insurance Company, 450,000 disabled persons have been covered by complementary medical insurance;

Formation of the Disabled Persons Associations: local disabled persons associations have been formed in every 374 sectors of the city of Tehran. These associations are managed by persons with disabilities themselves. The Tehran Municipality supports them in their social, cultural and sport activities.

Table 13Frequency Chart of Members of Disabled Associations in the 22 districts of Tehran

The Strategic (steering) Council of Disabled Persons has been formed within the social cultural department of the Tehran Municipality in order to policy making, strategy designing as well as to direct the municipality’s disabled related activities. The Council is composed of knowledgeable professors, representatives of the Tehran Municipality’s related organizations and NGOs’ representatives.

Article 29 – Participation in political and public life

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, public and political participation for persons with disabilities is respected at the same level as ordinary people, and no restriction exists due to their disabilities.

Democratic Elections: In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the most important institutions of the Government arise from the will and direct or indirect vote of the people. The Supreme Leader is elected by the Assembly of Experts whose members are elected by the direct vote of the people. The President and the representatives of the Majlis (Parliament) are also elected directly by the vote of the people.

Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, 28 elections have been held to choose the President, representatives of Majlis, members of the Assembly of Experts, and the councilors in the City Councils. High turnout of voters has been one of the salient features of elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the last presidential election (June 2013) close to 73 percent of qualified voters participated in the election.

Councils: to promote people’s participation in managing affairs of the country and to allow greater localization of the decision making process in local communities for decision-making, planning in cities, rural areas and districts, including the election of mayors, the Law on Establishment of Councils was approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly in1996. Since the approval of the said law four nationwide elections have been held to elect members of the councils.

Freedom for Political Parties, Associations and Assemblies: According to the Article 26 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran,formation of parties, societies, political or professional associations, as well as religious societies, whether Islamic or pertaining to one of the recognized religious minorities, is permitted, provided they do not violate the principles of independence, freedom, national unity, the criteria of Islam, or the basis of the Islamic Republic and no one may be prevented from participating in the aforementioned groups, or be compelled to seek their membership. According to Article 27 public meetings and demonstrations may be freely held, provided arms are not carried and those are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam.

In 1981 the law on the activities of political parties, associations and political and professional societies and non-governmental organizations and associations relating to religious minorities was ratified. In accordance with the law, a commission was established in the Ministry of Interior for this same purpose. The committee is charged with the duty to issue permits and to oversee the activities of civil institutions.

Trade and Labor Unions: The Labor Code and the law relating to parties, and professional societies and associations define the general framework for the activities of trade unions. Accordingly, a very active labor organization that covers about 2000 business units and factories represents the interests of workers nationwide. This organization operates according to democratic principles and has the right to hold peaceful assemblies and carry out political activities.

Article30 – Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport

According to article 4 of the Comprehensive law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, the disabled persons can enjoy 50 per cent discount in using recreational and cultural facilities as well as in public transportation means (underground, airplane, train).

Note: The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the Physical Education Organization and the municipalities are obliged to build their libraries, sport places, parks and recreational centers, so as to be accessible to disabled users.

In this regard the main activities include: providing necessary facilities for continuing education; addressing educational and cultural issues; organizing pilgrimage tours; making efforts to develop and promote the noble Islamic culture among families of disabled persons; organizing educational classes and distance learning; setting up and managing camps and dormitories in order to make higher education available to students in rural areas particularly in deprived areas where there is no opportunity for a higher education; providing educational grants to students under protection in particular disabled persons and patients; holding various forums and ceremonies; presenting family educational plans and offering consultative and educational services to families in particular to newly married couples and setting up student camps in which the following programs are organized:

Sports programs such as swimming, soccer, athletics;

Artistic programs including performing songs, declaim, theater, painting, calligraphy;

Recreational programs including park tour, zoo visiting, and amusement park tour, jungle and sea tour;

Pilgrimages, visiting holy shrines and mosques, martyrs tombs, palaces and museums;

Educational programs like organizing ideological, scientific, artistic classes.

The table of Annex 5 indicates the scope of services provided to the war disabled persons aimed at enhancing their engagement in various fields of recreation and sports activities.

A considerable number of the WDPs are members of the WDP Researchers Center. Near to half of the supported cultural works, out of 749 cases of activities that have been done during the Iranian calendar year of 1390 (21 March 2011-20 March 2012), were in relation to the aforementioned target group. The activities included creation, invention and innovation introduced by disabled elites and increased over 52% in comparison with the previous year. Cultural services and facilities that are currently provided to the eligible WDP students are mainly directed to 551 persons of the target group. The current measures include: providing special educational services in the fields of educational steering; strengthening educational ability; running extra-curricular and educational programs such as cultural, educational camps and pilgrimage; identifying their special needs in the course of forums and various cultural programs and; doing follow up works in order to satisfy their relevant cultural needs.

A considerable number of the WDP students, out of over 135000 persons who are provided with the high educational services, constitute the target community (the WDPs and students with specific disabilities). In addition to the cultural services (e.g. pilgrimages, touristic andscientific camps), they also get benefit from educational grants both in high school and university stages, services relating to strengthening educational ability, advisor professors and student incentives. The statistics categorized by percentage of disability, host university and educational stages are accessible through the website of the Center for Statistic and Information Technology. It is noteworthy that in addition to the current services and facilities offered to the aforementioned target community by the task forces and provincial units of the FMVA, some services are also being provided to them by the FMVA task force units based in the universities.

7,248 WDPs have been sent to pilgrimages on a special basis as well as 3100 blind veterans got benefit from camping and pilgrimage services. This is in addition to the cultural and artistic services for the WDPs that are foreseen in a verity of programs for trainings, cultural and Islamic knowledge contests, festivals, cultural and artistic forums, tourism and pilgrimage, camps, supportingcultural and artistic associations, Olympiads and cultural, educational and research seminars.

In general, the following activities are considered of those that can boost the involvement of persons with disabilities in cultural, recreational and sport life. They are at the top of the agenda of the relevant bodies:

Trips of disabled persons who are under the coverage of the FMVA to the holy city of Mashhad, from all provinces under the Eighth Mehr Plan;

Organizing contests during the holy Quran festivals especial for disabled people over the several years;

Sending disabled people to tourist and recreational camps;

Identifying elite and successful disabled persons who aresupported by the SWO and creating a suitable environment to develop their talentsunder the program for identifying elites of the target community;

Follow up works to organize the first International Holy Quran Competition special for blind persons;

Concluding a MOU on making religious sites and holy shrines’ environment favorable to disabled persons and having communication with the Taskforce for Mosques’ Affairs in this regard;

Planning aimed at developing a positive attitude towards disabled people’s abilities and changing the public viewpoints about them;

Disabled person’s contribution to all educational, religious and cultural activities running in the country;

Providing a platform for effective contribution of the active disabled persons to the planning and executing of cultural programs across the country via Shahid Fayyazbakhsh Quran and Etrat Cultural Associations.

The municipalities also carry out extensive measures to promote the implementation of article 30 of the Convention, for instance:

Organizing cultural programs such as: holding recreational – sportive camps and cultural contests; holding celebrative ceremonies in cooperation with the relevant associations and NGOs; running ceremonial programs on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, International Day of Blind People, and International Day of the Deaf and so on.

Organizing sport matches e.g. soccer for mutilated people and for people with spinal cord injuriesr, table tennis, Golball, Chess special for men with disabilities;

Running sports matches such as swimming, table tennis, Goalball, chess matches special for women with disabilities;

Providing sports services to citizens with disabilities in the sport complex affiliated to the municipality such as swimming pool, bodybuilding, and physical preparedness,indoor soccer, for free or at a special discounted price;

Establishing Hazrat Abulfazl Sport Complex special for disabled persons, in the municipal districts 15 and 22 of Tehran where an average of 200 users per-day benefit from sports services in indoor soccer, basketball with wheelchairs, sitting volleyball, wrestling and bodybuilding, for free or at special discounted prices;

Establishing Qamar Banihashem Sport Complex in the municipal district 20 of Tehran, with an area about 6000 square meters, where an average of 600 users per-day use the services in football, indoor soccer, bodybuilding, shooting, basketball with wheelchair, table tennis, chess, and wheelchairs running, for free.

It’s noteworthy that disabled athletics in the Islamic Republic of Iran, have a distinguished position in worlds championships and medal winning. Their progress is comparable with those who are not suffering from disabilities.

Article 31 – Statistics and data collection

According to article 11 of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, Statistical Center of Iran is responsible for planning the public censuses in a way that population of the disabled persons is specified separately according to the type of their disabilities. To realize provisions of this article, the following measures have been taken:

The Statistical Center of Iran annually provides statistics on the disabled population of the country, categorized by age, sex and type of disabilities, at both national and provincial levels. The information is available on the website of the Center: http://www.amar.org.ir/default.aspx.

The Center for Information, Communications and Administrative Development of the SWO annually prepares a comprehensive statistics on the disabled population of the Islamic Republic of Iran, categorized by type of disability, cause of disability, age, sex and province of residence, in cooperation with the Rehabilitation Department of the Organization. (See the statistics and collected data in Annex 6.)

Since a large number of disabled persons in the Islamic Republic Iran became disabled either in the course of the imposed war (1980-1988) or because of the war debris, the FMVA provided a comprehensive information on this group (the WDPs) categorized by the type of injuries and divided into two categories of above 25% and below 25% disability. (See the diagram under article 30.)

The Imam Khomeini Relief Committee also provided the statistics on the disabled persons who are under its coverage, categorized by province, type of disability, age and sex. (See the statistics and collected data in Annex 6).

The latest statistics on the disabled population of the Islamic Republic of Iran are available athttp://www.amar.org.ir/Default.aspx?tabid=1485.

To provide jobs for persons with disabilities, most of the positions in relation to data collection and processing in the related organizations are held by disabled persons. For instance the war disabled persons or their children constitute a large portion of staffs in the Statistics Division of the FMVA.

Article 32 – International cooperation

The SWO and the FMVA as national bodies in charge of implementation of the Convention took extensive international cooperative measures in the areas related to persons with disabilities. Part of the measures is as follows:

Measures taken by the SWO:

Providing community-based rehabilitation services to immigrants and foreigners by the SWO since 2007, in cooperation with the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA) affiliated to the Ministry of Interior and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. About 2,000 disabled Afghan refugees were beneficiaries of this program.

Concluding MOUs with the Italian Association of AIFO on technical cooperation in order to carry out programs for community-based rehabilitation across the country as well as to implement a joint project in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the parties to the MOU.

Concluding MOUs with Iraq, Lebanon, Armenia, Georgia and Afghanistan aimed at implementing community-based rehabilitation programs.

Similar measures have been taken by the FMVA as well. For instance:

Signing of MOU with several countries on exchange of students and granting scholarships to students with disabilities by the Islamic Republic of Iran;

Identifying related organizations in several countries and cooperating with them with the view to exchange cultural, research and medical experiences in the areas related to disabled people;

Organizing exhibitions in Viet Nam and Malaysia on the issue of disabilities resulted from the use of chemical weapons in war;

Establishing official communication with organizations which are service providers to war disabled persons in several countries with the view to exchange experiences and improve mutual cooperation.

Article 33 – National implementation and monitoring

The Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament) of the Islamic Republic of Iran ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 13 December 2006, and authorized the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to deposit the instrument of ratification to the United Nations. This law designated the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security (the State Welfare Organization) and the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs (FMVA) as the focal points, subject of article 33 of the Convention, to implement provisions of the Convention in coordination with each other;

The parliamentary fraction on the protection of rights of persons with disabilities consists of about 100 members of the parliament (Islamic Consultative Assembly). The fraction supports the rights of persons with disabilities in the field of legislation, such as modification of the Comprehensive Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, adoption of disability related laws, protection programs, consulting the Government in annual budget preparation with the aim of allocating especial budget for the disabled.

In preparation of the present report, all efforts were made to benefit from cooperation and viewpoints of NGOs and persons with disabilities. Furthermore, in all meetings held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for coordination of the consultation on drafting the report, NGOs, and active disabled persons were among the invitees. From these institutions, reference can be made to Association of Disabled Persons, Scientific and Artistic Society of Persons with Disabilities, Society of Spinal Cord Injury of Tehran, Raad Charity Organization and Charity of Desire for Equal Opportunities.

The following measures have been taken to enhance NGOs’ contribution to the disability related activities:

Establishing the Higher Associations of Non-Governmental Organizations and the Civil Society Associations at provincial level via elections monitored by the Election Committee;

Establishing the Higher Association of Non-Governmental Organizations and the Civil Society Association at national level via elections monitored by the National Election Committee;

The number of non-governmental organizations cooperating with the SWO is 650 that annually receive over seven billion Rials of financial assistance;

NGOs are active and make a contribution to decision making, implementation of awareness raising programs and joint projects.

Explanations of the names

1.The Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs (FMVA): The Foundation of Martyrs of the Islamic Revolution was established pursuant to the decree of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, the Late Imam Khomeini on 12 March 1980 to dignify and glorify martyrs, war disabled persons (WDPs) and veterans as well as their families. In 2004 the name of the organization was changed to the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs.

2.The State Welfare Organization (SWO): The SWO is one of the most important Governmental protective bodies, which extends assistance to disabled and deprived people by using public budget.The SWO began to work when several charity and protective organizations had been merged together after the Islamic Revolution.

Pursuantto the Law on the structure of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security, the SWO has been separated from the Ministry of Health, Medical Treatment and Education, together with the Social Security Organization and the Medical Service Insurance. They became affiliated to the Ministry of Cooperative, Labor and Social Welfare.

3.Imam Khomeini Relief Committee: After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the Committee was the second revolutionary body that was established on 5 March 1979 pursuant to the decree by the Leader of Islamic Revolution, the Late Imam Khomeini, aimed at realizing the lofty goals of the Islamic Republic of Iran to extend protection and relief to deprived and impoverished people and in order to make them self-sufficient.

4.The Fourth and Fifth Economic, Social and Cultural Development Plans:A compilation of mid-term plans, for the 5-year period, which are prepared by the Government and ratified by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, are called economic, social and cultural plans.

The Fourth Economic, Social and Cultural Development Plan (2005-2009)

The Fifth Economic, Social and Cultural Development Plan (2011-2015)

5.The Red Crescent Society: The Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRCS) was established in 1922 under the name of “Red Lion and Sun Society of Iran”.In 1980, the National Society changed its name and emblem to Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

6.Veterans ( Isargran, Janbazan):persons who in defending the Islamic Republic of Iran and its independency and territorial integrity, and in fighting against thereat and invasion of internal and external enemies fulfilled their duties andbecame martyrs, disabled, disappeared and captured; wars disabled persons, prisoners of war.

7.The Islamic Penal Code: The Islamic Penal code is the most important compilation ofthecriminal law of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The latest version of this law adopted by the Islamic Consultative Assembly and was endorsed by the Council of Guardians in 2013.

8.Discretionary Punishment Law (Ta ’ zir): the Discretionary and Preventive Punishments Law is a part of the Islamic Penal Code which consists of 231 articles.