The Stimson Center project, “Iran and America: A Dialogue about Disability,” held in partnership with the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, BlueLaw International LLP, and several Iranian organizations was a cross-cultural dialogue on disability law and rights. Funded by USIP, the project was prompted by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which came into force in May, 2008. The US had signed, but not yet ratified, the CRPD while Iran both signed and ratified it in 2009. The US had a well-developed body of law defining and protecting the rights of disabled persons , while Iran was still in the early stages of developing and strengthening its legal regime.
Participants met twice in Istanbul, Turkey, and produced an informational volume entitled Advancing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: A US-Iran Dialogue on Law, Policy, and Advocacy. Most participants have since been involved in related events in both countries.
In Iran, comprehensive legislation to implement the goals of the CRPD is currently in an advanced stage. Once the government finalizes it, it will be submitted to Parliament for consideration and, barring major controversy, ratification. On another matter, the Ministry of Education’s refusal to employ blind teachers triggered an angry response by advocates that led to the Parliament questioning the Minister himself. The Ministry backed down; 500 job applicants are now employed.
In the US, the focus has been on Senate ratification of the CRPD. After a long delay, the White House sent ratification documents to the Senate. The Treaty was supported in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but when it was brought up for a vote of the full Senate in December, 2012, supporters were caught off-guard by claims that the Treaty would overrule US law. There was no time for extended debate so late in the year, so the Treaty failed on a vote of 61-38, five votes short of the required 2/3 majority. Advocates are working with Senate leaders and the White House to bring the Treaty back for re-consideration.
Iran and America: A Dialogue about Disability
The following is an excerpt from the report followed by links to the full text in English and Farsi.
Disability rights in Iran
The road to equal rights for persons with disabilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran has been a tumultuous one—just as it has been in most countries. Stigma and lack of recognition of the needs of this population, both by the general population and the government, are major impediments to change. But the country has made important progress for decades.
An early breakthrough occurred in 1920 when a German missionary and priest pioneered the first education center for the blind (Salenhpour & Adibsereshki, 2001). A handful of other specialized institutions followed, laying the groundwork for disabled persons, family members, and civil society to start seeking more legal rights.
The Iranian Constitution contains no broad reference to the rights of persons with disabilities, but the section on “Welfare Rights” (approved in 1979; amended in 1989) states that those with disability should benefit from Iran’s social security system. These rights had their origins in legislation from 1959 that first granted some vocational rehabilitation rights to persons “whose prospects of securing and retaining sustainable employment are substantially reduced as a result of physical and mental impairment…” (International Labor Organization, 2011).
Like most countries, Iran wrestles with the challenge of defining disabilities that trigger eligibility for rights and benefits. The State Welfare Organization (SWO) is the arm of government that provides welfare benefits to those who qualify. The SWO defines just four types of disabilities: physical, hearing, visual, and mental (Alaedini, 2004). Then, after the Iran-Iraq War, which resulted in a newly disabled population of 400,000 persons, the government created a new category—janbaz—“those who were willing to lose their lives (Alaedini, 2004). The government created the Janbazan Foundation to assist these war veterans. As is common elsewhere, disabled war veterans received special treatment.
Click here for the full report (English)
Click here for the full report (Farsi)