REPORT ON VIOLATION OF RIGHT TO EDUCATION April 2005- March 2013 OF STUDENTS IN IRAN کميته حقوق بشر دفتر تحکيم وحدت REPORT ON VIOLATION OF RIGHT TO EDUCATION April 2005- March 2013 OF STUDENTS IN IRAN 4 April 2005- March 2013 The Right to Education Following the Iranian revolution of 1979, due to their affiliation with political or religious groups, a great number of Iranian students were temporarily or permanently deprived of their right to education. Many students were expelled from university for membership in non-Islamic groups. In recent years the number of students whom organizations under the supervision and control of the Iranian regime has banned or “starred” from education has increased dramatically. The Right to Education Report aims to raise awareness by providing comprehensive reporting on cases of student rights violations and any other form of education deprivation in Iran throughout the last three decades. We believe that all Iranians-regardless of their gender and personal, political and religious beliefs-deserve the right to education. Table of Contents Introduction.....................................................................................................6 PART I-Official Institutions Involved in Banning/Excluding Iranian Citizens from Education......................................................................7 A. National Organization of Educational Testing (NOET).....................................8 B. Supreme Cultural Revolution Council (SCRC)...................................................9 C. Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT)...................................10 D. Islamic Azad University and Ministry of Health and Medical Education ..............12 E. The Ministry of Intelligence...........................................................................13 F.The Judicial system.......................................................................................14 G. The Student Disciplinary Committee and Security offices.................................15 Part II -Student groups expelled from universities in Iran.................17 A. Starred Students........................................................................................18 B. Suspended and Expelled students.................................................................20 C. Dismissals.................................................................................................21 D. Religious minorities banned from education...................................................22 E. Depriving Women of Education....................................................................23 Conclusion.......................................................................................25 Section 3: Annex..............................................................................26 6 Respecting the right to education of all citizens April 2005- March 2013 The Right to Education regardless of their religious and political beliefs, gender, and ethnicity and race is one of the most evident indications of governments’ commitment to one of the important aspect of human rights in a society. In the 34 years that Islamic Republic has ruled over Iran, numerous cases of the violation of the citizens’ right to education in Iranian universities have been reported. In May 1980, Cultural Revolution led to elimination of thousands of dissident students and professors. This trend of purging continued in the following years in various forms. After Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office following 2005 Presidential elections, parts of Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT)’s policies were more prominently aligned with the decisions of other suppressive institutions outside the universities, such as Ministry of Intelligence and certain sections of the Judiciary. Furthermore, as a result of MSRT’s decision and Introduction the Supreme Cultural Council’s confirmation, individuals who played important role in excluding and banning students from education have been appointed as universities’ presidents. The current report presents, in three general parts, the preliminary information on systematic violation of the right to education of Iranian citizens. The first part of this report deals with the role of those institutions which are active in violation of the right to education of some of Iranian citizens. The second part of the report, through presenting details and examples, covers how the rights to education of the following five specific groups have been violated: “starred students”, banned/ excluded students, expelled students, religious minorities, and women. Part three of the report contains annexes which lists precise information on more than 1000 instances of violation of rights to education of Iranian citizens betweenApril 2005 and March 2013. Furthermore, evidences and documents of expelling and banning students from continuing their studies have been presented in this section. 7 April 2005- March 2013 The Right to Education PART I In recent years, various Official Institutions organizations have played direct Involved in and indirect roles in banning Iranian citizens from education. Banning/Excluding In this section, we present some of these institutions and cover Iranian Citizens their method of operation: from Education 8 (Sazman-e Sanjesh-e Amoozesh-e Keshvar) (NOET): It is an institution under the MSRT which is assigned the executive responsibility of banning citizens from higher (university) education. “Holding and [managing] all April 2005- March 2013 The Right to Education the university and higher education establishments’ entrance exams”, “Setting the conditions and criteria for admission of the students”, “and evaluation of general qualifications of the applicants to higher education based on regulations and criterions set by qualified sources and agencies” are cited as some of the objectives and responsibilities of this organization. In 2005, NOET placed “stars” in front of the names of some of the students who had passed the University Entrance Exam. The Organization prevented the so- called “three-star” students from registering at the university to which they were admitted. In the years that followed, the NOET refused to issue the official report card for many of the universities entrance exam’s applicants. In recent years, these applicants have been told to go to the Office of NOET in Karim Khan Zand Street in Tehran due to “incomplete application”. Instances of these notices are available in Annex 1 of National this report. “Secretariat of Student Vetting” which is a direct subset Organization of the NOET’s president office consists of two offices: “Vetting Executive Affairs”, and “Evaluating Students’ of Educational General Qualifications”. Both these offices are playing A a direct, executive role in banning applicants from Testing education. The Organizational Charts of the NOET is displayed in Annex 3. The 2013 Guide Booklet for Registration and Participation in National University Entrance Exam, has been published (like previous years) by the NOET. Under the “General Admission Conditions for Applicants”, section A, it is stated that “Belief in Islam or one of the religions stipulated in the Islamic Republic Constitution (Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism) is a condition for admission to the nation’s universities. In section B, “Lack of hostility toward Islamic Republic of Iran regime” is cited as another condition, and an instance of meeting the condition is refraining from promoting “Materialism and bogus/false religions”. The NOET has announced that “determining whether the applicants meet the general conditions is performed through inquiry from law enforcement and other eligible agencies. The NOET’s president is Ebrahim Khodayi who was appointed to this position by the Minister of Science, Research and Technology (SRT) in 2012. Mohammad Hossein Sarvoldin was holding the post before Mr. Khodayi. (The president of the NOET is also a Minister of SRT’s deputy). The “Secretariat of Student Vetting” is headed by Morteza Nourbakhsh. 9 It is an institution that was founded in 1980 on the order of then-Supreme Leader of Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini. The objectives of SCRC were vetting professors and students as well as islamization of the universities. The SCRC, whose April 2005- March 2013 The Right to Education responsibilities were expanded later on, is chaired by the President of the Islamic Republic (I.R.). Its structure consists of legal and real persons, all appointed by the current Supreme Leader of I.R. On February 5, 1985, the SCRC passed “Regulations Regarding Moral Vetting of Universities Applicants”. According to section A of this Guideline, only those applicants can be admitted to universities that in addition to passing the university entrance exam believe in Islam or another divine religion. Other conditions set for admission to universities by this guideline were “refraining from fighting against or resisting the Islamic Republic of Iran’s regime”, and “lack of reputation and infamy pertaining to immoral, corrupt, and decadent behaviour”. In the section describing “the method of vetting”, it was stipulated that “for political and moral history of the applicants, Supreme inquiries have to be made from such institutions as Ministry of Education, General Prosecution Office, Cultural Revolutionary Court, and Ministry of Intelligence”. “The Centre for Research of Documents of Previous Revolution Years’ Conours [University Entrance Exam]” has been mentioned as