Protest Gathering of Persons with Disabilities in Iran Coinciding with International Day of Persons with Disabilities; What Do Protesters Want?

Coinciding with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a number of individuals with disabilities held a protest gathering regarding the failure to allocate budget for the implementation of the “Law on Protection of Persons with Disabilities.”

Persons with disabilities in Iran gathered on Monday, December 3rd, coinciding with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, in front of the Management and Planning Organization to protest the failure to provide and allocate budgetary resources for the implementation of the “Law on Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” in next year’s budget bill.

While chanting slogans such as “Law passed, shouldn’t be implemented?!”, “They turned a blind eye to the disabled, they beheaded the law”, and “If the law isn’t implemented, there will be more gatherings”, these individuals held a protest gathering in front of the Management and Planning Organization.

The necessity of passing the Law on Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was raised since the 1980s, and after years of follow-up, it was finally approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly in April of this year, but contrary to expectations, the necessary budget for implementing this law was not foreseen in the 1398 budget.

Likewise, organizations and associations related to persons with disabilities issued a statement in early December this year, protesting the failure to allocate the necessary budget for this law: “In case of neglect and failure to allocate the required budget for the Law on Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in accordance with the Constitution of the Islamic Republic and current laws of the country, we reserve the right to nationwide protests.”

Negin Hosseini, a disability rights activist, in an interview with Voice of America, while explaining the passed law titled “Protection of Persons with Disabilities in Iran”, announced: “In the last census conducted in Iran, persons with disabilities were not counted. This shows that there is a unified thinking that does not take into account individuals with disabilities. Under such circumstances, one could expect such a consequence and that no budget would be allocated to them.

She emphasized: “Although persons with disabilities, through their own efforts, their families’ support, and the support of many groups and organizations, have achieved significant progress, the government sector, the legislative sector, and the executive sector have not been able to keep pace with these developments.

The failure to allocate the necessary budget for the Law on Protection of Persons with Disabilities comes at a time when, according to one of the members of the fraction supporting the rights of persons with disabilities in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, 12 to 14 percent of Iranians have disabilities, and Iran ranks among the top ten countries in this regard.

Previously, Mohammad Shariatmadari, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, had announced that 25,000 persons with disabilities are added to Iran’s population annually, and 240,000 children have been identified, of whom 150,000 study in special schools.

Nevertheless, it does not appear that the authorities of the Islamic Republic, despite the passage of the law, have taken the issue of “protection of persons with disabilities” very seriously; so much so that Behrouz Morovati, director of the campaign to follow up on the rights of persons with disabilities, told Jahan Sanat newspaper: “From the beginning, no budget was considered for persons with disabilities that would now be cut.”

According to Mr. Morovati, the Welfare Organization, in a rapid action to determine the necessary budget for persons with disabilities, conducted the necessary budget assessments and allocated 12 billion in budget for this matter, but this was not taken into account, and following previous years and without considering the reassessment, 12 percent like every year was added to the Welfare Organization’s budget.

He emphasized: “Under these circumstances, persons with disabilities have gone back 14 years, and all the efforts we made in these few years have been in vain.”

However, the lack of support for the disabled community in Iran comes at a time when, according to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, based on the structure of a comprehensive welfare system and social security, the Comprehensive Law on Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and other documents, attention to the rights of this segment of society is emphasized.

Source: Voice of America