Análisis tipológico y estudio comparativo

Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims in a country that is 80–90% Shia, and in which ‗Twelve/Jafari Shia‘ Islam is the official state religion as Article 12 of the Iranian Constitution states. As a result many Kurds, as both an ethnic and religious minority, find themselves marginalised and excluded, existing on the periphery of mainstream Iranian society. The treatment of Sunni Kurds mirrors that of many other Sunni Muslims in Iran. While Article 12 of the Iranian constitution explicitly defends the rights of non-Shia Muslims, in practice Kurds face religious discrimination in their community affairs and in access to public office. Very few Sunnis have positions in embassies, universities and other important public institutions. They are unable to achieve the highest-ranking positions in government or the judiciary. In Kurdish areas where the majority are Sunnis there is a notable lack of Sunni representation in local authorities. The government appointed governor of the Kurdish region has usually been

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a Shia and non-Kurdish. ‗[I]n September 2002, all six Kurdish members of parliament resigned in protest at not being consulted over the appointment of the new governor‘. (freedomhouse.org 2008:4). As a report for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (2008:23) notes ‗[t]heir joint letter to the Interior Minister claimed that the legitimate rights of the Kurds, especially the Sunnis amongst them, was denied and their calls for justice on the political, economic, cultural and social levels had been neglected‘. Although the constitution protects the rights of Sunnis to administer their own religious affairs, religious leadership in Kurdish areas has usually been non-Sunni and non-Kurdish. The state appoints Shia clerics to run Friday prayers in Sunni mosques in Kurdish towns. Human Rights Watch (2008:12) reports an incident in which ‗[a] Friday prayer leader in Sanandaj announced he would issue the call to prayer and carry out other religious rituals according to Shia traditions, despite the fact that he was serving a Sunni congregation‘. Such cases clearly violate the constitution and Iran‘s international obligations to ensure freedom of religion.

The dominance of Shiaism in Iran is reflected in Article 12 of the constitution (1989), which states the Sunnis may have religious rights, provided they do not infringe upon ‗[t]he rights of the followers of other schools‘. This exception is used to deny Kurdish (and other) Sunnis basic religious rights that have a profound effect on community life. ‗[a] Kurdish community that raised over a million rials (about seventy thousand pounds in 2008) to enlarge the Dar al-Ehsan mosque in Sanandaj was blocked from completing the project. Despite the fact that all the necessary building permits were obtained from local authorities, the Ministry of Islamic Guidance stepped in to block the new extension and confiscated the funds collected to carry out the project‘. (HRW 2008:23). As Sunnis; Kurds face intimidation and arbitrary detention for religious reasons. According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (2008:12) ‗Iranian Sunni leaders have reported widespread abuses and restrictions on

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their religious practice, including detentions and torture of Sunni clerics . . . Sunni Muslim leaders are regularly intimidated and harassed by intelligence and security services and report widespread official discrimination‘.

In his report to the United Nation General Assembly, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (UNGA 2008:2) notes ‗[m]embers of the Kurdish community and Sunni community have reportedly been subjected to arbitrary arrests and torture, allegedly in connection with peaceful demonstrations for their rights, such as the right to speak their own language and to hold religious ceremonies‘. Anti-Sunni propaganda by the state adds to the social marginalisation of the Kurds. According to a State Department report (2004:20) ‗Sunnis claim the state broadcasting company Voice and Vision airs programmes that are insulting to Sunnis. In April 2004 it was reported that Sunni members of Parliament had petitioned the Supreme Leader to issue an order bringing an end to ‗anti-Sunni propaganda in the mass media, books, and publications; the measure would include the state-run media‘. The monopoly and the complication of Shiaism were noticed following few years of the Iranian revolution. For instance, Afshar (1985: 238) states:

After four years of Islamic government in Iran the deep contradictions of Shia ideology have remained unresolved. The revolution was to help the poor and yet remain within a theoretical framework that does not favour egalitarian measures nor provide any means for their implementation. Shiasm is frequently seen as the religion of the oppressed, yet it does not oppose inequalities and does not provide for radical distribution of wealth. In fact the very influence and authority of the ulama is in part based in their ability to extract khoms and

zakat payment from the rich and give part of these to the poor. This process

permits the religious establishment to maintain its patronage of the poor and retain their allegiance. Any radical measures which would result in the elimination of this process, either by eradicating poverty or by the state taking over taxation and welfare provisions, would in fact erode the most vital links between the religious establishment and its support base.

The above section shows that the majority of Kurds are Sunnis and that the constitution and legal system of Iran are dominated by Shiasm and that non-Shias have been excluded and disadvantaged because of their religion. Consequently, the Kurds have

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been discriminated on a religious basis and this has led to a deterioration of the legal status of the Kurds. Discrimination on the basis of religion has become an obstacle to non-Shias, including the Kurds, obtaining equal citizenship.