Hengaw’s statement on the International Mother Language Day
Hengaw: Friday, February 21, 2025
February 21, International Mother Language Day, is a reminder of a fundamental right recognized in international human rights documents: the right of every individual and linguistic community to preserve, develop, and pass on their mother tongue without fear of discrimination, repression, or forced assimilation.
Linguistic rights as a human right
The right to one’s mother tongue is an inseparable part of the right to identity, freedom of expression, access to education, and cultural participation. This right has been emphasized in several international documents:
• Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Linguistic minorities have the right to use their language.
• Article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Every child belonging to a linguistic minority has the right to use their mother tongue.
• UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Articles 13 and 14): Emphasizes the right of indigenous peoples to preserve, revitalize, and educate in their languages.
• UNESCO’s recommendations on cultural diversity and multilingual education: Governments must adopt policies to support mother tongues.
These documents affirm that language is not only a means of communication but also a fundamental part of the cultural, historical, and political identity of linguistic communities. Denying this right is not only a violation of individual freedoms but also a form of structural discrimination that leads to the erosion of cultural diversity.
Systematic violations of linguistic rights in Iran
Iran is one of the world’s most linguistically diverse countries, home to speakers of Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic, Balochi, Turkmen, Luri, Gilaki, and other languages. However, the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran directly contradict the aforementioned human rights principles. The government has systematically violated linguistic rights as part of a broader campaign to suppress non-Persian identities.
1. Denial of mother tongue education
Article 15 of Iran’s Constitution mentions the possibility of using non-Persian languages in media, yet it strictly limits official education in schools and universities to Persian. This policy systematically discriminates against millions of non-Persian-speaking children, forcing them to study in an environment where their mother tongue is suppressed, belittled, or ignored. This exclusion violates the right to equal education and non-discrimination in access to educational opportunities.
2. Cultural suppression and criminalization of linguistic activism
Writers, journalists, and cultural activists who promote mother languages face imprisonment and severe repression.
Strict limitations on publishing books, independent media, and cultural productions in non-Persian languages have led to widespread censorship.
Unofficial bans on registering non-Persian names for children represent a form of cultural identity engineering aimed at weakening linguistic ties.
3. The threat of linguistic extinction in Iran
The policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran have severely endangered linguistic diversity in Iran, pushing several widely spoken languages toward extinction. The lack of institutional support, restricted use in public spaces, limitations on publication, and the imposition of a monolingual education system have all weakened intergenerational transmission of these languages, placing them at risk of gradual erasure.
Linguistic discrimination as structural oppression
Denial of linguistic rights is not merely a cultural or educational issue—it is a tool of domination, identity suppression, and systemic discrimination in Iran. The consequences of these policies include:
• Inequality in access to economic and social opportunities: Children who are deprived of education in their mother tongue face greater challenges in securing jobs and pursuing higher education.
• Alienation and identity crises: The imposition of a language other than one’s mother tongue creates generational divides and a deep sense of disenfranchisement within linguistic communities.
• Marginalization in political and social life: The exclusion of non-Persian languages from public spaces limits the political and social participation of linguistic minorities in decision-making processes.
The Role of the international community and human rights organizations
Linguistic repression in Iran constitutes cultural genocide and a systematic violation of human rights that must not be ignored by the international community.
Hengaw Organization for Human Rights calls on all human rights institutions, international organizations, and advocates of freedom of expression to:
1. Condemn the Iranian government’s language policies as a form of racial, cultural, and linguistic discrimination.
2. Highlight violations of linguistic rights in international reports on Iran’s human rights situation.
3. Support grassroots movements working to preserve and promote mother languages in Iran.
4. Pressure governments and international bodies to hold the Iranian government accountable for its international obligations regarding linguistic rights.
The struggle for language is a struggle for freedom
Hengaw Human Rights Organization firmly believes that the fight for linguistic rights is part of the broader struggle for freedom, justice, and equality. The right to education and the use of one’s mother tongue is not a secondary or merely cultural demand; it is a fundamental right and a crucial means of resisting systematic oppression.
Language is one of the most powerful tools of resistance against authoritarianism, and defending mother tongues is a defense of identity, dignity, and human rights.
The fight for linguistic rights is an inseparable part of the struggle for human rights. We stand in solidarity with all those fighting to preserve and revive their language and identity, and we will continue to document and expose the Islamic Republic of Iran’s repressive policies.
Hengaw Organization for Human Rights
21.2.2025
