Iran has failed to fulfill promises it made 20 years ago to uphold the rights of children, according to a group of human rights organizations who monitor the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

In a statement this week in observance of the 21st annivesary of the CRC, ten human rights groups, including the Baha’i International Community, said that Iran often treats young people as adults in criminal trials and sentencing, allows thousands of under-age marriages, and fails to prevent abuse and discrimination against the children of ethnic and religious minorities.

The statement was issued in response to a formal request by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child for Iran to respond to a list of some 30 concerns ahead of a meeting scheduled for January 2016 on Iran’s record of compliance with the CRC.

Among other things, the Commission asked Iran to explain why it has closed non-governmental organizations working on behalf of children’s rights, what is being done to guarantee freedom of religion for children belonging to religious minorities, and whether children are subject to flogging.

“The Committee’s list of concerns reflects a disturbing trail of broken promises since Iran’s ratification of the CRC in July 1994, a state of affairs that has been the subject of comment and condemnation by human rights groups over the past 20 years,” said the statement.

The full statement can be read here.