Untitled illustration by Sahar Ghorishi, used with the permission of the artist.

By Johanna Bankston, Senior Officer of Human Rights Research and Policy at Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI), which produced the report referenced in this piece.

This week, Iran’s newly inaugurated President, Masoud Pezeshkian, is participating in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City to share Iran’s views on several pressing topics. During his visit, he is scheduled to meet with various heads of state, think tanks, and groups of Iranian expatriates to discuss Iran’s path towards a “better future” under his leadership. As Pezeshkian prepares to discuss Iran’s future with the international community, it is imperative that he be prepared to address the pressing issues plaguing Iranians in the present, including the rampant and systematic targeting of activists and dissidents.

The president’s visit comes on the heels of the two-year anniversary of the tragic death of the young Kurdish-Iranian woman, Mahsa Jina Amini, which sparked nationwide protests in Iran known as the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, which the government responded to with intense violence. At the same time, it initiated a multi-year campaign to target dissidents — including activists, journalists, artists, and lawyers — with punitive measures for their work in support of the movement.

In the past two years, the world has witnessed the imprisonment of hundreds of Iranian dissidents who were arbitrarily charged with disseminating propaganda, threatening Iran’s national security, committing blasphemy, or offending public morality as a direct result of their critical work and/or peaceful protest. Convictions under these laws can result in severe and disproportionate sentences, including time served, flogging, and/or capital punishment.

Several recent high-profile cases of political prisoners in Iran have increased international awareness of this pressing issue, which must be addressed immediately. However, a recent report we produced at the Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI) entitled “I Create; I Resist: Iranian Artists on the Frontline of Social Change” reveals that the Islamic Republic’s abuse of political prisoners often continues after their release through its application of punitive measures.

‘My Hair is Not Your Battle Ground’ by Roshi Rouzbehani, used with the artist's permission.

The report documented 15 cases of artists who were arbitrarily arrested and under the overbroad and vague laws mentioned above for their critical work and/or expression. The case outcomes varied; several artists were released as a “gesture of goodwill” by the regime, while others, like dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi, received severe penalties, including a death sentence, which was later lowered to time served. Importantly, the report found that, in nearly all of these cases, the dissidents were subjected to additional punitive measures that allowed the state to censor and exert control over them for several years after their release. These include but are not limited to forced confessions, work bans, and restrictions on their mobility.

In July 2022, Iranian writer, poet, and activist Sepideh Rashno was arrested for failure to adhere to the legally mandated dress code for women by appearing in public without a hijab. Rashno was held in detention for weeks before her sudden appearance on an Iranian state television program, on which she “confessed her regret” for breaking the law. The artist appeared with bruises on her face, raising concern that she may have been tortured until she agreed to make the apology. Despite her confession, Rashno was later convicted of “propaganda” and “promiscuity” and will serve a nearly four-year prison sentence.

Forced public confessions have become a common tactic used by the government to publicly humiliate dissidents and send a message to viewers that even peaceful protest could result in severe repercussions. Such “admissions of guilt” are usually obtained through torture or threats directed at the dissident or their family members. The psychological effects of torture are likely to stick with the victim for years; fearing a repeat occurrence or harm to their loved ones, the victim may be less likely to reengage in activism after their release.

The regime is also increasingly using enforced work bans as a punitive measure to stifle dissent in the long term. In 2022, Taraneh Alidoosti, the leading actress of the 2017 Oscar-winning film The Salesman, was arrested for “spreading falsehoods” after posting a picture of herself without a hijab on Instagram and holding a placard that said, “Woman, Life, Freedom.” The actress was jailed for two and a half weeks and was later subjected to a ban from seeking employment in the Iranian film industry.

Untitled illustration by Sahar Ghorishi, used with the artist's permission.

Work bans allow the regime to actively censor dissidents after they have been released from prison under the guise of the law. Further, facing years of enforced unemployment under penalty of imprisonment, artists like Alidoosti may suffer irreversible professional consequences, such as becoming stigmatized in their industry or facing financial precarity as they seek alternative ways to support themselves and their families in the interim. While less immediate than threats of physical harm, such economic persecution is still acutely felt by those subjected to it.

Finally, the regime is also placing mobility restrictions on released political prisoners to prevent them from seeking opportunities to continue their advocacy abroad or request refuge in another country. Just weeks ago, director Mohammad Rasoulof, whose movie “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” won the prestigious 2024 FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes, made headlines when he fled Iran on foot through the land border after he was given an eight-year prison sentence for creating a film about the 2022 protests without state permission. Rasoulof shared that his passport had been confiscated years prior by the government as a punitive measure for his previous artistic projects, and this prevented him from being able to seek refuge from the persecution to which he was subjected throughout his career.

The regime’s use of coercion and torture, economic persecution, and the enforcement of mobility restrictions on political prisoners following their release is unlawful. It is important that the international community recognizes these punitive measures as part of the full spectrum of repressive tactics employed by the regime against dissidents and that it includes them in its advocacy.

As influential groups begin to engage President Pezeshkian in discussion on Iran’s future in the next weeks, it is essential that they hold the protection of Iranians’ rights in freedoms as an issue of paramount importance as the country contemplates reform under its new leader.