The Iranian legal framework, as described above, leads to a generalization of the criminalisation
of dissent and criticism against Iran and enables the Iranian authorities’ censorship and mass
surveillance campaign, both on and offline. Iranian authorities target journalists and writers with
harassment, arbitrary arrests, detentions and imprisonments solely for performing their work.13 14
15 16 17 18
Iran is one of the countries with the highest number of journalists in prison, illustrating
its repression of the freedom of the press. 19
In light of the above, the Islamic Republic of Iran has not rehabilitated and provided effective
judicial redress and compensation for journalists imprisoned in contravention of Article 9 and
Article 19 of the Covenant.
C. The Islamic Republic of Iran should ensure that the monitoring of Internet use does
not violate the rights to freedom of expression and privacy as defined in the
Covenant.
Restrictions on freedom of expression and the free communication of information and ideas
extend online. For instance, the Criminal Cyber Law criminalizes the publication of information
considered against Islamic tenets or the Constitution, to be disrupting public or national security,
to be offending public morality and chastity or amounting to propaganda against the State.20 21
13
Committee to Protect Journalists, https://cpj.org/2020/06/at-least-5-journalists-sentenced-to-jail-in-iran-since-early-june/ and
https://cpj.org/2020/08/iranian-journalist-kayvan-samimi-begins-3-year-jail-term-over-protest-coverage/ and
https://cpj.org/2020/09/mohammad-mosaed-cpj-2020-awardee-sentenced-to-more-than-4-years-in-jail-in-iran/ ;
https://cpj.org/2020/09/iranian-journalist-nada-sabouri-begins-3-5-year-jail-term-in- 2014-protest-case/ ;
https://cpj.org/2020/09/iranian-journalist-khosrow-sadeghi-borojeni-begins-7- year-jail-term/
14
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://iranhumanrights.org/2020/10/prominent-iranian-writers-sent-to-prison-for-peacefuldissent/
15
The Guardian, www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/30/iran-sentences-journalist-ruhollah-zam-to-death
16
Iran Human Rights, www.iranhr.net/en/articles/4301/
17
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/07/iran-two-kurds-executed-amid-increasing-use-ofdeath-penalty-as-weapon-of-repression/
18
HRANA <https://www.en-hrana.org/journalist-masoud-kazemi-arrested>; <https://www.en-hrana.org/journalists-deathattributed-to-travel-and-healthcare-restrictions>
19
https://cpj.org/mideast/iran/
20
See more: Article 19, https://www.article19.org/data/files/medialibrary/2921/12-01-30-FINAL-iran-WEB%5B4%5D.pdf
21
See also: Volunteer Activists, https://volunteeractivists.nl/en/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Civil-Society-in-Iran-and-its-FutureProspects-pdf.pdf
3