Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Mehrangiz Kar, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran’s Omid Memarian, and the former Italian ambassador to Iran, Roberto Toscano, examined the relationship between culture and human rights in Iran. The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Haleh Esfandiari moderated the discussion.

Art and Authoritarianism

  • Censorship in Iran: Freedom of expression is generally necessary for the production of art, placing art and creativity in direct opposition to ideological censorship, Kar argued. In Iran, censorship has forced Iranian artists to be very creative. Iranian artists have shown that, if cleverly done, art can be sufficiently powerful to break the silence around particular social issues, Kar added.

  • Female Artists: There are many female Iranian artists that who have played an important role as film and theater directors, actresses, designers, authors, poets and in other fields of art and have expressed their objection to anti-women policies of the Islamic Republic.

Changes in Iranian Civil Society

Memarian discussed how Iranian civil society is using diverse methods to expand public discourse and challenge the government.

  • Taboo Subjects: One new trend in Iranian civil society is a greater willingness to address taboo subjects, such as the Baha’i faith and homosexuality, particularly through the discourse of human rights, Memarian said.

  • Baha’is: The issue of Baha’i rights has gained prominence in Iran because of Nobel Prize-winning lawyer Shirin Ebadi’s defense of Baha’i leaders, in addition to student activism around the issue.

  • Homosexuality: Although the issue of gay rights is still viewed negatively in Iran, the government now at least acknowledges the existence of homosexuals in Iran.

  • Letter-writing Campaigns: Memarian suggested that there has been a change in the way civil society advocates for issues. In particular, there is an increased use of letter-writing campaigns, including love letters to prisoners. These letter-writing campaigns challenge the dominant government narrative that men and women should not publicly express feelings for each other, while also humanizing the struggles of prisoners of conscience, Memarian explained. 

Iranian Culture

  • Cultural Rights: While discussions of human rights too often focus on political rights, cultural rights are also important and deserve attention, Toscano said. People have the right to access culture as well as create it, he argued.

  • Paradox of the Iranian Regime: The paradox facing the Iranian regime is that Iran’s culture is so strong that it cannot be ignored by the regime, but the regime also feels threatened by it and seeks to appropriate it for its own ends. Often this means that the regime celebrates Iran’s cultural products abroad, but prevents its domestic population from enjoying them, Toscano explained.

  • Traditional Culture: The panelists discussed the relationship between traditional Iranian culture and human rights.

  • A Potential Source of Paralysis: Toscano stated that while the past is important, traditional culture cannot be allowed to paralyze the production of new culture.

  • Constantly Changing: Traditional culture is not necessarily an obstacle to the production of new culture, Memarian asserted, because Iran’s culture is changing as a result of generational shifts and new communication technologies.
     
  • Expatriate Influence: Kar added that Iranian Muslims outside of Iran also supported changes to Iranian culture by vocally supporting Baha’i rights within Iran.