Glossary of Impugned Activities
Art or Literature Creation: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for creating art or literature, including the translation of books.
Charity Work: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for activities related to charity work.
Child Rights Activism: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for their activities to protect or advocate for children’s rights.
Civic Activism: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for activities related to civic engagement that do not fall within the nominate categories. In the Iranian context, civic activism is mostly understood as a vast area of activities undertaken by civil society, which often does not directly target the political system, but overlaps with elements of good governance and can be considered incongruent with the IRI’s ideological propaganda. The Iranian government has a tendency to treat non-governmental activities, which by nature are separate from the state, with suspicion.
Cultural Activism: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for activities related to cultural, heritage, or language preservation and advocacy.
Digital Activism: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for engaging in activism through digital mediums. The activism can be religious, social, or political, but is carried out predominantly online. In such cases, digital activism will be registered as a secondary activity, alongside the primary subject matter of the activism.
Dual or Foreign Nationality: This phrase is used if a dual national or foreign citizen is arrested for political motives. Although it is possible that this is the sole reason for an arrest, there are generally other underlying activities that provoke an arrest. In such cases, dual or foreign nationality will be registered as a secondary activity.
Environmentalism: This term is used if a prisoner has been arrested for their activities to conserve the environment.
Ethnic Rights Activism: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for their activities defending or promoting ethnic rights.
Family Relations: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for the activities of their relatives. In some instances, it is possible that an individual is arrested as a result of both their own activism and that of a family member. In such cases, family relations will be entered as either the primary or secondary activity, depending on which activity is most pertinent to the prisoner’s case.
Human Rights Activism: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for their activities defending or promoting human rights.
Intellectual Dissidence: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for espousing beliefs against the establishment.
Journalism: This term is used if a prisoner has been arrested for activities related to journalism, including investigating, reporting, publishing, editing, and other press activities.
Labor Rights Activism: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for their activities defending or promoting labor rights.
Other: This term is used if a prisoner has been arrested for political motives but their impugned activity does not fall into any of the nominate categories.
Participation in Public Gatherings: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested in relation with or for participation in public gatherings, such as demonstrations or street protests.
Political Activism: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for their activities defending or promoting political rights, including dissidence and opposition politics.
Rebellion: This term is used if a prisoner is charged with resisting the established government, including using weapons against the security arm of the state. This activity is based on the legal charges against the prisoner and is difficult to independently corroborate. However, if IPA researchers obtain credible information that these charges are merely a pretext, then the prisoner’s impugned activity will be listed under a more appropriate category.
Religious Practice: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for their religious beliefs or activities as a religious practitioner.
Research: This term is used if a prisoner has been arrested for research activities, such as academic or scientific research.
Student Activism: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for their activism while being a university student. The activism can be religious, social, or political, and need not be limited to the university setting. In such cases, student activism will be registered as a secondary activity, alongside the primary subject matter of the activism.
Support for Public Opposition Groups: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for their alleged membership in or support for a public opposition group that may be considered legal or illegal by the IRI. For example, the "Freedom Movement of Iran" is a political group led by key figures inside Iran who carry out their activities publicly despite being considered an illegal group by the IRI.
Support for Underground Opposition Groups: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for their alleged membership in or support for an opposition group that carries out its activities in secret because of government repression. This category includes groups that are both active inside and outside of Iran and considered illegal by the IRI, but it does not include the following groups, whose members or supporters are not considered political prisoners as per IPA’s definition: Da’esh, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Jundullah, Tawhid and Jihad, and Ansar al-Islam.
Unknown: This term is used if a prisoner has been arrested for political reasons according to credible sources, but IPA researchers cannot obtain any information on the prisoner’s impugned activity.
Women’s Rights Activism: This phrase is used if a prisoner has been arrested for their activities defending or promoting women’s rights. 