14 Mar 2025 | Iran, Statements
On 13 March 2025, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (“UNWGAD”) issued an opinion declaring that Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi’s detention of more than 753 days was arbitrary and in violation of international law. A joint petition was submitted to the UNWGAD by the Human Rights Foundation, Doughty Street Chambers, and Index on Censorship in July 2024.
Mr Salehi has been subjected to a sustained campaign of judicial harassment by Iranian authorities, which has included periods of imprisonment, arrest, torture, and a death sentence. His treatment was the result of his music and activism in supporting protest movements across Iran.
Mr Salehi was first arrested in October 2022, after he released a song supporting the protests that followed Mahsa Amini’s death in custody. After an extended period of pre-trial detention, including significant time spent in solitary confinement, Mr Salehi was sentenced to six years and three months’ imprisonment for charges including “corruption on earth”, as well as being banned from leaving Iran for two years.
Mr Salehi was temporarily released in November 2023 but was rearrested only 12 days later, after posting a video detailing the torture he endured. In April 2024, he was sentenced to death. His death sentence was overturned by Iran’s Supreme Court in June 2024. Shortly after, two further cases were filed against Mr Salehi based on his new song, Typhus. In December 2024, Mr Salehi was released from prison, although the two most recent cases remain on foot.
In its opinion, the UNWGAD found that there was a clear pattern of discrimination against Mr Salehi on the basis of his political opinions and as an artist expressing dissent. The UNWGAD said that “ultimately, the song, social media posts, and video were forms of Salehi’s exercise of his freedom of expression”, and concluded that he had been targeted primarily for these forms of speech. The UNWGAD had particular regard to the vague and overly broad “corruption on earth” charge, observing that none of Mr Salehi’s alleged crimes fall under it.
The UNWGAD’s opinion also noted that Mr Salehi wasn’t tried by a public or independent court and was given limited access to his lawyer. Even when he was able to contact his lawyer, the calls were monitored. The UNWGAD expressed grave concern about the torture that Mr Salehi endured during his detention and the brief period of enforced disappearance, and indicated particular concern about the use of torture to compel a confession.
In response to the opinion, Mr Salehi’s cousin, Arezou Eghbali Babadi, said:
“What is happening under the Iranian regime against those who stand for their rights is a direct assault on human dignity and justice. Those in power manipulate the system to silence voices of truth, leaving individuals defenseless. With no safeguards, no accountability, and no limits to their violence, every moment is uncertain. This is not just about Toomaj but it is about a nation’s struggle against fear. This cruelty can be inflicted for something as simple as singing a song or sharing a post. There is an urgent need for the world to stand against tyranny. This opinion by the UNWGAD is an important step towards that goal.”
Nik Williams, campaigns and policy officer at Index on Censorship said:
“For years, Toomaj has faced persecution for his music, activism and solidarity with the courageous women of Iran and everyone standing up for human rights in the country. We welcome this opinion from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which is an important and timely reminder of the need for continued international support and pressure to ensure he remains free and able to continue his music.”
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, international counsel for Mr Salehi’s family, Index on Censorship, and the Human Rights Foundation, said:
“Our brave, brilliant client, Toomaj Salehi, stood firm as Iranian authorities targeted him – with arrests, 753 days’ imprisonment, torture, and a death sentence – and fearlessly maintained his basic right to express himself through his art. His has been an important voice in the push by Iranian people for recognition of their human rights.
Now the UN Working Group’s Opinion confirms the unlawfulness of Mr Salehi’s treatment. It underscores the need to ensure that Mr Salehi remains free, and is not again subjected to arbitrary and unjust treatment by the State. It is a welcome and timely reminder for Iranian authorities that they will be held to account for their actions.”
Claudia Bennett, legal and programme officer at Human Rights Foundation said:
“The UNWGAD’s decision is not just a victory for Toomaj but for all prisoners of conscience in Iran. His case exemplifies the Iranian regime’s intolerance of any criticism, even in the form of art. This decision highlights the alarming reality that a simple song can lead to an absurd charge like ‘corruption on earth’ in Iran, a crime punishable by death. With this decision, the Iranian regime must understand that if it continues to deprive Iranian citizens of their most basic rights and freedoms, the international community will hold it accountable.”
Any press queries for Index on Censorship should be directed to Nik Williams on [email protected].
More background about Toomaj Salehi is available on social media, at @OfficialToomaj (X) and @ToomajOfficial (Instagram). More details of the campaign can be found at #FreeToomaj.
13 Mar 2025 | News and features, Statements
Responding to news that Apple will be before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal on Friday, representatives from Big Brother Watch, Index on Censorship, and Open Rights Group have written to President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the Rt Hon Lord Justice Singh, calling for the case to be made public.
The letter states that the “case implicates the privacy rights of millions of British citizens who use Apple’s technology, as well as Apple’s international users”. The groups note the “significant public interest in knowing when and on what basis the UK government believes that it can compel a private company to undermine the privacy and security of its customers.”
According to widespread media reporting, the Home Office has served Apple with a Technical Capability Notice under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. The Technical Capability Notice would force the company to build a backdoor into their end-to-end encrypted iCloud services.
The company has previously stated it would “never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products, and we never will”. In response to the Home Office’s demands, Apple has withdrawn its end-to-end encrypted Advanced Data Protection tool from UK users.
COMMENTS
Big Brother Watch Interim Director Rebecca Vincent: “The Home Office’s shocking order to Apple to break encryption represents a huge attack on privacy rights and is unprecedented in any democracy. This Tribunal will determine whether the UK government can proceed in forcing access to all of our data – a matter of high public interest that must not take place in secret.”
Index on Censorship CEO Jemimah Steinfeld: “From the moment the Apple news broke to tomorrow’s Tribunal, everything about this story has been shrouded in secrecy. This has to end. Breaking encryption would do away with our rights to privacy, would make us far less safe and secure online and would challenge the very notion of the UK as a democracy. With such high stakes we demand to know what could possibly justify this. We need answers, not more secrecy.”
Open Rights Group Executive Director Jim Killock: “Holding this Tribunal in secret would be an affront to the global privacy and security issues that are being discussed. This is bigger than just the UK, or Apple. But most importantly, if the UK wants to claim the right to make all of Apple’s users more likely to be hacked and blackmailed, then they should argue for that in an open court.”
The full letter can be found linked here.
10 Mar 2025 | Europe and Central Asia, News and features, Newsletters, Serbia
According to some analysts, the largest student-led demonstrations in Europe since 1968 are taking place today in Serbia. I almost missed that sentence in this story from the Sunday Times last weekend given all of the other news vying for my attention. I’m glad I didn’t. The article itself is well worth reading – a story that pulls in Abu Dhabi developers and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Now dodgy planning regulations aren’t exactly the lane of Index. But protests and the crushing of dissent most firmly are. So here is what you need to know.
For months now, Serbia has been rocked by huge demonstrations throughout the country, led by students. What began in November 2024 as a movement demanding accountability for a tragic railway station accident in Novi Sad, which claimed 15 lives, has transformed into a broader call for transparency, fair elections, media freedom and an end to corruption.
The protests have resulted in tangible outcomes, such as the resignation of Prime Minister Miloš Vučević and charges against 13 individuals over the train disaster. Serbia is a country where “there is no such thing” as free speech, according to Bosnian actor Fedja Stukan – who was deported in 2024 after speaking openly about his experiences in the 1990s war. The country’s ruling party has been accused of “a textbook process of state capture” and the protests have, unsurprisingly, been marked by serious violations to free speech.
Journalists covering them have faced harassment described as “escalating” and “systematic”. These attacks have included death threats against journalists like Ana Lalić Hegediš, and physical assaults, such as the forced removal of reporters from Novi Sad City Hall in January 2025. Additionally, NGOs critical of the government have been raided by Serbian police.
The students driving the protests have been careful to maintain their distance from political parties from the get-go, which they must have felt vindicated by this week – dramatic scenes emerged from parliament when opposition members launched a smoke bomb and flare protest, leading to injuries and damage. This has only added ammunition to government claims that the protests are part of a “colour revolution”, and that NGOs are foreign-funded agents destabilising the country. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, clipping scenes from parliament, was quick to support this narrative on X.
Expect more dramatic events from Serbia in the coming weeks. Sources on the ground tell me an extra big strike is planned for today and another for 15 March. And with that, be on guard – if history tells us anything, when it’s students versus state, it’s rare that the former win.
6 Mar 2025 | News and features, United Kingdom
Today, my son trotted off to school in a hastily assembled knight-doctor-dragon combo, firmly taking on his role as the knight from Zog, whose name I can never get right. Sir Galahad? Sir Gallopalong? Ah yes, Sir Gadabout. This was his first World Book Day, and as a book-loving writer mum, it was quite the moment.
Aside from fond memories of my own childhood World Book Days dressing up as Ratty from The Wind in the Willows (including homemade tail) and Hermione from Harry Potter (hair my own), I now have another reason to love the annual literary celebration.
Last summer, we at Index published an investigation into book censorship in UK school libraries. I have been following the worrying trend of book bans in the USA for several years, and I wanted to know whether any of that censorship is creeping into UK schools. I found out that yes, it is.
In the survey I sent to school librarians, 53% of respondents told me they had been asked to take books off their shelves. And 56% of those actually removed the books in question. When I spoke with librarians directly, many had been left shaken by their experiences.
The censored books largely featured LGBTQ+ content, as well as other areas. In one school, the entire Philip Pullman collection was removed by a senior staff member in a school with a Christian ethos. In another, all books with a hint of LGBTQ+ content were boxed up and left to gather dust.
Since publishing my investigation, even more librarians have been in touch to tell me about censorship in their schools, often telling me how lost they feel. There is no statutory requirement for a school to even have a library in the UK, let alone there being any official policy.
Recently, someone reported to me that when pupils were invited to take books into class, a child who brought a copy of Room on the Broom was swiftly turned away. They were told that they couldn’t read it because it is a Christian school. For anyone who doesn’t know this Julia Donaldson staple (that’s the second Donaldson mention in this piece, so that gives you a sense of how popular her books are), it’s about a witch, and a series of events that means she – you guessed it – does not have room on her broom.
I can’t help imagining how that child felt to have their choice of book rejected, butting up against censorship at such a young age, and being told that their favourite book was “wrong”; the parents or carers of that school second guessing what they might be allowed to send their child into school with; and then suddenly, there is a culture of self-censorship in that school.
World Book Day, in part, is a bit of a pain for parents. Costumes can be time-consuming to make or expensive to buy, and plenty of households up and down the country awoke this morning to a chorus of “World Book Day is today?” Children are ushered out the door, assured that a t-shirt and shorts is actually a very acceptable costume for the kid in insert any ordinary child in any book ever written.
But for me, in spite of whatever costume dramas might arise in the coming years (I may eat my words when that day inevitably comes), it’s a day to celebrate a love of books. And that means fighting for them.
As culture wars continue to heat up in the USA, it’s important that we do not let that slide into our classrooms, and that classrooms do not become battlegrounds. Just as it’s important that a child is not shamed for bringing in Room on the Broom, it’s vital that young people must be able to access stories where they can see their own experiences (and those of their peers) reflected.
Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love is one of our favourite stories at home. It is beautifully illustrated, and tells the tale of a boy who wants to dress up as – even imagines he is – a mermaid. He is encouraged to use his imagination by his grandmother, and he is not shamed for exploring his identity. It’s not only a gorgeous story, but a lovely way to introduce young children to discovering who they are and how others around them might explore their own identities too. Despite this, it was one of the books that librarians in my investigation reported as having been banned.
Stories help us understand the world, and they help us understand ourselves. They help us navigate things that are scary, complicated and confusing. They help flex our imaginations. And they’re joyful.
I do not want our schools to face the level of censorship that many schools in the USA do, and for our librarians to be fighting off book challenges instead of helping children find their next great read. I don’t believe widespread book bans are a real threat right now, but we now have evidence that there are pockets of this happening across the country. So this World Book Day, I’m going to harp on again about the importance of the freedom to read, and keeping our schools free from book bans.
If you care about books as much as I do (and why wouldn’t you?), please join me in celebrating books, and kicking up a fuss about the importance of good school libraries, where librarians are empowered to curate a diverse and creative collection.
