Criminal Policy Regarding Mind Control Techniques and Psychological Manipulation

The growth of various sects, groups, and organizations with specific names and symbols in recent years in Iran, along with the physical and psychological dangers of joining them, has led lawmakers to criminalize this phenomenon as a behavior against internal and external security in 1399 (2020). The aim of the legislator is, on one hand, to impose criminal penalties for the use of mind control techniques and psychological manipulation in the form of sects, groups, or organizations to exert physical or psychological dominance over others, and on the other hand, to prevent educational or promotional activities that deviate from the sacred principles of Islam. However, criminalizing educational and promotional activities that do not cause harm or damage and are not related to "apostasy," "insulting the Prophet," or "offending Islamic sanctities," in the absence of criteria for distinguishing "contrary to or disruptive to sacred law," can lead to the deprivation of fundamental freedoms of citizens and promote a specific lifestyle. Furthermore, in Islamic law, sectarian behaviors and mind control over others through false claims, as long as they do not reach the level of apostasy, are not considered crimes, and the approach to counter them should be through common ideological and verbal tools. A suitable solution is to refrain from criminal intervention in the realm of personal beliefs and convictions under the pretext of mind control and brainwashing, or at least to differentiate between harmful sects and other sectarian behaviors.