To explore the experience directly, visit: https://iranprisonproject.com/
The Iran Prison Project is an interactive website experience, that sheds light on testimonies from former political prisoners and dissidents that reflect the horrendous abuses of the Iranian Regime.
To speak to the world, we recreated one of the worst places on earth, in the metaverse - a space without boundaries or borders and asked people to experience these women’s stories, and be their voice.
Imagine a place where people are detained indefinitely.
Women. Children. Gay People. Journalists.
Where torture and rape and execution happen every day.
You can be sent there for taking photographs. Dancing. For showing your hair.
This is the truth for tens of thousands of people in Iranian prisons.
We have heard from prisoners that the horrors inside Iranian prisons are so great, that women beg—not for their lives, but for their deaths.
They have asked us to be their voice.
We all need to listen—and demand the Iranian Regime is one day held to account.
An estimated 189,000 people are imprisoned in Iran today. 15,000 are in Evin Prison.
Iranian Diaspora Collective is a non-partisan, queer-led, multi-faith organization of visionary agents for social change who understand the power of social influence, storytelling, and youth-led activism as key tools for cultural revolution. They came to us with the hope that we could help break the tendency of cognitive overload in the media and news space. How do we educate the world on this violation of human rights in the midst of all the noise?
Our objectives:
Across our studios from the UK and Germany a collection of creatives, innovators and designers worked alongside external experts in human rights activism and international human rights law to focus on two goals:
We ask the West to listen—the more the media reports on the atrocities, the more the West looks, the more hope we have pressurizing the regime into reducing death sentences and releasing prisoners.
We created an immersive website experience that immediately captures the viewers' attention – starting with a visceral nature of visuals and a soundscape to cue an emotional reaction even before stepping into the ‘prison’.
We then walk the viewer through individual prisoner experiences by way of powerful visuals and heartbreaking audio. We focused on the emotional journey of the western world in order to solidify their support and readiness to amplify Iranian voices.
We empower victims—from the last forty-four years and this most recent uprising—have their testimonies recorded. We can preserve that testimony in the most indisputable way we know how; following the law and using blockchain to show a chain of evidence.
Our ongoing goal is to collate testimonies (written affidavits and sworn testimonies in the presence of a lawyer) in accordance with rules of procedure and evidence 111 and 112 of the International Criminal Court including article 55 of the Rome Statute. We are storing them securely in the blockchain, so they cannot be destroyed or tampered with in the hope that one day they will be used as evidence of the Regime’s crimes against humanity. Although there is currently no case against the Regime, the victims will not be silent and want the peace that comes with documenting their testimony.
The Iran Prison Project is an immersive and interactive experience that can be accessed through a web browser. Visitors can move about the 3D space and interact with our true stories from prisoners.
Testimony features AI imagery and original art, as well as AI soundscapes. The audio for stories is recorded by voice actors to protect victims. The voice actors are Iranian themselves.
Because of the intensity of the testimony, each woman’s story is 30-40 seconds long. Visitors can verify sources and learn about each woman—the experience is not easy, but we have worked hard to share brutal stories of human rights violations without triggering audiences.
The response has been overwhelming. Upon launch, we’ve gathered over 158 million PR impressions overnight.
Working with the IDC and other human rights organizations, we collected thousands and thousands of testimonies in the first week. And it keeps growing as we aim to get these individual testimonies in the blockchain and to share the next collection in the 3D experience.
Women who have lived under the regime and been detained in Evin Prison are filled with hope by this project. It is “the start of justice”.
We are committed to The Iran Prison Project being a decade-long endeavor, ensuring the IP belongs to the Iranian groups, and not the agencies involved.
We believe that one day, the Islamic Republic of Iran will be held to account for their crimes against humanity. On that day, these stories and testimonies will be essential.
PLEASE NOTE: Some information in this entry remains private or anonymous because those involved in this project are risking detainment, torture and execution for themselves or family members by showing dissent toward the Regime.
