Editor

February 7, 2012
February 7, 2012
Categories

Egypt — Punishing Pro-Democracy NGOs

Arseh Sevom --- The Egyptian public prosecutor has issued more than 40 indictments against members of international NGOs for participating in banned activities and receiving funding from foreign sources. The Arabist has published a list of names and affiliations. Nineteen of those indicted are American citizens.The Guardian reports that NGOs attempting to legally register in Egypt face a long wait and confusing bureaucracy:
"You submit your papers, then they keep asking for more and you don't get anywhere, and in the end you are not registered," said Sherif Azer, deputy head of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights.NDI [National Democratic Institute] submitted a request in 2005 that did not meet with much interest by the authorities and was asked to resubmit its papers by the ministry of foreign affairs last month, Hughes said. "We were given verbal indications that our programmes were well within Egyptian law," she said.
Do you like it?
Read more
February 6, 2012
February 6, 2012
Categories

Families of BBC Reporters in Iran Targeted

Arseh Sevom --- For months now, Iranian state media has been slandering BBC Persian journalists, accusing them of a number of crimes including drug trafficking, sexual impropriety, and even rape. Recently, they also began detaining the family members of the journalists for questioning in the hopes of intimidating the foreign-based journalists.“This is unprecedented in its level of viscousness,” BBC correspondent Kasra Naji tells Arseh Sevom. "We have not seen this level of brazen and vicious attacks before.""It is impossible to miss the pattern of arrests and intimidation from the regime against those who challenge the dominance of its hold on information," says Arseh Sevom board president, Bert Taken. "We saw a sharp rise in arrests before the 2009 elections as well. This was particularly the case with women's rights activists, reporters, and bloggers. The harassment of the families of human rights defenders, journalists, and others is a new low for Iran. We know the mother of an imprisoned human rights defender was imprisoned simply for speaking with the international media. Arseh Sevom asks the Iranian government to rescind these policies and to respect its citizen's freedom of speech as guaranteed by its own constitution."
Do you like it?
Read more
February 2, 2012
February 2, 2012
Categories

EU High Representative Voices Concern About the Treatment of Journalists and Netizens in Iran

On January 31, 2012, The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, Catherine Ashton, issued a statement of concerned about the state of journalists and netizens in Iran. She calls for Iran to review harsh sentences and for a moratorium on the death penalty. The text of the statement follows:
"I am extremely worried about the growing harassment and persecution of journalists and internet bloggers in Iran. The right to free speech is an internationally enshrined fundamental human right, which Iran itself has freely signed up to respect and protect. In the past few weeks, security forces have reportedly arrested many journalists, including Sahameddin Bourghani, Parastoo Dokouhaki, Hassan Fathi, Farshad Ghorbanpour, Ehsan Houshmand, Fatemeh Kheradmand, Saeed Madani, Shahram Manouchehri, Marzieh Rasouli, Arash Sadeghi and Mohammad Soleimani Nia. I call on the Iranian authorities to release these journalists and restore their rights to freely communicate their views.
Do you like it?
Read more
January 31, 2012
January 31, 2012
Categories

Open Letter Against the Closure of the House of Cinema Signed by 2000

Arseh Sevom --- Kaleme.com has published an open letter against the closing of the House of Cinema signed by nearly 2000 people and organizations. All of the House of Cinema's affiliated guilds signed along with a large number of its 5000 members. This list includes a number of renowned Iranian filmmakers and actors.The House of Cinema was one of the Islamic Republic's oldest independent civil society organizations, tracing its roots back to the late 80s. It has consistently operated openly, publishing much of its documents online. Relations with the government became increasingly strained after the 2009 presidential elections finally culminating in its closure in December 2011 on a technicality.More in Persian on Kaleme.com
Do you like it?
Read more
January 30, 2012
January 30, 2012
Categories

Iran — Shocking Escalation of Arrests and Human Rights Violations

Arseh Sevom- The end of January 2012 witnessed a further escalation in human rights violations in Iran. The ongoing repression continued with the arrest of two journalists, both women: Parastoo Dokoohaki and Marzieh Rasooli. The arrests of Mohammad Solimaninya, a website administrator and owner of Social Network for Iranian Professionals (www.u24.ir) that hosts and designs a number of civil society websites, ten Sunni Muslims in Ahwaz, as well as the shocking confirmation of the death sentence for Iranian-Canadian Saeed Malekopour, are just a few examples of the human rights situation in Iran in January alone.
Do you like it?
Read more
January 23, 2012
January 23, 2012
Categories

“Wherever We Gather is The House of Cinema”

For the past 32 years there has been a complex relationship between the Iranian cinema industry and the Islamic republic. The ideologues of the Islamic revolution of 1979 sought justice and independence, dismissing the Shah as the figurehead of the status quo and opposing the West. The dawn of 1979 revolution started out with the mass persecution of actors, actresses, singers, musicians, dancers and other Iranian media figures. They were accused of having acted as accomplices of the former regime in propagating Western values – hence ‘westoxification’.
Do you like it?
Read more
January 19, 2012
January 19, 2012
Categories

Why Did Arseh Sevom Join in the Internet Strike Yesterday?

Here's why... We joined because if passed, the law to protect intellectual property would have all sorts of debilitating and unintended consequences for people using the internet all over the world.Those include:
  • The closure of social networking sites with links to content owned by the entertainment industry: this could include Twitter, Tumbler, and even Facebook.
  • Precedent setting censorship laws that could (would) spread around the world.
  • And more...
Do you like it?
Read more
January 12, 2012
January 12, 2012
Categories

JAN — Asghar Farhadi Protests Decision to Dissolve House of Cinema

Asghar Farhadi, the director of the award winning film, Separation of Nader from Simin wrote a letter to the Ministry of Culture calling for a vote on the decision to dissolve the House of Cinema in Iran. The letter stated: “If the decision to dissolve the House of Cinema is based on the idea that the majority of the film community and members of the guild are in agreement with your method, then I suggest that you take a vote on this decision among the few thousand members of the House of Cinema.”More info here.
Do you like it?
Read more
1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344