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January 5, 2012
January 5, 2012
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How do you sanitize the Internet?

Board member Fred Petrossians, writing for Global Voices discusses rumors and plans for total control of the internet by the Iranian state:
Iranian authorities see the internet as a real battleground and consider citizen media and social networking as tools of “soft war”. Over several years they claim to have blocked and filtered millions of websites and blogs. Now several bloggers have reported that Iran's Corporate Computer Systems say the goal is for Iran to be entirely cut off from the World Wide Web once the country launches its own national internet network.
(More here...)
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January 5, 2012
January 5, 2012
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Urge Iran’s Parliament to Reject Anti-Human Rights Penal Code

Arseh Sevom and United4Iran urge you to send letters protesting discriminatory laws. Click here to join the campaign.The UN Secretary General, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, the UN General Assembly, and the UN Human Rights Council have repeatedly called on Iran to revise its penal code to adhere to international human rights standards. In February 2010, the Iranian government accepted specific recommendations made under its Universal Periodic Review to ensure that its laws were in conformity with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which it is a party.Nonetheless, today, Iran’s parliament is preparing to pass the “Islamic Penal Bill” - legislation that flouts its legal obligations under the ICCPR. The legislation endangers free expression and reinforces laws that violate the rights of Iranian citizens. The bill fails to prohibit stoning, lashing, and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading punishments; redress discriminatory laws; or, raise the age of majority for girls and boys. In a particularly worrisome clause, the bill expands punishment for “actions against national security”, a charge that has routinely been used to persecute dissidents.
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January 4, 2012
January 4, 2012
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Arseh Sevom’s 2011 Review

In Arseh Sevom's first ever newsletter (online here), we looked back at some of the highlights from the pages of our website. Those included:
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December 28, 2011
December 28, 2011
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DEC — Iran’s House of Cinema Declared Illegal

The Iran Public Culture Council ruled that Iran's House of Cinema was illegal. The decision was made to settle a lawsuit filed in early December against the organization by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.The House of Cinema, which began as a government sponsored initiative becoming independent in 1993, has been criticized a number of times for its positions. A few months earlier, in September, the organization received an official rebuke for its statement about the arrest of six Iranian documentary filmmakers, accused of "collaboration with the BBC Persian service."Later, the minister of culture and Islamic guidance questioned the organization's legitimacy, claiming the real issue was amendments to the House of Cinema's charter."Consequently, the guild faces a serious question about its legitimacy," stated the culture minister, Mohammad Hosseini.As a result, a lawsuit was filed by the ministry against the House of Cinema.
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December 15, 2011
December 15, 2011
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Protest and Advocacy on Arseh Sevom

Arseh Sevom -- With the announcement from Time Magazine that The Protester is this year's person of the year, we thought this was a good time to remind our readers of all the great content on Arseh Sevom's English site related to protests, demonstrations, and acts of advocacy.The entire Arseh Sevom Zine for Winter 2011 responds to the question: "What's next? What comes after the unity when the messy business of democracy begins?" A good place to start is with The Letter from the Editor, which sets the stage for the rest of the articles.The first issue of Arseh Sevom's Civil Society Zine looks at networking, networks, and change. You might want to check out Linda Herrera's piece: Two Faces of Revolution: Why Dictators Fear the Internet.In Creating the Impossible: The Invisible Network of Britain's Activist Subculture, Avery Oslo discusses the consensus building of eco-activists. Some of it may sound familiar to people who have been following the activities of Occupy Wall Street.
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December 15, 2011
December 15, 2011
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The Protester, Time’s 2011 Person of the Year

Arseh Sevom -- In 2009, hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of Iranians took to the streets to express their desire for more open and democratic governance. Most were wary of revolutionary promises and seeking reform with space to participate in society.“I stood on the streets with women in chadors who were protesting for my right not to wear a veil,” a 29-year-old school teacher in Tehran told us. “It surprised me.”That year many people urged Time Magazine to consider the protesters in Iran as the person of the year. They were disappointed by the choice of Ben Bernanke This year Time Magazine focused on The Protester, which professor and activist, Michael Benton calls, “Protest the way the American media establishment wants it -- faceless and ambiguous. Note that last month's time covers in the USA were different from the rest of the world's -- asking Americans to be ‘OK’ with ‘anxiety.’”  Scott Lucas of Enduring America tells Arseh Sevom, “"It is not just The Protester as the Person of the Year. It is the resurrection of belief in protest as a positive, a belief that rights, justice, and a better way of life are not simply to be held and withheld by those who claim to be leaders."
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