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June 20, 2012
June 20, 2012
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Exclusive Interview with Payam Akhavan on the Iran Tribunal Investigating Iran’s “Bloody Decade”

Exclusive Interview with Payam Akhavan on the Iran Tribunal  Arseh Sevom — An international legal fact finding team led by Professor Payam Akhavan heard testimony regarding […]
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February 14, 2012
February 14, 2012
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Breaking and Bending Censorship with Walid Al-Saqaf

Arseh Sevom --- Reports from the Islamic Republic of Iran about internet speeds, work to create a parallel cyber Iran, and the growing success of filtering systems paint a picture of desperate efforts to exert control over the population. Iran is not alone in its efforts. North Korea has their own "intranet" called Kwang Myong ("light" or "hope, fair, just, open"). The North Korean version duplicates external content it deems acceptable. Iran's new closed intranet is expected to do the same, in a cyber version of what the state already does in traditional media by cherry-picking content from international sources and editing or translating it in ways that often distort the original meaning.
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February 6, 2012
February 6, 2012
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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."
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January 31, 2012
January 31, 2012
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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
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