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United for Iran Condemns Religious Ruling Against Rapper Najafi

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United for Iran has issued a statement on the religious ruling against rapper Shahin Najafi, calling on Iranian authorities to condemn the incitement to murder from clerics and other forces. An excerpt from the statement reads:

Thursday, May 17, 2012 Washington, DC – United for Iran condemns the issuing of a death ruling for rapper Shahin Najafi by grand ayatollahs Safi Golpaygani and Naser Makarem Shirazi in response to Najafi’s song “Naghi” – the name of Shi’ite Islam’s 10th imam. United for Iran calls on the Iranian government to condemn the cleric-issued fatwa, reform its penal code to remove the death penalty for those labeled “apostates,” and to institute provisions that outlaw incitement to murder, including in fatwas issued by clerics. Read more

Publisher Banned for Undisclosed “Wrong Doing”

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Arseh Sevom — Despite censorship, Iran has managed to maintain a healthy number of bookstores and interest in reading. In December of 2011, however, a staggering 100 bookstores shut their doors for the last time, in part due to economic pressure. The bad news does not end there, unfortunately. Nashre Cheshmeh, one of the most productive publishers was banned from publishing for no particular reason. The Union of Publishers and Bookstores, which is one of the oldest guilds in Iran, has had no response. Read more

Arseh Sevom Annual Report, 2010

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Dear Readers:

The primary goal of Arseh Sevom is to promote a vibrant civil society in Iran and related communities. All activities we take on are in service to this. Vibrant societies make room for voices from the margins as well as the center.

The name Arseh Sevom is Persian for third sphere and refers to the sphere of activities represented by civil society. The organization was formed to address the needs of civil society actors. In the wake of the flawed 2009 presidential elections in Iran, many civil society actors have found themselves facing severe pressure. This includes limitations on travel, new sanctions against associations, harassment and arrests, and unfounded charges against organizations and individuals. Revolutionary courts and the notion of national security are used to circumvent the rule of law. In 2010, we released the report, Attack on Civil Society in Iran, documenting many of the abuses. Read more

United for Iran Condemns Religious Ruling Against Rapper Najafi

Post image for United for Iran Condemns Religious Ruling Against Rapper Najafi

United for Iran has issued a statement on the religious ruling against rapper Shahin Najafi, calling on Iranian authorities to condemn the incitement to murder from clerics and other forces. An excerpt from the statement reads:

Thursday, May 17, 2012 Washington, DC – United for Iran condemns the issuing of a death ruling for rapper Shahin Najafi by grand ayatollahs Safi Golpaygani and Naser Makarem Shirazi in response to Najafi’s song “Naghi” – the name of Shi’ite Islam’s 10th imam. United for Iran calls on the Iranian government to condemn the cleric-issued fatwa, reform its penal code to remove the death penalty for those labeled “apostates,” and to institute provisions that outlaw incitement to murder, including in fatwas issued by clerics. Read more

Featured Project: Topics in Civil Society

  • Every year, Arseh Sevom focuses on a number of topics related to civil society worldwide. In the coming months we will be publishing posts and articles relating to the themes of surveillance, security, and human rights and truth, justice, and reconciliation.

  • Archive

Networking Issue

Thmbnail image Letter from the Editor

This is the first issue of Arseh Sevom’s Civil Society Zine. For the first topic, we chose to look at networks and networking: traditional, social, and digital. When we started soliciting contributions in 2010, there was no “Arab Spring.” No one knew that protesters in Tunisia and Egypt would be able to unseat long-term leaders [...]

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What's Next?

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The term “Arab Spring” has always felt ominous to me. After all, we all know what happened after the short-lived Prague Spring of 1968, which was brutally squashed. As I write this, we read that more than 32 people have been killed in clashes in Cairo’s Tahir Square. Thousands have been arrested. Amnesty is reporting that people in Egypt who dare to express themselves are being arrested and tried in military courts.

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Reports

Arseh Sevom Annual Report Cover 2010

In this, our first ever annual report, we look back on 2010, share our accomplishments and even some of our struggles. This first report covers four months of operations.

The objective of Arseh Sevom as an organization is to use our annual reports as learning documents. This means we strive for transparency, while making a case for Arseh Sevom. This is a difficult path. Annual reports are meant to show the world how wonderful we are. By sharing our struggles as well as our successes, we demonstrate our trust in our stakeholders to help us do everything possible to become successful in our mission to promote a vibrant civil society in Iran and related communities. Arseh Sevom is a learning organization that seeks out and shares knowledge from people and organizations all over the world. We welcome your participation.

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