Civil Society Watch
Karroubi in Danger and Other Stories
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran is reporting that opposition leader, Mehdi Karroubi has been isolated from family and friends for more than a month now and is being forced to make a false confession. The depletion of Lake Orumieh in Western
Ali Motahari on Freedom of Assembly, Water Fights in Iran, and More…
Iran’s parliament member Ali Motahari speaks about the freedom of assembly in an interview with Fars News, translated by TehranBureau. Political prisoners in Evin complain to the Prosecutor General about using their families as pawns. Playful water fights beco
Online Social Capital?
This week’s featured article from Arseh Sevom’s Civil Society Zine is Christina Ashtary’s piece examining the development of social capital in politically restrictive environments. Can trust be developed between individuals who meet online? By now, most of us
Round-up of News and Opinion
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center presents a chart of executions in Iran since the 2010, most confirmed by official and semi-official sources. In the Washington Post, Thomas Erdbrink reports on the effects of sanctions after the Obama administration issue
Stop the Violence against Women in the Near East
“It is shocking to see the current examples of structural violence against women from our neighbors in the South and the Near East,” stated Ursula Plassnik, Special Rapporteur for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Women’s Concerns. “The murder of
Attorney General Warns of Hundreds of Executions
FIDH (International Federation of Human Rights) has posted a piece in Persian on the announcement by Iran’s Attorney General that hundreds of executions will take place […]
Mourning the Death of Ezatollah Sahabi and His Daughter
Women’s rights campaigner Haleh Sahabi, died of a heart attack this morning after a scuffle with plainclothes forces during the funeral for her father. Sahabi had been released on furlough in order to attend the funeral. She had been imprisoned since 2009. May
A ‘Halal’ Internet
The Wall Street Journal and other sources are reporting on the government of Iran’s plans to create its own internet. The regime already controls the speed of its internet, keeping it artificially low. Since 2005, they have also been planning to create a close
Iranian Women’s Conference to be Held in the Netherlands
by Halleh Ghorashi For years, the Iranian women’s movement has been the subject of my research. During the 1979 revolution, Iranian women flocked to the streets to make their voices heard. It wasn’t too long after the success of the demonstrations that women w