Cartoon 101: Please Put Me On Trial
An open letter signed by the Karroubi family and published on November 29, 2014, states that during their last meeting with Green Movement leader Mehdi Karroubi, he “explicitly and clearly criticized the ...
December 2, 2014
Stabbing of Six Women Continue Series of Attacks Against Women
In a continuing series of attacks against women in Iran, a suspect has been arrested for the stabbing of six women in the southern town of Jahrom in Fars Province over the past week. The stabbings follow the numerous acid attacks against women in Isfahan ...
December 2, 2014
Opposition Leader Under House Arrest Demands Public Trial
(December 2, 2014) The head of the Iranian Judiciary should immediately end the nearly four-year house arrest of former presidential candidates Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, and leading dissident Zahra Rahnavard, and grant them a fair trial, the International Campaign for Human Rights in ...
November 26, 2014
Cartoon 100: Trust and the Negotionations
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November 26, 2014
Illegal Addition of New Charges Makes Death Sentence for Soheil Arabi More Likely
In an arbitrary and illegal act, new charges that carry a death sentence and which do not allow a pardon were added and the death sentence of Facebook user Soheil Arabi was confirmed by the Supreme Court in Iran. ...
November 25, 2014
Authorities Use National Security Charges to Punish Ghavami for Attending Sporting Event
On November 23, 2014, Ghoncheh Ghavami was released from prison after posting bail of one hundred million toman ($35,000). She was released after a lower court issued a one-year prison sentence and a two-year travel ban for “propaganda against the state” and other national security-related ...
November 25, 2014
Mohammad Ali Taheri on Hunger Strike to Protest Three Years of Solitary Confinement
A student of Mohammad Ali Taheri, the founder of Interuniversal Consciousness Theory, who has been in prison since 2011, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Taheri has embarked on a dry hunger strike (refusing both food and water) since last week ...
November 20, 2014
Scholar’s 18-Month Prison Sentence for Questioning Nuclear Program Commuted to Fines
A Tehran appeals court has reduced the 18-month prison sentence originally handed down to Sadegh Zibakalam, a Tehran University professor and political analyst, for his public questioning of Iran’s nuclear program and his criticism of the trial process in a state corruption case, to a ...
November 19, 2014
UN Resolution on Human Rights in Iran Passes by 78-35 Margin
On November 18, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee adopted a Resolution on the promotion and protection of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran with a vote of 78 in favor, 35 against and 69 abstentions. ...
November 18, 2014
Cartoon 99: Judge Mortazavi and the Judiciary
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November 17, 2014
New Report Reveals State’s Growing Efforts to Control Internet Access in Iran
The Rouhani administration should use all its authority to end the government’s initiatives to restrict Iranians’ access to the Internet, immediately cease state efforts to monitor users’ online accounts, and end the prosecution of individuals for their peaceful online activities, the International Campaign for Human ...
November 14, 2014
Cartoon 98: Street Punishment…
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November 13, 2014
Is UN Engagement Having an Impact on Iran’s Human Rights? Absolutely.
To critics who question the ability of UN processes to change the behaviors and policies of the leadership in the Islamic Republic of Iran, an English language media interview with a top Iranian official has provided a revealing answer. ...
November 12, 2014
Ghoncheh Ghavami’s Lawyer Says New Charges Looming Against Her Are Illegal
New charges may be brought against Ghoncheh Ghavami, the young woman who was arrested outside a sports stadium in Tehran in June 2014 for trying to attend a volleyball match and who remains in prison. ...
November 12, 2014
Leading Iranian Figures Support Nuclear Negotiations and Hope for an Agreement
November 12, 2014—As the P5+1 negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program between the world powers and Iran approach the November 24 deadline, it is important that the negotiators on both sides of the table take note of the voices of their respective citizens at home: support ...
November 11, 2014
National Email
Developing national email providers has also been a component of government efforts to control and access online content and activities. In 2012, Reza Taghipour, Minister of Telecommunication in the Ahmadinejad administration, wrote letters to his deputy and the Central Bank of Iran insisting on ...
November 11, 2014
The National Browser
The Iranian government has employed two means to ensure the widespread use of its national SSL security certificates (and thus achieve their root certification). One is through the Iranian web browser, Saina, which is provided by state agencies and into which the authorities have built ...
November 11, 2014
National SSL Certificates
National (government-issued) SSL security certificates are also a central component of Iran’s National Internet. SSL certificates ensure that the connection used in any Internet transmission is encrypted and thus secure. When they are issued by a legitimate source, they do indeed ensure security. The government ...
November 11, 2014
Conclusion
In 2013, Reporters Without Borders named Iran one of the world’s five worst enemies of the Internet, along with China, Syria, Bahrain and Vietnam. This report by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has shown that if the Iranian government is able ...
November 11, 2014
The National Operating System
The other means employed by the Iranian government to spread the use of its SSL security certificates is through the national operating system, “Zamin” (or Earth). Zamin was jointly developed by the Information Technology Organization and the Iran Telecom Research Center and released as ...
November 11, 2014
National Search Engine And National Social Networks
As part of the National Internet, the Iranian government has also developed services such as a national search engine and national social networks, which are designed and implemented largely by the Ministry of Telecommunication’s Information Technology Company. Hadi Malek, research director at the Information Technology ...
November 11, 2014
The Rouhani Administration and Internet Freedom
While Hassan Rouhani campaigned for the presidency in Iran on a platform explicitly promoting Internet freedom, one year into his presidency there has been little progress to date on this front. In fact, as this report has shown, development of Iran’s National Internet continues, the ...
November 11, 2014
Seeking International Technology Firms’ Compliance
In spite of all the authorities’ efforts to censor the Internet and punish those who seek to use it for social or political activism, the government has yet to achieve full control over the Internet and its use. Recognizing that Iran’s National Internet and all ...
November 11, 2014
Security Agencies and the Prosecution of Online Activists
In addition to the Iranian state’s efforts to develop the technological infrastructure of Internet control, the Judiciary and security organizations have also pursued the identification and prosecution of online activists. This is done through a variety of organizations, some of them official, some semi-official, and ...
November 11, 2014
National Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
One of the principal ways that Iranians have been able to maintain access to the global Internet has been through the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), which allow users to circumvent government filters by providing encrypted links to networks based abroad, effectively enabling a ...