Middle East News
Amnesty International cites "shocking" beating of Iran protesters
Jun 14, 2009, 23:15 GMT
London/Washington - The human rights organization Amnesty International Sunday condemned reports of excessive violence by Iranian security forces against people protesting the results of Friday elections and called for an investigation.
'The shocking scenes of violence meted out by the security forces need to be urgently investigated and those responsible for human rights violations must be brought to justice,' said Hassiba Hadj, an AI official, in a statement e-mailed to dpa in Washington.
Hadj is deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa programme of the London-headquartered organization.
Amnesty International said that at least 170 people were arrested on Saturday as supporters of Iran's opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi protested the results that declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected by a 62 per cent majority.
Iranian police said 60 people had been arrested as some protestors threw rocks at store windows and carried out other acts of violence.
Amnesty International said it had reports that plain-clothes security forces used batons to beat and disperse many non-violent individuals, causing many injuries.
The report cited several incidents, saying University of Tehran students had reportedly been chased by 100 riot police. It said police on motorcycles had beat Moussavi supporters who were staging a peaceful sit-in in Tehran's Vanak Square.
According to the rights organization, protests had spread to other cities including Rasht, Mashahd, Shiraz, Ahwaz, Zahedan and Oroumiye.
'We deplore that the new presidential term is heralded with widespread abuses,' the group said. 'Amnesty International considers anyone arrested simply for demanding transparency and for questioning ther esults of the electionis to be aprisoner of conscience who shoudl be immediately and unconditionally released.'
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'The report cited several incidents, saying University of Tehran students had reportedly been chased by 100 riot police.'
ha! they should check out any of our political conventions to see how to do it... where are the tasers, the tear gas, the rubber bullets, the thousands of people being rounded up?
i guess if you dont have 'freespeech' you don't need our wonderfull 'free speech zones'
Where was Amnesty International when doctors who advocate single-payer health care system were arrested for showing up at Congress?
They must be taking clues from the G-20 protest.
(sarcasm on) Shocking, I say! Absolutely shocking! (sarcasm off)
If one were to witness the assaults on supposedly 'free' people in the west, and comically the U.S., this picture should garner bitter chuckles. Where does it say in the U.S. Constitution that 'speech' is to be limited to fenced cages? Hmmm? I believe the document that the power elite claim to uphold outlines THEIR limitations and not the peoples. Everything in this country is turned upside down and our out of touch 'leaders' have the temerity to wag their poisoned tongues at the rest of the world and ask them to behave.
More pro western shite propoganda!
Let me guess...the pro-western candidate didnt win, therefor the election MUST have been rigged! Just because the candidate we thought would cowtoe to our western demands didnt win...doesnt mean the election was stolen!
What a great pretext for invading or bombing yet another country...all in the name of 'freedom' and 'demon-ocracy' I.E. capitalism!
We must save the poor people of Iran like we are saving the people of Iraq and Afghanistan! What a load of crud!
We must stop trying to dictate everything, to every other country in the world... otherwise some day we might be the ones getting bombed...all in the name of saving us from our cruel and corrupt leaders of course...all in the name of freedom!
In the west, we arent 'free' either...we are only free to consume...and then consume more! And more still!
Our governments are just as 'evil' as the rest.
my what a skeptical bunch of readers..seems that democracy is alive but not well in the one of the axis of evil countries
Did anyone notice that the policeman is identified as such in English. That's curious, isn't it?
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Amnesty InternationalJun 15th, 2009 - 06:02:50
Has NO credibility anywhere in the world.
So keep on bla..bla..bla amnesty heheheheheheeeeeeeeee
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