Iran: Stop Attacks on Peaceful Demonstrators (Human Rights Watch)

[oberliner]

(New York) - Iranian security forces should stop using teargas and batons to disperse peaceful crowds gathered in support of the popular movements in Egypt and Tunisia, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should also release opposition leaders and activists arbitrarily detained, and permit the free flow of communications channels, Human Rights Watch said.

On February 14, 2011, demonstrations took place throughout Iran after authorities conducted a wave of arrests against opposition activists, placed the opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi under house arrest, and clamped down telephone and satellite communications and the internet. Initial reports from Tehran and other cities indicate that police, anti-riot police, and plainclothes officers attacked demonstrators, including physical assaults and the use of teargas and batons, to break up crowds, silence people chanting anti-government slogans, and prevent protesters from taking photos. Numerous demonstrators were injured, witnesses told Human Rights Watch. There are also reports of numerous arrests.

"Just days ago the Iranian government claimed to support the popular aspirations of millions of Tunisians and Egyptians who peacefully demanded an end to dictatorship," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Now Iranian security forces are using batons and teargas to disperse Iranians peacefully demonstrating in support of their Arab neighbors."

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/14/iran-stop-attacks-peaceful-demonstrators