Iran's "human rights disaster"

No surprise that Human Rights Watch has, in a Report just released, condemned Iran for its violation of human rights post the disputed presidential elections last June.

Reuters reports:

"Iran witnessed its worst internal strife since the Islamic revolution in 1979 when supporters of opposition candidates who lost to hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took to the streets, leading to violent clashes with security forces.

Thousands were detained. Most have been freed but more than 80 were jailed for up to 15 years and five were sentenced to death.

The Human Rights Watch report said the post-election crackdown had turned into "a human rights disaster."

"The Iranian judiciary's show trials of hundreds of demonstrators and dissidents ranks among the most absurd displays of prosecutorial abuse I have witnessed in recent memory," HRW's Middle East Director Joe Stork said at a news conference in Dubai to announce its annual report.

The Human Rights Watch report said many of the detainees had been coerced to confess to vaguely-worded crimes during the trials. Researcher Faraq Sanei said Human Rights Watch had documented 26 such cases of torture or coerced confessions."

Read the full Reuters piece here.

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