Dubai: The Human Rights Watch says Iran's post-election unrest is a "full-blown human rights crisis" and calls on Tehran to free government critics detained during the crackdown.
The New York-based watchdog says the "systematic and brutal targeting" of demonstrators and dissidents by security forces after the June Presidential Elections was an attempt "to silence voices of dissent”.
Thousands of peaceful protesters, including students, lawyers and prominent human rights activists have been detained in a crackdown that has turned into "a human rights disaster," the watchdog said in its annual report on human rights violations and abuses worldwide.
The chapter on Iran — one of 15 Middle Eastern countries reviewed by the group — was released in Dubai on Sunday.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, January 24, 2010, 13:16