Iran: 12 students reported killed in crackdown after violent clashes

[chatnoir]

Source: Guardian UK

At least 12 people may have died in violent clashes with Iran's security forces following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election, ­according to reports from the country.

The reported fatalities have come amid a brutal crackdown on students, apparently aimed at quelling a wave of campus rebellions that authorities fear could spill over to the wider population.

A Farsi website, Balatarin, carried an unconfirmed report that seven people had been killed in the southern city of Shiraz following confrontations with riot police at the local university. Five busloads of plainclothes officers had been sent to confront the demonstrators during Sunday's protests, but were said to have been unable to prevent them from being joined by members of the public and marching to one of the city's main squares. It is unclear whether all those said to have died were students.

The Guardian understands that five students may also have died in clashes at Tehran University early on Sunday. The students – named as Fatemeh Barati, Kasra Sharafi, Mobina Ehterami, Kambiz Shoaee and Mohsen Imani – are believed to have been buried today in Behesht-e-Zahra, a famous cemetery in Tehran, reportedly without their families being informed.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/15/iran-students-protest-election-results

[babylonsister]

1. That's heartbreaking. nt

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. :^(

[ohio2007]

3. If you post on twitter, Iranians made a request;

An interesting bit to help counter the crackdown;

Multiple people on Twitter changing their location to Tehran to confuse the Iranian government.

.....

Change Twit Profile Timezone to GMT+03:30 Tehran & location to Tehran foil ID attempts on Iranian patriots


.....

: Support ppl of Iran, change Ur location/time zone to Tehran, Iran, harder 4 them 2 track others this way!
http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23iranelection

that is all

[chatnoir]

9. I did see that earlier, thanks

In response someone had posted:

"Once Again: Changing tweet information doesn't do anything. Authorities can monitor web traffic NOT newbs using Twitter Search #iranelection"

and

"Congratulations you brilliant tweeters hiding @usernames and distorting locations you've made it impossible to verify anything #iranelection"


I really have no idea to what extent that is true, however.

[IndianaGreen]

4. The Independent's Robert Fisk (our favorite war correspondent) reports the same

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x456693

[AverageJoe5]

5. Analysis of words in the news story (note words I've capitalized)

From the 1st sentence of the 1st paragraph: "At least 12 people MAY have died in violent clashes with Iran's security forces ....."

From the 1st sentence of the 3rd paragraph: "A Farsi website, Balatarin, carried an UNCONFIRMED report that seven people had been killed in the southern city of Shiraz ......"

From the 1st sentence of the 4th paragraph: "The Guardian UNDERSTANDS that five students MAY also have died in clashes at Tehran University early on Sunday.

Based on usage of the words MAY, UNDERSTANDS, UNCONFIRMED etc. in the sentences quoted above, do you think this news story is reporting facts or rumors?

[IndianaGreen]

6. Fisk was onsite at Tehran University

He didn't see the bodies for they had been buried already. He merely recounted what he was told by the students. While some may classify this as anecdotal, I will point out that we didn't have a hard bodycount during the Pinochet coup or during the Khmer Rouge emptying of the cities. It was years later when we got the hard count.

[Liberation Angel]

7. They are Reporting facts

The facts are that reports of deaths are coming in from several sources.

The facts are that the reports are unconfirmed.

The facts are that it is hard to get accurate info due to the government crackdown

The facts are that efforts to confirm the deaths and numbers are underway and we'll know more hopefully soon.

[uppityperson]

8. And search shows me very interesting posts by you.

May your stay on Du be enlightening, may you open your mind and learn something. Maybe