Rights groups target Iran regime on anniversary of student protests

[democratic]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040708/wl_mideast_afp/iran_politics_students_040708180822

TEHRAN (AFP) - Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch challenged Iran's clerical regime over what they said were widespread incidences of torture committed in the wake of student-led unrest five years ago.


AFP/File Photo



In a statement released in London coinciding with the anniversary of the July 1999 disturbances, Amnesty called on Iran's hardline judiciary to undertake an impartial review of the trials of detained demonstrators.


It pointed to the cases of two detained activists, Akbar Mohammadi and Ahmad Batebi, who have complained of being subject to torture -- including being held under a "drain full of excrement" -- to exact confessions.


"To Amnesty International's knowledge, no open, independent investigation has ever been conducted into the allegations of ill treatment and torture," the statement said, adding that several fleeing students were granted asylum in European countries "where they received treatment for a range of incidences of torture, including instrumental rape."


New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the Iranian government to "immediately release all student detainees still imprisoned for peaceful dissent".


"In the weeks following the protests, thousands of students were arrested, taken away by the busload, and held in detention centers and prisons. While many of those initially detained were released, an unknown number of student protestors remain in prison," the group said.


"In subsequent years, students across the country have commemorated the anniversary of the July 1999 protestors with peaceful demonstrations and public speeches. This year, however, with repression at its highest since 1999, the government's message to students is clear: those who speak out will be detained, punished, and worse."


On July 9, 1999, pro-democracy students clashed with police in Tehran and other cities in unrest sparked by a heavy-handed police and vigilante raid on a small and peaceful campus protest over the closure of a newspaper.


This year the anniversary falls on Thursday, July 8, due to the difference in the Gregorian and Persian calendars.


Officially, one student was killed and hundreds of others injured in the 1999 violence, which prompted a major crackdown on dissent in universities -- a major driving force behind the pro-democracy movement.


On each anniversary, the regime has sought to prevent any gatherings from taking place.


This week Iranian authorities signalled they have outlawed all commemorations.


"In recent years there have been excellent relations between police and students and today, hand in hand, we should try to forget the bad memories of the 18th of Tir," or July 9, 1999, Tehran police chief General Morteza Talaie was quoted as telling student representatives this week.


University campuses and dormitories have all been closed for the summer, and a tour of the university areas in Tehran showed only a minimal police presence, regular evening traffic and no gatherings, AFP correspondents said.


In recent months, police and special forces units have also been out in force in the capital, officially to help crack down on bad driving amid an effort to cut Iran's massive highway death toll.


During anti-regime protests last summer, some 4,000 people were arrested. On the anniversary itself in 2003, protestors merely took to the streets of Tehran in their cars, honking their horns, with the sidewalks and universities patrolled by huge numbers of police.