IRAN PROTESTS
University tracks fate of detained students
CNN
Tehran: The University of Tehran is working to track and secure the release of its students who were arrested for taking part in recent anti-government protests in Iran, according to the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency, reports CNN.
A committee has been established to follow up on and track Tehran Universitys detained students situation. Our aim is to work with relevant authorities and facilitate the quickest release and return of those students to their studies and family embrace, Majid Sarsanghi, the University of Tehrans deputy chancellor for cultural affairs, is quoted by the news agency.
Its not clear how many students have been arrested in connection with the protests, which broke out more than a week ago. At least 21 people were killed, many in clashes with security forces trying to quell the rallies.
Authorities in Iran have said 450 people have been detained. The US State Department has put the number held at 1,000. It is unclear how many of the detained have since been released. Reformist Iranian lawmaker Mahmood Sadeqi told the semiofficial Iranian Labor News Agency that he holds details on detained students. But he said he does not know the whereabouts of 10 of the 90 who he believes were detained from across the country.
On the basis of our figures, at least 58 students from different Tehran universities have been detained so far and the strange point is that many of them are not involved in any political activities at all, he said. Sadeqi told ILNA he had spoken to the Ministry of Intelligence and hoped that most of the students would be released soon.
Rights group Amnesty International accused Iran of having an appalling track record of carrying out mass arbitrary arrests of peaceful demonstrators.
Given the alarming scale of the current wave of arrests, it is highly likely that many of those held are peaceful protesters who have been detained arbitrarily and now find themselves in prisons where conditions are dire and torture is a common tool to extract confessions and punish dissidents, said Philip Luther, Amnesty Internationals research and advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Four UN human rights experts on Friday urged Iran to respect protesters rights and allow freedom of expression and assembly.
The protests, the most powerful challenge to the regime in years, appeared to have fizzled Thursday after Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari asserted the unrest was officially over.
Mass pro-government rallies have taken their place in many Iranian cities. Government supporters turned out in force in Tehran and elsewhere Friday.
