Rights group asks Iran to free 'mourning mothers'

[February 04, 2010]  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- A rights group has demanded Iran release 33 mothers detained during a weekly vigil for their children killed or missing in the country's postelection violence.

The U.S.-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said nine of the jailed women received emergency medical treatment after they were rounded up by security forces Saturday in a Tehran park where they hold their demonstrations.

A statement issued late Sunday by the group said the women suffered from "various illnesses," but gave no further details. Iranian authorities have not commented on the reported detentions.

The women are part of a "mourning mothers" gathering held by women whose children have been killed or unaccounted for in unrest since the disputed presidential election in June.

The group denounced the "unlawful detention of the 33 mothers" and called for their "immediate and unconditional release."

Iranian authorities have intensified crackdowns on opposition groups after several major anti-government marches in recent months. Demonstrations in late December ended in clashes between security forces and opposition supporters that left at least eight people dead in

A parliamentary investigation made public Sunday found the former Tehran prosecutor responsible for the deaths of at least three anti-government protesters imprisoned in postelection turmoil.

Saeed Mortazavi was the capital's prosecutor responsible for the now-closed Kahrizak prison at the time of the three prison deaths in July. Hundreds of protesters were detained amid massive street protests over claims of massive fraud in the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The report said Mortazavi claimed the three detainees had died from meningitis. After months of denials, Iran's hard-line judiciary acknowledged last month that the three were beaten to death by their jailers.

The opposition says more than 80 protesters have been killed in the postelection crackdown, but the government puts the number of confirmed dead at fewer than 40.

[Associated Press]

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