IRAN STILL SUFFERING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, SAYS AMNESTY

Amnesty International reports arbitrary arrests, torture and extensive use of death penalty in Iran 30 years after Islamic revolution. Kurds and members of the Baha'i faith are "particularly harshly treated", especially in provincial areas where scrutiny by human rights groups is harder, according to a new report. The "vast scope and scale" of violations after the 1979 revolution declined during 1997 to 2005, the report adds. But hopes for improvement "have been firmly crushed" since the hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005. AI UK director Kate Allen said "Amnesty continues to record executions, torture and the arrest of people who voice dissenting opinions. The Iranian authorities should turn their back on torture and unfair trials and release all prisoners of conscience."