#IranElection: CNN - 30 Mourning Mothers Arrested

30 Iranian mothers arrested at peaceful gathering, group says Jan 10, 2010 10:27 GMT

Thirty members of a women's group were arrested by Iranian security forces during a peaceful protest in a Tehran park on Saturday, a human rights organization reported.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, citing an eyewitness account, said more than 100 police and plainclothes officers broke up a gathering of the Mourning Mothers in Laleh Park Saturday afternoon. The group -- formed by women whose children have been killed in recent anti-government protests -- gathers every weekend at the park to call attention to the deaths.

"They would not allow anyone to even sit on the benches or congregate," the organization quoted the unidentified witness as saying. "After about 70 mothers entered the park, security forces engaged them and started chasing them, grabbing them, and forcing them into police vans. They used a lot of violence and insults in the process."

The witness said families and other members of the group later went to the Vozara Detention Center where officials provided the names of 30 members detained.

Hadi Ghaemi, a spokesman for the human rights campaign, told CNN that the members were being held overnight.

"Their families and colleagues are waiting for morning to arrive in Tehran to ask for their release," Ghaemi said.

via cnnmobile.com

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