LATEST: Rights Group — Lebanon’s Police Torturing Vulnerable People
Twenty-three people died in attacks across Iraq on Tuesday, including a suicide bomb among a group of demonstrators complaining about lack of security in the northern city of Tuz Khormato.
At least one bomber detonated his explosives near Turkmen protesters who had set up tents, demanding protection after a car bombing on Sunday.
The explosion killed at least 11 people, including two local Turkmen leader, and wounded 42.
Tuz Khormato is in a band of territory contested by Arabs, Kurds, and Turkomen, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Baghdad.
In another attack, five Shiite pilgrims — among tens of thousands gathering in the holy city of Karbala for the Shabaniyah festival — were killed when their bus was assaulted about 55 kilometers (35 miles) south of Baghdad.
In the evening, a bomb stuck to a minibus killed three passengers and wounded five in Baghdad’s southeastern Zafaraniyah neighborhood, a mainly Shiite area.
On Monday, bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere left at least 42 people dead.
The violence in Iraq is at its deadliest in almost five years, with more than 1000 people killed in May. So far in June, at least 354 people have been killed and 1,092 wounded. bit.ly/AFPIraqToll
(Feature Photo: Aftermath of a bomb on Tuesday in the Husseiniyah section of Baghdad — Photo: AP)
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Turkey: Twitter & Facebook Refused Government “Request for Cooperation”
Minister of Transportation Binali Yıldırım has claimed that Twitter and Facebook refused the Turkish Government’s request for cooperation during this month’s nationwide protests.
The Erdogan Government has said that it is planning to bring out a law to regulate social media, halting on-line online “terrorism”. The Ministry of Interior asserted that it is working with the Justice Ministry to enact a new law which will enable authorities to investigate and prosecute individuals who publish false and provocative posts.
Rights Group: Lebanon’s Police Torturing Vulnerable People
Human Rights Watch on Wednesday accused Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces of ill-treating and even torturing vulnerable people including drug users, sex workers, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people while in custody.
In a 66-page report released to coincide with the UN’s International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, HRW interview over 50 people arrested for suspected drug use, sex work, or homosexuality over the past five years, who said they faced difficulties in reporting abuse.
Nadim Houry, HRW’s deputy Middle East director, said that abuse is “common in Lebanon’s police stations, but it is even worse for people like drug users or sex workers. The abuse of prisoners, especially the most vulnerable people in society, isn’t going to stop until Lebanon ends the culture of impunity in its police force.”
