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Group Urges Iraq to Probe Excessive Force Used at Protests

by Associated Press

   BAGHDAD --

   A leading international watchdog has called on the Iraqi government to
   investigate the excessive use of force against protesters demanding
   better services and jobs in the country's south.

   In a report issued on Tuesday, the Human Rights Watch also urged that
   members of the security forces responsible for using lethal force at
   the rallies be disciplined or prosecuted.
   Early this month, residents of oil-rich Basra province staged protests
   against the lack of jobs and poor services. The rallies spread to other
   provinces in Iraq's Shi'ite heartland.
   The protests turned violent with security forces killing a number of
   protesters who attacked policemen and damaged government property.
   HRW's Mideast chief Sarah Leah Whitson has warned that "as the
   government fails to address protester grievances, the danger of further
   bloody protests remains real."