Amnesty: Iran journalists should be freed

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TEHRAN, June 27 (UPI) -- Dozens of journalists imprisoned in Iran since June 12 are at risk of being tortured in jail, Amnesty International says.

The human rights group said in a release Friday it has designated the jailed journalists as prisoners of conscience.

"It is shocking that journalists -- whose job it is to provide information to others -- are being detained, on top of all the other draconian measures the authorities have taken to restrict the free flow of information about what is really happening in Iran," Amnesty's statement said. "Rather than trying to investigate alleged abuses, the only message the authorities are sending is that they are seeking to hide the truth, both from their own citizens and the rest of the world."

Amnesty says dozens of journalists, some who also campaigned for opposition presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, have been detained for two weeks with their whereabouts mostly unknown.

In one example, Amnesty said about 20 of 25 employees of the newspaper Kalameh Sabz were arrested at their office June 22 and are still being held at an unknown location. Kalameh Sabz is a newspaper established by Mousavi this year. It has not been published since June 14.