Basra residents call for human rights recognition

Alertnet

Residents of Basra, some 550km south of the capital, are calling for recognition of their human rights following a series of allegations of abusive treatment by local police. This follows the announcement by the central government in Baghdad that security in the south of the country was improving.

Though Basra has long been free of sectarian violence, residents say the city is beginning to fragment along Shi'a and Sunni divisions and that, as a result, violence is on the rise. More than 250 civilians have been killed in Basra since the beginning of May. Read more