Watchdog

The government of Canada has expressed its concern over the arrest of six Iranian Bahai followers in Iran and has called for their release.

Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier said the six, who were detained in Iran on May 14, "were detained solely on the basis of their faith," the French news agency AFP reports.

Bernier said the detentions represent the "ongoing decline" in Iran's rights situation.

The Bahai faith is banned in Iran. In January, an Iranian court sentenced more than 50 Bahai members for antigovernment activities.

An Uzbek woman imprisoned for criticizing Uzbekistan's government over its armed response to a protest in the town of Andijon three years ago has won a prestigious international human rights award.

Reuters quotes organizers as saying Mutabar Tadjibaeva, laureate of the 2008 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, is in declining health. They are demanding her immediate release.

The annual award is named after British lawyer Martin Ennals, who was the first secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Commission of Jurists are among groups comprising the jury.