Watchdog

Rights defenders are calling on Iran to release a group of young people who were arrested in Tehran for making a video in which they danced to Pharrell Williams' hit song "Happy."

Those arrested -- including at least six young men and women -- were shown on state TV on May 20, where they expressed remorse.

They said they had been "tricked" and had not intended for the video to be made public.

In the footage on state TV, a police officer criticizes them for dancing in mixed company, which is against the law.

Bloomberg News reports that the video was posted online last month and received 30,000 hits in four days, before it was removed.

The U.S.-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran condemned the arrests, saying the youths "were breaking no law. It is sheer thuggery."

It is not clear what charges the youths face.

With reporting by Bloomberg News

Inmates in Uzbekistan’s largest penitentiaries have reportedly been deprived of family visits and parcels.

Relatives of several inmates in various penal colonies across the country told RFE/RL on May 19 that they have been refused access to their incarcerated relatives for almost a month.

Some of the inmates' relatives say they were told that a "temporary quarantine" had been introduced due to repair works in the penitentiaries' visiting rooms.

Officials at Uzbekistan's State Directorate to Monitor Penitentiaries refused to comment on the situation.

A representative of the Tashkent-based Ezgulik (Compassion) human rights group, Abdurakhmon Tashanov, told RFE/RL that the development is a violation of both Uzbek law and Tashkent's international commitments.