(New York) - Iran's paramilitary Basij arecarrying out brutal nighttime raids, destroying property in private homes andbeating civilians in an attempt to stop nightly protest chants, Human RightsWatch said today. Human Rights Watch also said the Iranian authorities areconfiscating satellite dishes from private homes to prevent citizens fromseeing foreign news.

"While most of the world's attention is focused on thebeatings in the streets of Iran during the day, the Basijis are carrying outbrutal raids on people's apartments during the night," said Sarah Leah Whitson,Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Witnesses are telling us that theBasijis are trashing entire streets and even neighborhoods as well asindividual homes trying to stop the nightly rooftop protest chants."