Amnesty, quoting figures from the Red Cross, said that at least 343 people were treated for injuries and 59 more were hospitalized after the last protests
Lebanon should investigate allegations that security personnel used excessive force to disperse protesters in Beirut last week, Amnesty International said on Saturday, calling for restraint ahead of another planned mass protest march in the capital.
Anti-government protests drew thousands onto the streets before turning violent last weekend. Prime Minister Tammam Salam threatened to resign, a move that could tip the Lebanese state into deeper political turmoil.
Organisers have called for another protest starting at 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) in Beirut. Security forces have installed additional barricades and barbed wire in areas near the government headquarters. The "You Stink" campaign has mobilised independently of the big sectarian parties that dominate Lebanese politics after the government failed to solve a crisis in trash disposal, leaving piles of refuse rotting in the summer sun.
For the protesters, the mounds of trash reflect the failings of a state they say is rotten with corruption from the inside out. Protest organisers blamed last weekend's violence on "infiltrators" linked to political movements. Security forces last week fired water cannons and tear gas against demonstrators, some of whom threw stones and sticks at riot police.
Amnesty, quoting figures from the Red Cross, said that at least 343 people were treated for injuries and 59 more were hospitalised after the protests. "They must ensure prompt, independent investigations are conducted and that police and soldiers suspected of arbitrary or abusive force are brought to justice," said Lama Fakih, Senior Crisis Adviser at Amnesty International.
She also called on security forces to refrain from using unnecessary force against peaceful demonstrators at Saturday's protest.
"IF YOU DON'T COME, WE WON'T SUCCEED"
Campaigners are calling for the environment minister to resign, for snap parliamentary elections and a resolution to the garbage crisis. They also want better public services in a country with daily electricity cuts and summer water shortages.
"We are asking since last week for the defeated and poor Lebanese people, and those who need work and medical services, to join us today in this protest," activist Khaldoun Jaber said, after camping out overnight in a square near the government headquarters. "Maybe we can achieve the Lebanon we dream of."
The garbage crisis has exposed wider political deadlock in Lebanon, where sectarian and power rivalries have been stoked by the Syrian conflict next door, more than two decades since Lebanon's own civil war.
Salam's government, which groups together rival parties, has been mostly hamstrung since it came to office last year, paralysed by power struggles and disputes among politicians. Salah Noureddine, a Lebanese national who travelled from Britain to take part in the protest on Saturday, said it was now time for the protest movement to remove "the corrupted system we inherited after the civil war."
"I ask all expatriates and all Lebanese from all religions to join in the protest," he said. "If you don't come, we won't succeed. If we stay at home, they will rule for another twenty five years or more."
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