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Activists, lawyers, journalists and bloggers have been fleeing Iran in record numbers since the Islamic regime began a brutal crackdown on civil society three years ago, Human Rights Watch reported Thursday.

The suppression campaign was launched in response to demonstrators who took to the streets in 2009 to protest the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad following a vote plagued by vote-rigging allegations.

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The post-2009 crackdown has profoundly affected civil society in Iran

The report says asylum claims in neighboring Turkey have jumped 72% since Tehran began targeting opponents so ruthlessly that Human Rights Watch said independent rights groups could no longer operate openly in Iran.

“The post-2009 crackdown has profoundly affected civil society in Iran,” said Joe Stork, the New York-based rights group’s deputy Middle East director. “The images of police beating protesters mercilessly may have faded from television and computer screens, but many Iranian activists continue to make the painful choice to abandon homes and families.”