( CNN ) -- In the seven weeks since the military-backed bloodless coup in Honduras , several hundred people protesting against the de facto government have been arbitrarily arrested and beaten by government forces , a new Amnesty International report says . The marks of a police truncheon are shown on a student 's back after a protest , Amnesty International says . The report , released Wednesday , said the beatings were meant to punish those who opposed the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya in June . It includes testimony from , and photographs of , several people who were baton-whipped and detained by police officers who sometimes wore no visible identification and hid their faces behind bandanas as they broke up demonstrations . `` They beat us if we raised our heads ; they beat us when they were getting us into the police cars , '' said a student whom Amnesty International interviewed in late July at the police station where he was being detained . `` They said , 'Cry and we 'll stop . ' '' Multiple requests to the government for comment went unanswered . The government has said in the past that the demonstrators were arrested for engaging in violence and provoking authorities . The Honduran political crisis stems from Zelaya 's defiant push to hold a referendum that could have led to extending term limits by changing the constitution . The country 's congress had outlawed the vote and the supreme court had ruled it illegal . He was ousted in a coup on June 28 . The congress named Roberto Micheletti provisional president shortly after the military detained Zelaya and sent him into exile . Micheletti and his supporters deny that a coup took place , calling the action a constitutional transfer of power . The coup resulted in unrest throughout the country , with frequent clashes between police and military on one side and civilian protesters on the other . At least two people were shot to death , Amnesty said . Among several examples , the Amnesty report quotes F.M. , a 52-year-old teacher , who said he was demonstrating peacefully when police descended on the rally . `` They grabbed me and shouted , 'Why do you ( all ) support Zelaya 's government ? ' They beat me . I have not been informed as to why I am detained . '' He showed deep-red imprints on his back , which he said were from a beating with a baton . `` Detention and ill treatment of protesters are being employed as a form of punishment for those openly opposing the de facto government and also as a deterrent for those contemplating taking to the streets to peacefully show their discontent with the political turmoil the country is experiencing , '' said Esther Major , Amnesty 's Central America researcher .
President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a bloodless coup in June . Report : Beatings meant to punish those opposed to ouster of Zelaya . Multiple requests to the government for comment went unanswered .