Nahid Rahimipour Anaraki, Prison in Iran. A Known Unknown
| Author | Azadeh Kian |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14624745211029097 |
| Published date | 01 October 2022 |
| Date | 01 October 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Reference
Tonry M (1995) Malign Neglect: Race, Crime, and Punishment in America.New York:Oxford
University Press.
Megan Comfort
RTI International, USA
Nahid Rahimipour Anaraki, Prison in Iran. A Known Unknown, Palgrave/
Macmillan: The Netherlands, 2021; 178 pp. ISBN 978-3-030-57168-9,
£89.99 (hbk)
Although in recent years, several books have been published on Iran’s political prisoners
either by themselves after liberation or on the experiences of incarcerated and executed
political prisoners, the often stigmatized ordinary prisoners have not attracted much atten-
tion of researchers.
Rahimipour Anaraki’sPrison in Iran. A Known Unknown starts with an overview of
the history of prisons and the changes in the penal laws. This chapter is based on a few
secondary sources. Under the Qajars who ruled Iran from the late Eighteen Century to
1925, torture, ceremonial punishments and arbitrary laws governed. Prisons resembled
dark holes with no fresh air, no beds or light and where prisoners were buried alive.
Following the Constitutional Revolution (1906–1911) laws were reformed and a
Tehran Central Prison was established with the help of the Swedish as a temporary deten-
tion center. With the advent of the Pahlavi dynasty founded by Reza Shah (1925–1979)
the Penal Code was reformed, and separated from the Islamic roots, moving toward
European legal tradition. Modern facilities, such as the Qasr prison in Tehran, were estab-
lished and prison conditions were improved. However, the exercise of power over bodies
as an inseparable part of the penal system persisted. During the late 1920s and early 1930s
the number of political prisoners grew as a result of increased activities of political oppo-
nents, mainly the communists, many of whom were incarcerated and executed in Qasr
prison.
Following the 1953 coup organized by the CIA, the British MI6 and the Iranian royal
court against the democratic government of Mohammad Mossadeq, hundreds of
members of the Tudeh Party (a pro-Soviet Party) and the National Front (led by
Mossadeq) were incarcerated. Dozens from the Tudeh Party were executed and several
members remained in prison until the 1979 revolution. The repression even became
more brutal, especially, between 1971 and 1977. The infamous Evin prison was built
in 1971 and its capacity expanded from 300 to 1500 in 1977. The continuous human
rights abuse of the SAVAK, the secret service, was criticized by human rights’organiza-
tions in the 1970s. The Fadayi and Mojahed guerrilla activities had intensified during
those years. Many were executed in prison, others remained in captivity. For example,
in 1975, the number of incarcerated women political prisoners increased to 200 in
Qasr prison. They were deprived of family visits, books, newspapers, warm clothes,
750 Punishment & Society 24(4)
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