- 7 October 2009
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- 7 Comments
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- Events in Iran, Human Rights in Iran, Iran Election 2009
Photos of Kahrizak’s prisoner overflow facility
7 October 2009 Posted By Patrick Disney
Mowjcamp has published photos of the infamous Kahrizak prison’s overflow facility, which a truth committee has claimed was the site of torture and mistreatment of detainees.
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7 Responses to “Photos of Kahrizak’s prisoner overflow facility”
The third photo is really curious. Is that a camera in the foreground? The military/police official appears to be a Lt. Colonel (Sarhang dovom سرهنگ دوم).
Not much of an overflow facility. It appears very small, in comparison to even average-sized American municipal jails. It doesn’t even look very secure. One thing is for sure, Iran certainly does not have the immense prison infrastructure that currently exists in the US.
This facility compares more to an average American city’s juvenile hall, in size and security. Certainly no gulag.
Questions for Mark Pyruz: when was the last time a protestor was killed by police or other security forces during demonstrations in the U.S.? When was the last time dozens of protestors were killed by police or other security forces during demonstrations in the U.S.?
@Alireza:
“Four dead in Ohio”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings
The civil rights movement was not free from bloodshed either. Not sure if protesters have been killed more recently.
Of course, the situation in Iran is on a whole other level of brutality..
My point exactly: this happened nearly 40 years ago, and it has become an iconic event (including the CSNY song). I can’t help but think that Mark Pyruz was seeking to dowplay the brutality of the IRI by implying that conditions in Iran are not that bad compared to the U.S.
Alireza:
Sorry if I gave you that impression. I simply made a few observations from the studying the photos, and made a comparison of facilities. There was no downplaying.
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a medium-sized American state prison or even a medium-sized municipal jail. If you had, then you’ll fail to be impressed by this “overflow” facility.
I should point out that it’s not the incarceration structure that’s really the big issue here. I think the focus should be centered on Iran’s weak judiciary system. The Iranian constitution is filled with basic rights, but unfortunately its weak judiciary system has been found unreliable, and wanting.
There is plenty of bad politics to go around in the US, but what ultimately protects American citizens from much of it is our reasonably reliable and independent judicial system. Apparently not so in Iran.
I’d just like to add, however, that 40 years is an eyeblink in human history. And I very much remember the police beatings, massive demonstrations, arrests and incidents of shootings by security forces in the US during the 1960’s, early ’70s. I also remember that there was an American “silent majority” that opposed the demonstrators. The recent WPO opinion poll taken in Iran suggests the possibility of a “silent majority” in Iran today.
Mark,
In the 40 years since Kent State (or since 1979 to be more precise), the IRI has killed well over 15,000 of its own citizens. In his book “Tortured Confessions”, the historian Ervand Abrahamian cites a Mojahedin “martyrs’ list” that includes 12,028 killed between June 1981 and June 1985 (74% through executions, 22% in armed confrontations, and 4% under torture). The list does not include the 128 Bahais, 9 Jews, and 32 Tudeh and Majority Fadayis executed during that period. Nor does it include the thousands executed from 1979 to June 1981 or from June 1985 till the present day (particularly the several thousand executed in 1988)!!! Are you comparing that Reign of Terror in scale and scope to “the police beatings, massive demonstrations, arrests and incidents of shootings by security forces in the US during the 1960’s, early ’70s”?
With all due respect, anyone who takes a public opinion poll conducted in Iran at face value either knows nothing about the murderous IRI regime (see preceding paragraph) or is being disingenuous. Any poll taken in Iran (which certain quarters in the U.S. love to quote) shows that a substantial number of people simply refuse to answer the question. Do you think fear could be playing a role? Let me enlighten you with a few examples (you may say these are mere anecdotes, but they give you a sense of how Iranians have to get by living inside Iran; moreover, the brutality of the IRI is well-documented and not merely anecdotal): a family friend called her daughter in Iran. On the phone, the daughter felt compelled to denounce the demonstrators as “troublemakers”–exactly the line taken by the IRI’s media. The mother, who obviously knows her daughter well, was certain that she spoke in this way out of fear that phone calls are being monitored. My own cousin in Esfahan happened to mention that the Basijis had gone around smashing people’s windows because they had left their front doors open so demonstrators could run inside and find safe haven from the security forces. When I visited Iran myself in 2004, I decided to visit Khomeini’s tomb (call it morbid curiosity). When asking for directions to the mausoleum, I always made sure to use the respectful term for Khomeini “Emam” (and this for one of the worst Iranians in Iran’s long history).
The “silent majority” in Iran is the one cowed into silence by the ruthless repression of the lousy IRI regime. Do you really think it is otherwise?
BTW, the 15,000 figure is a conservative estimate.