Iran and Afghanistaniran
There were female political prisoners in Iran long
before women’s prisons were established and prior
to the modern discourse of the political prisoner,
which goes back to the last quarter of the nine-
teenth century. The imprisonment of women was
an important aspect throughout all periods of
political suppression.
1840s/1850s. Suppression of the Bàbì
movement
Qurrat al-≠Ayn, a woman leader of the Bàbì
movement was until her execution incarcerated
(January 1850–October 1852) in a non-official
prison, in the upper chamber of the house of
Tehran’s chief of police, Ma™mùd Khàn Kalàntar.
1920s/1930s. Suppression of the socialist
movement
In the 1920s, women’s associations and newspa-
pers were attacked by the police and groups linked
to the mullahs. Some of the prominent feminists
were exiled and their journals closed. In Qazvìn
alone, 24 members of Anjuman-i Parwarish were
incarcerated. In the 1930s, some women linked to
the Communist Party were imprisoned.
1950s. Suppression of the National Front
and Tudeh Party
Several members of the Iranian Women’s Organ-
ization linked to the Tudeh Party were imprisoned.
1970s. Suppression of Marxist and Marxist
Islamic guerrilla organizations
In the early 1970s, female political prisoners
were still seen as an appendix rather than as politi-
cal opponents and were incarcerated alongside
common criminals. Women’s suffrage coincided
with political suppression in the 1960s. This led to
the significant appearance of women in political
opposition. Because of the radicalization of politi-
cal struggles in the 1970s the regime took drastic
measures. The Anti-Terrorism Committee, com-
manded by SAVAK (secret service), brutally tor-
tured prisoners. Women and girls were also victims
of sexual torture such as rape. In the maximum
Political Prisoners
security prisons of Qaßr and Iwìn separate blocks
for women were added. Hundreds of women were
condemned to imprisonment, many for life. Forty-
two were killed, including those killed in armed
confrontations and others who committed suicide
just before capture. Three were executed by firing
squads, three murdered in prison and some died
under torture. Under the pressure of protests the re-
gime proclaimed a general amnesty on 26 October
1978.1979–. Gender-based suppression in the
Islamic Republic of Iran
In 1979, FarrukhrùPàrsà, the former female
minister of education, was executed for “sowing
corruption on earth.” Iranian officials announced
that she had been “wrapped in a dark sack and
machine-gunned.” This marked the beginning of
gender-specific suppression.
Between 1981 and 1985 the Islamic Revolution-
ary Committees caused the high-security prisons of
Iwìn, Qizil £ißàr, and Guhar Dasht in Tehran and
other prisons to be overcrowded with many thou-
sands of female political prisoners, from 10 to over
70 years old, among them members and sympa-
thizers of oppositional groups or mothers helping
their children. Closely watched by repenters
(tawàbìn) and female wardens, they were at the
mercy of male guards who tortured, raped, mar-
ried, or executed them.
Sixty died under torture and over 1,500 were exe-
cuted: 47 were pregnant, 187 were under eighteen,
22 were thirteen to fifteen-years-old, 9 were under
thirteen, 2 were over seventy, and the youngest was
ten. In addition many Bahà±ìwomen were executed
for refusing to recant.
Ideological courses accompanied the continual
torture, which was used not only to obtain infor-
mation or ideological recantations in public but
was also part of everyday life in prison. The goal
was to destroy the entire personality. Resistance and
disobedience were brutally punished. In 1986, dis-
obedient women were confined in boxes for up to
ten months and many went mad.
Some repenters sought an end in (temporary)
marriages with eligible guards, others in suicide. In
1988, non-repentant prisoners were executed. Hun-
dreds of women linked to the Mujàhidìn organiza-