tion were hanged as “armed enemies of God,” left-
ist women were whipped at the five times of prayer
for weeks. One woman died after 22 days and three
committed suicide. Approximately one hundred
women survived the massacre because of the public
protests of Iranian women in Berlin in 1989.
In the 1990s and the early 2000s, the female
political prisoners were mostly prominent lawyers,
journalists, publishers, and others struggling for
women’s rights.
afghanistan
Merely for being relatives of male offenders,
Afghan women constituted generations of anony-
mous prisoners, for example women and children
belonging to the royal family as well as those
belonging to Islamists (1978 and 1979). Women
were also imprisoned and tortured as political
offenders.
1970s
The first republic (Sardar Dàwùd 1973–8) was
based on political repression; one response to this
was the foundation of the Revolutionary Associa-
tion of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) in Pakistan
in 1976.
1980s
Under the Communists and Soviets, the numer-
ous interrogation and torture centers of the secret
service, Khidmat-i I†ilà≠at-i Dawlatì(KHAD), were
opened to women. Numerous women were
arrested for taking part in student demonstrations
or as members of armed opposition organizations.
At the same time, leftist women were condemned
by Islamic courts in the regions controlled by Mujà
hidìn. There were cases of execution. As prisoners
iran and afghanistan 567of war, Afghan women and their children were
objects of a significant gender-specific victimization.1990s
Mujàhidìn groups imprisoned, tortured, and raped
women and children of ethnic-religious minority
groups and those of the rival ethnic groups in offi-
cial and private prisons. Many were executed and
many went missing. In 1993, under President
Rabbànì in Kabul, Shì≠ì minorities, including
women and children, were imprisoned, tortured,
and raped. From 1995 to 2001, the Taliban militia
kidnapped hundreds of non-Pashtun women and
forced them into marriages with Taliban com-
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