Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Rare Look Inside Iran's Notorious Jail

Associated Press: Iran Opens Doors of Feared Evin Prison
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran opened the doors of its most feared prison to journalists Tuesday, allowing them to interview a jailed Iranian-American academic in a move seen as an effort to blunt criticism of the country's human rights record.

The rare look inside Evin Prison — where inmates were seen swimming in an open-air pool, cooking meals and studying for university exams — contrasted sharply with tales of harsh treatment from some recently released prisoners.

Amnesty International said the tour was not representative of a facility where people have been tortured and political prisoners have been held without charges.

Forty journalists were taken on a 4-hour tour of five cellblocks at the sprawling facility in northern Tehran on the slopes of the Alborz Mountains. The reporters were allowed to talk freely with prisoners in their cells and in the halls. Guards were nearby during the interviews, but did not intervene. Read more.

P.S. Last year, BBC reporters were also allowed to visit the prison.

And here is the human rights lawyers and Nobel laureate, Shirin Ebadi's personal experience in Evin.

8 comments:

Sophia said...

Naj,

Read Bricmont's article where he speaks about the ideological setting for the war against Iran. It is a good article and the link is in my latest post.

jmsjoin said...

naj
You know, quite honestly I have never heard anything about prisoner abuse in Iran. This may be propoganda from the west but I only hear that it is easy to get arrested and put in one. They most definitely highlight that it is hard to get out if supposedly jailed unfairly.

jmsjoin said...

Oh yeah, I am going to xcheck that out now so thanks!

jmsjoin said...

Some torture and deaths aside, the daily amenities sound far superior to American prisons.

jmsjoin said...

naj
I don't know what happened but I left a few comments on this, this morning. I heard it was easy to get in there and not easy to get out but from what I read the daily amenities far out way ours in prison short of an accasional torture or death.

jmsjoin said...

Keep writing about Iran I find you very informational!

Anonymous said...

Haleh Esfandiari Talks about Detention in Iran
http://www.musicman.com/motarjem/labels/Gwen%20Ifil%20Haleh%20Esfandiari%20Kian%20Tajbakhsh.html

Georg said...

Bonjour Naj,

Very interesting indeed. Sure, there is a lot of intox swirling around.

I very much appreciated the photo on the right side of your blog showing art in the metro. Splendid.

Georg