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7 - The Problem of Overcrowded Prisons in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2025

By
Anna Enayat  and
Hadi Enayat
Edited by
Hadi Enayat  and
Mirjam Künkler
Hadi Enayat
Affiliation:
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations, Aga Khan University
Mirjam Künkler
Affiliation:
Institute for Advanced Legal Study
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Summary

The 1979 Revolution led to the construction of a penal system ostensibly based on Islamic principles of restitutive and restorative justice rather than incarceration. This was tied to an Islamic vision of justice as swift and efficient, with emphasis on corporal punishment as opposed to socially detrimental imprisonment. Despite this, custodial sentences have been used extensively since 1979 and imprisonment rates have often been above the median in global terms, even though the level of violent crime has been relatively low. Furthermore, Iran has been unable (or unwilling) to generate the prison capacity needed, leading to severe problems with overcrowding and attendant health problems, such as the spread of HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. Concentrating mainly on “ordinary” rather than “political” prisoners, this chapter discusses the reasons behind the overcrowding in prisons since the revolution and the government’s attempts to alleviate the situation.

Keywords

amnestybride price (mehrieh)blood money (diyeh)decarceration (zendanzadai)overcrowdingpardonspretrial detentionprison conditionsnarcoticsunintentional prisoners (zendanian-e qeireh amd)
Type
Chapter
Information
The Rule of Law in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Power, Institutions, and the Limits of Reform
 , pp. 187 - 235
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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