LEADER 04000nam 2200661 450 001 9910495960703321 005 20230822195750.0 010 $a0-520-92290-5 010 $a0-585-08126-3 024 7 $a10.1525/9780520922907 035 $a(CKB)111004366722946 035 $a(MH)008002802-0 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000260299 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)12079479 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000260299 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10193153 035 $a(PQKB)10661036 035 $a(DE-B1597)543600 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780520922907 035 $a(OCoLC)1153515108 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC30495844 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL30495844 035 $a(EXLCZ)99111004366722946 100 $a20230801d1999 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur||#|||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aTortured Confessions $ePrisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran /$fErvand Abrahamian 205 $aFirst edition. 210 1$aBerkeley, California :$cUniversity of California Press,$d[1999] 210 4$dİ1999 215 $a1 online resource (vii, 279 pages ) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 0 $a0-520-21623-7 311 0 $a0-520-21866-3 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tAcknowledgments --$tIntroduction --$t1. Reza Shah --$t2. Mohammad Reza Shah --$t3. The Islamic Republic --$t4. Tudeh Recantations --$t5. Mass Executions of 1988 --$tNotes --$tBibliography --$tIndex 330 $aThe role of torture in recent Iranian politics is the subject of Ervand Abrahamian's important and disturbing book. Although Iran officially banned torture in the early twentieth century, Abrahamian provides documentation of its use under the Shahs and of the widespread utilization of torture and public confession under the Islamic Republican governments. His study is based on an extensive body of material, including Amnesty International reports, prison literature, and victims' accounts that together give the book a chilling immediacy. According to human rights organizations, Iran has been at the forefront of countries using systematic physical torture in recent years, especially for political prisoners. Is the government's goal to ensure social discipline? To obtain information? Neither seem likely, because torture is kept secret and victims are brutalized until something other than information is obtained: a public confession and ideological recantation. For the victim, whose honor, reputation, and self-respect are destroyed, the act is a form of suicide. In Iran a subject's "voluntary confession" reaches a huge audience via television. The accessibility of television and use of videotape have made such confessions a primary propaganda tool, says Abrahamian, and because torture is hidden from the public, the victim's confession appears to be self-motivated, increasing its value to the authorities. Abrahamian compares Iran's public recantations to campaigns in Maoist China, Stalinist Russia, and the religious inquisitions of early modern Europe, citing the eerie resemblance in format, language, and imagery. Designed to win the hearts and minds of the masses, such public confessions--now enhanced by technology--continue as a means to legitimize those in power and to demonize "the enemy.". 606 $aTorture$zIran 606 $aPolitical prisoners$zIran 606 $aConfession (Law)$zIran 606 $aPunishment$zIran 607 $aIran$xPolitical science 615 0$aTorture 615 0$aPolitical prisoners 615 0$aConfession (Law) 615 0$aPunishment 676 $a365.64 700 $aAbrahamian$b Ervand$f1940-$0501824 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910495960703321 996 $aTortured confessions$92865968 997 $aUNINA