A State of Fear by Dr Reza Ghaffari

Author:Dr Reza Ghaffari [Dr Reza Ghaffari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781857827163
Publisher: Metro
Published: 2012-06-08T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME

The Montazeri reforms opened up the potential for freer movement within the prisons. Cell doors began to open, allowing us to associate. Without the Tavabs constantly looking over our shoulders, these opportunities were seized upon whenever they presented themselves.

From being locked within our cells 24 hours a day, we began to be allowed free movement around the block and in the exercise yard throughout the hours of daylight – considerably more freedom of association than is permitted, say, in British jails. This didn’t apply to prisoners identified as ringleaders of prison resistance, who were still under 24 hour lock-up in solitary cells. There was no abrupt shift to a more liberal prison regime. The authorities wanted to maintain control and ensure that there was no danger of it running away from them. In some prisons, the transition occurred relatively quickly. But in the Golden Fortress the officials only gave away every concession grudgingly. For instance, when we attempted to elect block representatives to liaise with the prison authorities, they refused to countenance such a move – one which had already been put into action in other prisons, such as Gohardasht and Evin.

Our attempts to organise communal exercise in our block met the same stony response. In the early days of this handover period, the new governor visited the block. Unlike his predecessor, he arrived without club-wielding retinue and visited each cell in turn. He introduced himself as Haji Meysam, sat on the floor and invited his inmates’ comments on how to make this place more liveable – leaving the main gate open would have been nice.

As he passed down from the Tavabs towards the intransigents, his stops at each cell became longer. When he reached our cell at the very end, he spent nearly two hours squatting on the floor. Men from other cells, including Tavabs, gathered around the room to listen to the discussion, often chipping in. Those who couldn’t get in stood in the corridors, some standing on tiptoes to see over their comrades’ shoulders. The head Tavab of the block sat close to the governor, but did not have much to say. The whole tenor of the discussion was not pleasant for him.

The governor offered us group exercise. Haji Davoud had banned this, fearing that it would reinforce the prisoners’ solidarity. But this proposal was conditional on us accepting a Tavab as its organiser. One cellmate, Saíd, insisted that the main problem before had been the Tavabs, and as long as our activities were conditional upon their supervision there could be no real improvement. We would not take part in any cosmetic exercise of this sort. But the governor insisted that this was the bottom line. ‘We’ll give you three names, and you choose one, but there must be a Tavab present.’ This was not good enough. Saíd replied that as long as we had Tavab watchdogs, we would boycott all the events that they were supervising. The whole cell murmured its agreement.

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