THE USE OF IRANIAN STATE VIOLENCE AND COERCION IN 1979-1989; How the Iranian state tried to control its political opponents with violence and coercion through the prisons, the judiciary system and the (para)military forces

Abstract

This thesis examined how the use of Iranian state violence and coercion changed in the period 1979-1989 by looking at the prisons, judiciary system and the (para)military forces. The first part of the thesis describes the situation in the period before Ayatollah Khomeini, during the reign of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (1941-1979) in order to make a comparison with the investigated period. The data for this study were obtained from interviews with Iranian (former) refuges and migrants, witness reports and prison memoirs. On the basis of the results of this research, it can be concluded that Khomeini never fully established a monopoly of the legitimized use of violence and coercion. Especially in the first year after the revolution the use of violence was in hands of several groups. As Khomeini became more powerful, the state got more centralized and organized according to Islamic principles. Army, courts and prison wardens were purged of the opposition and the clerics took over the most important positions. The use of violence remained partly in hands of other parties, including the paramilitary. The division of this power fluctuated over time and was influenced by internal and external events, including the Iran-Iraq war. These results suggest that it is better to approach the state as a continuing process instead of a stable structure.