TEHRAN, 11 August 2004 — Putting a former theater director in charge of a detention center for hardened young criminals might seem a bold decision.
For Iran, where prison directors tend to have military backgrounds and human rights activists say abuse of detainees is rife, it is nothing short of revolutionary.
But the once run-down and violent Tehran Juvenile Correction and Rehabilitation Center has undergone a sea-change since Mansour Moqarehabed took charge six years ago, winning praise from international observers and local rights groups.
Blending unorthodox methods — one involves taking a depressed inmate for a night out in the city — with an emphasis on trust and participation, Moqarehabed has even won over skeptical colleagues accustomed to a more robust approach.
“There was some resistance from the staff here at first and they used to say it had become the kids’ kingdom and that I was too kind to them,” he told Reuter during a visit to the center in northwestern Tehran.
“(But) the judiciary wanted these changes to happen. That’s why they appointed someone with a theatrical background and not a military background.”
Grave problems still exist in Iran’s prisons system. A June Human Rights Watch report called “Like the Dead in their Coffins” detailed many cases of torture and abuse of students and journalists by their jailors. Last month, one inmate had to have his hands amputated after being bound to a ceiling fan in a prison in southwestern Iran.
Iran’s hard-line judiciary has latched on to the juvenile center as a potential antidote to the negative publicity.
President Mohammad Khatami recently paid a high-profile visit, international delegations are regularly given a tour and now, for the first time with Reuters’ visit, the foreign media have been allowed in to have a look.
Inside the sprawling complex — currently home to about 210 boys and 30 girls housed in a separate wing — there is a relaxed, but orderly atmosphere. Security appeared low key with just a handful of uniformed guards and no barred windows. The boys were busy with a range of activities from playing soccer to learning job skills such as hairdressing or computing. In one workshop a group of boys took a carpentry class, wielding saws and chisels even though many had history of violent crimes, including stabbings and murder.
“I want to trust them and they have to trust us,” said Moqarehabed, placing his arm around a boy who was holding a chisel in one hand and a mallet in the other.
“When the children see that we like them, they like us in return,” agreed Madieh Firouzie, who runs the smaller section for girls, most of whom were picked up for prostitution. “When they see that we respect them they never forget it.” Rights worker Mahbubeh Khonsariyeh, who teaches the children “life skills” such as how to avoid arguments, said the center had revolutionized the handling of juvenile criminals.
“The center has been very successful in developing these children. If only society would be as receptive to them,” said Khonsariyeh.
