The Research Directorate was told on 16 April 1998 by a professor of political science at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, specializing in Iran, that some policemen who serve in court houses, which are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, are conscripts.

Further information on Iranian conscripts serving under the Ministry of Justice in the 1990s could not be found; however, according to the World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Penal Systems (1989),

The prison system is officially under the Ministry of Justice, but the Ministry of the Interior and the armed forces also play a considerable role in its operation and management. There are three categories of prisons: police jails, under Gendarmerie supervision in rural areas and under National Police supervision in urban areas, court prisons, under the criminal courts ... and penitentiaries, under direct military supervision for long-term sentences (187).

The same source provides the following information about the Gendarmerie:

Some gendarmes are conscripts who have completed their military service, or inductees selected for this duty. Many are volunteers. ... Except for the inducted enlisted personnel, who serve for two years, the usual enlistment period is three years (186)

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Professor of political science, Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario. 16 April 1998. Telephone interview.

World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Penal Systems. 1989. Edited by George Thomas Kurian. New York: Facts on File.