Not likely.
Bruce http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/04/01/pf-979527.html April 1, 2005 Martin: Iran must be held accountable By STEVE MERTL KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CP) - Iran must be held to account by the international community based on the strength of a doctor's account of the injuries he found on Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi, Prime Minister Paul Martin said Friday. "I think there's no doubt whether you are talking about international courts or whether you are talking about the UN Commisison on Human Rights," he said, "I would certainly think the details of what happened to her now in the testimony that has been brought has got to make the world aware of just what Iran is all about and that they have got to be held to account." Kazemi, 54, an Iranian-born dual citizen, was arrested after taking pictures outside a prison in Tehran in June 2003. Iranian officials first claimed she died accidentally as the result of a fall while weakened by a hunger strike. Later they charged a low-level secret police officer in her death but he was acquitted in a closed-door trial. But on Thursday refugee doctor Shahram Azam, formerly with the Iranian military, spoke with clinical coolness at a news conference as he listed the bruises, broken bones and other injuries he found on Kazemi. These could only have been the result of the deliberate torture and rape, he said. Speaking through an interpreter, Azam recounted in a matter-of-fact way how Kazemi was brought into his Tehran hospital unconscious and on a stretcher on June 27, 2003, four days after her arrest. Azam, a former major in the Iranian security force, arrived in Canada on Monday. He fled Iran last summer with his wife and daughter under the guise of seeking medical treatment. On Friday, Martin defended Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew's handling of the Kazemi case. And he backed the Foreign Affairs Department's decision to keep the allegations under wraps until after Azam had come to Canada. Foreign Affairs was apparently aware of the allegations last November when he applied to come to Canada after fleeing Iran for Sweden. "I think that's what's very important is to have the testimony of the doctor," Martin said at the end of a two-day trip to B.C. "That was more striking and obviously brought the matter home in the way that a simple statement wouldn't." Martin said he hoped the new information would have an impact on Canada's attempts to enlist international support in pressuring Iran to answer for Kazemi's death. Pettigrew said Thursday the doctor's "gruesome" account of her injuries only reinforces Canada's belief she was murdered but that didn't change the "dossier." Pettigrew's response drew opposition criticism from both the NDP and Conservatives, who demanded Canada recall its recently appointed ambassador to Iran and impose economic sanctions. Pettigrew rejected demands to recall Canada's ambassador or impose sanctions unilaterally. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
