(PEN Canada/IFEX) – The following is a 31 March 2005 PEN Canada media release: PEN Canada Disturbed about New Revelations of Torture in Death of Zahra Kazemi Toronto, March 31, 2005 – PEN Canada is outraged by the disclosure of information that strongly indicates that Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was tortured and raped prior to […]
(PEN Canada/IFEX) – The following is a 31 March 2005 PEN Canada media release:
PEN Canada Disturbed about New Revelations of Torture in Death of Zahra Kazemi
Toronto, March 31, 2005 – PEN Canada is outraged by the disclosure of information that strongly indicates that Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was tortured and raped prior to her death in 2003.
According to information provided by Shahram Azam, an ER doctor who examined Kazemi before she died, “her entire body carried strange marks of violence.” Her skull was fractured, fingers were broken, and she had extensive and severe bruising on several areas of her body, including in the abdominal area, which Azam concluded had been the result of “a very brutal rape.”
“We are outraged by this news, which further confirms our belief that Zahra Kazemi was tortured while in the custody of Iranian security officials before they killed her,” said PEN Canada’s Writers in Prison Committee Chair Alan Cumyn. “We appeal to Iranian authorities to acknowledge officially that Kazemi was indeed murdered at the hands of Iranian security agents and to identify and bring to justice those responsible for her torture and murder.”
Following the trial of an Iranian security agent in 2004, who was later absolved of charges in the killing of Kazemi, the Iranian government later stated that her death was “an accident due to a fall in blood pressure resulting from [a] hunger strike and her fall [to] the ground while standing.” However, the declarations of Dr Azam, who recently received political asylum in Canada, provide further, damning evidence that the government has deliberately covered up the real circumstances of her death.
PEN Canada has also written to Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew to renew pressure on the Iranian government to conduct an open inquiry into Kazemi’s death, punish the perpetrators and have the journalist’s remains repatriated to Canada, as per the wishes of her family.
On June 23, 2003, Kazemi was arrested outside Evin prison in Tehran while taking pictures of a student-led pro-democracy protest. She died several days later in custody.
PEN Canada has monitored the deteriorating state of freedom of expression in Iran for several years and advocated on behalf of those persecuted for their writings. It campaigns for the release of four Honorary Members – Amir Fakhravar, Akbar Ganji, Khalil Rostamkhani and Nasser Zarafshan – in prison simply for practising their right to freedom of expression.
About PEN Canada:
PEN Canada is a centre of International PEN that campaigns on behalf of writers around the world persecuted for the expression of their thoughts. In Canada, it supports the right to free expression as enshrined in Section 2(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
