Zahra Kazemi

This is from the CBC. Not to say that one life is more important than another, but as fellow citizens, when need to be extremely concerned, and stand up for our rights to exist peacefully within other countries.

Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi died in Iranian custody on July 11, 2003, almost three weeks after she was arrested for taking pictures outside a prison during a student protest in Tehran.

Two days later, Iran's official news agency reported that Kazemi had died in hospital, after suffering a stroke while she was being interrogated. On July 16, 2003, the story changed. Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Iran's vice-president, conceded that Kazemi died as a result of being beaten.

Later, the Iranian government would charge an Iranian security agent in Kazemi's death. He was acquitted of a charge of "quasi-intentional murder. In July 2004, Iran's judiciary said the head injuries that killed Kazemi were the result of an "accident."

The case stayed under the radar screens of most Canadians until March 31, 2005, and the stunning revelations of Shahram Azam, a former staff physician in Iran's Defence Ministry. He said he examined Kazemi in hospital, four days after her arrest.

Azam said Kazemi showed obvious signs of torture, including:


Evidence of a very brutal rape.
A skull fracture, two broken fingers, missing fingernails, a crushed big toe and a broken nose.
Severe abdominal bruising, swelling behind the head and a bruised shoulder.
Deep scratches on the neck and evidence of flogging on the legs.

Read the rest of it here.