Ex-lawmaker renews call for Iranian investigation

BY KHOSRO SHEMIRANIE, MONTREAL
Globe And Mail - April 07 2005
A former Iranian parliamentarian who led an internal government inquiry into the death of Zahra Kazemi in 2003 says he saw evidence that partially corroborates recent testimony by former Iranian military doctor Sharam Azam.
In an interview from Iran this week, Iranian cleric Hossein Ansari Rad - who lost his parliamentary seat last year after reformers were barred from running by the ruling theocracy - said "some details by him match our findings, for instance the detail about the broken nose and the broken toe."
Dr. Azam, a former emergency-room physician in a Tehran military hospital, has said he examined Ms. Kazemi early on the morning of June 27, 2003 several days before she died, and found her to have been brutally beaten and raped.
Iranian officials have rejected Dr. Azam's story, saying there is no record of him having worked in the hospital where Ms. Kazemi was treated. There have also been reports that Iranian reformists involved in the case were not aware of Dr. Azam or his story.
But Mr. Ansari Rad, who led the parliamentary 'principle 90 commission' that looked into Ms. Kazemi's death, said the fact that Dr. Azam's story had not emerged sooner is no indication of whether it is true, because investigators were did not interview all hospital staff.
"It was the right thing to ask all the hospital staff, who were somehow involved in this case or could have any information, but we did not do this," he said.
Asked whether he'd seen evidence of rape, Mr. Ansrai Rad said that in the reports he saw, rape was not mentioned. He added, however, that "our investigation was limited by the information which we could receive from the officials at that time."
He added that the inquiry based its findings on medical reports provided by Iran's health minister at the time, Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian.
Mr. Ansari Rad renewed his call, first made in the aftermath of Ms. Kazemi's death, for a "substantial and complete" investigation. "From the outset I was of the opinion that we have to search for the truth," he said. "Because of this I faced the protests of some of my colleagues."
Different Iranian government officials have at various times acknowledged that Ms. Kazemi was murdered while in the custody of the country's security forces. But Iran's official view is that she died after fainting and hitting her head.
Yesterday, an Iranian-Canadian journalist who played a key role in putting Dr. Azam in contact with Ms. Kazemi's family in Canada, said he personally verified last year that Dr. Azam worked at Tehran's Bagghiattulah military hospital.
After hearing from the doctor by e-mail on Nov. 5, said Montreal journalist Ali Sharifian, he telephoned the hospital. "I tried for three or four hours," he said. "The operator talked to me. I said I'd like to talk to Dr. Azam. The lady said he'd left for Europe for some medical treatment."
In fact, Dr. Azam was in Sweden at the time, where he'd gone after receiving permission to seek treatment in Finland for an old injury sustained in the Iran-Iraq war.
Since Dr. Azam's testimony has emerged, Ms. Kazemi's son, Stephan Hachemi, has redoubled his efforts to pressure the Canadian government into taking a more active role in the case. Yesterday lawyers for Mr. Hachemi met with senior officials from the Prime Minister's Office and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Although the government has made no promises or commitments as yet, said Hachemi lawyer John Terry, he said he was "very impressed" with the tone of the meeting.
"They looked with us at a broad range of measures," he said. "I think the government does agree with us that they want to pursue measures that will have the most effect on the Iranian government."
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs minister Pierre Pettigrew said the meeting was positive, and that there will be another soon.
Khosro Shemiranie is a freelance journalist living in Montreal, with a report from Michael Den Tandt