Max sent me the following article from Niki Stanford, MA:

Zahra Kazemi? Does her name ring a bell? Do you recall an image of her face, from TV coverage? Have you seen any of her photos? Who was she? Yes, was is the correct word. She was a photojournalist, a mother, and a Canadian born citizen, of Iranian descent.

Kazemi was one of our citizens who died in a manner so brutal and so utterly disgusting, that in a Canadian context, one could only imagine that a person with extreme psychopathology had committed the crime. And yet, those who brutalised her were not individual psychopaths outside the system, they were authorities -- authorised by, and working for, the Iranian government. She was their prisoner, held for a crime that was never made known and in a manner more horrific than anything seen or imagined.

There can be no reason on any level that would justify what they did to Zahra.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that what the authorities in Iran had done to her could be known firsthand from the physician, now in Canada, who had seen Zahra while she was dying.

According to the statement of Dr. Shahram Azam, made to CBC on April 1, 2005, her nose was broken, her left ear drum was ruptured, her head had a massive bruise, there was a bloody lump on the back of her head, and there was evidence of internal bleeding of the head. Any one of the brutal acts she sustained would have been extremely painful.

People die from such serious head injuries, but these were not the only injuries Kazemi had sustained. She also had deep lacerations on the back of her neck and calves, broken ribs, abdominal bruises, and bruises on her knees. Her feet and back had been flogged, one of her toes was smashed, she had broken fingers, and two of her finger nails had been torn off.

Individually, these actions make one physically recoil. Think, her nails, her toes! Even just a nail! Could there have been a torture more horrific?

Yes! it does get worse. As male physicians in Iran are not permitted to look at female patient’s genitals, a nurse reported to the physician that Kazemi had brutal damage to her genitals.

And we have no knowledge, yet, on what types of torture drugs they may have used on her.

This is one of those stories that chews one deeply to the bone and into the core of one's self. When they did that to her, remember, they did that to a Canadian, to one of our own people.

It is in Canada's best interest, and in the best interests of all the citizens of this country -- the best interests of your individual, as well as group, rights -- that Kazemi’s rights as a Canadian citizen be defended!

It has been almost two years since this horror occurred, and we in Canada, are still waiting.

Since July 20, 2003 when Zahra died, the Canadian government claims to have done what it could. Sure, they have repeatedly pulled the Canadian Ambassador to Iran, they have sat in on some of the trials, while not being permitted in on others. They have allegedly pressed for justice, but it all appears to have been haphazard with a strong resemblance to nothing at all.

Not doing something right by this Canadian woman, goes against everything we believe.

Nikki is right, Zahra should not be forgotten!