The commission report focused on the circumstances surrounding the death of 54-year-old Zahra Kazemi, who succumbed July 10 in the intensive care unit at Baghiyetollah Hospital. Her death came roughly two weeks after she was hospitalized following over three days of interrogation by security officers and prosecutors. She was never formally charged with a criminal code violation.
The report on Kazemi's death contradicted initial claims that the photographer died of a stroke. In a July 20 report, the IRNA news agency said the commissioners found that Kazemi's death was directly connected to a "physical attack." The commissioners' report did not attempt to assign responsibility for the death.
Militia members loyal to Iran's conservative clerics and judiciary arrested Kazemi on June 23 in Tehran for taking pictures of a protest near a prison. While in custody, Kazemi reportedly complained about "punitive" action by interrogators, according to the report.
Media reports said the presidential commissioners found that Kazemi suffered a "fractured skull, brain hemorrhage and its consequences resulting from a hard object hitting her head or her head hitting a hard object." The commissioners went on to urge a judicial inquiry, calling for the formal questioning of anyone who saw her after the moment of her arrest. Such a witness list would include members of the Revolutionary Guards, who reportedly control the hospital where Kazemi spent two weeks in intensive care.
Even before the report became public, some reformist intellectuals had grown despondent about President Mohammed Khatami's ability to protect journalists and promote free expression. Prominent intellectuals including Abdul Karim Soroush, Mohsen Kadivar and Masoud Behnoud called on Khatami to resign, which the president reportedly offered to do in a speech on July 10. A letter from Soroush reportedly blamed Khatami for squandering the hopes that democracy activists invested in him when they voted for him in 1997.
A source close to the president says Khatami has no intention at this time of resigning. "The country would be in more chaos and anarchy than you could imagine [if Khatami resigned]. He [the president] has his own responsibility. He wants to stay until the end," the source told EurasiaNet in a telephone interview from Tehran.
Khatami's administration has been unable to prevent a conservative-led crackdown on free expression. Since late June, over a dozen journalists have been detained and several reformist periodicals have been closed. The international advocacy group Reporters without Borders says that its requests for information on detained journalists "have not received the slightest reply." The group has also called on authorities to exhume Kazemi and return her body to Canada.
Officials in Iran have rebuffed an attempt by the Canadian government to have Kazemi's body returned. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the government in Tehran considered Kazemi to be an Iranian. The official indicated that an Iranian court would make a final decision on the issue pending a possible judicial inquiry.
Iranian journalists see the arrest of their colleagues as a symptom of a general breakdown in free speech. One reporter, speaking on condition of anonymity, told EurasiaNet that some journalists suspect that they are the victims of a conspiracy. "Arresting journalists isn't related to student protests. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archives]. Hardliners and members of the judiciary acted as though they were trying to control the protests and anarchy, when in fact they were using the protests as a good excuse to punish the opposition," the reporter said during a telephone interview.
The Kazemi incident is helping to prompt the international community to focus on human rights practices in Iran. The European Union, for example, is mulling whether to make economic cooperation with Iran conditional on human rights improvements. On July 21, according to published reports, European Union ministers debated a draft statement that rules out an expansion of economic ties until Iran softens its stance on nuclear facility inspections and makes a greater commitment to guaranteeing essential rights. Iranian officials have called the human rights proviso a tactic designed to force them to accept the broadest possible nuclear inspection regime. [For background, see the Eurasia Insight archives].
The Iranian government has not proven receptive to international human rights investigators. Ambeyi Ligabo, a Special Rapporteur for the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights, had been scheduled to begin a 10-day visit on July 17. Citing scheduling problems, the government postponed his trip on a day's notice. Ligabo is now seeking to reschedule the fact-finding mission for before the end of 2003.
For some journalists, the outcome of the Kazemi case may determine Khatami's political future. "The ball is again in Khatami's court. It's up to him to be active or play it cool!" said the Iranian journalist who asked for anonymity. "This is a historic time in Iran. If the president can produce the culprit to the people, he could rescue the country and take the credit."
Editor's note:
Camelia Entekhabi-Fard is a freelance journalist specializing in Afghan and Iranian affairs.
