Canadian Photojournalist killed in Iran, July 10, 2003

I remember this being mentioned briefly around the time of the event, but I think it

got swept away as unarchived. A search for "Kazemi" turned up nothing on photo.net.

<p>

<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/07/30/kazemi_030730"

target="323">(CBC) News Iranian official says Kazemi likely murdered</a><p>

<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/kazemi/" target="asdfasd">(CBC)

News Indepth: Zahra Kazemi</a><p>

Mike Johnston's column reminded me, and I think she deserves a place in the great

photo.net database.

Well, this isn't really the purpose of this forum. News is what's happening now, not what happened 2 months ago. I'll probably zap this to a more appropriate archived forum when I can figure out which one is most appropriate.

 

If it had happened this week, it would have been news and hence appropriate for the News forum.

you might want to think twice about zapping it.

 

I posted the original notice of it.

 

It remains a major story in the small population country north of the US. The Iranian government is playing an elabroate game with this woman's death. And the murder of a photojournalist was Mike Johnson latest column. So maybe it is of interest for some duration.

 

I am often incorrect in my thinking.

 

regards

Bill Gibson

 

So

Thanks, Bob, for making a key PJ story inconsequential. Just because Kazemi was female, Canadian and not shot by GIs--which would have made her part of the "War on Terror"--makes all the difference, I guess. The story is ongoing--not dead and quickly buried like Kazemi.That, I believe, was Jeremy's intent.

There are updates on this story almost every week, here in Canada. Our Foreign Affairs department recently agreed with the French government that both countries would pressure Iran for explanations and trial of those guilty of this murder. It seems to be a growing human rights issue in Iran, too.

 

Maybe the US media don't care, but it is a rare instance of a PJ killing becoming a major international issue involving many countries.

You might want to read <a href="http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=7872">this report</a> on the attitude and situation of journalists in Iran following the Kazemi affair. It really is an ongoing crisis.

Go to

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/07/magazine/07ESSAY.html

 

for an essay from yesterday's NY Times Magazine on photojournalists covering war in general and Iraq in particular. The photo accompanying the story shows a big Canon lens covered with blood on an oriental rug.

 

The conclusions are quite provocative.

Phillipe,

 

The news coverage of this story in Canada raises some interesting questions, and sheds light on the role of 'mainstream' (/corporate) media in the current crusade to bring [western-style] 'democracy' to the Middle East, by installing pro-western regimes who want to sell us their oil, and cheap. Islam being of course the main (and perhaps, sole remaining) obstacle to this design.

 

Kazemi had dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship, and for that reason alone, official Canadian government remonstrations over this ugly incident seem a tad overzealous. Contrast this with the Canadian government's response to the 'friendly-fire' killings of Canadian troops by a U.S. warplane during live-fire exercises in Afghanistan. Or the numerous killings of journalists -- some verging on intentional murders -- by U.S. forces operating in Iraq (in contravention of international law). Or the charging of an Al Jazeera journalist with being an 'Al Qaida operative' in Spain (I could continue, but -- you get the idea).

 

The Iranian government has acknowledged that Kazemi was murdered, and perpetrators have been arrested. Iran is in a state of political turmoil (as is most of the region), with tensions between those who want to enjoy civil rights (including freedom of the press), and Islamic fundamentalists who, like their American Christian fundamentalist counterparts, want to maintain their stranglehold on government, through exclusive control of propaganda organs such as news media. The country is also under implicit, explicit and perhaps, imminent threat of military attack from the U.S. and Israel (which has long agitated that Iran needed attacking far worse than Iraq).

 

To put this all in perspective, until she was killed and became an international cause celebre (or at least a Canadian one), Kazemi was just an ex-pat reporting things mainly of interest to the Iranian ex-pat community in Canada. In death she has become a pawn in a grotesque tug of war (between governments, and relatives in both countries), because she was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

Is it worse to be beaten to death, or to bleed out from shrapnel wounds caused by a tank shell fired point blank into your hotel room? I don't think any of us here want to know.

 

I feel the approach of Mullah Bob, but I just wanted to make the point that nothing occurs in isolation, not even the death of a photojournalist, and things are never so simple or black and white as the media tries to make it out. Even the Canadian media.

<I>Kazemi was just an ex-pat reporting things mainly of interest to the Iranian ex-pat community in Canada</I><br /><br />(from cbc.ca "quick facts") "Born: Shiraz, Iran.

 

Died: July 10, 2003

 

Age at death: 54

 

Fled Iran: 1974. From there she moved to France, before landing in Montreal in 1993. She held joint Iran-Canadian citizenship. Profession: Freelance journalist. She did shoots in the West Bank, Jordan, Cote d'Ivoire, Libya, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Most recently, Kazemi freelanced for Montreal-based alternative magazine Recto-Verso. "She would expose anything she felt was unjust, especially regarding women's conditions," said Melanie Navarro, a colleague at the magazine."

hey, Back, as usual on this site, what you post speaks volumes about who you are.

Bill, I feel you are trying to make a point. Don't hold back, what its it?

Back Shooter: What you say is true (now that you re-established the facts about the "ex-pat") but there is more you should know about; and I still fail to understand your point.

 

About the things you should know, some "perpetrators" (a nurse, a doctor) were arrested in August - but there were released a few days later, as they obviously nothing to the killing - they just failed to prevent Mrs Kazemi's death. The murderers are still free.

 

Also, canadian mainstream journalists care very little for Mrs Kazemi's death. She was freelance, working for alternative papers (Recto Verso, initially a catholic worker paper, is a good monthly, however, with lots of circulation and more credibility than most alternative media) and not very well known. Her cause was initially pleaded mostly by Reporters without borders and freelance associations.

 

At the diplomatic level, you should also know that you cannot abandon your Iranian citizenship, according to iranian law. Therefore, Mrs Kazemi's canadian citizenship wasn't taken into account when she was arrested in July and she was treated just like any other Iranian. The universal value of the canadian passport is an important national symbol here and Canada simply cannot accept cases where foreign authorities don't care about it.

 

There have recently been numerous cases of migrants with full canadian citizenship not being treated as Canadians by foreign authorities. All these stories make the Foreign affairs department very angry, but there is usually little it can do as the main violator is the US - Canadians of Middle east ascent being treated on the basis of the country they were born, not their current citizenship.

 

In the Kazemi affair, the canadian government is trying to protect the reputation of the canadian passport, sending a message not only to Iran but also to the US. This passport thing is important for the cohesion of the country. In both referendums on Québec's independence, the idea that losing the "universally honored" passport would be a major loss was an uimportant argument of the "NO" side. Hints that the emperor might indeed be naked are nt welcome.

Philippe,

I was not aware that Iranians cannot (as you say), 'renounce their citizenship', which apparently accounts for her dual citizenship -- did she want, or attempt to renounce it?

 

Her courage and integrity aren't in question, but surely going into Iran (a nation in the grip of religious xeonophobia) as an Iranian citizen and Western journalist may also be considered somewhat reckless?

 

If the situation had been reversed, she might have been picked up as a spy or foreign operative (as did indeed happen to the Al Jazeera journalist arrested in Spain), and -- who knows? -- deported to wonderful places such as Pakistan or Guantanamo for, what, savage beatings 'observed' by CIA masters?

 

She certainly did nothing to deserve her fate. But the Canadian government's hypocritical posturing, and a failure by us as individuals to take in the whole picture, including the history of Western meddling in the region; the Shah, the Islamic revolution, the (Western-fuelled) Iran-Iraq war, will not contribute to any understanding of how or why this came to pass, or to prevent future recurrances.

 

Or protect the 'reputation' of the Canadian passport (which basically stands or falls on the perceived policies of the Canadian government). Canada is increasingly seen as the compliant handmaiden of U.S. policy, and after Paul Martin is crowned, this can only become worse. Suffice to say that the personal safety of people travelling in the Middle East under a Canadian passport is not going to be at all enhanced.

Back Shooter: I don't do if Mrs Kazemi tried or not to "renouce" (what would be the appropriate English word?) her iranian citizenship, but it wouldn't do any difference in the eye of the iranian government. For them, if you're born an Iranian, you're going to die an Iranian whatever you like it or not.

 

I agree with most of your analysis of the political situation in the Middle East and the US role in making the worst possible decision every time. That said, many reports tell us that iranian society is changing and that the mollahs' grasp on the country is weakening. Someone who was born in the coutry and knows the culture is in better situation to document this.

 

Yes, Mrs Kazemi put herself in a risky situation. I wouldn't accept such a risk myself and I even declined an invitation to join the canadian troops in Kabul as a reporter this fall. But even if she knew the risks, the responsibility for her death isn't hers! Responsibility lies with the repressive authorities who arrested her for photographing a riot in front of a prison.

 

As far as Paul Martin's agenda, program or intentions are concerned, if you understand something about it, please speak up, because then you're the only Canadian who does. His intents are obscure, to say the least. I don't even know if there really is a Paul Martin of if he's just an hologram or android designed to act as a perfect politician! ;-)

�Canada is increasingly seen as the compliant handmaiden of U.S. policy�

 

This perception is not accurate to anyone other than maybe a Canadian. Whether or not you like the current PM, when it comes to international diplomacy he has almost always pushed for global governance norms. This explains Canada�s stance on Kyoto and most obviously, the political opposition to Iraq, which Martin also backed. By trying to be on the forefront of this governance curve, this has allowed Canada to �punch above its weight� internationally, as can be seen by the number of senior Canadian officials who have sat on and often chaired various international committees.

 

Yes, this trend shifts with administration and Canada has often supported the US on various economic issues such as GM food, but interestingly these are also inline with Canada�s own economic interests in these matters and not simply compliant support for US policy. Of course this is influenced by the fact that more than 80% of Canada�s exports go to the US. They are wise to tread carefully. But regardless, Canada has taken risks by taking difference stances on some fundamental issues.

 

There is a significant difference between Kazemi in Iran, the Journalists in Iraq, and the Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. If you can�t see it, perhaps you are too influenced by your own conspiracy theories. Iran is not at war nor is it in a reconstruction period. Furthermore it is certainly not under explicit or imminent danger of military attack by the US. This unfortunate incident in Iran is a human rights issue that cannot be complicated under the guise of military conflict. �Overzealous� reaction? If Canada didn�t respond and doesn�t continue to pressure � that would be the real tragedy, as there is the opportunity for at least something positive to come out of this unfortunate incident.

 

Although there is political strife in Iran, I don't know if it can be described as unstable. Khatami is often criticised by the West for the slow pace of reforms. Perhaps he realises that lasting changes take time, particularly if they are to avoid destructive conflicts and complete destabilisation. These progressive changes, which can be encouraged by appropriate international pressure, can reflect shared humanistic values even if they don�t result in a secular regime that the West views as compatible in the short term.