memphiz
07-28-2004, 01:34 AM
over photographer's murder
MONTREAL (AFP) - Canada warned it would ratchet up pressure on Iran over the killing of a jailed Iranian-Canadian photographer, and called on Tehran to respect international human rights norms.
Photo
AFP/File Photo
But Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew's promise of action fell far short of measures demanded by the press, his opposition counterpart and the family of Zahra Kazemi, who died while in Iranian custody last year.
The issue exploded into a new diplomatic row after a security agent was acquitted in Iran on Saturday of the photographer's murder.
"We are going to work with our partners across the world, in the European Union (news - web sites) and in the United Nations (news - web sites) to increase the pressure on Iran," Pettigrew told reporters here.
He promised Canada would use the next session of the United Nations General Assembly to review its resolution denouncing Iran's human rights record that was adopted last November.
"Iran must accept its responsibilities in line with its own laws, but also in line with the UN Declaration of Human Rights," Pettigrew said in his first public comments on the issue since 42-year-old Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi was acquitted on Saturday.
Kazemi, a 54-year-old freelance photographer with dual nationality, died in July 2003 from a brain haemmorrhage, the result of a blow to her skull inflicted after her arrest for taking photos outside Tehran's notorious Evin prison.
The judiciary had initially claimed Kazemi died of a stroke, but a government report later revealed she had been struck by a blunt object.
Kazemi's family has demanded justice, and charged the Canadian government with doing too little to call Tehran to account over the case.
"I'm questioning myself on the honest intention of the Canadian government ... it's a shame," Kazemi's son, Stephan Hachemi, said Tuesday.
He called on Canada to raise the case at the International Court of Justice, and demanded the expulsion of Iran's ambassador to Canada.
Iran's decision to bar Canadian diplomats from the last day of hearings into the case prompted a furious Ottawa to recall its ambassador to the Islamic Republic.
A senior Canadian foreign ministry official said privately that a possible downgrading of relations with Iran could be in the cards.
But Canadian officials have said nothing publicly to suggest such a move is a possibility.
Canada's political opposition on Monday lambasted Pettigrew, accusing him of "soft-pedalling" to a "repressive" government in Iran.
The chief Conservative Party opposition spokesman for foreign affairs, Stockwell Day, accused him of "failing to take immediate and decisive action" and said he had failed "his first test as foreign affairs minister."
Pettigrew was appointed Foreign Minister earlier this month in a cabinet shuffle.
"The federal government should realize by now that soft-pedalling with repressive regimes, such as Iran, only earns contempt, not respect," Day said.
"Iran's contempt for the Kazemi family and our government shows that our weak response has led to this pathetic outcome."
Three UN human rights experts earlier Tuesday accused Iran of favouring a climate of impunity and said they were profoundly concerned at the acquittal verdict.
The UN special *******eurs on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, on the independence of judges and lawyers, and on torture expressed "their profound concern regarding the unanswered questions which have resulted from the acquittal of an Iranian intelligence officer on 24 July after a two-day trial".
The experts, Ambeyi Ligabo, Leandro Despouy, and Theo van Boven respectively, said in a statement that Iranian "authorities are favouring a climate of impunity for law enforcement officials and setting the ground for the recurrence of similar human rights violations in the future".
MONTREAL (AFP) - Canada warned it would ratchet up pressure on Iran over the killing of a jailed Iranian-Canadian photographer, and called on Tehran to respect international human rights norms.
Photo
AFP/File Photo
But Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew's promise of action fell far short of measures demanded by the press, his opposition counterpart and the family of Zahra Kazemi, who died while in Iranian custody last year.
The issue exploded into a new diplomatic row after a security agent was acquitted in Iran on Saturday of the photographer's murder.
"We are going to work with our partners across the world, in the European Union (news - web sites) and in the United Nations (news - web sites) to increase the pressure on Iran," Pettigrew told reporters here.
He promised Canada would use the next session of the United Nations General Assembly to review its resolution denouncing Iran's human rights record that was adopted last November.
"Iran must accept its responsibilities in line with its own laws, but also in line with the UN Declaration of Human Rights," Pettigrew said in his first public comments on the issue since 42-year-old Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi was acquitted on Saturday.
Kazemi, a 54-year-old freelance photographer with dual nationality, died in July 2003 from a brain haemmorrhage, the result of a blow to her skull inflicted after her arrest for taking photos outside Tehran's notorious Evin prison.
The judiciary had initially claimed Kazemi died of a stroke, but a government report later revealed she had been struck by a blunt object.
Kazemi's family has demanded justice, and charged the Canadian government with doing too little to call Tehran to account over the case.
"I'm questioning myself on the honest intention of the Canadian government ... it's a shame," Kazemi's son, Stephan Hachemi, said Tuesday.
He called on Canada to raise the case at the International Court of Justice, and demanded the expulsion of Iran's ambassador to Canada.
Iran's decision to bar Canadian diplomats from the last day of hearings into the case prompted a furious Ottawa to recall its ambassador to the Islamic Republic.
A senior Canadian foreign ministry official said privately that a possible downgrading of relations with Iran could be in the cards.
But Canadian officials have said nothing publicly to suggest such a move is a possibility.
Canada's political opposition on Monday lambasted Pettigrew, accusing him of "soft-pedalling" to a "repressive" government in Iran.
The chief Conservative Party opposition spokesman for foreign affairs, Stockwell Day, accused him of "failing to take immediate and decisive action" and said he had failed "his first test as foreign affairs minister."
Pettigrew was appointed Foreign Minister earlier this month in a cabinet shuffle.
"The federal government should realize by now that soft-pedalling with repressive regimes, such as Iran, only earns contempt, not respect," Day said.
"Iran's contempt for the Kazemi family and our government shows that our weak response has led to this pathetic outcome."
Three UN human rights experts earlier Tuesday accused Iran of favouring a climate of impunity and said they were profoundly concerned at the acquittal verdict.
The UN special *******eurs on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, on the independence of judges and lawyers, and on torture expressed "their profound concern regarding the unanswered questions which have resulted from the acquittal of an Iranian intelligence officer on 24 July after a two-day trial".
The experts, Ambeyi Ligabo, Leandro Despouy, and Theo van Boven respectively, said in a statement that Iranian "authorities are favouring a climate of impunity for law enforcement officials and setting the ground for the recurrence of similar human rights violations in the future".