Remember the death of Zahra Kazemi, the Canadian-Iranian photojournlaist who was beaten to death in Iran after being arrested for taking photos of a protest outside a prison? The trial was a farce, her body was never exhumed for an autopsy and Canadian authorities never pursued the case further or so it seemed. That changed today when Sharham Azam, a former doctor with the Iranian Ministry of Defence who happened to be at the hospital where Zahra was taken, detailed the injuries she suffered at a press conference in Ottawa.

From the outset it was abundantly clear she didn't die of bruises to her head after her hungerstrike had caused her to fall as Iranian authorities claimed, a beating to the head at the hands of intelligence officers was more likely. The ordeal Dr. Azam described today however is far more gruesome:

He said he catalogued countless injuries on the woman, who arrived at the hospital unconscious. He said the broken bones, bruising and marks suggested she had been beaten, tortured and raped, with the wounds suggested the assaults had taken place over a period of time.

As a result of this it seems Canada's foreign minister has vowed to renew his efforts:

“This new evidence only strengthens our position and confirms that this was not an accident. It does not change our position. Quite the contrary. The family wants answers. Canadians want answers, and we will be pursuing this until justice is done.”

This is exactly the same position the government took shortly after Zahra's death and to date there have been no tangible results to validate that apporach, quite the contrary. The conservative opposition in Canada wasted no time to come up with some concrete action points:

Mr. Day urged Ottawa to pull Canada's ambassador to Iran, demand the return of Ms. Kazemi's body to her family and agree to a new trial, with an international presence involved in the proceedings.

Bringing the guilty to justice in cases like this is next to impossible as in reality it would mean bringing down the entire theocracy in Iran. The Canadian government faces an uphill struggle in seeking justice, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. Some drastic measures including the involvement of the international court of justice (think Lockerbie) could be a first step, but it requires will and spending political capital, both of which are in short supply in Canada's capital these days.

NOTE: Zahra Kazemi while holding a Canadian passport was also Iranian and the color of her skin may have something to do with the less than zealous approach by Canadian authorities, an argument often heard during the recent Air India trial and eloquently debunked by David Fum:

The outraged families of the victimes ask whether Ottawa would have shown equal carelessness had the victims been predominantly white rather than predominantly of subcontinental origin. On this one point, Canada's record since 9/11 should set the survivors' minds at ease: Yes, the Canadian government would have been just as careless.

Somehow I think that Frum's comment is equally applicable to the Kazemi case.

UPDATE: A reader comments:

Canada has a problem protecting it's citizens abroad because what lever would it use? It is fine to have a pacifist foreign policy; but it leaves you little option when you or your citizens are attacked. I doubt Iran will be anymore moved by Canada's pleading then it is by Europe's attempt to bribe it into compliance on the nuclear issues. So what is left the UN? Good luck. It is to late to protect Kazemi; it is not however to late to think about how valuable it is to be a free Canadian.