HUMAN RIGHTS: No International Court Can Hear Kazemi Lawyers' Complaint against an Iranian Citizen, Says Advocate

New York-based human rights advocate Elahe Hicks says there is no international court to which Kazemi family lawyers can take their case, but complaints can be filed with the UN General Assembly’s human rights committee, or the UN Human Rights Commission. Aronold Amber, a spokesman for the Canadian journalists for human rights says the abrupt ending of the trial was not unexpected. July 24, 2004 - The UN can ask Iran to give Kazemi’s file to UN experts for investigation, before the case could be sent to an international body at the request of Canada, New York-based human rights activist Elaheh Hicks tells Radio Farda’s broadcaster Maryam Ahmadi. A court in Tehran acquitted the only defendant in Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi’s death in custody, and refused victim family’s lawyers’ motion to summon witnesses and order further investigation to identify the real perpetrators. The family’s lawyers and human rights advocates said they may pursue the case in an international venue, such as the international court of justice in The Hague. “There is no international court that can prosecute an Iranian citizen for Kazemi’s murder,” Hicks says. “There is no court outside Iran to which Kazemi’s lawyers can take their case,” she adds. However, she adds, there are legal mechanisms, such as filing a complaint with the Third Committee (Human Rights Committee) of the UN General Assembly, or complaining to the UN Human Rights Commission’s special reporter on torture or arbitrary executions, which can send a delegation to Iran to investigate the case. Considering Iran’s judiciary’s track record, it was not unexpected to see an abrupt end to slain journalist Zahra Kazemi’s death in custody trial, Arnold Amber, a spokesman of Canadian journalists for freedom of expression, tells Radio Farda’s Toronto correspondent Maryam Aghvami. Their practice during the past year has shown that the Iranian judiciary officials have constantly avoided justice, he adds.