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The night letter that came in February 2012, identified as originating from the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” in her native province of Wardak, proved she was not to be spared. Mr. Saboory showed the letter to a number of anti-terrorism experts in Kabul, who judged it authentic. It was quickly decided that Ms. Mohseni could not remain in Kabul, and India was seen as a safer destination than Iran or Pakistan. With her husband and small sons Elya, now 3, and Danyal, now 2, she fled.

“I have to say that I left Afghanistan in a really bad state,” she said in the interview. “I had been in someone else’s house for two weeks, so I left with nothing. All my things are there. I didn’t even have time to say goodbye to my two sisters and my brother.”

In Montreal, a special committee including Rights and Democracy president Gérard Latulippe was formed to address a situation unlike anything the organization had experienced in its 24 years. Then, in the midst of the crisis, Mr. Baird announced that Rights and Democracy would be closed, citing the turmoil that had engulfed the organization over the previous two years.

In discussions through an interpreter with the Montreal office, Ms. Mohseni had been led to believe the organization would provide legal help and [refugee] sponsorship so she could come to Canada. “But after that, the office closed down,” she said. “They gave me four months’ salary but nothing else.”

On April 17, 2012, Mr. Latulippe wrote a letter to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in India, urging that Ms. Mohseni be accepted as a refugee. He said that reliable sources had identified “elements specific to the Taliban” in the night letter she received. “We feel that her fear of persecution and bodily harm are well founded,” he wrote. That appears to have been the last official Canadian intervention on Ms. Mohseni’s behalf. Mr. Saboory said a low-level official from the Canadian embassy in Kabul came by the Rights and Democracy office after the night letter was received and recommended security improvements. “That’s the only support we received,” he said.