|
Women Fear Killer's Release
28.7.2006
By Azeez Mahmood in Sulaimaniyah (ICR No. 187,
27-Jul-06)
|
|
|
|
Kurdish women’s rights
activists say blood money payment in a high-profile
case sets a dangerous precedent for crimes against
women.
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan-Iraq, -- Women's
groups in the Kurdish north of Iraq have expressed
outrage that a convicted killer may be released
after paying blood money to the family of his female
victim.
Salih Ahmad, who goes by the name of Salih Muzali,
is serving life in prison for the murder of
32-year-old Mahabad Abdullah in 1999. The family of
Muzali, a wealthy and powerful man who formerly
owned a car dealership, recently paid 170,000
dollars to the family of the dead woman, and could
be released if he is granted amnesty by the
Kurdistan region’s top official.
Kurdish women's groups have expressed outrage at the
possibility that Muzali could be let out. The
Halwest Group, an umbrella association of 37 women's
organisations, last week called for the convict to
be kept in prison.
The deal was reached by the families of Mahabad and
Muzali with the help of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, PUK, one of two main parties in the
Kurdish north. This is not unusual, as the big
Kurdish parties maintain social affairs offices
whose duties include supervising such reconciliation
agreements, especially when blood has been spilled.
The agreement usually involves money as compensation
for victims or their families, who then effectively
forgive the perpetrators. Women never attend when
these agreements are being hammered out.
Once the families have come to terms, the matter
reverts to conventional criminal law. In such cases,
the regional president – currently Masood Barzani –
has the powers to grant amnesty to the convicted
criminal.
Halwest member Najeeba Mahmood explained why her
group was concerned about this case, "Women are
afraid that tribal mentality will overcome the power
of the law, especially when it comes to women's
issues. This will pave the way for other people to
abuse women and get away with the crime through
tribal agreements. That is a serious threat to
women."
Barzani’s spokesman Fouad Hussein noted that the
president had received a letter of appeal from
Halwest urging him not to give an amnesty to Muzali,
but said he had not made a decision on the case yet.
The killing of Mahabad, who was described as
extraordinarily beautiful, sent shock waves through
the quiet city of Sulaimaniyah. But the case – as
well as the subsequent murder of her sister Jwana –
has never been explained satisfactorily.
Mahabad was found shot dead in a semi-deserted area
of Sulaimaniyah in 1999. Muzali was suspected of
involvement and went on trial, but was found not
guilty.
Muzali was formerly a senior figure in the PUK and
was a member of the peshmerga, the Kurdish guerrilla
movement.
Nask Abdullah, another of Mahabad’s sisters, has
alleged that Muzali and his family threatened Jwana
and warned her not to testify against him during
this trial. A brother of the sisters was reportedly
shot dead outside the courthouse.
Two years later, both Nask and Jwana were abducted.
The former was later found unconscious, while
24-year-old Jwana was found dead three days later.
Muzali became a suspect again, but maintained he was
innocent of Jwana's murder was never put on trial
for it. But in 2002, he admitted to killing Mahabad.
Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, who is head of the
PUK, has pledged never to allow Muzali’s release,
Kurdish women's organisations say. But the
independent Kurdish newspaper Awene this week
printed a letter which Talabani purportedly signed
in 2004 asking Omar Fatah, the then prime minister
of the Sulaimaniyah administration, "to resolve the
matter tribally". The letter indicates that this
request was made after Muzali's brother pleaded for
his release, saying that Mahabad's family believed
he was.
Talabani spokesman Hiwa Othman said he was not aware
of the letter.
Mahmood, of the Halwest association, said women's
groups planned to confront Talabani if they can
confirm that the letter is genuine.
As well as appealing to Barzani, Hawlest has also
written to the Kurdistan regional parliament
condemning the agreement reached by the two
families. But the campaign has not won support from
the Abdullah family.
Mahabad’s brother Ari Abdullah released a statement
saying "we have no feud with Salih Muzali and his
family", and confirmed that the Abdullah family had
received 170,000 dollars as compensation for the
murder.
"We don't have any problem with [Muzali] being
released," said Ari. "We hope he will be set free
under the law."
Contacted by IWPR, Ari Abdullah refused to comment
further, saying that "this case is closed".
In an interview for the Awene newspaper, Muzali said
that he did not use intimidation to secure the
agreement, and is now waiting to be set free.
"This isn't the first time a person has made a
mistake…" Muzali told Awene. "And she's not the
first woman ever killed."
Azeez Mahmood is an IWPR contributor in
Sulaimaniyah. Iraqi Crisis Report editor Tiare Rath
contributed to this report.
iwpr net
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 