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'Honour' killing: Pressure grows on UK to
extradite suspect from Iraqi Kurdistan
22.11.2007 |
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Man
wanted for murder held in Iraqi Kurdistan. CPS
criticised for refusing to ask for his removal
November
22, 2007
LONDON, UK, -- A man who is wanted in the UK
for his alleged involvement in a notorious "honour"
killing has been arrested in Kurdistan region
'northern Iraq' and offered for extradition.
However, Kurdish officials say that prosecutors are
refusing to ask for his removal, raising fears there
and among campaigners in Britain that some of those
responsible for the death of Banaz Mahmod will not
face justice.
Mahmod, 20, from Mitcham, south London, was
tortured, raped and strangled last year by a gang
recruited by her uncle, Ari Mahmod, because her
family disapproved of her boyfriend. |
Banaz Mahmod Babakir Agha, Found dead, brutally
killed by her family. Banaz had left her husband and
fall in love with an Iranian Kurd. |
Her body was found in a suitcase and buried in a pit
three months after she disappeared. In the weeks
before her murder, she repeatedly told police of
threats from her family and, on one occasion, an
attempt by her father to kill her, but officers did
not take her claims seriously.
Following a trial at the Old Bailey, her uncle, her
father, Mahmod Mahmod, and a third man, Mohamad Hama,
were sentenced to life for her murder.
But two other suspects fled to Iraq after the
killing. Detectives have been trying to trace them
for more than a year and warrants have been issued
in the UK for their arrests on suspicion of murder.
The Guardian has learned that one of the wanted men,
Mohammed Ali, has been arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan
over a separate matter. The Kurdish authorities say
they are willing to extradite him. They are now
seeking to arrest the other suspect, Omar Hussein.
But, according to Kurdish and British sources, the
CPS has failed to launch extradition proceedings.
One senior official at the Kurdistan regional
government (KRG) in Iraq expressed concern that no
official request has been made for extradition. "The
British CPS wired the KRG and asked for only the
name and fingerprints of the person who has been
arrested, but there has been no extradition
request," said the official. www.ekurd.net
"It is a concern for the ministry. We have asked for
the arrest of the second suspect wanted in
connection with the crime. The Kurdish regional
government want suspected criminals to face justice
and if the British government ask for them to be
extradited properly and officially, we will
extradite them."
A representative in Britain of the PUK, one of the
two coalition parties in the Kurdish government,
said it was frustrated by the lack of action. Shanaz
Ibrahim Ahmed said: "It is up to the British
authorities. We have repeated ourselves hundreds of
times. Tell us who you want. If the British
government do not act, it will encourage criminals
to take refuge in an already troubled area."
The CPS says extradition is impossible. A spokesman
reiterated advice given in June this year, which
stated that "under current Iraqi law extradition is
not possible", and added that the Iraqi constitution
did not allow its nationals to be extradited.
However, its interpretation of the law appears to be
at odds with that of the solicitor general, Vera
Baird. In an answer to a parliamentary question last
week, Baird said: "In general, extradition
arrangements do exist between the UK and Iraq and
the UK is a party to an extradition treaty with
Iraq."
Alison Kemp, British counsel general in Iraqi
Kurdistan, said: "When I spoke to the KRG, they
underlined the seriousness with which they regarded
cooperation with suspects of "honour" killing. The
regional president, Massoud Barzani and the prime
minister Nechirvan Barzani have spoken publicly
about how concerned they are about the issue of
"honour" killings."
Support groups for victims of "honour" violence say
the case is a test of how serious the British
authorities are about catching and prosecuting
suspects who flee the country. They contrast the CPS
approach in this case with the attempts made to
bring the suspected killers of Alexander Litvinenko
to justice. Extradition proceedings were launched
even though no extradition treaty existed, and the
Russian authorities had repeatedly stated that they
would not hand over the suspect. www.ekurd.net
Jasvinger Sanghera, the director of Karma Nirvana, a
support group for victims of "honour" violence,
said: "We are appalled by this. This was going to
set a precedent about how seriously the CPS takes
the issue. This man could be put on a plane right
now and flown back to face justice, so why is it
taking so long?
Diana Nammi, of the Iran and Kurdish Women's Rights
Organisation, said: "The way to prevent 'honour'
crimes is to let suspects know that they will face
justice."
The extradition row comes in the middle of a CPS
public consultation on the way it deals with
"honour" and other violent crimes against women.
Specially trained prosecutors are being deployed in
four British honour-killing "hotspots" - London, the
West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Lancashire - in a
pilot prompted by Mahmod's murder.
guardian co.uk
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