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Iraqi Kurdistan PM Nechirvan Barzani tough
line on honour killings
19.6.2007
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June 19, 2007
Erbil, Kurdistan region (Iraq), June 19,--
The prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan Nechirvan
Barzani has vowed that tough measures will be taken
against those guilty of so-called honour killings.
Barzani was talking at a meeting with some of his
ministers and leaders of human rights and women's
groups.
"The government authorities will take the toughest
legal measures" he promised. In a press conference
following the meeting, Barzani said that "recently
there have been horrendous crimes committed against
women in some areas of the autonomous region of
Kurdistan".
"While we condemn these crimes, we also rebuke the
government ministers and other bodies for not having
applied suitable solutions to prevent such episodes
reoccurring".
The regional premier then proposed to change the
definition of these crimes, called "honour crimes"
in the penal code, to "murder". |
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister
Nechirvan Barzani. |
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According to Barzani, these acts "indicate a
deterioration within society and a backwardness in
its values and culture."
He appealed to clerics, to teachers and university
prforessors to help people become aware of the
problem, stressing that the battle against such
brutality was a collective duty.
Kurdish regional MP and womens' activist Susan
Shihab told AKI that "the Kurdish parliament had
already carried our the amendments to the Iraqi
penal code regarding honour crimes, cancelling the
extenuating factors. But it is the government's
responsibility not having applied the law and for
not having mobilies to put an end to these
horrendous crimes".
In April the
stoning to death of a
17-year-old Kurdish girl belonging to
the minority non-Muslim Yezidi sect - for allegedly
having brought shame and dishonour on her family by
having a relationship with a Muslim boy - triggered
a wave of reprisals towards members of this minority
across Kurdistan, including the killing of 21 Yezidi
workers on a bus in Mosul.
Even now many Yezidi students in the schools and
universities have decided not to undertake their
final exams for fear of reprisals by Muslims.
adnki com
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