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Kurdistan: Activists call for legislative
reforms to tackle honour killing
19.2.2008
By Azeez Mahmood in Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan-Iraq
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Honour Killing Outcry: Activists call for
legislative reforms to tackle honour killing and
other forms of violence against women.
February 19, 2008
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan Region 'Iraq',
Six years ago, Hataw fled to a women’s shelter to
escape her brother’s rage when she refused to marry
the man he chose for her.
Just a few weeks later, her brother ambushed her and
her mother near the shelter, opening fire with an
automatic weapon.
Hataw, not her real name, was shot seven times; her
mother twice. Miraculously, they survived, but their
physical and psychological wounds may never heal. |
Activists call for legislative reforms to tackle
honour killing and other forms of violence against
Kurdish women |
Hataw, now 26, whose brother escaped prosecution,
lost one of her kidneys and her mother has scars on
one of her arms.
Although Hataw - still living in a women’s refuge -
refused to speak to IWPR, she gave permission for
the head of the shelter to speak on her behalf.
“She doesn’t sleep all night long,” said the head.
“She gets up and screams at the slightest noise,
fearing her brother will break in and kill her.”
Hataw is one of a growing number of women in Iraqi
Kurdistan falling victim to domestic violence,www.ekurd.net
with honour killings, in particular, the focus of
concern among human rights groups.
The recent increase in cases has outraged activists
who blame the Kurdish government for not doing
enough to protect women.
The region’s human rights ministry says that honour
killings in Iraqi Kurdistan rose from 106 in 2005 to
266 the following year. Figures for 2007 are not
available, but official sources say in Sulaimaniyah
alone 30 women were killed in the first six months
of the year.
“Every day, more and more women are killed in
Kurdistan while the authorities watch and do
nothing,” said Roonak Faraj, head of the Women's
Media and Cultural Centre in Sulaimaniyah.
In April 2007, an angry mob stoned to death a
17-year-old Yezidi girl, Duaa Khalil Aswad, in
Bashiqa, a small town east of the city of Mosul,
while bystanders applauded and filmed the killing on
their mobile phones.
Duaa’s crime was that she had fallen in love with a
Muslim boy. The footage was seen by thousands on the
internet, sparking massive condemnation by human
rights groups around the world.
Faraj said the male-dominated local culture is one
of the reasons why women are targeted in her region.
“It is a patriarchal society,”www.ekurd.net
she said, “Males control everything. For example,
they decide whom a girl should marry.”
There is also insufficient legislation to punish
violence against women. Article 111 of the Iraqi
Penal Code - passed in 1969 and still valid in most
of the country - tolerates honour killings if the
defendant has “honourable motives”.
The maximum punishment is two years’ imprisonment,
and, in most cases, the sentence is commuted if the
defendant has no criminal background.
In 2002, the Kurdish parliament amended the 1969 law
to allow honour killings to be treated in the same
way as murder. However, critics say that the changes
were too weak.
Following the killing of Duaa, the Kurdish
government formed two agencies to deal with violence
against women, one based in Sulaimaniyah and another
in Erbil.
Zhilamo Abdul-Qadir, an official in the Sulaimaniyah
agency, said that since July 2007 they have
investigated 110 cases of serious threats against
women, successfully intervening on 70 occasions.
“We have rescued many women from death in the last
few months,” said Twana Ali, spokesman for the
Sulaimaniyah agency. “We have arrested several
suspects as well.”
Recently, more than 20 women’s advocacy groups came
together to pressure the authorities to impose
heavier punishments on perpetrators of violence
against women and have made recommendations to
parliament on the matter.
They’ve also called on the regional assembly to pass
other legislation tackling discrimination against
women, such as a ban on polygamy and forced
marriage, and to ensure equality between men and
women in relation to inheritance law.
Pakhshan Zangana, head of the Women’s Caucus in the
Kurdistan parliament in Erbil, said, “The law is
outdated and needs amendments that go along with the
current situation.”
The government has pledged reforms, but for Faraj
actions speak louder than words.
“When bird flu broke out, the government launched a
huge campaign to make people aware of the risks of
the disease,” he said. “You wonder why they can’t
launch a similar campaign to put an end to the
killing women.”
Azeez Mahmood is an IWPR reporter in a
Sulaimaniyah.
iwpr net
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