[WCUSP] barbaric honour killings become the weapon to subjucate women in Iraq

[yvonne simmons]

 See how the US led invasion of Iraq has made women's
lifes intolerable and deadly. In Peace Yvonne   

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/barbaric-honour-killings-become-the-weapon-to-subjugate-women-in-iraq-816649.html?service=Print
Barbaric 'honour killings' become the weapon to
subjugate women in Iraq
    Murder of a girl who became infatuated with a
British soldier
 highlights a
    disturbing new trend
    By Terri Judd   Monday, 28 April 2008

    At first glance Shawbo Ali Rauf appears to be
slumbering on the
 grass, her
    pale brown curls framing her face, her summer
skirt spread about
 her. But the
    awkward position of her limbs and the splattered
blood reveal the
 true horror
    of the scene.

    The 19-year-old Iraqi was, according to her
father, murdered by her
 own
    in-laws, who took her to a picnic area in Dokan
and shot her seven
 times. Her
    crime was to have an unknown number on her mobile
phone. Her
 "honour killing"
    is just one in a grotesque series emerging from
Iraq, where
 activists speak of
    a "genocide" against women in the name of
religion.

    In the latest such case, it was reported yesterday
that a
 17-year-old girl,
    Rand Abdel-Qader, was stabbed to death last month
by her father for
 becoming
    infatuated with a British soldier serving in
southern Iraq.

    In Basra alone, police acknowledge that 15 women a
month are
 murdered for
    breaching Islamic dress codes. Campaigners insist
it is a
 conservative figure.

    Violence against women is rampant, rising every
day with the power
 of the
    militias. Beheadings, rapes, beatings, suicides
through
 self-immolation,
    genital mutilation, trafficking and child abuse
masquerading as
 marriage of
    girls as young as nine are all on the increase.

    Du'a Khalil Aswad, 17, from Nineveh, was executed
by stoning in
 front of mob
    of 2,000 men for falling in love with a boy
outside her Yazidi
 tribe. Mobile
    phone images of her broken body transmitted on the
internet led to
 sectarian
    violence, international outrage and calls for
reform. Her father,
 Khalil
    Aswad, speaking one year after her death in April
last year, has
 revealed that
    none of those responsible had been prosecuted and
his family
 remained
    "outcasts" in their own tribe.

    "My daughter did nothing wrong," he said. "She
fell in love with a
 Muslim and
    there is nothing wrong with that. I couldn't
protect her because I
 got threats
    from my brother, the whole tribe. They insisted
they were gong to
 kill us all,
    not only Du'a, if she was not killed. She was
mutilated, her body
 dumped like
    rubbish.

    "I want those who committed this act to be
punished but so far they
 have not,
    they are free. Honour killing is murder. This is a
barbaric act."

    Despite the outrage, recent calls by the Kurdish
MP Narmin Osman to
 outlaw
    honour killings have been blocked by
fundamentalists. "Honour
 killings are not
    actually a crime in the eyes of the government,"
said Houzan
 Mahmoud, who has
    had a fatwa on her head since raising a petition
against the
 introduction of
    sharia law in Kurdistan. "If before there was one
dictator
 persecuting people,
    now almost everyone is persecuting women.

    "In the past five years it is has got [much]
worse. It is difficult
 to
    described how terrible it is, how badly we have
been pushed back to
 the dark
    ages. Women are being beheaded for taking their
veil off. Self
 immolation is
    rising Ð women are left with no choice. There is
no government
 body or
    institution to provide any sort of support. Sharia
law is being
 used to
    underpin government rule, denying women their most
basic human
 rights."

    In August last year, the body of 11-year-old Sara
Jaffar Nimat was
 found in
    Khanaqin, Kurdistan, after she had been stoned and
burnt to death.
 Earlier
    this month, two brothers and a sister were
kidnapped from their
 home near
    Kirkuk by gunmen in police uniforms. The brothers
were beaten to
 death and the
    woman left in a critical condition after being
informed that she
 must obey the
    rules of an "Islamic state". One week ago, a
journalist, Begard
 Huseein, was
    murdered in her home in Arbil, northern Iraq. Her
husband, Mohammed
 Mustafa,
    stabbed her because she was in love with another
man, according to
 local
    reports.

    The stoning death of Ms Aswad led to the
establishment of an
 Internal Ministry
    unit in Kurdistan to combat violence against
women. It reported
 that last year
    in Sulaymaniyah, a city of 1 million people, there
were 407
 reported offences,
    beheadings, beatings, deaths through "family
problems", and threats
 of honour
    killings. Rape is not included as most women are
too fearful to
 report it for
    fear of retribution. Nevertheless, police in
Karbala recently
 revealed 25
    reports of rape.

    The new Iraqi constitution, according to Mrs
Mahmoud, is a mass of
 confusing
    contradictions. While it states that men and women
are equal under
 law it also
    decrees that sharia law Ð which considers one male
witness worth
 two females Ð
    must be observed. The days when women could hold
down key jobs or
 enjoy any
    freedom of movement are long gone. The
fundamentalists have sent
 out too many
    chilling messages. In Mosul two years ago, eight
women were
 beheaded in a
    terror campaign.

    "It was really, really horrifying," said Mrs
Mahmoud. "Honour
 killings and
    murder are widespread. Thousands [of people] ...
have become
 victims of
    murder, violence and rape Ð all backed by laws,
tribal customs
 and religious
    rules. We urge the international community, the
government to
 condemn this
    barbaric practice, and help the women of Iraq."

        


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