Honor killing

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An honor killing (Sindhi: ڪارو ڪاري) is most commonly the murder of a female, and sometimes her love-interests or other associates, for supposed sexual or marital offenses. The killing is typically done by her own relatives with the justification being that her behavior has brought dishonor to the family. Unlike rage-induced murders, honour killings are usually planned in advance.

The United Nations Population Fund estimates that the annual worldwide total of honour-killing victims may be as high as 5,000 women.

In societies and cultures where it occurs, such killings are often regarded as a private matter for the affected family alone; rarely do non-family members or the courts become involved or prosecute the perpetrators. The practice is condemned by human-rights supporters for being a double standard and sexist, since males will not be killed for such an "offense"; i.e. if a man rapes a woman, it is the woman who "brings dishonor" to her family and not the rapist. There are, however, other societies where a family member will avenge the rape by killing the rapist and not the victim. The difference between the two kinds of societies may lie in the assumption that a woman who is raped somehow incited or deserved her fate, as by wearing sexy clothing or talking flirtatiously.

[edit] Definitions

Human Rights Watch defines "honor killings" as follows:

Honour crimes are acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members, who are perceived to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce — even from an abusive husband — or (allegedly) committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a specific way to "dishonor" her family, is sufficient to trigger an attack.^[1]

For example, honor killings can sometimes target those who choose boyfriends, lovers or spouses outside of their family's ethnic and/or religious community. Some women who adopt the customs (or religion) of an outside group, may also be more likely to be victims.[2] Furthermore, in certain cultures a raped single woman will garner no bride price if she marries, and thus be considered "worthless" to the family. There is some evidence that homosexuality can also be grounds for honor killing by relatives. Several cases have been suspected but not confirmed. There is also a documented case of a gay Jordanian man who was shot (but not fatally) by his brother.^[2]

Many hold the practice to be self-contradictory, since an honor killing is sometimes justified by its participants or supporters, as an attempt to uphold the morals of a religion or a code, which at the same time generally forbids killing as morally wrong.

[edit] Honor suicides

Main article: Forced suicide

In 1995, Ibtihaz Hasoun married a man outside her village in Israel. Her brother accused her of shaming her family, and stabbed her to death. He summoned villagers to watch him murder his "fallen sister." The villagers celebrated the honor killing.

Honor suicides occur when, in an effort to avoid legal penalties for killing, a woman is ordered or pressured into killing herself. This phenomenon appears to be a relatively recent development. A special envoy for the United Nations named Yakin Erturk, who was sent to Turkey to investigate suspicious suicides amongst Kurdish girls, was quoted by the New York Times as saying that some suicides appeared in Kurdish-inhabited regions of Turkey to be "honor killings disguised as a suicide or an accident."^[3][4]

The historic practice of sati, or widow-burning, in parts of India and south Asia that occured under the British can be considered a form of honor suicide in those instances when (at least theoretically) the act is voluntary, with a deceased man's widow immolating herself on his funeral pyre as an act of pious devotion and to preserve her and her family's honor. The justifications for sati, as well as its actual prevalence and acceptance, are subject to much historical and religious debate, however.^[5]

[edit] History

Honor killings, generally considered premeditated, are typically held to be distinct from crimes of passion, which occur throughout the world. Crimes of passion are different from honor killings, in the sense that they are spontaneous acts that are not planned. Indeed a crime of passion must not be premeditated and is treated as a type of temporary insanity. Furthermore, many honor killings (along with some crimes of passion) are based on sheer suspicion as opposed to (what appears to be) factual proof, in relation to the idea that an individual has committed or been involved in an "undesirable act", in the mind of the perpetrator(s).^[6]

[edit] Locations

As of 2004, honor killings have occurred at the hands of individuals within parts of various countries, such as Albania, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel (within the Arab, Druze and Bedouin communities)^[7], Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, the Palestinian territories, Sweden, Turkey, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States. According to the UN:

"The report of the Special Rapporteur ... concerning cultural practices in the family that are violent towards women (E/CN.4/2002/83), indicated that honour killings had been reported in Egypt, the Ilsamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Yemen, and other Mediterranean and Gulf countries, and that they had also taken place in such countries as France, Germany and the United Kingdom within migrant communities."[3]

The practice of honor killing is over-whelmingly associated with certain Muslim cultures and the peoples influenced by those cultures.^[8] Honor killings are more common among poor rural Muslim communities than urban ones. Arab Christians living within parts of the Near East, such as sections of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, sometimes carry out the crime as well.^[9] Many cases of honor killings have been reported in Pakistan. In December 2005, Nazir Afzal, director of Britain's Crown Prosecution Service, stated that the United Kingdom has seen "at least a dozen honor killings" between 2004 and 2005.[4]

The Associated Press on January 25, 2007 reported that the first honor killing of 2007 in Jordan occured when a father fatally shot his 17-year-old daughter whom he suspected of being sexually active despite a medical exam performed before her death that proved her virginity, according to a government forensic pathologist from Jordan's National Institute of Forensic Medicine.[5] [6] The young woman had apparently "run away from home several times for unknown reasons" and had returned home from a family protection clinic after doctors "vouched for her virginity" and her father signed a pledge not to harm her. The pathologist reported that an autopsy performed again demonstrated her virginity.

[edit] Honor killing as a cultural practice or religious practice

Sharif Kanaana, professor of anthropology at Birzeit University states that honor killing is:

A complicated issue that cuts deep into the history of Arab society... What the men of the family, clan, or tribe seek control of in a patrilineal society is reproductive power. Women for the tribe were considered a factory for making men. The honor killing is not a means to control sexual power or behavior. What's behind it is the issue of fertility, or reproductive power.^{[citation needed]}

An Amnesty International statement adds:

The mere perception that a woman has contravened the code of sexual behavior damages honor. The regime of honor is unforgiving: women on whom suspicion has fallen are not given an opportunity to defend themselves, and family members have no socially acceptable alternative but to remove the stain on their honor by attacking the woman.^[10]

[edit] In countries with Islamic law

Honor killing is forbidden in most interpretations of Islam.^[11] There is no specific mention of the practice in the Qur'an or Hadiths except in so far as the custom of killing baby girls to protect the family honor, which is specifically condemned in the Qur'an, was a form of honor killing. An honor killing, in Islamic definitions, refers specifically to extra-legal punishment by the family against the woman, and it is often argued that this is technically forbidden by the Sharia (Islamic law). Some modern Islamic religious authorities and Muslims disagree with extra-legal punishments such as honor killing and prohibit it, since they consider the practice to be a cultural issue.^[12] They believe that since certain pre-Islamic cultures have influence over a number of Muslims, murderers of females use Islam to justify honor killing, even though there is no support for the act in the religion itself. However, honor killings cannot always be punished according to many interpretations of Islamic law, as murders are a type of "qisas" ("retaliation") crime. This means that the deceased's family should be offered the choice of capital punishment or "diya" ("blood money") and no execution can take place without them opting for death. Because a relative(s) is usually responsible for the honor killing, it is unlikely that the deceased's family will punish one of their own for the crime.^[13]

The execution of the Saudi Arabian princess Misha'al is an example of an judicial honor killing, in which the execution did not follow any Islamic religious court proceeding, but was ordered directly by her grandfather.

Interpretations of these rules vary. Some Arabs regard it as their right under both tradition and Sharia (by the process of urf), though this contradicts the views of many Islamic scholars (fuqaha). Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran has condemned the practice as "un-Islamic", though punishment under Iranian law remains lenient. In certain Muslim regions, which have been converted recently or are strongly Sufi influenced, like Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, honor killings are little known, as also in parts of West Africa with majority-Muslim populations. [7] According to Sheikh Atiyyah Saqr, former head of the al-Azhar University Fatwa Committee (one of the oldest and most prestigious in the Muslim world):

Like all other religions, Islam strictly prohibits murder and killing without legal justification. Allah, Most High, says, “Whoso slayeth a believer of set purpose, his reward is Hell for ever. Allah is wroth against him and He hath cursed him and prepared for him an awful doom.” (An-Nisa’: 93) The so-called “honor killing” is based on ignorance and disregard of morals and laws, which cannot be abolished except by disciplinary punishments. ^[12]

This opinion makes a clear distinction between "hudud" crimes, which have specified legal penalty in Islamic law, and "ta`zir" offenses, which can have a discretionary punishment decided by the judge. Honor killings are ta'zir crimes, not hudud ones, meaning that any punishment is culturally defined and will reflect that society's views towards honor killings.

[edit] Honor killing in national legal codes

According to the report of the Special Rapporteur submitted to the 58th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (2002) concerning cultural practices in the family that reflect violence against women (E/CN.4/2002/83):

The Special Rapporteur indicated that there had been contradictory decisions with regard to the honor defense in Brazil, and that legislative provisions allowing for partial or complete defence in that context could be found in the penal codes of Argentina, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Peru, Syria, Venezuela and the Palestinian National Authority.^[14]

Countries where the law is interpreted to allow men to kill female relatives in a premeditated effort as well as for crimes of passions, in flagrante delicto in the act of committing adultery, include

• Jordan: Part of article 340 of the Penal Code states that "he who discovers his wife or one of his female relatives committing adultery and kills, wounds, or injures one of them, is exempted from any penalty." [8] This has twice been put forward for cancellation by the government, but was retained by the Lower House of the Parliament.^[15]

Countries that allow men to kill female relatives in flagrante delicto (but without premeditation) include

• Syria: Article 548 states that "He who catches his wife or one of his ascendants [sic], descendants or sister committing adultery (flagrante delicto) or illegitimate sexual acts with another and he killed or injured one or both of them benefits from an exemption of penalty."

Countries that allow husbands to kill only their wives in flagrante delicto (based upon the Napoleonic code) include

• Morocco: Article 418 of the Penal Code states "Murder, injury and beating are excusable if they are committed by a husband on his wife as well as the accomplice at the moment in which he surprises them in the act of adultery."

• Haiti: Article 269 of the Penal Code states that "in the case of adultery as provided for in Article 284, the murder by a husband of his wife and/or her partner, immediately upon discovering them in flagrante delicto in the conjugal abode, is to be pardoned."

• Turkey: In Turkey, persons found guilty of this crime are sentenced to life in prison.^[16]

• In two Latin American countries, similar laws were struck down over the past two decades: according to human rights lawyer Julie Mertus "in Brazil, until 1991 wife killings were considered to be noncriminal 'honor killings'; in just one year, nearly eight hundred husbands killed their wives. Similarly, in Colombia, until 1980, a husband legally could kill his wife for committing adultery."^[17]

Countries where honor killing is not legal but is frequently in practice include

• Pakistan: Honor killings are known as Karo Kari(Sindhi: ڪارو ڪاري) (Urdu: کاروکاری ). The practice is supposed to be prosecuted under ordinary murder, but in practice police and prosecutors often ignore it.^[18] Often a man must simply claim the killing was for his honor and he will go free. Nilofer Bakhtiar, advisor to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, stated that in 2003, as many as 1,261 women were murdered in honor killings.^[19] On December 08, 2004, under international and domestic pressure, Pakistan enacted a law that made honor killings punishable by a prison term of seven years, or by the death penalty in the most extreme cases. Women's rights organizations were, however, wary of this law as it stops short of outlawing the practice of allowing killers to buy their freedom by paying compensation to the victim's relatives. Women's rights groups claimed that in most cases it is the victim's immediate relatives who are the killers, so inherently the new law is just eyewash. It did not alter the provisions whereby the accused could negotiate pardon with the victim's family under the so-called Islamic provisions. In March 2005 the Pakistani government allied with Islamists to reject a bill which sought to strengthen the law against the practice of "honor killing". The parliament rejected the bill by a majority vote, declaring it to be un-Islamic.^[20] However, the bill was brought up again, and in November 2006, it passed.^[21]

During the year 2002 about four hundred people(men & women)were killed in the name of (Karo-Kari) in Sindh Out of 382(245 women ,137 men).The phenomenon of the killing in the name of Honour has direct relevance with the illiteracy as these killings are more common in the areas where literacy rate is at lower.According to report issued by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan( HRCP), Jacobabad district stood first in these in Karo Kari (66 women,25 men). Jacobabad district has 23.66 literacy rate is lowest literate district of Sindh after Tharparker and Thatta. After Jacobabad , Ghotki district witnessed the highest number of human killing in the name of Karo Kari(13 men,54 women) were killed making the total number 67.

After Ghotki ,Larkana is the district where(24 men 38 women). Larkana as well, has the low literacy rate of 34.95 which is lower than even Naushahro feroze ,Dadu and Khairpur Mirs having 39.14, 35.56 and 35.50 percent literacy respectively. These districts of upper part of Sindh have low literacy rate but high feudal influence in every walk of life.

Jacobabad, Ghotki and Larkana are those districts of Sindh where not only the illiterate ones , but tribal chieftains are also in large number. According to report released by HRCP, the cases of Karo Kari are mostly settled at JIRGAS, the private and parallel judicial system of Chieftains. How ever districts of lower parts of Sindh like Tharparkar, Badin and Thatta experience nominal occurrences of Honour killings because of having low feudal influence there.[[9]]

[edit] References and Notes

1. ^ HRW: Violence Against Women and "Honor" Crimes, April 6, 2001
2. ^ The Globe and Mail: Gay Jordanian now 'gloriously free' in Canada, May 20, 2004
3. ^ New York Times: How to Avoid Honor Killing in Turkey? Honor Suicide, July 16, 2006
4. ^ International Herald Tribune: 'Virgin suicides' save Turks' 'honor', July 12, 2006
5. ^ Lata Mani: Contentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India. Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1998
6. ^ Matthew A. Goldstein: The biological roots of heat-of-passion crimes and honor killings, in: Politics and the life sciences, Vol 21, No 2, September 2002, p28-37
7. ^ Haaretz article: [1], February 23, 2007,
8. ^ Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Laws (London): Combating ‘crimes of honor’ through data, documentation, networking and development of strategies, November 15, 2006
9. ^ Douglas Jehl: Arab Honor's Price: A Woman's Blood, Polyzine.com, June 20, 1999
10. ^ Amnesty International: Broken bodies, shattered minds - Torture and ill-treatment of women, Report, March 6, 2001
11. ^ Kecia Ali: Honor Killings, Illicit Sex, and Islamic Law, The Feminist Sexual Ethics Project, June 10, 2003
12. ^ ^{a b} Islam Online: Honor Killing from an Islamic Perspective, June 17, 2002
13. ^ Islam Online (Atiyyah Saqr): Reprisal in Islamic Legal System, March 30, 2005
14. ^ UN General Assembly: Working towards the elimination of crimes against women committed in the name of honourPDF, July 2, 2002
15. ^ Rana Husseini: Lower House again rejects cancelling Article 340 of Penal Code, Jordan Times, January 27, 2000
16. ^ Dan Bilefsky: How to Avoid Honor Killing in Turkey? Honor Suicide, New York Times, July 16, 2006
17. ^ James D. Wilets: Conceptualizing private violence against sexual minorities as gendered violence: an international and comparative law perspective, 60 Albany Law Review 989, 1994
18. ^ Taipei Times: Pakistan's honor killings enjoy high-level support, July 24, 2004
19. ^ Salman Masood: Pakistan Tries to Curb 'Honor Killings', New York Times, October 27, 2004
20. ^ BBC News: Pakistan rejects pro-women bill, March 2, 2005
21. ^ Asim Yasin: Pakistan's Senate Approve Women Protection Bill, Ohmy News, November 25, 2006

karo-kari (in Sindhi language)

[edit] See also

• Acid attack
• Blood money
• Crime of passion
• Extramarital sex
• Female genital mutilation
• Femicide
• Feud
• Kanun
• Machismo
• The role of women under Sharia
• Vani (custom)
• Vitriolage
• Watta satta

[edit] Further reading

• "Jordan Parliament Supports Impunity for Honor Killing", Washington, DC: Human Rights Watch Press Release, January 2000
• Burned Alive: A Victim of the Law of Men Alleged first-person account of a victim of an attempted honor killing (ISBN 0-446-53346-7) — The work is based on a repressed memory report and its authenticity has been questioned.^[22]
• A Matter of Honor, Your Honor?, Wiesbaden, Germany: World Politics Watch News Feature, September 2006

[edit] External links

[edit] Included in article

• Articles and Opinions: American Muslims need to speak out against violations of Islamic Shariah law {Asma Society}
• Case Study: "Honor" Killings and Blood Feuds (Gendercide.org)
• Commodifying Honor in Female Sexuality: Honor Killings in Palestine – Suzanne Ruggi (Middle East Report)
• For Shame: A Special Report - Arab Honor's Price: A Woman's Blood
• Honor Crimes in Pakistan
• 'Honour' Crimes Project – including a thorough bibliography (School of Oriental and African Studies)
• International Campaign Against Honour Killings
• Islamic Awareness - Honor Killings
• Islamic ruling on "Honor killings" – Mohammed Fadel PhD, JD
• Killing for Honor: Legalized Murder (Amnesty International USA)
• Reputation is Everything: Honor Killing among the Palestinians – World and I magazine, March 2003
• Social Determinants of Attitudes Towards Women's Premarital Sexuality Among Female Turkish University Students
• The Biological Roots of Heat-of-Passion Crimes and Honor Killings
• The Elements of Sufism
• The Feminist Sexual Ethics Project - Honor Killings, Illicit Sex and Islamic Law
• Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery - Texts from the King James Version of the Bible
• Translations of the Qur'an, Chapter 24: Verses 1-26 – USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts
• Truth, History, and Honor Killing – Thérèse Taylor (Antiwar.com)
• UN report from the fifty-eighth session of the UN Commission on Human RightsPDF (2002)
• United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights (April 2000)
• Violence Against Women Campaign United Nations Development Fund for Women
• 'Virgin suicides' save Turks' 'honor' (IHT)
• Women in Islam: Veiled Oppression or Stigmatized Misconception - Zina and Rape (BBC News)

[edit] Not included in article

• BBC - Ethics: Crimes of 'Honour'
• International Campaign Against Honor Killings, contains an extensive archive of news reports and photos of victims
• A report by UNDPPDF (United Nations Development Programme) that summarizes and evaluates qualitative research about so-called 'honour killings'.