Religion | November 30, 2008 | 14 comments

$100 a victim: honor killings on the rise in Basra

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/30/iraq-honor-killings-women

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jh64487
Fathers and husbands who openly hire assassins on the streets of the city are going unpunished.

Authorities in the southern Iraqi city of Basra have admitted they are powerless to prevent 'honour killings' in the city following a 70 per cent increase in religious murders during the past year.

There has been no improvement in conviction rates for these killings. So far this year, 81 women in the city have been murdered for allegedly bringing shame on their families. Only five people have been convicted.

During 2007 the Basra security committee recorded 47 'honour killings' and three convictions. One lawyer in the city described how police were actively protecting perpetrators and said that a woman in Basra could now be murdered by hired hitmen for as little as $100 (£65).

The figures come despite international outrage which followed The Observer's coverage of the death of 17-year-old Rand Abdel-Qader, who was murdered by her father last April in an 'honour killing' after falling in love with a British soldier in Basra. The 4,000 British troops stationed in the city since the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003 withdrew to the airport last September.

Rand Abdel-Qader was killed after her family discovered that she had formed a friendship with a 22-year-old infantryman whom she knew as Paul. She was suffocated by her father then hacked at with a knife. Abdel-Qader Ali was subsequently arrested and released without charge.

Rand's mother, Leila Hussein, who divorced her husband after the killing, went into hiding but was tracked down weeks later and assassinated by an unknown gunman. Her husband had told The Observer that police had congratulated him for killing his daughter.

Seven months after the murders, the problem of these killings in Basra has become worse, according to lawyers. Ali Azize Raja'a, an Iraqi prosecutor who has represented the victims of 32 'honour killings' since 2004, said that, despite accumulating sufficient evidence to prove who was responsible in each murder, he had won only one case.

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14 comments // $100 a victim: honor killings on the rise in Basra

  • Ragan
    • 0
      Ragan  

    • True Sadaam did keep all in line. But now that they are democratized its time to put these killers in a special prison for life or perform the same honor killings to rid the country of the same religious nuts all over the Islamic world . Hang these religious police by the balls and neck in the public square too. Perhaps civility will find its way to these antiquated outlying parts of the world. Islam needs to be cleansed and rewritten before it can be considered to be a religion of love.

    • 3 years ago
  • unimatrix0
    • 0
      unimatrix0  

    • Perhaps one thing Saddam did was keep the religious nuts in line. Now the nuts are loose and all hell is breaking loose.

      These honor killings make a strong argument that the decadent west, for all its flaws, is a far superior culture.

      What is most interesting is the collective guilt. Many people must step aside and look the other way for something like this to go on.

    • 3 years ago
  • pressrecord
    • 0
      pressrecord  

    • does this stuff happen in the larger muslim communities like indonesia? is this specifically an arab, indian, or african thing?? where in the qur'an does it instruct to kill your daughter for falling in love with the "enemy?"

      i'm not as educated about this part of islam but i do know that there clauses in the belief for conversion when a woman is married into a muslim family and not the other way around. is that right? now, where does it instruct to kill your daughter? i'm curious. i suspect this is not a muslim thing if it's not practiced everywhere else.

    • 3 years ago
  • extracrazykiwi2008
  • ruddy
    • 0
      ruddy  

    • wow, democracy in action.
      this is TERRIFYING.
      a "70 per cent increase in religious murders during the past year?" maybe a strict government regime is safer sometimes!

    • 3 years ago
  • jh64487
    • 0
      jh64487  

    • As I've said, and i'm only responding this once. I have seen your posting on the other islam-related stories. there is a large degree of anti-muslim rhetoric in your comments. I thought I explained that pretty clearly. If it's not who you are then it's something to consider that it is how you are coming off

      "Unlike some who post on current, I do not see a George Bush conspiracy as terrorism is a tool, not an ideology."

      what??

    • 3 years ago
  • samthesixth
    • 0
      samthesixth  
    • jh64487:

      Rather than ignoring what was a snide comment on your behalf, I offer you the opportunity to educate and instead you denigrate! When someone attacks someone for making an argument, as opposed to taking on the argument itself, it smacks of intellectual bankruptcy.

    • 3 years ago
  • samthesixth
  • jh64487
    • 0
      jh64487  
    • jh64487:

      it's called an ad hominem attack, and I don't really care about offending some jack-ape on the internet, in fact, it's rather amusing.

      and to a very large degree the conflicts between the middle east and the west do center around Israel. that's reality.

      one man's "terrorist" is another's "freedom fighter".

      shouldn't you be at church?

    • 3 years ago
  • samthesixth
  • jh64487
  • samthesixth
    • 0
      samthesixth  

    • What do you mean by this :

      "I've seen your posts on all the islam related stories, your anti-muslim rhetoric belies a larger intolerance that worries me samthesixth"

      I merely asked an open ended question with no agenda in mind. I admit I have my beliefs about what is going on, but I am open to viewpoints contrary to mine as positions evolve. I appreciate your answering the question.

      I don't know what anti Muslim rhetoric you refer to. You don't know anything about me or anything I have done in the past in terms of trying to bring about tolerance and understanding.

      I routinely call out an act of terrorism for what it is, cowardly. Unlike some who post on current, I do not see a George Bush conspiracy as terrorism is a tool, not an ideology.

      That should not qualify me as intolerant.

    • 3 years ago
  • jh64487
    • 0
      jh64487  

    • I don't think these killings will stop until education overcomes ignorance. Education leads to compassion. compassion leads to tolerance. The majority of Iraqi's are fairly poorly educated. I recall that the majority of Iraqi's that fled were those who had the means, foresight, and financial support to do so. Basra has been systematically abused by both Saddam and the US. It is unsurprising that they have fallen back on the only education they have, religion. It's disappointing, upsetting and angering.

      If you read the link however, you'll note that 9 of the 12 women's shelters have closed since the US occupation. So yes, i think once the heathen invaders are gone Iraq can begin the slow torturous process of putting itself back together.

      I've seen your posts on all the islam related stories, your anti-muslim rhetoric belies a larger intolerance that worries me samthesixth

    • 3 years ago
  • samthesixth
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