Attachments: Crimes of Honor – UN
General Assembly Resolution 2004.pdf
Resolution, which is available on the WUNRN website – http://wunrn.wpengine.com – in 19
Languages, in the Reference Documents subsite.
By Hakim Almasmari Oct 3, 2006, 23:04 |
Crime in Yemen:
Unjust Against Women
While Yemen struggles to prove it
is fertile ground for freedom and democracy, its efforts are often thwarted by
ingrained traditions at odds with those concepts. One of the more horrific
cultural practices—and one proving difficult to eradicate—is the murder of women
by their family members who suspect them of adultery.
Such murders are
called “honor killings,” as women are killed to preserve the honor of her
family. Such murders have been committed in Yemen and other parts of the Middle
East for hundreds of years. And they still occur today. More than 400 women were
killed for reasons of “honor” in 1997, found a survey by the women’s studies
department of Sana’a University. This is the only year for which estimates of
the number of honor killings exist.
Only one other study of honor
killings has been done, and it put forth no estimates on how many women are
murdered each year. There is no official tally of the number of women who have
died as a result of honor killings in Yemen, as most are committed without the
knowledge of the government. Police officials in Sana’a say that such actions
are rarely reported. United Nations Children’s Fund defines honor crimes as an
ancient practice in which men kill female relatives in the name of family honor,
for having any kind of sexual activity outside marriage, even when they have
been victims of rape.
Locals believe that it would be almost
impossible for such cases to be reported to the law. First, usually the female
victim is killed by her own family members—the people closest to her. And the
killers are not likely to report themselves. Also, outsiders do not
interfere with other people’s family issues, which they see as being solved from
within. Khalid al-Anesi, a prominent lawyer for human rights cases and executive
director for HOOD organization, the largest human rights organization in Yemen,
claims that if cases were reported to the police, they would not do anything to
help, because they have the same mentality, and believe that the family is doing
the right thing to preserve its pride.
“In most cases locals would never
report honor killings to police, because they believe that police forces feel
the same way, and would resort to the same solution if it happened to their
families,” said al-Anesi. “Usually when something happens to a victim, the
family is the one who tries to bring the suspect to trial. In this situation,
the family are the suspects and no one will ever bring the case up,” added
al-Anesi. In 2005, The Arab Sisters Forum for Human Rights (ASF) conducted
a study on honor crimes. They found that most honor crimes against women were
committed merely because of suspicion of the women’s sexual behavior. Any woman
who draws suspicion, even if she is virtuous, could be at risk.
The study also disclosed that honor crimes are committed at all levels
of society, said Nabil al-Mohamedi, a lawyer who participated in a public
discussion on honor killings. He said that Yemeni law states that a man must be
surprised and observed by four witnesses in the act of committing adultery with
a woman, before accusations against the woman can be considered valid. Without
four witnesses, a woman cannot be put to death. If relatives simply have
suspicions about it happening, a woman should not be punished.
“The
relative must be in the act of committing adultery and not be, for example, only
in a shameful position or naked,” al-Mohamedi, said. According to the
study, some girls are victims of honor crimes not because they practice deeds in
conflict with laws or with Sharia, but because they refuse to yield to their
families’ marriage decision. From the legal point of view, Article 232 of
the Penal Code of Yemen states that “if a man kills his wife or her alleged
lover in the act of committing adultery, or attacking them, causing disability,
he may be fined or sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one
year.”
Unfairly, women are the only ones singled out for punishment for
sexual crimes, while the men, even rapists, may be treated with impunity. Most
of honor crime victims are women and most of honor crime perpetrators are men.
“Everything shameful in Yemen has to deal with women. Men act as if they are
forgiven by god, and have prior permission to follow their desires, even though
some might be unlawful,” said Abeer Nasser, a university student who feels her
own parents pay too much attention to her behavior, while her brothers are left
free from their supervision.
It is estimated by the United Nations
Population Fund that as many as 5,000 women and girls are murdered by family
members each year in so-called “honor killings” around the world. Yet if not for
the crimes committed by men, many of these women would yet be alive.
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