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Honor Killing, $100

By possum

Every time anyone begins to think the situation in Iraq cannot get any worse, another new news item comes along.  Today is the story of honor killings for sale.

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.

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 story of Rand Abdel-Qader, the 17-year-old murdered by her father after forming a relationship with a British soldier, is all too typical of the state of affairs today.  Rand's father said

If I had realised then what she would become, I would have killed her the instant her mother delivered her

Abdel-Qader, 46, a government employee, was initially arrested but released after two hours. Astonishingly, he said, police congratulated him on what he had done. 'They are men and know what honour is,' he said.

Rand's mother divorced her husband and went into hiding after the killing.  She was subsequently killed as well.  In Rand's case the story was all too typical.

Though her horrified mother, Leila Hussein, called Rand's two brothers, Hassan, 23, and Haydar, 21, to restrain Abdel-Qader as he choked her with his foot on her throat, they joined in. Her shrouded corpse was then tossed into a makeshift grave without ceremony as her uncles spat on it in disgust.

Today fathers are hiring killers to take care of the bloody task.  Then the deaths are attributed to sectarian violence.  Even organizations aimed at helping women live in safety are targeted.

The Women's Rights Association in Basra was forced to close down after death threats were made following the murder of Rand's mother last May. Two women from a voluntary organisation who had been helping her to hide from her husband were also injured.

Some in the government are trying to reverse the course according to Hameed Walled, senior official in the Ministry of Human Rights.

We try to make a difference by teaching students at schools about gender equality, but it only will be possible when parents don't teach the opposite at home

At least there is a start.  How long before we see any real progress?  The situation for women today is worse than before the invasion.  The deaths of every one these women must be counted with the casualties of war as the toll mounts day by day.

Peace.

Full post as published by Never In Our Names on December 01, 2008 (boomark / email).