Murder In The Name of Honor – Rana Husseini

1. Murder In The Name of Honor – Rana Husseini

2. “Honour is respect for life. Honour is respect for love. There is no honour in murder” – JANE FONDA , actress , writer and political activist

3. The so-called honor crimes, honor crimes. The word itself does not make complete sense to me and of course to everyone of you. I never in my life read a book that talks about honor crimes; I just came across this phrase while reading crime articles in the newspaper and heard about them in my daily life. I never knew their cause, their first existence. “Murder in the Name of Honor” is a book that is written by the magnificent RanaHusseini which opened my eyes to the so-called honor crimes in Jordan, and around the world.

4. Murder in the Name of Honor is a book that sheds the light on what happens to five thousand women who are murdered each year in the name of honor all over the globe. Many cases are never reported and many more so called honor killings are disguised as suicides and disappearances.

5. This book tells Rana Husseini's story so far, from her humble beginnings as a naïve but enthusiastic and stubborn journalist to the campaigns to change Jordan law, as well as her experiences in other countries in the Middle East, and investigations into so-called Honor Killings across Europe. She began a quest that had taken over the world. Rana was able to report those crimes in depth. As time passed by, she realized that while reporting those crimes they were a close step to the right direction . Since they were never enough, she decided that she had to do something about it to end these senseless murderers by starting sensational campaigns across Jordan to change the law and attitudes in it.

7. What are So-called Honor crimes ? • A so-called honor killing occurs when a family feels that their female relative has tarnished their reputation by what they loosely label “immoral behavior.” The person chosen by the family to carry out the murder (usually male: a brother, father, cousin, paternal uncle or husband) brutally ends their female relative’s life to cleanse the family of their ‘shame’ she brought upon them. The title Honor killing is ironic in the extreme because these murders, and the manner in which they are carried lack any honor whatsoever.

9. While Reading this book, I was really shocked to just see how widespread and out of control the global phenomenon of Honor killings is across the world, from the Third World till The first. It takes place in many more countries people realize besides Afghanistan, Brazil, Mexico, India, Israel, Pakistan, Morocco….etc. Honor killings also occur throughout Europe and USA. The number of so-called honor killings has been rising among immigrant communities in Europe, specifically Sweden, Germany, France and the UK. The British police have recently found out that more than one hundred crime cases in fact have been so called honor killings.

10. Some Examples of Honor Killings in Sweden: • A Kurdish Wife (2003): A 28-year-old Kurdish man stabs his one-year-younger wife with 37 slashes in Strangnas. The man did not accept that his wife wanted to get a divorce. The trial found him guilty and fined him ten years in prison and banishment from Sweden for life. • Pela Atroshi (1999): She was shot to death in Dhouk in Iraqi Kurdistan. Her sister called the Swedish police and reported the murder. Two uncles got a life sentence for the murder. The father is still wanted by the authorities. • Umea (1996): A 15-year-old Iraqi girl in Umea was killed by her brother and cousin after a party. The motive was that she had a Swedish life style. • Palestinian Girl (1994): A Palestinian man in Vastmanland killed his 18-year-old daughter when she refused to marry the man the father had chosen for her.

11. Fadime Sahindal (2002): A 26-year-old Kurdish girl, was killed in Uppsala in the evening of the 21st January. Her father did not accept that she had a Swedish boyfriend and wanted to have Swedish life style. The trial found her father guilty and he got a life sentence. Two months before she was killed she held a speech in the Swedish Parliament about her life and how she was treated by her family, relatives and Swedish authorities.

13. Gossip is the Source of all Evilness • Malicious gossiping was the tyrannical element that incites the rapid number of the so-called honor murdering. The majority of the so-called honor killings, Rana Husseini, reported were based on suspicions. The problem is not restricted to adultery. Generational conflict, teen culture, urbanization and adolescent rebellion all trigger factors in immigrant communities in Europe as well in the Third World.

15. Degree of Relationship between the Victims and the Murderer • Husband killing the wife • 41 % • Father killing the daughter • 34 % • Brother killing the sister • 18 % • A man killing his female relative • 07 • “even if one girl” suffers an honor killing, that’s “one too many.”

16. This type of murder takes place almost all over the world, but it is identified in different ways according to culture, religion, social practices and gender relations. This label has been given to such crimes because they have been, and continue to be, carried out, justified and excused in the name of "honor". Honor in the context of these crimes implies the honor of a man, and by extension the family, who feels his own and his family's reputation was disgraced by the behavior of his sister, daughter, wife or mother. Often evidence of a crime is not necessary – gossip and rumor are enough condemnation for the victim.

17. The first question that directly popped into my mind is “why do many people associate this brutal act to religion? Why justify themselves through the teachings of Islam,Christianity,Hindustany…etc?” and luckily, I was able to answer my question. Well guess what? This brutal act has nothing to do with Religion, Tradition , Culture or History. It’s all about control which is an effective way of eliminating the freedom of movement , freedom of expression and sexuality of women. They also violate the rights of life, liberty. They also violate the obstruction of torture and inhuman punishments; the obstruction of slavery and the right to freedom from gender based discrimination. Since we’re living in a male-dominant society, women with a sad thought do not have the right to justify themselves when being placed in such situations.

18. Why kill a rape victim instead of the Rapist ? • what really outraged me while reading the book is why rape victims are the ones who pay for it where it should be the rapist instead? Most commonly, rape, as I see it from my personal perspective, is a crime of opportunity. The victim is chosen not because of her looks or behavior, but because she is there. Rana’s first honor crime investigation started with the murder of a 16 year old girl named Kifaya. It was the 31st of May 1994 when Kifaya’s mother, uncles and brothers decided that she would die. Kifaya’s crime was to have allowed herself to be raped by her other brother Mohammad. She had been forced secretly to abort his child and to marry a man thirty four years her senior, whom she divorced after six miserable months. She has shamed her family and there was only one way to fix this by killing her. Khalid, her other brother, was the chosen one to kill her; on a summery day her family tied her in the kitchen and her brother Khalid told her to drink a glass of water and recite verses from the Qur'an. He picked up a knife while Kifaya kept begging him for mercy. Outside the neighbors listened but did nothing to interfere. Khalid stood outside his house holding the stained knife and shouting “ I have cleansed my Family’s honour” while his family were running to congratulate him.

19. A 15 year old Afghani girl waiting for her honor killing sentence after being raped by her father and brother

20. Rana Husseini couldn’t help herself not to interfere in the murder of Kifaya. She knew that Kifaya’s murder would mark the beginning of the so-called honor crimes as a national issue. One day she decided to interview Kifaya’s uncles. All they had to say about her murder was “Kifaya was not a good girl,” which ironically sounded like killing a bad girl was acceptable. Kifaya’s other uncle had to say “ She seduced her brother. She tarnished the family’s honour and deserved to die” (This is ridiculous. Why would a girl choose to sleep with her brother if she wanted to sleep with a man, with firm assurances she won’t chose to sleep with her brother) • The murderer, Khalid, was sentenced to fifteen years, but the sentence was subsequently reduced to seven and a half years, an extremely severe penalty by Jordanian standards.

22. I hate it. I really hate how our society blames women for every single thing: For being raped, for being harassed on the streets, for flirting with their husbands, for husbands who divorce them, for bearing a child of the wrong gender, for sickness, for letting their husbands die of un-cured diseases . At least blame the two sexes , but don’t blame it all on women just because the hierarchal society has been marginalizing women for that long.

23. Two types of Honor ??!!!!! • While reading the book I was completely shocked to know that there are two types of honor and that women when accused of tarnishing their family’s honor would be graded relating to them. In traditional Arab society, a distinction is made between two kinds of honor: sharaf and ird. • Sharaf relates to the honor of such as the Arab tribe or family, as well as individuals, and it can fluctuate . A failure by a female individual to follow what is defined as moral conduct weakens the social status of the family or tribal unit. To sum up, sharaf translates roughly as the Western concept of "dignity."

24. In contrast, 'ird relates only to the honor of women and its value can only decrease. It translates roughly as the Western concept of "chastity" or "purity." And as with chastity or purity, exemplary moral behavior cannot increase a woman's 'ird but misconductreduces it. In addition, 'ird trumps sharaf: the honor of the Arab family or tribe can be gravely damaged when one of its women's chastity is violated or when her reputation is tainted. A violation of a woman's honor requires severe action, as Tarrad Fayez, a Jordanian tribal leader, explains: "A woman is like an olive tree. When its branch catches woodworm, it has to be chopped off so that society stays clean and pure.

25. What behavior amounts to a violation of family honor is not precisely classified. Basically it involves an unsupervised contact of a female with a male that may be interpreted by society as intimate. Such contact can be trivial: a 15-year old Jordanian girl was stoned to death by her brother who spotted her walking toward a house where young boys lived alone. As for rape, society perceives the violated woman not as a victim who needs protection but as someone who debased the family’s honor, and relatives will opt to undo the shame by taking her life. Failure to do so further dishonors the family.

26. A Palestinian woman who survived an honor killing after her two brothers caught her talking on the phone with a man . Her two brothers kept blemishing her face until their other relatives interfered and stopped them.

27. Rana Husseini began to write more and more on honor crimes deeply. With the support of other journalists she was able to establish herself as the first journalist who spots the light on Honour Crimes in Jordan . As a result of her courtesy, she started receiving threatening letters every once in a while. What she had to comment about this situation was so influential that left a huge impact on me. “Threats like these made me all the more determined to carry on. I had found my life’s mission”. She followed and listened to her heart and conscience because these women needed a voice. They were lost souls buried in unmarked graves as they have never existed.

28. Rana Husseini agreed to be part of a documentary that CNN decided to film in 1999. They wanted to interview prisoners who had killed their female relatives to cleanse their family’s honor and were in prison awaiting their court verdict. Sarhan, in his late twenties, was the one to be interviewed. He killed his sister to cleanse his family’s honour. His sister , Yasmin, had been raped by her own brother-in-law and as she knew well the consequences of such a crime she turned herself in to the police rather than risk the wrath of her family. And since history repeats itself, rape victims are the ones to be punished. Sarhan tried bailing her out but the police refused since they had this slight feeling that she might be killed because of losing her virginity. When I finished reading this part I felt relived, Whoaaa finally a rape victim is saved, Justice is taking place and she might be given a second chance, but with a sad thought I was wrong.

30. I kept reading the story of Yasmin hoping to expect a better ending. Her brother Sarhan went to stay at his friend’s house and asked his relatives to bail his sister out of jail. When he returned home, he found his sister in the living room, and without uttering a word, he shot her five times with an unlicensed gun and turned himself in. He even didn’t give himself the time to question her or to kill her brother-in-law instead. For me as the oldest daughter, I thanked God for the first time for not having a brother, I don’t know what it has to do with this story but I felt thankful. He killed a sister ! A sister who shares his blood and flesh, what about the memories he shared while growing up with her? Was it all simply forgotten because of the family’s honor? Why not reverse the whole situation and kill the brother-in-law instead? Why not kill the complete stranger instead of the close relative one?

31. Sarhan Killed Yasmin because she’s no longer a virgin. He comments on his tyrannical act to Rana by saying, “ She made a mistake, willingly or not. It is better that one person dies than the whole family live in shame and disgrace.” He also says, “ It is like a box of apples. If you have one rotten apple would you keep it or get rid of it? I just got rid of the rotten apple.” My reaction was completely speechless, is he serious? Is he aware of what he’s actually saying? God, he’s comparing a soul to a lifeless object ! From where on earth does this cold-hearted creature come from? What also annoyed me is how strict and aware he is of abiding by society’s own rules. He also mentions that people refused to talk with them and society ordered them to cleanse their honor. The only solution to end disgrace was Death. He preferred society to his sister just to be accepted.

32. Three Jordanian prisoners waiting for their court verdict after killing their female relatives to cleanse their family’s honor .

33. And, of course, Sarhan received a lenient penalty when the facts of his sister’s case were clear. This leniency was made possible by article 98 of the Penal Code which permits those acting in a “fit” reduced penalties. This is not fair. Yasmin who turned herself and risked her reputation in order to be protected by the police and all she receives then is a sudden murder. Another statement that infuriated me is when Rana interviewed the judge to ask his opinion on the murder of Yasmin, he had to say, “ The rape happened within family, so it was clearly a family affair. Sarhan killed his sister after family encouragement, so this murder was a product of our culture.” But what about Yasmin’s life? What, was her life worth nothing? Well, the only justice I felt was when every woman refused to marry Sarhan because he killed his sister including a daughter of one of his uncles who encouraged him to kill Yasmin, his sister.

34. Shaima Rezayee, a popular vee-jay. Rezayee herself was a central focus of the criticism, mainly for her western style of dress. This was believed by the religious authorities to be 'corrupting' the youth of Afghanistan .These factors has led to her death, where then she was shot to death in her home.

35. Both Murderers, Khalid and Sarhan, realized that what they did was against the Islamic Law. According to both of their families, society is stronger than religion. Both murderers stated the reason behind killing her which is to cleanse the honor of their families. Society imposes rules on them and they did it because they wanted to please society. We live in a backward society that imposes backward ideas on their lives. This made me realize something. Khalid and Sarhan were like their sisters, but to a lesser extent, victims of their own society, victims of ancient and unfair traditions that turned them from normal human beings into killers.

36. In the autumn of 1995, Zarqa witnessed another so- called honor crime. A thirty-year-old man shot his two sisters and then fled before turning himself in the following day. And of course, as usual, the motive of this crime is Honor killing. Rana travelled all the way to Zarqa to investigate this story. Everyone in the town assured her that the two sisters named Kifaya and Nadia are known for their morality and they were killed by their brother Mohammad for their inheritance. Mohammad was known for the reputation of a trouble maker and had a criminal record. He shot both them. Everyone knew that Mohammad quarreled with his two sisters regularly about the share of inheritance. He wanted them to give their share up to him but since they refused , he decided to kill them.

37. ` Victims that were brutally killed in Honor crimes A Pakistani mother of three being buried alive by her aunt , husband and two brothers because of committing adultery

38. During Mohammad’s trial, he claimed that on the morning of the incident he stopped by the house to pick up his mother. After she came down, she realized she forgot something and Mohammad offered to bring it for her. He knocked the door of his apartment. His sisters took a while to answer and when they did, they looked scared and confused. He became suspicious, searched the house and found a strange man inside . The man pushed him and fled. He claimed he tried to catch him, but failed instead he turned to the apartment to face his two sisters. He also claimed that the two sisters started accusing each other by telling him “ this man is not mine.” Mohammad drew a gun and shot his sister Nadia in the head while Kifaya tried to escape from the window he shot her down three times. During the trial there was no testimony from a witness or family member mentioning the inheritance. There was no mention of any stranger leaving the house apart from the neighbor who heard footsteps. But what really kept bothering me is why didn’t they ask Mohammad on why he chose to kill his sisters instead of going after the man allegedly found in their room. This is ridiculous because it was much easier for Mohammad to catch this man by asking the busy market to help him capture him. The court didn’t even ask Mohammad if the man was an intruder who broke into the house. And what was the unexpected surprise? He was only sentenced to one year in prison. This really frustrated me.

40. Different stories in different timings and settings, but they all talk about one issue: killing in the name of honor. Women are not allowed to love, and loving someone from a different religion is considered as a vice. I actually once read a book by Leila Aboleila titled “ The Translator” which talks about two people falling in love from two different religions. What obsticaled their love regularly was religion and the idea of conversion. But the story ends happily when the Christian man converts into Islam to marry the protagonist. In contrast with the harsh reality , the novel opposes the upcoming story that broke my heart. A man shot his 29 year old sister dead. He said she was a Christian and had planned to marry a Muslim man. The real reason that was thought to be was that he wanted to take over the flat her fiance had given to her and move into it with his mother. This time because the woman’s fiance was influential, the killer ended up receiving a fifteen year prison term but this was reduced half after his mother dropped the charges against him. Why not find the easy way where either one of them convert to the other’s religion, or ooh society does not allow that. Why don’t we have those two characters in Leila’s novel to advocate for this change? Why should we consider love to a different religion sinful?

41. Three Indonesian girls were beheaded for having a relation ship with a man from a different religion.

42. “No, you are not allowed to fall in love “ • Father to Daughter : You are going to marry your cousin. • Daughter: But I don’t love him. I actually don’t have feelings for him. • Father: Love. How dare you talk with me about love? Have you completely lost your mind? It’s not necessary to love him, just marry him. • Daughter: But father how can I marry someone I • don’t love and have feelings for. • Father: You immoral insect. What are you planning to do, disgrace. . . • Daughter (Interrupts): Father, I love someone else and he’ll be coming over to ask for my hand. • Father: That’s it, I don’t need you to disgrace me at the edge of my living years… • Daughter: I AM NOT GOING TO MARRY MY COUSIN ! • Father: (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMH) • I cleansed my honor! I shot my daughter because she loves someone who is completely unacceptable.

43. Two woman were killed in an honor crime and their bodies were thrown near the garbage, as if they were rotten creatures What a price to pay. This beautiful young woman was beheaded and her head thrown in the street as a warning to other Islamic women for not tarnishing their families' honor.

45. Another story that broke my heart and was devastating. All her life 23 year old Rania had been told by her parents that she would grow marrying her cousin. But when she went to the university, she met an Iraqi student named Khalid and fell in love with him. In June 1997, unable to face marriage to her cousin, for who she felt nothing except a normal familial bond, she ran away from home just a few days before their wedding and moved in with Khalid. A couple of months after fleeing from her home, Jordanian TV broadcast a live programme about honor crimes. The Presenter had read a heart breaking letter Rania has sent to the station which she asked for her family’s forgiveness and understanding. In the letter, Rania assured the family that her love Khalid was not the reason why she did not want to marry her cousin and thought of him as a brother. She wrote that she had tried to convince her uncle and cousin to drop the idea but they refused. Rania said that her cousin told her that she had meant to be his wife ever since they were children and that when she marries him she will learn how to love. As I see it from my point of view, her cousin is toying with her feelings; he’s ordering her to be his wife and the ridiculous part is that he already predicted her feelings as if she was a fictional character in a movie game.

46. Crimes of Honour documents the terrible reality of femicide - the belief that a girl’s body is the property of the family, and any suggestion of sexual impropriety must be cleansed with her blood. The movie meets with women who are hiding from their families, a brother who describes his reasons for killing the sister he loved, and a handful of women who have committed themselves to the protection of young women in danger of losing their lives.

47. However, Rania wasn’t able to stay away for too long from her family so she wrote them a letter and begged them to forgive her. Her father called the Jordanian TV promising them that he wouldn’t harm his daughter, that all they wanted was for her to return and that the wedding plans have been canceled. A joyful Rania agreed to meet her family at a police station, where she was handed over to her father who signed a JD 5,000 bond that guaranteed he wouldn’t harm his daughter. Relief took all over me, I thought at the beginning that no one would dare to harm her. But wait! I should have kept those thoughts to myself.

48. To conclude what happens to Rania. After two weeks, Rania’s two aunts took pity on her and decided to set her a secret meeting with Khalid. Rania felt appreciative. They arrived and as they were on their way walking near some railway lines, her aunts suddenly ran off. Instead of finding Khalid, Rania found her seventeen-year-old brother with a pistol and she was directly killed. Later after her death, medical examinations indicated that Rania was still a virgin. I was outraged by this heart-breaking story. Rania, an innocent child, was betrayed by two of her closest members in her family. I believe the moral in this story I received was never trust anyone even your closest ones. Well, I wanted to know this, what about the guarantee the Father agreed to sign? Ironically the father was really intelligent to travel out of the country while the murder happened because in this way, the charges are dropped.

49. INDIAN ELDERS GET DEATH FOR HONOR KILLING:First Capital Punishment For This Crime...!The village elders hunted the young couple down, dragging them from a bus, strangling the groom and forcing his bride to drink pesticide in an honor killing with roots thousands of years old. But for the first time, India has sentenced the murderers to death for their actions, setting up a showdown between long-held tradition and cries for overhauling what some say are archaic rules, reports the Washington Post.The ruling, which condemned five village elders to death for murdering the couple for violating laws designed to prevent even distant relatives from marrying, has split the village and the region, finds the Post. Some, like the groom's mother, feel marriage laws are in need of an overhaul. "My son did the honorable thing by marrying the girl he loved," she says. Others are outraged—not at the double murder, but at the lovers' transgressions: "Manoj and Babli rubbed our village's name in mud," a local farmer says. Read more: http://www.newser.com/story/89935/india-elders-get-death-in-honor killing.html#ixzz0taTskg00

50. A 16-year-old girl was buried alive in a Turkish village as punishment for talking to boys. Police discovered her body after a tipoff. She was found sitting up, with her hands tied and soil in her lungs, buried in a hole behind her family's home in Kahta in southeastern Turkey. Her father and grandfather are being held by police, but it's not clear if they have been charged with a crime, reports the Guardian. The horrifying death has reopened national debate about so-called "honor killings," which account for half of all murders in Turkey.