Mubashir Bhutta Human Rights MBHR

"Honour" Killings

The root of honour killings is centuries old and dates back to the Pre-Islamic era called Jahiliyah (Time of Ignorance before Mohammed). During that time men were encouraged to bury their infant daughters alive to avoid the possibility that they would dishonour the family.

The practice of honour killings has nothing to do with Islam or the Koran. The prophet Mohammed called for an end to it. Instead the practice has grown and spread throughout the world. There have been hundreds of reports in the Arabic countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, India and Bangladesh, West Bank of Israel and Jordan. Although not as common, honour killing has been also reported in many non Arabic countries like Brazil, Ecuador, Uganda and Britain.

An investigative report by Amnesty International states that honour killings are the most widespread in Pakistan where the concept of women as an object or commodity is deeply rooted in the tribal culture. The ancient custom of honour killing is well defined and condoned throughout society. (note: the following description relates specifically to Pakistan and may not apply to other Arabic countries)

In Pakistan women are considered property of the males in their family and, like livestock or property, they have monetary value. Women are almost always married by arrangement between families. The tribal customs dictate the property is to be kept within the family so women are often married to cousins or uncles, usually on the paternal side.

Upon marriage the woman is exchanged for a 'vulver' or bride price which is paid by the groom to the father of the bride. It varies according to the status, health, beauty and age of the woman. Sometimes the bride price involves another woman. Men can exchange daughters, even unborn granddaughters, to obtain new wives for themselves.

Women are seen to embody the honour of the men to whom they belong. The culture casts the males as the sole protector of the female so he must have total control over her. While this specifically relates to sexual relations many men have interpreted this to include control over a women's earnings, attire and her social relationships with others. If his protection is violated he loses 'ghairat' or honour because he failed to protect her. His 'izzat' or standing in society is diminished.

A woman who engages in 'zina' or unlawful sexual relations is branded 'kari' or black. In order to cleanse the honour of the man who owns her she must be killed. A man who kills for reason of honour is 'ghairatmand' , both morally and legally supported by his tribesmen. The killings are often performed openly. A man who is unable to cleanse his family's honour is 'beghairat' or without honour and considered socially impotent. After the women are killed their bodies are often thrown into rivers or buried in hidden graveyards. No one is permitted to grieve for them or honour their memory.

The man who engaged in sexual relations with the woman is branded 'karo' which also means black. His family is not dishonoured instead they have gained social standing by captivating another man's wife or daughter.

Tribal law dictates that he should also be killed but usually the 'karo' has the opportunity to flee while his family negotiates with the dishonoured family to save his life. A 'faislo' or agreement is set up by the 'sardars' or tribal council leaders. The compensation includes 'khoon baha' or blood money but can also involve the trade of another woman to the dishonoured family.

The Amnesty International reports states that this system does provide opportunities for personal profit. There are many cases of fake honour killings where rumours about a daughter or wife are circulated so that they can be killed just to obtain blood money or a new wife.

News reports from May 2004 indicate that as many as 449 individuals, have been murdered as karo-kari in 2004 The News (Jang Group). 18 May 2004.. Some 28 individuals are said to have been killed under the pretext of “honour” in Nawab Shah and its suburbs in Sindh province in one month alone! Frontier Post, 8 April 2004. In 2002, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stated that 376 cases of “honour killings” were recorded over the year in the province of Sindh. These reports all indicate that the practise is by no means waning. It is important also to remember that reported incidents represent a fraction of those the total number of such cases.

Once declared kari a woman who survives attempts on her life, finds few safeguards under Pakistani law that enable her to seek shelter, legal aid and justice from constant threats, intimidation and incidents of targeted violence. Many women are hunted down as kari month, even years after they supposedly “shamed” their family.

A legal loophole that many perpetrators of “honour” killings escape punishment from is the Qisas and Diyat law. Under this law the family of the victim are allowed to pardon the perpetrator of the killing, and the individual is then free from legal proceedings and sentencing.

In many instances “honour” is used as an excuse to perpetrate crimes that stem from inter-family, land, and personal disputes. Since virtual impunity has existed for these crimes they are an easy cloak to hide behind without having the fear of criminal proceedings being brought.

Over the past two years, a noticeable debate has emerged in Pakistan calling for the practise of “honour” killing to be made a crime under the law and for it to be punished as murder. These debates have been welcomed by Amnesty International who has for many years called for such incidents to be treated as crimes under the national law. President Musharraf himself has been quoted as saying that “it is totally illegal” and that “we must deal with the culprits of honour killing most harshly” -AFP News Wire. 10/02/04.

In 2002, the governor of Sindh issued a draft bill to curb the practise of “honour” killings. In the same year a resolution to condemn and demand legislative action were also introduced both in the National and Sindh Assemblies. A bill put forward by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) called the Elimination of Gender Discrimination and the Protection and Empowerment of Women Bill 2004, addresses “honour” killings and also calls for the repeal of the Hudood Ordinances. However, none of these initiatives have led to new legal procedures against “honour” killings.

Sadly five years after AI issued a report on “honour” crimes a statement quoted in it by human rights activist, Hina Jilani’s still rings “the right to life of women in Pakistan is conditional on obeying social norms and traditions.” Until legislative changes are brought about and fully implemented the women of Pakistan will remain crippled by “honour

"Honour" Killings
of Women

Summary

"Honour" killings of women can be defined as acts of murder in which "a woman is killed for her actual or perceived immoral behavior." (Yasmeen Hassan, "The Fate of Pakistani Women," International Herald Tribune, May 25, 1999.) Such "immoral behavior" may take the form of marital infidelity, refusing to submit to an arranged marriage, demanding a divorce, flirting with or receiving phone calls from men, failing to serve a meal on time, or -- grotesquely -- "allowing herself" to be raped. In the Turkish province of Sanliurfa, one young woman's "throat was slit in the town square because a love ballad was dedicated to her over the radio." (Pelin Turgut, "'Honour' Killings Still Plague Turkish Province," The Toronto Star, May 14, 1998.)

Most "honour" killings of women occur in Muslim countries, the focus of this case study; but it is worth noting that no sanction for such murders is granted in Islamic religion or law. And the phenomenon is in any case a global one. According to Stephanie Nebehay, such killings "have been reported in Bangladesh, Britain, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Sweden, Turkey and Uganda." Afghanistan, where the practice is condoned under the rule of the fundamentalist Taliban movement, can be added to the list, along with Iraq and Iran. (Nebehay, "'Honor Killings' of Women Said on Rise Worldwide," Reuters dispatch, April 7, 2000.)

Pakistan: No compromise on murder

18/10/2004: Murder by any other name still smells foul. It is still murder. (South Asia Citizen's Wire)

Unfortunately, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2004 against 'honour killings' introduced by the treasury bench in the National Assembly deems this crime compoundable, allowing for a 'compromise' (razinama) between the parties.

Thus the accused in 'honour killing' or karo kari cases will continue to be able to escape punishment.

Most karo kari cases are committed by a close relative - father, brother, son, or husband of the woman. Often, the victims are the most vulnerable members of the family or community. In either case, if and when the case reaches a court of law, the victim's family may 'pardon' the murderer (who may well be one of them), or be pressurised to accept diyat ('blood-money') as compensation. The murderer then goes free.

The motive is often other than the stated ghairat or honour, often related to land disputes or old enmities. Such cases continue to take place because, very simply, the murderer knows he will get away with it. The statistics speak for themselves: according to one estimate, around 1,261 cases of honour killings were reported in 2003 alone - 938 women and 323 men. That is, over a hundred such cases a month.

The present bill does nothing to change this state of affairs, which appears to have worsened since the promulgation of the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance of 1990. Like other laws enacted in the name of religion, this one too has its flaws and critics, as well as supporters who appear more interested in preserving the status quo than in the ground reality of its negative effects.

On the positive side, this law did away with the concept of 'grave and sudden provocation' introduced by the British and incorporated in Section 300 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The 'provocation' clause allowed someone who had been 'provoked' into spontaneous murder, to receive a lighter sentence if he could justify his act. Then, as now, a woman's perceived infidelity was justification enough.

The Qisas & Diyat Act's omission of this clause leaves no room in the law for any concessions. "But the law and the judiciary are apparently two different things," writes the Lahore-based criminal lawyer Hassam Qadir Shah, in 'Don't let them get away with murder', a booklet on criminal procedures (Shirkat Gah Women's Resource Centre, 2002). "While the law is clear and unforgiving on this account, some judges of the superior courts of Pakistan have tried to read between the lines to apply the earlier concept of justified anger. Quite a few reported judgments in the form of case-law have once again mitigated the offence of murder in the context of so-called 'honour' crimes."

However, as Shah notes, several judgments also criticise this trend. "Neither the law of the land nor religion permits so-called 'honour' killings and it amounts to intentional murder ('qatl-i-amd')," states one Supreme Court judgment, noting that "such iniquitous and vile" acts violate the fundamental rights as enshrined in Article 9 of the Pakistan Constitution which provides that no person shall be deprived of life or liberty except in accordance with law. "Any custom in that respect is void under Article 8 (1) of the Constitution" (PLD 2001 SC 96).

The major flaw in the Qisas and Diyat law, which covers all offences against the human body, is that it makes such offenses compoundable (open to compromise as a private matter between two parties) by providing for qisas (retribution) or diyat (blood-money). The heirs of the victim can forgive the murderer in the name of God without receiving any compensation or diyat (Section 309), or compromise after receiving diyat (Section 310).

Most cases result in one or the other compromise, thus allowing murderers to go free, even though Pakistani law does not contain any provision which allows the offence of murder to be mitigated. Contrary to common belief, Islam also explicitly forbids such killing in the name of ghairat or honour.

Prior to this change, the state was a party to murder cases, which were non-compoundable, in keeping with the principle that the state must ensure the right to life of all citizens, regardless of class, gender or creed. Now the poor "may be cornered into compromising even for the most heinous crimes in lieu of a hefty payoff, for instance. This promotes the practice of settling murder cases, and especially cases of karo kari through a compromise or razinama," notes Shah.

Many lawyers and human rights activists believe that there is no need to define 'honour crimes' or 'karo kari' murders separately, as the existing provisions of the PPC and the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) are sufficient, provided that such murders are registered as murder. In cases where guilt is established, through confession or trial, the perpetrator must be convicted at least on paper, even if there is a razinama, so that the criminal record is established.

No matter how well-intentioned, the government's bill on 'honour killings' is a farce as long as these factors are ignored. And finally, no law can bring about changes unless it is implemented, and unless society changes to accept the status of women as equal human beings.

by Beena Sarwar, originally published in The News on Sunday on October 17, 2004

They Say I Am Kari- So Who Will Protect Me Now?

Kari meaning black woman, is a term used to define women who have been identified as having tainted the honour of their family. A phenomenon that has unfortunately become well known across the world by its more popular name- “honour” killing.

In a society where women are seen to be the embodiment of family honour they are often the first to pay the price of others suspicions, false accusations and for exercising their rights guaranteed under international human rights law to “freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent” (CEDAW Article 16, clause 1b). The accusation of a woman as kari many times leads to the man associated with her to be declared karo or black man. While women are more vulnerable to being victimised under these practices, men are not immune from being punished as well.

“A man killed his 16-year-old daughter and her 17-year-old cousin on the pretext of preserving the family’s honour. The father of the deceased boy endorsed the son’s murder and asked the police not to file an FIR”. Dawn Newspaper 13/02/04

“When Ms. Khashkeli was picked up by the jirga’s ‘execution squad’ her father resisted and contended that he had pardoned his daughter. Nonetheless members of the ‘death squad’ took Ms Khaskeli and her husband to a nearby spot where they were gunned down.” Daily Times 23/01/04.

“An additional sessions court ordered the release of a father who stabbed his daughter to death after he suspected her of having illicit relations with a man. The girl’s mother told the court that she has pardoned her husband. The court issued orders for his release.” Daily Times 25/06/04

Jirgas have in the past sentenced girls and boys as young as seven and eight years old as karo and kari despite assertions from the father that the story has been concocted by his relatives to occupy his land. News 26/06/04.

“A woman was forced to put her legs in boiled oil, by her brother-in-law and mother-in-law, before amputating her legs, over suspicion of her loose morals”. Dawn 12/03/04.

“We’ve fled Hujra because I believe my family will kill us”- A 26-year-old woman who married the man of her choice.
Daily Times, 24/05/04

“In the case of a 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old boy who were not allowed to marry, inquiries showed that they were strangled to death by the girl’s parents and relatives.” Daily Times, 15/12/03

“Jirga declared 7-year-old girl and 8-year-old boy karo & kari.” News 24/06/04