Stop 'honour killings' in Iraq

Du'a Khalil Aswad (pictured), a girl aged about 17 and from the minority Kurdish Yezidi religious group, was stoned to death (on or around 7 April), apparently as punishment for her relationship with a Muslim teenager. Amnesty International has condemned as 'abhorrent' the stoning to death of a girl in a reported 'honour killing' in northern Iraq.

Du'a Khalil Aswad's murder is said to have been committed by relatives and other Yezidi men because of her relationship with a Sunni Muslim boy and her absence from her home for one night. Some reports suggested that she had converted to Islam, but others deny this. She was killed by a group of eight or nine men in the presence of a large crowd in the town of Bashika, near the city of Mosul, northern Iraq.

Initially, she was reportedly given shelter in the house of a Yezidi tribal leader in Bashika, but her killers stormed the house, took her outside and stoned her to death. Her death by stoning, which lasted for some 30 minutes, was recorded on video film, which was then widely distributed on the internet. The film reportedly shows that members of local security forces were present but failed to intervene to prevent the stoning or arrest those responsible.

Background information

There are frequent reports of "honour crimes" in Iraq - in particular in the predominantly Kurdish north of the country. Most victims of "honour crimes" are women and girls who are considered by their male relatives and others to have shamed the women's families by immoral behaviour. While the Kurdish authorities introduced legal reforms to address 'honour killings' they have, however, failed to investigate and prosecute those responsible for such crimes.

• Read the full Amnesty's press release
• Find out more about the Stop Violence Against Women's campaign
• Read the article Killing women, destroying Iraq

 

Du'a Khalil Aswad (pictured), a girl aged about 17 and from the minority Kurdish Yezidi religious group, was stoned to death (on or around 7 April), apparently as punishment for her relationship with a Muslim teenager. Amnesty International has condemned as 'abhorrent' the stoning to death of a girl in a reported 'honour killing' in northern Iraq.

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