Turkey: Mysterious deaths could be honor killings, says report
Category: Women’s Rights Matter
UK: 15 Year Old Girl Tulay Goren Murdered in “Honor Killing,” Mother Testifies in Court
— Daily Mail: “Missing girl was victim of honour killing, claims mother”
— Daily Mail reports:
— “A mother broke a ten-year silence to claim her teenage daughter was murdered in an ‘honour killing’, a court heard yesterday.”
— “Tulay Goren, 15, was allegedly killed by her father and buried in his garden after he learnt she was in a sexual relationship with a man twice her age.”
— “Mehmet Goren, 49, with the help of at least one of his brothers, then allegedly dug up her remains in Woodford Green, East London, and disposed of them a week later. Her body has never been found.”
— “Tulay’s mother Hanim lived with the dark family secret and at first misled police because she was scared for her safety, said Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, prosecuting.”
— “Tulay’s father and his brothers Ali, 55, and Cuma Goren, 42, both of Walthamstow, East London, yesterday appeared at the Old Bailey accused of the schoolgirl’s murder on January 7, 1999, and the attempted murder of her boyfriend Halil Unal, now 41. All three deny both charges.”
— “Tulay was living with Mr Unal and had even tried to marry him, but was too young.”
— “But after losing her virginity Tulay was seen as a ‘valueless commodity’, the court heard.”
— “Her father and uncles, who came to Britain as political refugees from Turkey in the early 1990s, are alleged to have decided in a ‘family council’ to kill the pair.”
— “Mr Unal was a Turkish Sunni Muslim but the Gorens were from the Alevi branch of the faith and an Alevi-Sunni relationship ‘would not have been tolerated’, jurors heard.”
— Additional Reports
— Reuters: Father accused of daughter’s “honour killing”
— Guardian: Mother to give evidence in ‘honour killing’ trial
— London Times: Knives and bin-bags vanished, garden was dug over, says ‘honour killing’ wife
Turkey: 19 Year Old Girl Murdered in “Honor Killing” – Prosecution Seeks Life Sentence for Father, Uncle
— Today’s Zaman reports:
— “The family did not report her as missing to any authorities, telling other villagers that they had ‘left the incident to God.'”
— “The prosecution charges in its indictment that the murder was an honor killing and that pressures related to the woman’s interactions with men in the conservative village had led her male relatives to kill her.”
— “The prosecution examined the woman’s cell phone records and found that her last call was to her boyfriend, H.K.”
— “He told the prosecution that the day Kilic supposedly got ‘lost,’ she had called him. ‘Her voice seemed very tense. She said she was at home — it was as if she was afraid someone would see her talking on the phone. She was in a hurry, she suggested we elope and said ‘otherwise they’ll kill me.'”
— March 24, 2009 – Turkey: Poll — Over a Quarter Support Extremist “Honor Killings”
Iran: Judge Charges Christian Converts with “Apostasy and Propagation of Christian Faith”
ICC Report: “Iranian Judge Charges Converts with Apostasy and Propagation of Christian Faith”
— see also Elam report
— see also FREETHEMM report
— ICC reports: “Washington, D.C. (October 08, 2009) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on October 7 an Iranian judge charged Maryam and Marzieh with ‘crimes’ of apostasy and propagation of the Christian faith. They could face life imprisonment if convicted of apostasy.”
— “Elam ministries told ICC that Maryam and Marzieh were unexpectedly taken to appear before the court yesterday morning.”
— “In a positive development, their case has now been transferred from the revolutionary court to the regular courts after the judge dropped the earlier charge of anti-state activities. Maryam, Marzieh and their lawyer are pleased with this development.”
— “Maryam and Marzieh were detained on March 5, 2009. The Iranian officials accused them of ‘anti-state activities’ following their conversion from Islam to Christianity. During their appearance before the revolutionary court on August 9, they told the court that they would not recant their faith in Christ.”
For the ICCreport on their court appearance, see: http://www.persecution.org/suffering/pressdetail.php?presscode=325
— “Iranian officials sent Maryam and Marzieh to the infamous Evin prison where they have endured mistreatment, including solitary confinement and deprivation of medical attention. Both of them are in poor health. On October 4, Maryam suffered severe food poisoning and was given medical attention after much insistence.”
— “In an interview with the Voice of America Persian News Network, Maryam and Marzieh’s lawyer said, ‘My clients are not prepared to lie about their faith under any condition.'”
— “ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa and the Middle East, Jonathan Racho, said, ‘We welcome the move by the Iranian court to drop the charges of anti-state activities against Maryam and Marzieh. We urge Iranian officials to drop charges of apostasy and propagation of Christianity, as well. As party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran has an obligation to respect the right of Maryam and Marzieh to follow the religion of their choice.'”
UK: Man in court over ‘honor’ killing of Banaz Mahmod
(UK) Man in court over ‘honour’ killing
— UK Press Association reports: “A man has appeared at the Old Bailey charged with the ‘honour’ killing of Banaz Mahmod.”
— “Mohammed Saleh Ali, 27, of no fixed address, appeared by videolink and was remanded in custody to face trial in March.”
— “Ali was extradited to Britain from Iraq in June and charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and perverting justice. Ms Mahmod, 20, of Mitcham, south London, was strangled and her body buried in a suitcase on the orders of members of her family. Her father and uncle were jailed for life in 2007.”
Pakistan Federal Shariat Court acquits rape convict
Pakistan Federal Shariat Court acquits rape convict
— Pakistan Daily Times reports:
— “The Federal Shariat Court on Tuesday acquitted a convict, Zahid Hussain, who had been awarded five years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 100,000 in a rape case.”
— “The convict had filed a jail appeal, challenging his conviction and sentence. According to the prosecution, Hussain had sexually assaulted a girl in Larkana. The trial court had found him guilty and convicted him under Section 10 Offence of Zina (EOH) 1979. He was handed down awarded five years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 100,000. Justice Salahuddin Mirza after hearing arguments by the appellant’s counsel, Haji Abdul Mujeeb, acquitted him”
Pakistan “Honor Killing”: “Bodies of couple found in well in Gadap Town”
Pakistan “Honor Killing”: “Bodies of couple found in well in Gadap Town”
— Pakistan Daily Times reports: “Police believe the eloped couple were killed by their families over honour”
— “The bodies of a young man and a pregnant woman were found in a 200-feet deep well in Gadap Town.”
— “Police officials believe that their families might have killed them on the pretext of honour.
— “After the residents of the area informed the police about a foul stink emitting from a well located in Yasrab Colony near Sehra-e-Madina, Superhighway, in the jurisdiction of Gadap City police station, Edhi volunteers were called in who recovered the bodies from the well and shifted them to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for legal formalities. The woman was identified as Hazrat Bibi, 29, daughter of Painda Khan, and the man as Shahenshah, 25, son of Safoon Khan, both of Afghan descent.”
— “The police said the woman was married to a man named Zahir Shah, a resident of Yasrab Colony, and had two children with her husband. At the time of her death, she was four months pregnant.”
Palestinian Report on “Honor Killing” Strangulation of Child in West Bank
Palestinian Report on “Honor Killing” Strangulation of Child in West Bank
— Maan News Report: “According to the report, it was recorded last month, deaths and one against the background of the so-called family honor, took place in the West Bank and were as follows:”
— “On citizenship, the child died 30.9.2009 (E.. G. A. P) and aged 16, from Beit Oula village governorate of Hebron, was killed by strangulation by handkerchief, has been converted into the body by the public prosecutor and the police to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for autopsies to determine cause of death, according to information the Commission has recognized the mother to kill her for her daughter against the backdrop of the so-called family honor.”
“Egyptian Police Arrest Christian Father for Attempting to Free Kidnapped Daughter”
— AINA reports: “Egyptian Police Arrest Christian Father for Attempting to Free Kidnapped Daughter”
— “At dawn on Saturday, October 3, 2009, Egyptian State Security forces arrested a group of Christian Copts in different parts of the city in Alexandria, after severely assaulting them in front of their neighbors. Their wives were also arrested, but because of intense objection protests by neighbors at the way they were handled and of the screams of their terrified children, they were released. The men who were arrested are relatives of Rafaat Girges Habib, a man who helped a Coptic father free his kidnapped daughter from her Muslim husband’s home. The arrests continued until Habib turned himself in to the police.”
— “Egypt4Christ, based in Alexandria, reported that what started this incident was a telephone call on September 30 from Myrna, the only daughter of Coptic accountant Gamal Labib Hanna, in which she begged him to come and save her from her Muslim husband, Mohamad Hefnawy.”
— “Myrna was abducted 10 months ago, forced to convert to Islam and married by a ‘customary marriage contract’ by Osama Hefnawy to his son Mohammad. Being 19 years old at the time, Myrna was under-age for a girl to be married. According to Islamic Sharia a woman cannot get married before she reaches the age of 21 years; she can only get married before through a mandate from her father or uncles alone. Those requirements can be waived for the benefit of a non-relative only through a court ruling, which was not obtained in Myrna’s case.”
— “On their way to free his daughter, the father, together with his brother and brother-in-law, passed by a cafe near St. George’s Church, Sidi Bishr, where Rafaat Girges Habib, a plumber who has done jobs in the father’s home, volunteered to accompany them to bring Myrna back.”
— “As they went to the apartment where Myrna was held, they were met by Osama Hefnawy, father of Mohamed and five other Muslims, who threatened them. A struggle ensued, and Myrna left with her father. She was taken away to an establishment dealing with abduction cases like hers, especially that it was found out that she was six months pregnant.”
— “Osama Hefnawy immediately filed a report with the police and the State Security Headquarters in Al-Farana, Alexndri downtown. Myrna’s paternal uncles were arrested and charged with abduction, together with her father. Myrna’s family apartment was broken into and the shop of Rafaat Girges Habib was completely demolished by the police.”
— “Myrna’s father was forced to go to the police station to negotiate the release of his relatives and ‘for matters to be resolved amicably’ as he was told by Lieutenant Ahmed Mekki, of the Police Department of Investigation, who contacted him on his cell phone.”
— “Myrna’s uncles were forced to go and bring her back to the police station, where she was handed over to Osama Hefnawy. In addition the police took the necessary commitments from her relatives not to harass him. Coptic father Labib was released Friday morning.”
— “Lawyers reported to Egypt4Christ that the arrested Copts were tortured and their clothes were smeared with blood, especially Romany, brother of Rafaat Girges Habib.”
Pakistan “Honor Killing” based on “Karo-Kari” — Kubra Bibi – mother of two, strangled
— Pakistan Daily Times: “Husband strangulates wife over karo-kari”
— “A mother of two was strangled to death by her husband over karo-kari at Noorani Basti near Chakra Goth in the limits of Zaman Town police station.”
— “Police officials said that 25-year-old Kubra Bibi, a resident of House No 852, Sector 40, Noorani Basti, was killed by her husband named Ghulam Sheikh.”
— “In Pakistan honor killings are known locally as karo-kari.”
— Amnesty International report on honor killings and karo-kari