Honor washing crimes kill 84 Iraqi women in 2009

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraq‘s Human Rights Ministry has announced on Sunday that the so-called “Honor-Washing Crimes” has claimed the lives of 84 women in 2009, representing what the Ministry called as “drop in such crimes than the ones committed the previous year that had reached 87 crimes.” “The attitude of the Planning & Statistics Board of the Supreme Judicial Council has pointed out that 10 of the said crimes have reached their final court decisions last year, an evidence for the legal protection of those who committed honor-washing crimes against women in Iraq,” a Ministry report said. The report pointed out that the number of women killed in such crimes in Baghdad had reached 15 women, Babelyon – 3 women, Anbar – 4 women, Wassit – 9 women, Nejaf 8, Muthanna – 1, Dhi-Qar – 15, Missan – 3 and Diwaniya – 1 woman. The report quoted the said statistics as “having proved non-achievement of a positive change in the society, that prevents killing a woman for honor purposes, pointing out that “the crime of killing for honor-washing demands the adjustment of Article 409 in the Iraqi law, that stands counter to the Islamic Legitimacy and international principles related to the human rights of women, for their right in life and equivalence with the main before the law, according to Article 14 of the Iraqi constitution. The said report also pointed out that the Human Rights Ministry had called in its annual report for “rehabilitation of the legal institutions and cases, in such a way that treats all Iraqis as the same by the law and necessity to lay down principles that will be based in adjustment of the law, especially because of equivalence and non-discrimination due to the sex. SKH 1