Yet another woman has been murdered in cold blood in the name of honor. According to The Jordan Times, the deceased became the thirteenth woman killed this year in Jordan in what is termed an "honor crime."
Authorities on Thursday said two brothers confessed to murdering their sister for reasons related to family honor two weeks ago, then dumping her body in a canal in Karak. A shepherd discovered the victim’s badly decomposed body in a canal earlier this week. Coroners detected light burn marks on her body and traces of gasoline. Initial investigations indicated that the two brothers drove their sister from Irbid to a deserted area near the Queen Alia International Airport, beat her up, then strangled her, one source said. The suspects then drove to Karak and dumped their sister’s body in the canal and tried to set it ablaze to conceal their actions and get rid of the body, the source added.
Source: [The Jordan Times]
The most repulsive thing for me about these hideous crimes is that the killers still get reduced sentences for their brutal acts against humanity. All previous efforts to amend Jordanian Penal Code Article 340, which facilitates reduced sentences for these despicable crimes, has failed. It is such a shame that in this day and age, lives — especially those of women — can be so damn cheap. Here is what Jordanian blogger Euroarabe has to say about honor crimes:
Article 340 in Jordan’s penal code allows honor crime to go unpunished. The article was rejected in 1999 for ratification. Jordanian Minister of Justice, Abdul Karim Dughmi, who, at the time, responded to a question about honor killings in the case of rape smiled and gave this statement, "All women killed in cases of honor are prostitutes. I believe prostitutes deserve to die." In November, 2000, 20 countries signed a UN draft condemning violence against women. Jordan abstained.
And here is a link to comments by Jordanian blogger Nas on the issue.
there are many many similar stories, and i thought they changed that law already, and yes its true the judges can take sides
my mom was a school prencipal when we were in amman, one of the teachers called the parents of a 15 year old student telling them the girl had a boyfriend (because she found a love letter in the girls notebook)
the next day the girl didnt show up, shot dead!
Jeff, you’re right, article 98 is actually the one that has the reduced sentence. Article 340 actually excuses the killer of guilt. According to this one Jordanian MP, article 340 applied only to one case in the history of the kingdom, and all other cases fall under articles 98 and 99 (sorry the link is in Arabic):
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/details.asp?section=3&article=376139&issue=10110
Hatem, I agree with what you’re saying. Just the existence of that period of time doesn’t prove intent in the mind of the killer. But, can we ask what does prove something that only happens inside a person’s mind? How do courts usually go about proving that someone had criminal intent? The only way I can imagine is by seeking witnesses that can say that the killer talked about doing it to them.
Now, in how many of these cases that happen in Jordan do you think the prosecution brings in witnesses (like another brother, or the mother of the girl) and asks them if the person who ended up doing the killing had talked about it and planned for it? I doubt this happens.
But I wanna know how two people, not one, who drive all the way from Irbid to Amman with their sister, kill her in a secluded place, then drive all the way further south to Karak to dump her body, didn’t intend to kill her and didn’t plan for it?
in the name of cheap oil and cheap land, tens of thousands of arab women bit the dust or have been crippled for life in palestine and iraq. wonder way this never troubles american feminists.
I don’t know where did my comment go but I wrote a rather lengthy reply to both– basboos and Hamzeh.
basboos, I never at any time did I suggest that any of these girls or any other girl suspected of having illict relationship is a candidate for murder. I hope that this clarifies my earlier reply.
Hamzah, In order for someone to be charged with deliberate premeditated murder two things need to be proven.
A. Intent
B. conspiracy to commit murder.
Unless one is able to conclusively prove these two conditioned existed prior to the murder, then one is free to claim that he commited the murder under the fit of anger clause even if he commited the murder the next day or even couple of days later. The waitng period doesn’t prove that there was intent, nor does it prove that there was a conspiracy.
Hamzeh you are right about your description of a law often also cited, but wrong about its number. You are referring to Article 98, the “fit of fury” clause. Article 340 … well, let me just paste this in from an IRIN (Reuters Foundation) article that reviews the issue and speaks with Rana Husseini, the reporter who’s broken this situation wide open in Jordan.
That article from April 2005 can be found in full here, reprinted from IRIN’s website.
Natasha, there is a problem in our law, but I think we have a greater problem in our judges.
Article 340 actually borrows the concept of a “crime committed in a state of rage gets a reduced sentence” from modern laws in very liberal countries like Switzerland for example. The crimes that it should apply to are crimes that are not premeditated, like a woman killing her husband with the kitchen knife when she found him in bed with another woman, or a man doing the same to his wife.
However, I believe article 340 doesn’t apply to any of the stories that we keep hearing about. In this particular incident for example, the brothers clearly planned for the murder. It doesn’t appear that they simply walked into their family house, and then found their sister in bed with a man and then immediately killed her. The most likely scenario is that this girl came under suspecion first, then her family decided that she was to be killed, and then the brothers were tasked with the killing.
So I believe there’s an entire process that took place in this incident, and I believe this is the same thing that happens in almost all crimes of dishonor in Jordan. But unfortunately our judges in Jordan seem to be convinced that even if a brother went to a coffee shop to calmn down and plot his murder against his poor sister, that he is still excused under the law.
This is Jordan and unfortunately this is what the “Jordanians whose opinion matters” in the country want.
Things that make you ashamed of being Jordanian.
Hatem i didnt really get your point but virgin or non-virgin, oral sex or penetration these girls dont deserve to get killed by anyone especially members of their family. And the law shouldnt be justifying MURDER.
Kinzi,
I’m 125% against honor crimes but the fact that most of the victims are found virigins after they get murdered isn’t a proof that the girls didn’t have sex, or like what Bill Clinton used to say : It all depends on what sex is! That same virigin girl could have been engaged in oral sex, anal sex, fellatio, cunlingus…and so on and so forth. I hope that I’m not making an already bad situation worse than what it is.
What a travesty of the judicial system, to have such a man in that position!
Sad how many of the victims of honor are discovered to be virgins after their autopsies.