HONOR KILLING AND THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: CULTURAL RIGHT OR HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATION?

• Author: Alsabti, Sarah

1. INTRODUCTION

   Many sources define honor killing as the premeditated murder of a girl or a woman. (1) The murderer who commits this crime is usually one of the girl's or woman's family members like her brother, father, or a combination of male agnates. (2) The murderer commits this crime to restore the family's social reputation. (3) The killer believes he is preserving the family's honor by using methods like shooting, stoning, burning, burying alive, strangling, smothering, and knifing the victim to death.4

   This premeditated murder is the result of the woman's unacceptable behavior. An example of unacceptable behavior would be an extra-marital sexual relationship. (5) Another example would be a pre-marital relationship with a male that is not approved by the family for the single woman. (6)

   Honor killing is not a new phenomenon. In fact, honor killing has existed since Ancient Roman times. (7) Since that time, honor killings have been recorded in many countries. (8) This global phenomenon has occurred in developed countries as well as developing countries. (9) Honor killings have taken place in many countries such as the United States, Afghanistan, Brazil, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, Palestine, and Jordan. (10)

   Unfortunately, honor killing is not just part of human history; it still exists in the current century. In 2000, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) concluded that there are at least 5,000 honor killings worldwide every year. (11) When the issue of honor killing is discussed under the international spotlight, Jordan and Pakistan are the two countries that garner the most attention. (12)

   Honor killing is a part of Jordan's contemporary society. The population of Jordan is estimated to be 6.5 million inhabitants. (13) A recent report by Rana Husseini estimates that there are about twenty honor killings every year in Jordan. (14) My motivation to write this Article stems from the death of these twenty individuals. This Article focuses on the honor killing situation in Jordan. Section II of this Article discusses domestic law and the cultural context. Part A of Section II illustrates honor killing in the Arabic culture, including an interview with a murderer and his judge to illustrate the society's power. Part B of Section II describes the domestic law in Jordan which does not provide deterrent punishment or sufficient protection for women. Section III is a cultural relativism legal analysis. This section begins by explaining the ideas of cultural relativism and universalism. This section includes some of the international laws that address the indigenous people and their right to practice honor killing in their culture. It includes two international laws: International Labor Organization Convention No. 169 (15) and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. (16) Section IV focuses on the international human rights legal analysis. This section starts with general information about the United Nations and its point of view about the violence against women in general and honor killing specifically. Then it describes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and United Nation resolutions. The last section of this Article, Section V, explains Jordan's efforts to follow the international legal community's decisions and recommendations to solve the honor killing issue.

2. DOMESTIC LAW AND CULTURAL CONTEXT.

   This section is a spotlight on Jordan's current situation. It includes information about the Jordan cultural context and the domestic law that addresses honor killing.

   1. Honor Killing in the Arabic Culture.

      Human sacrifice is a historical aspect of cultures around the world. The reasons for human sacrifice vary. (17) Some victims are sacrificed for social order, while others are sacrificed for religious reasons. (18) What motivates one to commit an honor killing --is it social or religious? Interestingly, most honor killing crimes that are perpetrated worldwide (mainly in patriarchal societies or communities) emanate from cultural, not religious, roots. (19)

      Researchers from the Cambridge University's Institute of Criminology produced a study about honor killing. (20) They interviewed males and females in Jordan's capital, Amman. (21) They found that 40% of boys and 20% of girls believed that the honor killing of a woman who is "dishonoured" or has shamed the family is justified. (22)

      In Arabic societies, women refraining from any kind of sexual practice before marriage is ideal. (23) The hymen gives the woman a stamp of virtue and respectability. (24) This makes the wedding night very important for Arabic women because on this night the husband will test and announce his judgment on his wife and her family's virtue. (25) This is why some believe the loss of virginity is a reason to kill the woman and clear her family's shame.

      In Arab culture, protecting the female's virginity is a part of the male's responsibility. (26) Therefore, the man has to guard and defend against any incursions of his female family member's virginity. (27) Any failure of this protection requires him to kill the woman to save the family's reputation or he is no longer thought of as a man. (28)

      Husseini interviewed a murderer who committed an honor killing crime as well as his judges. This interview gives a better understanding of the local culture in Jordan. (29)

      Sarhan killed his sister Yasmin, who was raped by her brother-in-law. (30) Yasmin turned to the police rather than her family. (31) Sarhan went to the police station and tried to bail his sister out. The police refused his request because they thought that he might kill her because she lost her virginity. (32) After a few days, Sarhan found his sister at their family home. Without saying a word, he killed her using an unlicensed gun and then turned himself in. Sarhan killed his sister to cleanse his family honor. (33) Sarhan justified killing his sister by saying that it was better that one person died, opposed to the whole family suffering shame and disgrace, even though she lost her virginity from being raped. (34) He illustrated his point by comparing it to a box of apples: "If you have one rotten apple, would you keep it or get rid of it?" (35) "I just got rid of it," he said. Then he added, "I killed her because she was no longer a virgin." (36)

      The interviewer challenged Sarhan by pointing out that his act was punishable by God and prohibited in Islam. (37) Sarhan's answer was, "I know that killing my sister is against Islam and it angered God, but I had to do what I had to do and I will answer to God when the time comes." (38) He then added that people refused to talk to him or his family as further justification. (39) "They told us to go cleanse our honor; then we were allowed to talk to them. Death is the end to disgrace." (40) He illustrated his words by saying that society would not stop talking about his family even if they married his sister. (41) He said they would only stop talking when she was dead. (42)

      Sarhan added, "I took the stand and told the judges that I had to kill my sister, because if I did not kill her, it would have been like killing more than thousand men from my tribe." He admitted that before he killed his sister Yasmin, he sat with his family members and around eight hundred men of his tribe and they reached this decision together--that people would look down on him if he did not kill her because she was not a girl anymore and her death was the only way to erase the shame. (43) He added that he loved his sister deeply, but he was forced to kill her. (44)

      On the other hand, the interviewer asked the judge to explain how Sarhan's punishment was only six months in jail, especially when the girl was raped. (45) The interviewer also asked how Article 98 of the Penal Code applied in this case. (46) Article 98 applies when a killer commits his crime while in a state of great fury. (47) Here, it should not have applied because Sarhan planned to commit his crime. In other words, he was not in a great fury.

      The judge said, "[t]he rape happened within the family, so it was clearly a family affair. Sarhan killed his sister after family encouragement, so this murder was a product of our culture." (48)

   2. The Domestic Law in Jordan

      The Arabic culture is not the only reason to commit this crime. The domestic law in Jordan plays an essential role in honor killings. The Penal Code in Jordan's domestic law includes some articles that give an excuse to the murderers. Those articles are Article 98 and Article 340. (49)

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