Honor Crimes in Yemen

 

A Legal & Social Analysis on Violence

Against Yemeni Women Pertaining to Honor

 

 

 

The study prepared by Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF)  in partnership with the Swiss SURGIR Foundation

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Sana’a – Yemen

 

 

                                              May 2005                                                

 

 

Introduction

 

During the past 14 years, the interest in women human rights in Yemen has increased. The interest became clear at the legislation level through the amendment of several laws that go in harmony with the human rights principles acknowledged in international legislations for human rights and international agreements and treaties related to women human rights. Also, at the political level, a national strategy for gender has been prepared. Efforts were exerted from both sides of governmental bodies and NGOs to include gender issues in the public development and sectoral strategies and plans. At the institutional level, the National Committee for Woman and the Higher Council for Woman’s Affairs were established, and the Yemeni Women Union was reactivated, as well as to the noticeable growth seen in several civil society organizations in the field of women human rights and the variety of its activities, and establishment of several network

 

ks to develop woman status and ensure her protection. At the programs and activities’ level, some programs and projects related to woman issues and development were designed and implemented.

 

Regardless of the extent of completeness and success of these efforts, research activities related to women human rights in general and those related to violence against women in specific motivated implementing a number of studies and researches related to social structure and cultural directives effects of violence spread against women, violence forms,  causes, and affects. Studies about types of violence that women are exposed to such as political, economic, and family violence …etc. were implemented as well. Another study was conducted on abused women such as prisoners, refugees, and early married girls.  Other studies were implemented about the forms of violence against women such as disinheritance, deprivation of education, circumcision, and early marriages…etc.

 

However, violence against women due to what is called honor crimes didn’t receive interest from governmental and non-governmental institutions concerned with women human rights and no studies or researches were conducted till now. Therefore, Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF) decided to implement a pilot study on honor crimes, for 2005 plan. SAF in partnership with the Swiss SURGIR Foundation, implemented the study during the first six months of 2005. Following are the important findings of this study.

 

Objectives of the Research

The disinterest in honor crimes in Yemen is due to the sensitivity of the subject matter and its connection to a set of social values. Thus, SAF emphasized that this project, to study honor crimes in Yemen, represents part of its concern in human rights, which aims at protecting the human dignity and development. SAF concern shouldn’t be interpreted as a call for allowing depravity or disrupting the Islamic Sharia laws, however, it should be interpreted as a call for implementing the proper Islamic laws, ensuring individual and public moral protection, and defending human rights. This is because most of honor crimes or women murders that occur to defend their honor and dignity truly are based on suspicions, doubts, and rumors, while Islamic laws determine certain conditions to prove adultery and commissions judicial institutions to give its rule and the official bodies to implement the law.

 

With regard to this, knowing how far the phenomenon of honor crimes is spread, its social and economic conditions, the cultural directives that help in committing it, and its effects on individuals and families represent the main objective of this study, which will be achieved through the following:

 

·        Identifying methods that honor crimes are committed.

·        Identifying social, economic, and cultural factors behind honor crimes.

·        Determining methods and procedures of judicial institutions when dealing with honor crimes perpetrators.

·        Determining the factors and conditions that forces relatives to rush into committing crimes against women who are accused or suspected of adultery, and other factors that force others to be patient and discuss.

·        Determining the most family member who commit such crimes (father, brother, husband ...etc.)

·         Finding out the public attitude regarding honor crimes, which helps in designing awareness programs that would limit this phenomenon.

 

Methodology of Research

Due to the sensitivity of this subject, implementing an extensive study could cause negative reactions and responses. Therefore, we deemed that the study should take the form of a research, in which it would be an introduction to more comprehensive, extensive studies, and it would just be limited to the city of Sana’a.

 

These kinds of studies not only seek to compile quantitative data about the phenomenon, but also qualitative data from institutions and individuals or stakeholders concerned with the subject matter. The most important procedures implemented are represented as follows:

 

·        Implementing in-depth interviews with some officials from security bodies and police officers.

·        Implementing in-depth interviews with some judges, lawyers, and prosecutors.

·        Frequently visiting hospitals to compile information and data through having uncensored interviews with honor crimes victims and individuals related to them available in hospital if researchers were able to get any.

 

 

Tools of Compiling Data

 Semi-structural interviews were used in compiling data. The data collected were analyzed based on a qualitative analysis. Some quantitative analyses were conducted whenever needed.

 

Scope of the Research

Taking into consideration the opinion Exposure method that the research built on, and its objectives, this research will not require a traditional and common field study. Also, it will not require an extensive field research in different areas and provinces. However, it will conduct interviews that are more likely to be consultative rather than normal interviews. Therefore, the research was limited to the city of Sana’a, and 78 interviews were conducted for three categories of individuals that work in fields and institutions that deal with honor crimes victims. They include: medical institutions, police officers, inspectors, judges, lawyers, and prosecutors. The interviews were conducted in six governmental and private hospitals, 12 police stations, three security directorates, and three courts and eight attorney offices, and some were conducted outside governmental and non-governmental organizations as mentioned above with the three sectors representing the research sample.

 

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Conclusion: Results and Recommendations

Since this research is a pilot study, the research team considered that the workshop and Discussion Panel which took place on 26 May 2006 in Sana'a, is a collateral part of the research, so we have integrated all comments and opinions and thoughts upraised during the discussion panel. With highlight on that, we can summarize the research results into the following:

·        Honor killing crimes are family crimes. However there are some very few cases when individuals experience violence by police officers or by neighbors, or streets passers, these violence cases and incidents remain very few, limited to insult, beat or robbery. Mostly, non or very rare cases exceed the killing or hazardous injuries for men. Therefore, we can differ between honor killing cases which is always perpetrated within the family-hold, have kinship relation between victims and perpetrators and those cases based on ethical honor values within the family – holds, community and the state.

·        Honor Crime is obviously a gender issue. Most of honor crime victims are women and most of honor crime perpetrators are men. Yet, there are very few cases where both the victim and the perpetrator are women, and fewer cases where both the victim and the perpetrator are men, and in such cases, the perpetrator are relatives of a woman whom discovered or suspect that she has sexual relation with the victim.

·        Honor Crime is a cultural tribal based crime. The research revealed that honor crimes are driven by cultural and tribal values which are patriarchal and masculine. Within these social norms, men sexual practice and behavior outside the marriage is tolerated by the society and family but it is so much controlling women's sexuality and constraining women movement. Women who are found practicing sex outside the marriage institution get killed by male relatives because this deed brings mortification to her family and tribe, meanwhile practicing sex by men does not harm the morality of the family or the tribe.

·        Some girls are victims of honor crimes not because they practice deeds in conflict with laws or Sharia' but because they refuse yielding their families' marriage decision, or because they insist getting married to a self chosen husband, and some times they are victims because of un contractual marriage.

·        The research revealed that most of honor crimes against women coerced by doubts on women victims’ sexual behavior more than any other reasons.

·        Some of the honor crime reasons are the fragile knowledge on sexuality and reproduction that young newly married men have. It has been discovered that some young newly married women get physical attack by their husbands who have doubts on their virginity. 

·        The research disclosed that honor crime prevail among different social segments of people but only those cases happen among poor, marginalized and urban segment get reported on.

·        The results of individual interviews with women revealed that, there is a contradictorily relationship between level of education in the family and the level of bearing violence against women inside the same family. Educated relatives tend to be patient and deny rumors and doubts; in addition they are not hurry in making violent decisions, they have more knowledge on tolerant Sharia. Also, they are more democratic and understanding of women’s marriage’s choices.

·        Women survivals of honor crimes, usually, alibi the perpetrator, they don’t explicit their injures, they pretend that these injuries happen by incidence, or they get attack by non – adults or these injuries come out of committing suicide failure attempts.

 

Recommendations:

·        Although the clear discrimination in article 232 of the Crime and Penalty Law, included in its content regarding reducing the punishment of close male relatives and husbands, who murder women when are caught in the very act of adultery, although discrimination exists in the law, this subject wasn't mentioned by health personnel during the interviews, nor did the police officers give it any genuine interest. As for judges and lawyers, they believe, although that the article abides by the social status and traditional directives that it doesn't call for murdering of women in relation to honor crimes. Many who committed crimes didn't know the context of the article before committing it. Therefore, many of those whom we interviewed believe that to limit the spread of honor crimes this doesn't, only, require legal changes or amendments, but it requires society awareness regarding women human rights. Seconding to this, all human rights activists, journalists, politicians and public leaders, who attended the Workshop agreed on the importance of awareness raising and education on honor crime to eliminate such a phenomenon, also, they emphasis on legal amendments, however, the police officers and prosecutors reflected an ambiguous concern on the discriminatory aspects implied in Article No. 232 of the Crime and Punishment Law. Yet, some of them asked for amending the article for its illogic ad actuality. “It is impossible to prove such a crime”, they believed.

·        Discussions were held during the Workshop revealed that some aspects in related to honor crime still ambiguous. Though, this is an expectable matter, since the research team was not planning to discover all related issues to honor crime, but to prove that honor killing crimes are prevailing, who the perpetrators are, where they prevail, among which social segments, and which suitable research methods had to be used for more credible and correct analysis and results. Secondly, we intended to draw attention to the big amount of harm and danger that such crimes cause, highlight the discussion on, mobilize the public opinion around and find out ways of remedies. We think that the research has succeed in achieving all of that.

·        According to interviews results and discussion output during the Workshop, it has been discovered that eliminating honor crime needs to work at four levels: conceptual, legal, institutional and cultural levels. And we can advise on the most important procedures that could be implemented at each level:

Legal level:

·        To conduct an advocacy campaign among civil society organizations, the Parliament and the governmental institutions to amend the Crimes and Punishment Law No 20 of 1994, and Personal/ Status Law No 20 of 1992 and its updated amendments of 1998 and 1999. We suggest that the following articles to change:

-         Article No 232 of Crimes and Punishment Law No 20 of 1994, which amnesty the male perpetrator from “killing punishment” if he kills his wife, sister or first degree female relative if he, surprisingly, catches her practicing sex with any one but her husband.

-          Articles 267, 270 and 271 of Crimes and Punishment Law, which accuse adultery cases without availability of legal/Sharia evidences.

-         Article No 40 of Personal/Family Law related to wife’s duties towards her husband.

-         Article No 141 of Personal/Family Law, which omit women's right to custody.

·        To coordinate with civil society organizations active in the field of women’s rights to build an affective mechanism capable of providing honor crime survivals with legal aid.

 

Institutional Level:

·        To coordinate with Ministry of Public Health and Ministry of Interior to oblige people issue burial permission, especially in the rural areas and for dead women.

·        To coordinate with Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Human Rights in building a monitoring mechanism on women’s detentions and prisons, ensuring civil society organizations’ participation in such monitoring mechanisms to closely monitor legality of detaining and prisoning, and integrating accountability mechanism for those police officer who commit violations of the law. 

·        To coordinate with Ministry of Tourism, and Environment, Ministry of Interior and the Local Councils in governorates and cities to have control over police officers who extort garden’s men and women visitors taking advantage of “khelwa” legislation that allow the police officer arresting those visitors even without formal commissioning.  

 

Conceptual Level:

·        To conduct a widen empirical research in all Yemeni governorates that enabling us getting more accurate data and information on the range of honor crime crimes prevail. We suggest that separate concentrated interviews hold with honor crime survivals, with accusers. This kind of research would clarify so many areas and aspects the current research could not.

 

Cultural Level:

·        Parallel to this point of view, some of the people we conducted interviews with adopted an implicit point of view that could be summarized which represents a call to cancel article 232 from the Crime and Penalty Law and increase the punishment it included. The call of canceling this article is impractical. Some people think it is hard for a man to prove that his wife is committing adultery. To prove adultery, he should have four witnesses that say they saw the male organ of the adulterer in the female organ of the adulteress. This is very hard if not impossible; therefore, scholars who forbid seclusion adopt this article and many scholars deem that there is no legal evidence to forbid it. Regardless of this juristic dispute there are some who believe the necessity of harsher penalties.

·        Important awareness and educational programs could contribute to limiting the spread of honor crimes, in the following:

·        Increasing awareness on women human rights from an Islamic point of view and from the human rights prospective in general.

·        Increasing the awareness of fathers and other male relatives that girls have the right to choose their husbands.

·        Spreading the proper sexual education between the youth especially those related to virginity.

·        Increasing the awareness of girls in high school and university regarding the risks and damages of common marriage.

·        Increasing awareness of girls and enhancing their negotiation capabilities to convince their families to accept their participation in taking decisions when it related to marriage.

·        Implementing educational programs to create trust between members of the family.

 

These procedures and programs represent short-term solutions. As for the long-term, limiting the spread of honor crimes depends on combating human poverty struggle, the extent of promoting the social planning programs success in transforming social relationships and structures, and the extent of promotion the human rights culture.

 

 

 

 

Reference list

 

1.      United Nations, United Nations World Declaration to combat violence against Women.

2.      Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights. “The First Shadow Report” of Yemeni NGOs on the Level of Implementing the convention on Eliminating All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Sana'a. (Second Edition), November 2004.

3.      Najeeb Ali Saif Jamil, "Woman and Crime: from the Social Law Prospective", Woman's Forum for Training and Studies. First Edition, 2004.

4.      Mohammed Sayed Saeed. “Introduction to Understanding Human Rights Organization”. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies. A series of human rights directives (3), Cairo. Second issue 1997.

5.      The Central Statistics Organization, the Annual Statistics Book for years 98, 99, 2002, 2003.