In a letter to Jordanian Prime Minister Abdur-Ra'uf Rawabdeh released today, Human Rights Watch condemned the "honor killings" which continue to take place in Jordan.
"Women are being killed by family members who find their behavior improper. Jordanian law excuses these murders as somehow justified--which completely devalues women's lives," said Regan E. Ralph, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch's Women's Rights division.
An average of twenty-five to thirty women are killed in Jordan each year in the name of honor. In most cases, a girl or woman is murdered by a family member for the perceived or alleged violation of notions of family honor.
The government has to date failed to abolish laws allowing for the lenient treatment of honor crimes. Nor has it taken any steps to punish appropriately those who commit them. This inaction contributes to a climate of impunity for this form of violence against women.
Although the Jordanian government does attempt to protect women threatened by their families on the basis of honor, it attempts to do so by locking up the women in corrections facilities. In effect, a female victim is imprisoned while her attacker goes free. Official statistics indicate that every year, fifty to sixty women threatened by their families on the basis of honor are placed in administrative detention for periods ranging from a few months to more than three years. In addition, corrections officials treat such detainees as minors and refuse to allow them to leave the facility at their own discretion.
In March 1999, the Jordanian criminal court sentenced Fayez Mohammed to nine months in prison. Mr. Mohammed had arranged the release of his seventeen-year-old daughter Lamis from the detention center where she was staying for her protection. Once she was released into his custody, he slit her throat.
Human Rights Watch called on the Jordanian Prime Minister to work with the legislature and relevant government ministries to end its tolerance of honor killings by eliminating the articles of the Jordanian Penal Code which exempt or reduce the punishment of those convicted of honor crimes, as well as requiring police officers to conduct serious investigations pertaining to such crimes.
