Statement and Open Letter to:
The President of Iraq, Mr. Jalal Talabani
and
The President of the Kurdish Region, Mr. Masoud Barzani
On the 7th of April this year, 2007, the seventeen year old Dua Khalil was stoned to death in the small Kurdísh village Bashiqe nearby the town of Mosel in Iraq. The cruel crime took place open in the community, on the street, in front of police officers. Nobody lift a finger to prevent the crime and to stop the assassins. The previous day Dua Khalil was delivered to her relatives by the governor of Mosel. He did not care about the consequenses for Dua.
We, in the Network against Violence in The Name Of Honour in Sweden, strongly condemn this inhuman crime and demand that the assassins immediately be brought to court and that the authorities, especially police authorities, are held responsible for their total ignorance to defend Human Rights and the citizens’ safety in society.
We also demand Iraq’s government and the Kurdish regional government to take serious actions and initiatives against the increasing violence in the name of honour in Iraq.
The Network against Violence In The Name Of Honour is an organization with around twenty membership organizations and a lot of influent and respected people that struggle for equality between women and men, against violence in the name of honour and against patriarchal and traditional values and attitudes that ignore and strangle Women´s Rights. We expect that the authorities immediately act in response to the assassins of Dua and all other girls that are murdered in the name of honour.
Sincerely yours,
The Network against Violence in the Name of Honour