A Voice from Kurdistan, Iraq
Introduction
Iraq: a country where tens of thousands have been arrested or disappeared, where 5000 people have been suffocated by chemical weapons in five minutes, where millions of people have fled to the mountains, and thousands of women and children, sick and aged people have died of hunger and diseases.
With a savage monster like Saddam Hussein as its leader and his barbaric generals; where the shadow of war never leaves the sky- the Iran-Iraq war, the United States war, Turkish attacks, religious attacks from Iran, the war between the Baath regime and Kurdish people, and the war between Kurdish factions; where poverty and hunger knows no boundaries.
In this hell here in Kurdistan, the mass murder of women is normal, does not move the sensibilities of society and does not cause shivers in people's minds.
Nazanin was killed by her husband in the village of Bahrka.
Fatima was killed by her husband in Erbil, Shorish.
Pahkshan was killed by her brother in Erbil.
Shno Salih was burned by her brother.
Bayan Abdul-Kadir and some other women were shot and killed in front of the Sulaymaniya court.
Ashty, 12 years old, was shot in front of tens of people in Pearamagroon camp.
Chimen Ali Mina Sour was stoned.
Kajal Khidir's nose was cut.
Subhiya was drowned in blood by her husband.
Hanan Salah, 13 years old, has one hand.
Tanya Husain (15 years old), Banaz Rasoul Koshnaw, Surma, Rezan Jalal, Shukriya Kadir, Jwan Hasan, Shamam, Nergis Muhammad, Bahra Abdul- Karim Barzingi and hundreds of other women and girls burned themselves. Thousands of women and girls have been killed or burned themselves since March 1991. Where are the names of these victims listed? In which court? What is written in hospital emergency room records? Four bullets have hit the right side of her heart! Raana Rashid Faraj died because she was completely burned. Where are those thousand murderers? By which court are they prosecuted and punished? In which jail are they imprisoned? Where were thousands of files taken and by which human rights organization were they registered? I have not found any answers to these questions. I hear the screams for help in every city of this country, echoed in my mind every minute. Whose delicate body is burning now? Who is now screaming, "Don't kill me , O my children."
Seeing and hearing about these crimes has become a custom of the people and doesn't affect them. Whatever the circumstances, the crime of killing people is not tolerable. A society which deals with women so primitively and cruelly, is a shame for its members. Anyone, anywhere in this world who hears these tragedies and keeps silent, will be responsible for history and won't be forgiven. Maybe the tragedies and calamities are so numerous that people no longer want to listen, as in Iran, Afghanistan and other Islamic countries. But these crimes should cause more outrage and more action against this situation. Humans are responsible for the incidents of their era. How many hundreds of thousands lost There lives in the war against fascism and Nazism? Now, at the end of the twentieth century, the responsibility of human beings towards the liberation of women from reactionary religion and patriarchy is no less than the responsibility of human beings to fight fascism. Women in Kurdistan, to liberate themselves from this hell, in order not to be killed, in order not to commit suicide, reach out and scream, "Help us!"
If there is someone who hasn't heard about this, this short reminder is to wake their feelings. The names of these victims were collected from "Yaksani" newspaper; the publication of the Independent Women's Organization of Kurdistan, and other publications. This list includes just a small number of the victims.
Unfortunately, the efforts of Rega Raouf and I were not successful in collecting the names of all the victims of patriarchy and Islamic laws. We also tried to get pictures of all the victims, but again faced a reactionary wall. But none of the shortcomings of our efforts will lessen the dimensions of such human tragedy. We hope to make a strong humane force and obtain the most helpful hands to protect and rescue women in Kurdistan.
Muzaffar Muhammadi
Sulaymaniya-Iraq
March 1998
Some of the Women Who Have Been Killed:
1 Nazanin in Bahrka village near Erbil was killed by her husband on August 27, 1993 due to an argument between them.
2 Fatima was killed by her husband in Shorish, Erbil on August 25, 1993, because she was not talking with him for a period of time.
3 On Monday, October 18, 1993, a woman was killed by her brother near Nazanin primary school in Erbil, because she had a relationship with her boyfriend.
4 Kajal and her boyfriend were both shot to death in July 1993 by the girl's brother.
5 In October 1993, Kazima Rasoul in Malakan village of Khalifan was killed by her brother, Salam Rasoul, because she talked with a boy named Hasan.
6 Nishtiman Kadir in Kifri was killed by her father in April 1993 because she was trying to choose her own spouse.
7 In Chragaroota village near Chamchamal, a girl was shot to death by her father on March 7, 1995,because she spoke to a boy.
8 On the night of August 23 1994, Shadiya Hasan Rasoul was shot by her cousins in Tayrawa, Erbil. She had no father and her cousins wanted her to live with them but she refused.
9 Maryam Isa was killed in Sumel city, because she was charged with murdering her husband
10 10On the night of October 21, 1994, in Ghulala camp, Diana, near Erbil, Kulthum Ahmed Ibrahim, who was 12 years old, was raped by a boy neighbor. As a result, the boy's relatives and the governor of Soran arrested the girl and told the girl's brother and father to kill her.
11 On March 24, 1995, a 35-year-old woman with 5 children was shot by her husband. Her husband had committed a robbery in their village, the people of the village expelled him from the village, and his wife told him she wished he was not her husband.
12 In January 1995, in Marwe village Shrbajer, a woman named Nasik was raped by her father in law and brother in law and became pregnant. They killed her to hide the case. The woman's husband was imprisoned for 7 years.
13 On May 24, 1995, a woman's body was found in Ranya city. None of her relatives was found.
14 On April 12, 1994, in Azadi, Koya, a woman named Rahima was killed by her brother. She was 60 years old and her brother asked her to make arranged marriages for her daughters.
15 In April 1995, a girl named Khunaw Khalid, an engineer in the Shelter company, was killed by her brother.
16 On February 28, a woman named Begard in Malayan, Erbil was burned by her husband and died on April 3rd. She was burned because she had gone to his brother's wedding party without her husband's permission.
17 On May 20, 1995, Shirin Salih, 25 years old, was shot to death because she had an argument with her stepbrother.
18 In late March 1995, in the city of Dahok, a woman named Ghariba Ali, mother of 8 children, was shot to death by an unknown person, because she was accused of having sexual relationships with more than one person.
19 In March 1995, a woman named Samira was killed by her son. She had sexual relationships with other people and her husband was old. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) told her husband to kill her but he refused. They then urged her son to kill her.
20 On February 27, 1995, a woman named Nidhal was killed by the Parastin agency (an intelligence agency of KDP ) because she was accused of having relationships with the Iraqi government intelligence agency. This woman was from an Arab family.
21 On April 27 in shorish district, Erbil, a girl was killed by her cousin because of moral accusations.
22 At the beginning of May 1995, a woman named Pakhshan Kadir Fatah was killed by her son in New Halabja .
23 On May 23, 1995, a woman's body was found on the military road between Chwarqurna and Ranya tunnel. She had been killed by her son. Her face was so disfigured that nobody was able to recognize her.
24 In May 1995, Sara Aziz, who was living in Serchinar, Sulaymaniya, was killed by her father and uncle. She had been forcibly married by her family, had problems with her husband, and had a relationship with another man.
25 On June 29, 1995, in Iskan district, Koya, a woman named Tavga Jabbar Omer was set on fire with gasoline by her husband, Lokman Omer Ali. She died after two days in hospital. She was killed because her children had eaten two kilograms of tomatoes. She had been beaten many times before that by her husband for the same reason. She told her case in the hospital but nobody punished her husband for this crime.
26 In July 1995, a woman named Nashmeel in Chamchamal city was shot to death by her son after being accused of prostitution.
27 A girl named Chinar Abdulkhaliq from Makhmour region was burned by her uncles, because they asked her to get married to her cousin but she refused.
28 In the middle of April 1995, a girl named Nadiya, a resident of Shkarta camp was shot to death by her husband and her step brother. She had been forcibly married and had a relationship with another man.
29 In May 1995, a girl named Fahima Abbas from Algoz village, Khoshnawati region, was killed by her father and brother because she had a relationship with a boy.
30 On April 24, in Benas village in Qualadiza region, a 17 year old girl named Galawej Ahmed Hama was shot to death by her uncle, Husain Hama, because she had married by her own volition.
31 In the beginning of March this year a girl named Wahbiya Ali, a resident of Sumel city, Duhok, was killed by an unknown person.
32 In mid- July 1995, Mahabad Arif was killed by her husband, Azad, because they had an argument.
33 On the night of 15 August 1995, a woman named Layla in Bakhtiyari district, Sulaymaniya, was wounded by a knife and later shot to death by her husband . Her husband, Azad Mala, had been in jail before the incident. When he was freed,he was told that his wife had had relationships with others, and he killed her.
34 On the morning of September 2nd, in the Military district in Chamchamal, a woman named Fawziya was killed by her husband Safar Hasan Osman , because of moral accusations.
35 On October 4, 1995, the body of an unknown woman was found under a bridge near the Jublagha village in Dukan region. She had two bullets in her body and she was shot to death after she had been tortured .
36 A 15 year old girl named Khlida Abdulrahman was beaten by her stepmother in Kerkuk city, and was so injured she later died. This girl had been married 4 times in a year by her stepmother. Each husband was over 50 years old.
37 In the beginning of August 1995, Galawej Faris was beheaded by her father in the village of Mord Khwarday Saroo in the Chamchamal region because she had a relationship with a man.
38 On the morning of August 6, 1995, a woman named Rounak was killed with a knife by her father and brothers. They then took her body to the hospital. She had been divorced and was living in her father's house.
39 On the morning of August 6,1995, a mother and her daughter were shot to death by some unknown armed people.
40 In July 1995, a woman named Khuncha in Shorja district Karkuk city was burned by her son because he asked her to transfer the ownership of her house to him and she refused.
41 In July 1995, a boy named Assi Najmaddin killed his sister, Samira Najmaddin, with a knife because of moral accusations.
42 On June 25, 1995, in the old Halabja, because of a family argument, boy named Sabah Salam shot and killed his mother, Maryam Abdul kadir, while she was asleep.
43 A student at Salahaddin university who was from Chwarquran and had epilepsy, was captured and beaten to death by one of his teachers and a colleague, both of whom were Islamic. They claimed the student had a devil's soul in his body.
44 A man named Bahaadin in the village of Karatamour in the Chamchamal region divorced his wife and asked her sister to get separated from her husband. When she refused he shot and killed her. (He had arranged to give his sister to another man in order to marry the other man's sister in exchange.)
45 On February 10, 1996 in Koya city, a woman named Hasiba and her daughter were beaten and shot to death by two unknown-armed persons.
46 In the middle of February 1996, in the village of Kawluka in the Rawaduz region, a girl was suffocated by her father. The father had tried to force her to marry but she had refused.
47 In mid- February 1996, in Deanna city, a 50-year-old woman was shot to death by her son. The reason was that 25 years earlier, when her son had been an infant, the woman had married a second husband.
48 In February 1996, in Binslawa, Erbil city, two sisters named Payman Muhyaddin and Jwan Muhuaddin, were kidnapped. After one week their bodies were found dead.
49 In December 1995, in Erbil city, a girl named Kawther Ahmed was shot to death by her cousins because she had a relationship. The same people had killed their sister Payman for the same reason.
50 In May 1995, a woman named Khadija Rahman in Kuran district, Erbil, was beaten to death by a Mulla (Islamic priest). The reason was that this woman had a psychological illness and it was said there was a devil's soul in her body.
51 In the early hours of January 13, 1996 in Daratoo camp near Erbil, a woman named Sabiha Arab Say Shekhan was killed by her husband because she refused to join the Islamic movement.
52 On March 12 or 13, 1996, in Saydawa, Erbil, a girl named Shirin Muhammad Karim was killed by her father and brother because she had a relationship with a boy.
53 In the beginning of June 1997, in the Ismail Awa village in Shler region, Penguin, a girl named Chiman Ali Mina Sour was stoned to death. The girl's cousin,who was in the Islamic movement, had asked for her hand but she had refused. So the cousin made a plan against her, and told her father and brother that she had a relationship with another boy and she should be stoned and buried alive. When the girl was put halfway in a hole and people gathered around her, the cousin asked the girl's brother to throw the first stone but the brother refused. The cousin blamed the brother and started throwing stones at the girl until she died. They left the body for others to bury.
54 At the end of August 1996, a girl named Mirwat was accused of having a relationship with a boy and was killed by her father and brother who left her body near the Sarghmad Hill in Pishder region.
55 On September 2, 1996, a girl named Bayan Rafik,from Bulkamish village near Pearamagroun camp, was raped by an unknown person. Afterwards she was killed by her brother.
56 An 18 year old, pregnant woman named Bahar Hama Kwer was killed in the Qualadiza region after being accused of having a sexual relationship with another person.
57 In mid-December 1996, in the Chwarbagh district, Sulaymanyia, a girl named Negar Nouri was shot to death by her brother because she married before her brother did.
58 On the night of November 10 1996, in Tayrawa district, Erbil city, a woman named Layla was killed by her brother in law. This woman gave her daughter for marriage to the son of her brother in law. They killed her because she asked her brother-in-law's family to visit her daughter.
59 On the same day, November 10, 1996, Shinow, the daughter of Layla, wanted to attend her mother's burial. Her uncle, who had killed her mother, refused to let her go and killed her too. The murderer's name is Ali, who is an armed leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
60 A girl named Naska Husain was killed in December 1996 by her relatives, because she was out with her boyfriend.
61 On the night of October 9, 1997, in the Dwawan village of Betwata region, a girl named Badriya Ali was shot to death by her uncles. One of her uncles had wanted to force her to marry but she had refused and had left with her boyfriend, but the boyfriend's family returned her to her family.
62 In the beginning of June 1997, in Kasnazan district, in Erbil city, a woman named Payman Husain was burned to death by her husband and her mother in law because she wanted to separate from her husband. They refused because the marriage had been an arranged marriage.
63 On June 13, 1997, a 16-year-old girl named Khaldar Rahman Rasou, died in her home. Her family and her husband had been very cruel towards her.
64 On the night of June 15, 1997, a woman named Mahabad Osman Marif, in Karizawishk, Sulaymaniya, was killed because of accusations of immorality.
65 On the night of June 15, 1997, in Kalawa buildings, Sulaymaniya , a woman named Fatimam Arif was shot to death.
66 On July 5, 1997, in Khabat city near Erbil, a woman named Soure, was killed with a pistol after being beaten by her brother and chased to her neighbor's house. She had 4 children.
67 In the end of July 1997, a girl named Ghulala Muhammad Amin was shot to death by her relative Omer Rashid in Ranya city. She had been in Asaysh (intelligence agency of PUK) jail for three months because she had been seen with a boy in the forest near Ranya.
68 In the end of July 1997, a woman named Tuba, who had five children, went to Khurmal city and started begging there. She was arrested by the Islamic movement and later killed.
69 On the night of July 20, 1997, in Al Ummal district, Erbil, a man and a woman, Wali Sami and Bushra, were killed by the father and the brother of the woman because they loved each other.
70 On the morning of August 16, 1997, in the Shimal terminal, Erbil, a woman named Rounak, a mother of seven, was shot to death by her brother because she wanted to visit her husband in Mousil jail.
71 On October 16, 1997, in the Ballayany valley near Choman city, a woman was shot to death by her brother. Her husband was a peshmerga (guerilla fighter) during the Baath rule. One time, on her way back from visiting him, she was arrested at a check point with some pictures in her posession. She spent one year in jail and was released. Her husband did not accept her as his wife after her release because she had been in jail. She couldn't return to her husband or to her brothers. She remarried with another man and had two children with him. Later, her new husband was killed. She did not get married again and stayed with her two children. Some years later, the woman visited Shawais camp. Her brother knew that she was there and went to her to tell her to come back to his home and live there. She agreed and went back with her brother. On the way, the brother brutally left her children in a place named Sarchawa Pirdashaly and killed her on a mountain called Kalaki Balayan, leaving her body there. Her brother, Haji Kalati, is a peshmarga of PUK. The children are now in custody of another family.
72 On November 1, 1997, in Kalar city, a woman named Soila was killed by her son in law.
73 On the night of November 21, 1997, a woman named Asima was killed by her husband because she had a relationship with another boy, Rafik Rasoul. The boy was also shot to death, by order of their tribe leader, Kuekha Smail, on November 25, 1997.
74 On December 2, 1997, in Erbil city, a woman named Jihan Haji mAhed, a mother of two, was shot to death by her brother, Lukman Haji Ahmed.
75 On December 17, 1997, in Piramagroun camp, a 12 year old girl named Ashti was shot to death by her uncle in front of people in the street. Afterwards, they pulled her body with a car. She had been in the ranks of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Her uncle, Sardar Wekha Nariman was a military leader of PUK and threatened PKK to be given the girl. Some hours after PKK returned the girl, he killed her. A strange thing about that case was that PKK considered the girl as their martyr.
76 On December 8, 1997, in Sulaymaniya city, a girl named Khabat aIzzt who was an employee of the Sulaymaniya court, was shot to death by an unknown person. She had been a Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) supporter.
77 On March 25, 1996, while the women workers of Tobzawa camp refused to work at Bazga Kani Krjala, an armed person named Jow from Harki Tribe shot the workers and killed a girl
worker named Nasrin.
78 On the night of February 24, 1997, in Safya village, Askikalak, a woman named Gawhar Hama Ali was killed by her brother, Kadir Hama, and another person, Muhammad Aziz. She had been forcibly married twice and both times she was divorced by her husbands.
79 In mid- March 1997, in Kuran district, Erbil, a boy and a girl named Fuad and Chinar were killed by Chinar's relatives. Before their murder they told a Mulla they were going to be killed and the Mulla said they should not be killed but suffocated. So they were half alive when they buried them.
80 On June 8, 1996, in Bastapiyaza , Erbil, a woman named Amira went with her boyfriend to Zakho and stayed in a hotel. They then traveled to Turkey, where they were arrested by armed people, including relatives of the woman. Both were killed in Shiwasour on the way back to Erbil.
81 In mid-April 1997, a woman named Sayran from Xinana village who was living in Samoud camp,was suffocated brutally by her cousin Aziz Hama Star. Afterwards, he threw her body on a road. The people of Samoud tried to bury her body but the murderer prevented them from doing so, saying let the body be eaten by dogs. Sayran's "crime" was that she was working to support her children after her husband "disappeared" during the Baath regime.
82 On the night of April 20, 1997, a woman named Hamdiya Agid Hasan was beheaded by her husband because she had a relationship with another person. Afterwards, he negotiated with her family and gave them his sister, Sadiya Khazaal Xiaba, and ten thousand Iraqi Dianrs.
83 On Wednesday, May 7, 1997, in Kuran district, Erbil, a woman named Nasrin Mawlud who, a mother of four, was shot to death by her husband.
84 In mid- May 1997, in Koya city a woman named Najiba Kadir was suffocated by her husband.
85 On the night of May 15, 1997, a 21 year old woman named Amina Omer from the village of Kafradolle, in Hajiawa region, was killed by her husband, Omer Nouri because she was pregnant before her marriage.
86 On May 25, 1997, in Chamchamall city, a 50 year old woman was killed by some armed people.
87 The father of a girl named Amina Omer Sardar in Erbil city, came and showed her a man while she was playing in front of her house with her dolls. Her father told her he had given her to this man. Later, the father took the girl back from the man by force and sold the girl to another old rich man in Akra city. The girl stayed there for two months. On April 1, 1996, some armed men who were the relatives of the first husband came and took the girl away. From that time the girl has disappeared and nobody knows where she is.
88 On Thursday August 21, 1997, in Khabat district, Sulaymaniya a married girl was killed by a boy she had refused to marry.
89 On September 16, 1997, some women, including Bayan Abdul kadir, were killed in front of the Sulaymaniya court by an unknown person.
90 In September 1997, the body of a girl named Amal was found in Shasti street in Sulaymaniya.
91 On March 5, 1996, a woman named Dalyla Jamil Amin was killed by her brother in Dahuk city.
92 On July 25, 1996, in Dahuk city, a woman named Ghariba Omer Muhammad was killed by her husband.
93 In mid-September 1997 in Kalawa district, Sulaymaniya, a girl named Shnow Salih was burned by her brother and died after 24 hours.
94 At the end of March 1991, a woman named Sargul Ismail ,a mother of 9 children, was killed by her cousin Kawa Muhammad Kawloza because she was accused of having sexual relations. After the incidents of March (the expulsion of Baath regime in Kurdistan) he planned to kill her. He tried to do this with two of her other cousins, but they refused to come with him, so one night he jumped into her bedroom and killed her. When was running away one of the woman's boys, a 12 year old, shot and killed him.
95 In February 1998, in Khabat district Sulaymaniya, a girl named Dilgash was killed by her neighbor because he had asked for her hand but she refused and married someone else.
96 In August 1995, a girl named Shilan Kadir and her mother, Shukriya, were killed savagely by her brothers. The girl was accused of having relationship with a boy named Arkan Omer and her mother had helped her. Later, they also killed the boy.
97 On October 21, 1997, a 22 year old woman named Parwin Fatah Awl was found dead in Chamchamal city. When her body was sent to Sulaymaniya forensic medicine, it was found that she had been suffocated with a rope.
98 On September 9, 1997, in Arbat city, the body of a 25 year old woman who had been shot to death was found in a sack.
99 In July 1997, a girl named Amina Hama Amin from Sangaser city near Qualadiza, was asked by her boyfriend to marry him and her family refused. They abused and beat her until they broke both of her hands.
100 In February 1998, a girl named Sewa, who was 10 12 years old, was admitted to Sulaymaniya Educational Hospital and was found to have hysterical attacks. The reason for the problem was that she was too young when they got her married. She became pregnant and her body couldn't accept pregnancy.
101 In October 1994, a woman named Khuncha Mawlana Shekhal was shot to death by her brother, Darwesh, because she had not consulted him when her daughter was married.
102 In Surchiyan district, Erbil, two girls accused of immorality were killed by their uncle in their bed in front their sisters and brothers.
103 A woman who was a mother of three, was killed by her father in Pardarash village of Dahok. The woman had been given to a man she did not want to marry and asked a boy to run away with her. Her father knew about her plan with the boy, so he and her uncle took her to a far away place, put a rope around her neck and tried to hang her. her father couldn't pull her, so they tied the rope to a car and began to pull her with the car. The woman fainted and her father thought that she was dead, but when they were burying her she opened her eyes. When the father saw that she was still alive, he attacked her and suffocated her with his hands. The father later threatened the family of the boy she had tried to run away with, and tried to kill the boy too, so the boy's family killed him themselves.
104 On May 5, 1994, the husband of a woman named Piroz Muhammad Ali in Tooymalik Sulaymaniya city, beat her with a hose because of arguments. Later, he divorced her and she died three months after the incident.
105 On June 25, 1994, at 8:00o'clock in the morning, a woman named Dildar was shot to death by her husband, Star. He had asked for the hand of another girl but the girl's family had refused because he was married. He wanted to divorce his wife and she agreed but she asked the for money which the husband promised to pay, at the time of their marriage, if he divorced her (dowry).
106 In July 1991, a woman named Ziryan from Shqlawa city, was killed in Erbil by her family and some other criminals because she got married by her own will.
107 A 35 year old woman named Sakina Haji Begh was shot to death by her brother on August 20, 1993 in Sheikh Wasan village because she had chosen her own husband. She had been married for 7 years and had 4 children. When the people of the village found out, they chased, shot and wounded the brother. They also asked that the authorities in the region punish him.
108 On October 2, 1991, a pregnant woman named Nihayat, a worker in the Textile Factory in Sulaymaniya city, was killed by her ex husband because she remarried.
109 On August 18, 1991, a 45 year old woman named Aiysha Abdulrahman Omer, a member of the PUK organization committee, was killed in her house. The reason for her murder is unknown.
110 In the end of February 1994, in Dahuk city, a woman named Ghariba Ali, a mother of 8, was shot to death by an unknown person.
111 In March 1994, in Dahuk city, a woman named Samira was killed by her 10 year old son. A political faction in the area had threatened her husband more than once to kill his wife because of moral accusations against her. The husband refused, so they agitated her son.
112 On the night of April 17, 1994, an Arab teacher was killed in the Art Institution in Dahuk city because of moral accusations.
113 On March 22,1998, a body of a woman was found near the Dukan lake near Chwarkurna. The body was disfigured because it was old, but traces of two bullets were found in the body.
114 A boy and girl who were in love had a date in the house of the girl and were arrested by the girl's family. The girl's family threatened the boy's family unless his family gave them 100,000 Iraqi Dinars and three girls. They agreed and prepared the three girls but they did not have the amount of money at that time so they went to Erbil city to borrow it but the girl's family did not wait. They took the boy to the Kewarash mountains and killed him. The boy's family wanted revenge unless the girl's family killed her also. So the girl's family killed their daughter.
115 Kajal Kidir, from Raniya region, was threatened to death by six of her brother in laws and the family of her husband, but they postponed the killing because, according to the fatwa of a Mulla, she should not be killed until she delivered her baby, as she was pregnant. But they cut her nose very savagely in the beginning of April 1997 .
116 On the night of October 14, 1997, in Abusana district, Sulaymaniya, a woman named Sabiha Abdulla Ahmed, born in 1959, was shot to death by an armed group with the assistance of her husband. This woman was living in London, England and she traveled to Sulaymaniya to visit her family. One night a red car came to her house, people in the car asked for Sabiha, and said that they have a letter for her. When she came out, they shot and wounded her. A week later her husband, Kamal, returned from London. Sabiha recovered and began to visit her family in Sulaymaniya with her bodyguards. One night, when they were returning home from the house of Kamal's father, her husband said they didn't need the bodyguards that night. She was shot to death that night on the way. According to many documents, her husband was behind her murder, but he was released from jail after a short while. Sabiha's family has taken the charges to court in London and is asking that the government arrest Kamal.
Interview with Sahiba's Sister:
What is your relationship with Sabiha?
I am her sister.
As Sabiha's sister, what is you opinion about her murder?
I'm condemning this act not because she was my sister but because she was a woman. I'm against the assassination of women without exception and the murderer should be punished strongly.The murderer is her husband.
What is your opinion about that and how do you confirm that he committed the murder?
As a matter of fact, my sister was living with her husband Kamal Dizayee for 17 years. He tried to kill her with a knife before when they returned to Sulaymaniya, and wounded her, but denied it. After they returned to London he threatened her life another time. The problem was that Kamal had a sexual relationship with another woman and my sister asked him to divorce her and get married with the other woman. But according to tribal rules Kamal could not divorce her. After some months, Sabiha wrote a letter to Kamal's brother in Sulaymaniya to ask him to intervene on her behalf. But the last time he was out with her, she was killed easily. He is saying that this case not related to me but we as the family of the victim are accusing him of killing her.
What would you say if he is not found guilty in the court?
We as the family of the victim asked the court not to forgive him because here, criminals can bribe the court. But we are asking the authorities in London to take him to trial to get his deserved punishment. And from now on, people should not be allowed to come back from abroad and kill women in this hell in Kurdistan.
117 In mid-February 1998, at Hajiawa camp section 2, in the Betwen region, a woman named Fatima Wsu Kidir, a mother of three, was killed by her husband. The reason for her murder was that she had an extramarital relationship. Her husband's second wife told him about Fatima's relationship.
118 In Bwsifke village of Duhok city, Asia, 15 years old, and Sarhang Said Taha, 13 years old, were tied up with ropes and shot to death in the village square on March 1, 1998. Asia had a relationship with her cousin and became pregnant but her mother wanted to hide this relationship and said that the act had been done by a family from Erbil. Asia's brother arrested the boy from Erbil and tied him with Asia and killed both of them. After they took the bodies to the Erbil hospital, the doctors said that Sarhang was too young to have a baby.
Some Women Who Have Committed Suicide:
1 In mid- January 1994, a woman named Payman Jamal, 13 years old, from Chamchamal city, burned herself after she had an argument with her abusive husband.
2 On January 2 1994, a woman named Fahima Haji Ali, a mother of 4, burned herself and died after 12 hours. Her husband had seen a man in their house one day and put pressure on wife, telling her that she betrayed him. She could not bear the pressure and burned herself.
3 A 35 year old woman named Eqbal from the Cigarettes Factory district, burned herself on February 18 1994 and died a day later. Her mother in law had been very abusive to her.
4 In December 1993, in Allan village in Balisan valley over Khalifan, a 12 year old girl named Avin Rahman, burned herself because she was being forced to marry. She died after 10 days.
5 A girl named Tanka Ahmed Karim burned herself in Choman city on January 10, 1994, because she wanted to get married by her will but was not allowed.
6 On January 21, 1994, a woman named Fawziya Mala Bakr in Kushtapa near Erbil, commited suicide with a Kalashinkov because her husband was abusive to her and had been a forced marriage.
7 In March 1993, a woman named Maliha Faris in Samoud city burned herself and died after a few hours. She was to get married to a very old man.
8 On October 5, 1993, a woman named Khazal in Al Ommal district, Erbil city, burned herself and died on the same day.
9 A 15 year old girl named Dalya Dilshad Abdulrahman, who attended high school in Erbil, burned herself on August 24, 1993, and died after a few days. She was being forced to marry a boy named Amanj.
10 A woman named Shireen Yousif in Kurdistan district, Erbil, burned herself on the night of October 16, because she was forcibly married to a very old man.
11 A woman named Balquis, mother of two, burned herself on October 15, 1994, because she was married against her will.
12 On the night of February 13, 1995, a woman named Sabiha Muhammad Mustafa in Karezawishk district in Sulaymaniya city, burned herself. This woman ran away from her husband but was taken from her father's house back to her husband.
13 A 38 year old woman named Gula Kadir burned herself on March 27, 1995, in Ranya city. She had been married for 12 years and did not bear children so her husband abused her everyday.
14 A woman named Hanan from Ammara city was married to a man in Koya city and burned herself because she was abused by her husband. She had three children.
15 In mid- June 1995, an 18 year old girl named Lana Kadir burned herself due to the ideas of her brother who was in the ranks of Islamic Movement.
16 On June 10, a woman named Rezan Jalal, who had one child, set fire to herself.
17 On June 27, in Sheikh Mouhyaddin district in Sulaymaniya city, a girl named Ashnaa Nasir Kadir, who was 17 years old, killed herself with a Kalashinkov because her family wanted her to wear the veil (Islamic dress). They also forced her to marry. She tried to commit suicide three times before- first, by taking pills, the second time by drinking poison and the third time with a pistol.
18 An 18 year old girl named Shukriya Kadir, in Rapareen camp near Qualadza city, drank a cup of acid on February 5, 1995. After much suffering and pain, she died on April 27, 1995.
19 In the beginning of March 1995, in Mansouria camp in Dahok city, a woman burned herself because her husband was abusive.
20 On June 13, 1995, a woman named Rezan Jalal in Mamostayan district in Sulaymaniya, burned herself because of abuse from her brother in law and his wife, who lived in the same house as her. She died after a few days.
21 On August 22, 1995, a woman named Pershing Abdulla Kusraw burned herself because of her husband and died the same day.
22 In the mid- August 1995, a girl named Shilan Talib, a student in grade three of Sulaymaniya Polytechnic school, burned herself and died after 12 days. She was abused by her family because she had a relationship with a boy who married another girl.
23 A woman named Tara Abdulrahman who was from Sarchinar and had a girl named Sara,killed herself with a Kalashinkov because her husband, Hama Sheikh Tofik, did not let her go out of her house.
24 In mid- August 1995, a girl named Tara burned herself in Seikhmouhyaddin district in Sulaymaniya and died after 10 days.
25 In July 1995, a 28 year old woman named Nasia Muhammad Ismail burned herself in Shkarta camp because she was to be forcibly married.
26 On January 15, 1996, a girl named Sundus Namiq in Jaish Shaabi district in Erbil, burned herself because her father abused her because she had a relationship.
27 On December 17, 1996, a woman named Pakiza Malla Ahmed burned herself and died after six days.
28 On January 14, 1997, a woman named Niaz Kamal burned herself and died because she had an argument with her husband and was abused by him.
29 On June 9, 1997, a girl named Surma in Sangasar near Qualadiza burned herself and died after a week.
30 In the village of Dawra in Kalar city, a girl named Awat loved a boy named Khalid and they tried to get married but their families did not accept so the girl burned herself and the boy killed himself with a gun.
31 An the end of June 1997, a woman named Roonak in Koya city burned herself in the bathroom and died after a short time.
32 At the end of June 1997, in Ali Kamal district in Sulaymaniya city, a 34 year old woman named Kanim Haji Ghafour burned herself because her husband and son were very abusive to her.
33 On July 8, 1997, in Raniya city, a woman named Shireen, a mother of three, burned herself and died after two days.
34 On July 8, 1997, in Kifri city a 14 year old girl named Ayman Ismail Jabbar was beaten by her father so much that she shot and killed herself.
35 On July 14, 1997, in Kalar city, a woman named Bushra burned herself and died after 3 days.
36 On July 22, 1997, in Bakhtiyari district in Sulaymaniya, a girl named Jwan Hassan burned herself due to bad treatment by her father and brothers and died after four days.
37 On April 15, 1997, a 16 year old girl named Nergis Muhammad burned herself in Raniya camp and died after two days. She committed suicide because of abusive relatives.
38 In mid- July 1997, a girl named Shamam burned herself and died after she was beaten and tortured by her brother and her hands and legs were broken.
39 At the end of November 1997, a woman named Rezan burned herself in Sulaymaniya city due to abuse by her husband. She had been married to him when she was 13 years old for 10 thousand Iraqi Dinars.
40 At the end of May 1997, in Kalar city, a girl named Fatima burned herself and died. The reason for her suicide was that her mother treated her very badly and insulted her everyday. One day, her mother told her to do some work in the house but she didn't do it so her mother threatened her. The girl was frightened and killed herself.
41 In mid- May 1997, a girl named Banaz Rasoul Khoshnaw from Ranya city burned herself and, after 4 days, died in the University Hospital in Sulaymaniya. She had been forcibly married and her mother in law treated her very badly.
42 A 13 year old girl named Hanan Salah Bekol, a student in Zahra high school, burned herself on May 11, 1997, and died after a few days. The reason for her suicide was that her teacher, Mrs.Khadija, who was their neighbor, told her parents that she loved a boy named Rahman. Her parents began to insult and beat her and her teacher pulled her hair in front of other students. Hanan couldn't bear any more and killed herself.
43 On September 16, 1997, a girl named Shina died in the Sulaymaniya hospital because she had burned herself.
44 On August 15, 1997, in the Karaniyagha village near Ranya city of Sulaymaniya, a 15 year old girl burned herself and died because her family, especially her mother, treated her very badly.
45 On August 30, 1997, a 30 year old woman named Rana Rashid Faraj died from burning herself.
46 A girl named Susan Kadir burned herself on April 25, 1997 and died on May 5, 1997. Her father had raped her and threatened her not to tell anybody.
47 On July 8, 1997, a woman named Nasrin, a mother of three, burned herself because her husband, Kawa, did not let her go to the cemetery to visit her child's grave and beat her.
48 On March 4, 1998, in Islahi district in Sulaymaniya city, a girl named Bahra Abdulkarim Barzingi burned herself and died in hospital after 5 days. She was 18 years old and was abused and insulted daily by her parents and brother. She said in the hospital that she burned herself to die and get rid of her family. She was told not to say these words because these it would make her go to hell but she insisted on telling the truth. Bahra Abdulkarim was a student in grade 11 in high school and was a very lovely girl in school. Her teachers loved her very much because she was a good student. In her family she was also very different than others. Bahra had four sisters and four brother and was very concerned when one of her sisters was beaten by her parents or her brothers. She was different from her other sisters and was always asking Why should m en be superior to women? Why should women be beaten by men ? Why a should boy younger than his sister rule her? Those questions and many more protests against abuse and insults of women were in her mind. She was always struggling for freedom of dress and her parents insulted her, but she challenged them and did not accept their regulations. This caused her to be abused and beaten by her parents all the time. They tried to force her to marry her cousin to get rid of her but she refused such a life. Bahra twice visited the base of The Independent Organization of Women in 1997 and participated in the seminars hold by the organization. She felt that the organization is really defending women and that she learned very much from the organization. She wanted to visit regularly but her family did not let her. Those two times she had come secretly. The day Bahra burned herself, she was called by her father who told her he hated her because of her bad behavior and Bahra told him she was not afraid of him anymore no matter what he did to her. So he began to beat her. Afterward, she became very disappointed and pessimistic and burned herself.
49 On June 28, 1994, in Ranya city, a woman named Dallas Jalal burned herself. She had been forced to marry her cousin who was much older than her. Her husband prevented her from going out of her house. She left the house and returned to her parents home, but her mother sent her back to her husband's house. She burned herself on June 29.
50 A 17 year old woman named Shireen Ahmed killed herself by drinking a bottle of spiri, pouring 10 liters of fire starter on herself and burning herself. There were two reasons for suicide. First, her husband did not love her but loved Shireen's cousin. Secondly, her father in law died after she came to her husband's house and she was blamed her for his death. She spoke to people at the hospital about her husband and his family. When her father heard about her suicide he had a heart attack and also died.
51 A woman named Nasrin burned herself in the middle of July 1994 in Soran city. She was amother of four. Her husband beat her anytime she protested hard work at home or his rudeness.
52 A woman named Amina Said killed herself with a gun at the beginning of July 1994 in theDiana city suburbs. She forcibly married and her husband treated her badly. She had asked for a separation but her husband refused so she decided to commit suicide.
53 A 17 year old girl named Solav burned herself in Malayan district in Erbil on August 2, 1993. The reason was that her father beat her after she returned from a family party.
54 A girl named Media Barzan in Tayrawa district in Erbil city burned herself in July 1993. She was beaten by her father because she had talked with her neighbor girlfriend in front of their house.
55 A woman named Bayan Ali Sofi from Zarayan who had 6 children was savagely killed by her brother, because she had problems with her husband and had a relationship with another man. Her brother tied a big rock to her and pushed her from a high mountain so she would sink in the Sirwan river. Her body was found after a week.
56 On April 20,1994, a 17 year old woman named Avin Mahmoud Hama Amin, who was living with her father and her stepmother in Mufti district, burned herself. Her father and stepmother were very abusive to her.
57 A woman named Razaw in Mamostayan district, opposite Sheik Ahmed cemetery in Sulaymaniya,burned herself and died after staying three days in hospital. She had been given to a man named Faris when she was 17 years old. Her husband was very abusive to her and tried to marry a second woman and spend all his money on her. His first wife rejected that so he beat her and broke her arm.
58 In 1998, a 20 year old woman named Wajiha Muhammad Muhammad, from Kalachwalan, was forced to marry a disabled man named Jalal Hasan Khdir from Kzlar, Sharbajer region. When he asked for her hand, he sent his brother Jaza to see her family. The girl saw him and agreed to marry him but when she went to her new house she saw that there was another man waiting for her. She was shocked and started a hunger strike for five days. Later, she burned herself. In hospital, she didn't admit why she burned herself and asked the husband's family not to visit her.
59 Shortly after International Women's Day, on March 13, 1998, news of a brave woman named Hamin Waso Ibrahim, was received. She set herself on fire and died after three days in Chwarqurna of Ranya region. She commited suicide because she had an argument with her cousin who made false accusations against her. Her husband believed her cousin and began beating her.
These are the crimes under the social system imposed on women. The Independent Organization of Women Advocates for Women's Rights in Kurdistan, The Independent Organization of Women in Kurdistan's platform is to defend women's rights in Kurdistan and struggle for women's equality with men in all fields- socially, economically and politically- and considers this as its urgent task The founding committee of this organization declared its existence on March 8th 1992. Two months later, on the 14th of May 1992, with 50 people present, the Independent Organization of Women was founded.
This was the women's movement's answer to the wave of women's assassinations which began after the April 1991 incidents and the return to Kurdistan of people from the mountains and outside the borders who had fled the Baath's attack on the Kurdistan cities. Tens of women were assassinated, some of them were prostitutes, some did not follow tribal and religious rules and behaved how they wanted in love, in dress and in work. In the beginning, this wave of assassinations was justified by the reactionary political parties which said these women were working with the agents of the Iraqi regime. Later on, they made moral accusations against them and the assassinations continued. Some of the victims were raped before being killed. Thus, an atmosphere of terror dominated the society of women, threatening women who worked in beauty salons or women' s dress factories or those who wore modern clothing. They created an atmosphere making any woman who disobeyed religious or tribal rules feel unsafe. This atmosphere made it easy for reactionary and religious groups to attack women's rights, such that women were afraid to leave their homes. Moreover, because of the ideas of patriarchy and the anti women rules, women were assassinated just for the suspicion of having relationships outside marriage.
The Independent Organization of Women considers the defense of women as it's urgent task and has launched a big campaign, in cities including Sulaymaniya, Erbil and Koya, against these catastrophes and has raised awareness of this social issue. Thus, it has played a large role in agitating people's feelings against the assassination of women and against old traditions in society, such as religion and patriarchy.
Attempts to change civil law to a secular and humane law which secures equality between men and women, is another field of the organization's struggle. A large number of people support our program and support us in this struggle and are asking to change these laws. According to the Iraqi regime's laws, women are second class citizens. Patriarchy is the origin of this law. According to this law, a man can kill a woman because of adultery, men can have a number of wives at the same time, and two women equal one male witness in court. Also, the organization is demanding the separation of religion from the state and banning the interference of religion in the life of individuals.
The women of Kurdistan now trust the organization and it has became a way to solve their problems in all the fields of their lives. The followings are some examples of the work that the organization has done for women:
Kajal Khdir's nose was cut and she was later threatened to death by six of her brothers in law and other members of her husband's family. The organization founded an action committee to defend her, together with some other groups. At her request, the organization protected her and has tried to send her to another country through international organizations.
For Sabiha Abdulla Nadir, who was assassinated by her husband's bands, an action committee was found to defend her and take her case to court. However, her husband was released from jail after a short while because he was rich and gave money to the authorities. Sabiha's husband is a resident of London, England and her family has taken the case there. The organization is following this case carefully to find the murderer.
Lamia Hama Karim was accused of adultery and spent one year in jail but couldn't get out of jail because she was threatened by her family. She hid herself and the organization publicized her situation, called on people to support her, and took the necessary steps to rescue her life.
The organization visited the women's camps in Daratoo, Banislawa and Kushtapa. These are camps for women whose men disappeared in the Baath regime. The organization oriented the women regarding their rights and helped men to protect and respect these rights.
The organization also visited factories to defend the right to equal wage for men and women. Factories visited were: Nanaqaisi factory , Bakery factory, Shoe factory, Socks factory, Sugar cube factory, and Textile factory. Schools and the government offices visited were: Sulaymaniya school, Shorsh school, Zahra, Kurdistan , Rangeen , Hydra and hospitals, etc...
Family affairs are another issue of the organization. Numerous women bring their problems to the organization and ask us for help. For example, women who are beaten by their husbands, women who after separation from their husbands aren't allowed to see their children, girls and women who are not allowed to go parties or to go out, women who have psychological illnesses, women who want to separate from their husbands but according to tribal and religious rules cannot do it without the agreement of their husbands and have to accept unwanted sexual relationships for their whole lives.
The Independent Organization of Women believes we and all the women in Iraqi Kurdistan are in the beginning of the path to achieve equality between men and women.
Our primary and urgent tasks are:
* Trying to set free a woman free jailed in a bathroom for seven years by her father in the city of Kifry because she wanted to live separately with her children after she separating from her husband .
* Trying to cancel Iraqi civil laws and replace them with modern and humane laws which protect the equal rights of men and women.
* Trying to abolish attempted murder of women under the name of morality and reactionary accusations and to subject the murderers to justice through the courts.
The organization of women is trying to build a strong front to protect women in Kurdistan and is asking all political parties, all the people of Kurdistan, and all the international organizations which are defending women rights, to help us and help women in Kurdistan.
Rega Raouf
Sulaymaniya
March 1998
Photos of women's activists in Iraqi Kurdistan:
1 Alla Faraj
2 Nasik Ahmed
3 Najiba Karim
4 Shireen Abdulla
5 Rega Raof
6 Payman Gharib
7 Nazaneen Nasih
Translated from Kurdish by: Fatah Mamand
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