They have always been.
As far as I know, the first Syrian blogger who have posted her opposition to “honor killings” is Rima Msabbani, a blogger who’s dear to my heart and who rarely blogs. She and a fellow blogger, Shady Zaiat, were the first to put a widget on their blogs sidebar that denounces article 548 from the Syrian penal code which states that any male relative who kills a girl for the sake of “honor” would only be sentenced to six months. Opposers to article 548 believe that the reason why girls are being killed in cold blood is exactly because the murderers know they can get away with it in few months.
Syrian officials have come to realize that the number of “honor killings” in Syria is escalating, so last year the government sponsored and organized the First National Meeting on “honor crimes” out of which the organizers agreed on final recommendations approved by the religious clerics present:
“Tighten the penalty for adultery for men and women equally, to disseminate Fatwas prohibiting “crimes of honor”, and to prevent the murderers to take advantage of a “moral” excuse or of the mitigating punishment. Reported on Syria News.
وشهد العام الماضي انعقاد الملتقى الوطني الأول حول جرائم الشرف برعاية حكومية حيث دعت التوصيات الختامية التي وافق عليها رجال الدين الحاضرين دون تحفظ إلى “تشديد عقوبة الزنا للرجل والمرأة على قدم المساواة، وتعميم فتاوى تحرم ارتكاب جرائم الشرف، ومنع استفادة مرتكبيها من العذر المحلل أو السبب المخفف للعقاب”.
ووفق أرقام قدمها ممثل إدارة الأمن الجنائي في الملتقى فإن عدد الجرائم التي وقعت في سورية بدافع الشرف وصلت إلى 38 جريمة من أصل 533 جريمة قتل حصلت في العام 2007 .
ووصلت جرائم الشرف حتى الشهر الثامن من العام الماضي إلى 29 جريمة شرف, وسجلت محافظة إدلب أعلى نسبة من جرائم الشرف بواقع 22% ثم محافظة حلب بـ 15%.
“According to figures provided by the representative of the Criminal Security Department in the First National Meeting, the number of crimes of honor that took place in Syria reached to 38 out of 533 murder crimes occurred in 2007.
Whereas 29 honor killings were documented last year 2008 up to August. Idlib province recorded the highest proportion of crimes of honor to 22%, then the province of Aleppo to 15%.
Another report published on Syria News said that Syria is ranked the fifth in the world with regards to the so-called “honor crimes”.
One influential website that has been documenting the cases of “honor crimes” in Syria for the past six years is Syria Women website. The owner of the website is Bassam Al Kadi and he has initiated a petition that calls for the abolishment of article 548 of Syrian penal code. 24 Syrian websites and human rights organizations so far have joined Al Kadi’s battle against the legalization of honor crimes in Syria.
But that’s not all, Bloggers throughout this region have similar disgust to “honor killings” as well as to legalizing it.
It started with the Jordanian blogger Kinzi, who have written an email to Jordan Times to express her “disgust” of how murderers are getting away with their murder:
I urge all my friends to write to the Jordan Times jotimes@jpf.com.jo expressing their disgust at the way these murderers of innocent women are just allowed to go free (or have a short prison sentence) under ‘the fit of fury’ law and the allowing of the dropping of charges because the offender is part of the same family as the victim. The following opinion piece by Nermeen in today’s Jordan Times is excellent.
Several Bloggers, Jordanians, Syrians and a Canadian, followed Kinzi’s appeal and wrote on their opposition and thoughts on “honor crimes”.
Qwaider from Jordan, is working on creating a database for the victims of “honor crimes” occured around the world in honor of their memory:
What do all the honor murderers try to accomplish with murder? To wipe out the shame and the name of their victims from history. Right?
Here’s a good way we, as a society, help thwart that goal. Let’s all keep their memory alive!
Do you know the name of an honor murder victim? From anywhere in the world? Well, here’s your chance to avenge her tormented soul.
Isobel, a blogger from Canada, followed Kinzi’s call and urged other bloggers to do the same:
“[A] man and his two sons are charged with beating to death the daughter for leaving the house in make up and talking to a strange man…”. (International Herald Tribune) It wasn’t long ago (2007) that a similar tragedy happened here in Canada to 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez who was strangled to death for refusing to wear the hijab. Each time I ask myself, how can anyone kill their own daughter/sister over the family honour…which in itself is a frightening order of priority. Killing your own child does not soil the family rep but a young woman wearing makeup does?
And on the Syrian blogsphere, Abu Fares posted an insightful post mostly on the social structure of Syrian society and problems surrounding it:
Not a single monotheist religion advocated banishing slavery! Just think of this notion for a minute. God spoke to us three times (at least) in this part of the world. Three times… and he never told us that slavery is ungodly. Before we call for political reform we’d better get indoors, within the dank walls of our own homes and rummage around for rot, pests and rodents in our basements, in the core of our foundations.
Last but not the least, another Syrian blogger, Kinan Jarjous, wrote a touching short story called “Why Did I Kill My Sister?” in which he has indeed “hit the nail on the head” as one commenter said:
What happened to my family honor now? The daughter dead, the son in jail? What happened to my image… am I a hero now? Or a guy from prison? When I get released… will I marry? Who will marry me? A monster who kills women?
I should have checked if the guy was her friend’s relative. I should have checked it was all about homework.
The term “crimes of honor” in the Arab-speaking world is usually associated with murdering girls who supposedly have given away their virginity. In this context, Honor then is associated with the tradition of virginity. However, girls in this region are not being killed for the sake of “honor” only when a father, brother or a male relative is suspicious of a girl’s sexual activities, but also when she runs away and marries someone from another sect or another religion, which to the murderers, they’re doing so to “clean” or “purify” the family’s “honor” from shame. So notice, whether she’s having sex prior to marriage or not, a girl is threatened to be killed only because she isn’t following the social norm.
While the latter case of honor murder is embedded with sectarianism, the motivation to kill here is not in my opinion due to sectarianism, but rather to to the “image” of the family within the social structure and system of traditions and habits. This point is explicit in Kinan’s story where the brother killed his sister after he went to the shop to buy a magazine and he was very worried what the owner would think of him.
And it’s also a question of power, which Kinan also rightly referred to in his story: the brother needs to look like he’s in control of his sister, he needs to look like a “man”. Manhood in this region is about power over women, the more powerful and control you are of women in your family the more of a man you are. And society does celebrate this notion.
I think sectarianism has little to do with “honor killings” because all sects and religions in this region have a history of killing their daughters when they decide to escape the social rules. So this is not about religion or sect as much as it is about the constructed social structure in which a male and female have certain sacred roles to fill. This social system is hierarchal: men socially, economically and legally are the “defenders”, “protectors” and “guardians” of women. Men have set the norm and women who choose to flee it are considered “whores”, and in some cases these women get killed.
“Honor killing” is not simply about girls having sex or not, but about a girl who made a decision to live by her own rules away from the community or society she lives in. It’s a question of authority and autonomy and those who refused to be submissive to authorial people are being killed or locked in their houses.
This conflict is not between men and women, but between authorial people and autonomous people. What people call “sexism” is nothing but a social system, and gender authority.
Exiled Razan رزان في المنفى 
The main issue is to expose the impotence and the dishonor of the State in its current form and to point to its inability to make any change, because on the paper and in the media they claim that it is secular state, but they do not dare, or neither want, to challenge the core of the spiritual world of their citizens. Honor killing is almost similar to the high security court, to kidnapping and to political silencing, it is all comes under applying the law and applying equality, which is against the fabric of the regime who always busy in foreign policy and have no time for social matters.
What support my previous statement is the 50 years of isolation and static world inside Syria while the world is moving fast in all directions. They controlled the media outlets and they become responsible for all the ills of the society, they own it.
Razan, if the state to abolish article 548, which would make the killing pricy, this move is not in the regime interest because it open the door to equality which could be contagious to other issues, like decentralizing, permitting radio stations all over the country, private media, free movement of goods, ideas, and media, converting the mokhabarat to a police station to protect women and men etc….
Interesting point you made up there, Aadla, yes I believe social reform doesnt necessarily follow legal reform. But in this case, I do believe that people would think twice before spending life in prison or face death penalty, because in Syria, if a person is charged with murder she/he would face death penalty.
I do see your point on why abolishing the article won’t be in the interest of the Syrian regime, but I don’t this case specifically would lead to social reform.
There are already private radio stations, newspapers and satellite channels, but of course they’re closely watched and they don’t have the space to go off the Syrian official line of thinking.
I don’t think Syria performs like the US with regards to change, in the US, change is contagious because there are civic movements who’re working to change the law, whereas in Syria, it’s the state itself that changes the law with no influential social or civic movements.
So everything is controlled in Syria, even social reform, hence I don’t think that changing one article would affect another in Syria. I think the Syrian regime won’t start something it can’t guarantee its consequences.
I might be wrong, but that’s my take on the issue so far.
You said:
“There are already private radio stations, newspapers and satellite channels, but of course they’re closely watched and they don’t have the space to go off the Syrian official line of thinking.”
You should have said that recently in the last decade they start giving license to private sector on limited bases, they count less the fingers in one hand, and they are not free but controlled.
My point that most of Arab countries, still control the either it is not privatized yet and it has been this way since ever. In our state, which is the same size as Syria with one third of the population, there are 400 radio stations. With the privatization of the either, for radio and TV, you can not control speech, but speech control itself. I hope you get my point.
Thanks
Wow!! Its fantastic to see a summary here of all of the people who have rallied so far. Your article is excellent and goes a long way to further encourage, inform, and condemn (all in one) – encourage others to start speaking out, inform intelligently and statistically all of us about the facts of “honor killings”, and finally to condemn the act as a whole. Thank you. There’s a link to your article in the comment section of my post…but I’m thinking since the response is slowly growing (fortunately)…I should do an update and I’ll make reference to your post there!!
Thank you for your comment, Isobel.
Here’s a selection of the people who wrote so far, there is also The Arab Observer from Jordan who wrote on the same topic.
Nice of you to link to me on your post, thank you :)
http://nesasy.org/honorcrimes/signature/index.php
Thanks for the link.
Adlaa,
Yes you’re right I should have clarified that.
Interesting, would love to know how speech is controlling itself. and what country is that?
Thank you for spreading the word. The more people support these efforts, the bigger our chance to eliminate such crimes
Thank you for your comment, Qwaider, and great efforts.
Razan, I am so sorry I didn’t get back to your post and THANK YOU for this amazing wrap-up. Really, the Syrian response was great.
“Honor killing” is not simply about girls having sex or not, but about a girl who made a decision to live by her own rules away from the community or society she lives in.”
What a quote that was. Made me think.
Thank YOU for such a great initiative :)
Hi Razan, min za maan! Baseball season has gotten in the way of advocacy, but I wanted to see if you have/wanted to add any comments to Deena’s wiki document on honor killing before she comes in June.
Did you see that over at Roba’s blog? If not, send me an email hope4wounded@gmail.com and I’ll get you two connected :).
The fact that we, The Syrian Anarchist Queer and The American Evangelical Hetero Mom can join hands over ending this awful practice is a source of joy for me.