Two corpses .. Two sisters .. Continuation of honor killings

In early September, a village man called on television to talk about the disappearance of two sisters in their village and that no one had seen their father. The sisters took refuge in a shelter for tortured women and girls and were handed over to their fathers a few days later. Being a rural resident of Chamchmal city in Sulaimaniyah province. We informed our reporter there that the investigation was fruitless, that no such case had been filed with the police and the Office for the Prevention of Violence against Women. But.. A few days later, two bodies were found in a grave near the same village.

Yes .. The bodies of the two were cannibals. Avareh, 19, and Helen, 17, who had been tortured and shot in the body. Their father, Faqih Hasib, who is the main defendant in the case, fled, and their relatives refused to accept the bodies of the two sisters. Chamchamal Governor's Office and women's advocacy organizations buried the bodies after legal proceedings.

According to my research, the two sisters were in a romantic relationship with two boys. He had treated them violently after the opposition, and they had fled and taken refuge in the women's shelter. Violence against them continued after they were returned to their father. The two sisters fled again in late August, but were returned to their families, and no one saw them again in early September.

Honor killings are recurring in Iraqi Kurdistan, with dozens of women and girls falling victim to such killings each year, and many of these killings go unreported due to closed social traditions and the prevailing tribal context. Also, according to women's rights activists, due to the lack of rule of law, in many cases the killers are either never punished or released from prison after a short time. Read more In 2008, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has stated that honor killings are a serious concern in Iraq, particularly well documented in Iraqi Kurdistan. There are conflicting estimates on the number of honor killings in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Free Women's Organization of Kurdistan (FWOK) released a statement on International Women's Day 2015 noting that "6,082 women were killed or forced to commit suicide during the past year in Iraqi Kurdistan, which is almost equal to the number of the Peshmerga martyred fighting Islamic State (IS)," and that a large number of women were victims of honor killings or enforced suicide—mostly self-immolation or hanging. According to Zhin Woman magazine, published in December 2015 in Sulaimaniya, from January to August 2015, in the three main Kurdish provinces of Sulaimaniya, Erbil, and Duhok, there were a total of 122 cases of honor killings and 124 women's suicides. According to KRG Ministry of Interior's Directorate-General of Countering Violence Committed Against Women, only 14 women were victims of "so-called" honor killings in 2017. The practice is reportedly declining due to increased numbers of women's rights organizations and government initiatives. About 500 honor killings per year are reported in hospitals in Iraqi Kurdistan, although real numbers are likely higher. It is speculated that alone in Erbil there is one honor killing per day. The UNAMI reported that at least 534 honor killings occurred between January and April 2006 in the Kurdish Governorates. It is claimed that many deaths are reported as "female suicides" in order to conceal honor-related crimes. Aso Kamal of the Doaa Network Against Violence claimed that they have estimated that there were more than 12,000 honor killings in Iraqi Kurdistan from 1991 to 2007. He also said that the government figures are much lower, and show a decline in recent years, and Kurdish law has mandated since 2008 that an honor killing be treated like any other murder. Honor killings and other forms of violence against women have increased since the creation of Iraqi Kurdistan, and "both the KDP and PUK claimed that women's oppression, including 'honor killings', are part of Kurdish 'tribal and Islamic culture'". The honor killing and self-immolation condoned or tolerated by the Kurdish administration in Iraqi Kurdistan has been labeled as "gendercide" by Mojab (2003). As many as 133 women were killed in the Iraqi city of Basra alone in 2006. Seventy-nine were killed for violation of "Islamic teachings" and 47 for honor, according to IRIN, the news branch of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Amnesty International says that armed groups, not the government, also kill politically active women and those who did not follow a strict dress code, as well as women who are perceived as human rights defenders. Seventeen-year-old Du'a Khalil Aswad, an Iraqi girl of the Yazidi faith, was stoned to death in front of a mob of about 2,000 men in 2007, possibly because she was allegedly planning to convert to Islam. A video of the brutal incident was released on the Internet. According to the crowd she had "shamed herself and her family" for failing to return home one night and there were suspicions of her converting to Islam to marry her boyfriend, who was in hiding in fear of his own safety