Post by Focus on May 1, 2013 15:35:31 GMT
An Afghan woman has been shot dead by her own father in front of a mob of 300 after she was accused of dishonoring her family by running away from her husband.
The victim, known only as Halima, was aged between 18 to 20 and had two children, according to Amnesty International.
She had eloped with a male cousin while her husband was in Iran. But ten days later he returned her to her family in Kookchaheel, in the Aabkamari district of the north-western Badghis province.
Her father sought the advice of village elders and three of them issued a fatwa ordering that Halima be publicly executed.
Plight : Honor killings are a common occurrence in Afghanistan where many women struggle to obtain the most basic rights
Remote : The killing took place in the the Aabkamari district of the north-western Badghis province
She was shot dead on April 22. It is not known what has happened to her cousin, who has not been identified.
Her father and the three elders, who are all allegedly linked to the Taliban, have gone into hiding
Amnesty International’s Afghanistan researcher Horia Mosadiq said: ‘The deeply shocking practice of women being subjected to violent “punishments”, including killing, publicly or privately, must end.
‘The authorities across Afghanistan must ensure that perpetrators of violence against women are brought to justice.
‘Violence against women continues to be endemic in Afghanistan and those responsible very rarely face justice.
‘Not only do women face violence at the hands of family members for reasons of preserving so-called “honour”, but frequently women face human rights abuses resulting from verdicts issued by traditional, informal justice systems.
‘These systems must be reformed and the police must prevent such verdicts being carried out.’
The local police say they are investigating the case, but no one has yet been arrested in connection with the killing.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) documented more than 4,000 cases of violence against women in a six-month period from March to October last year.
This was a rise of 28 per cent compared with the same period in the previous year.
The AIHRC has also criticised the Afghan police in Baghdis for recruiting suspected perpetrators of such violence, including a Taliban commander and his 20 men implicated in the stoning to death of 45-year-old widow Bibi Sanuber for alleged adultery in 2010.
In August 2009, Afghanistan passed the Elimination of Violence against Women Law, which criminalizes forced marriage, rape, beatings and other acts of violence against women.
Public execution: Mother-of-two Halima had run away from a village in Badghis Province (pictured) with a cousin, according to reports
THE KILLINGS THAT DISHONOR AFGHANISTAN :
Afghanistan has an unenviable record for the treatment of women. And over the last few years there have been a particularly appalling array of attacks, including murders which have made international headlines.
In November, a teenage girl was beheaded by a relative after she turned down his marriage proposals The victim, named as Gisa, was decapitated with a knife in the Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province on Tuesday, local police said. She is believed to have been about 15.
One of most notorious murders was in July 2012 when footage of a 22-year-old Afghan woman being put to death by two Taliban commanders because they 'they could not decide who could have her was posted online. The woman, named only as Najiba, was reportedly part of a Taliban love triangle - married to a member of the hard-line militant group - and accused of adultery with a commander.
Twelve months ago, in April 2012, the ex-husband of a 30-year-old mother-of-two burst into her house and beheaded her. He also decapitated their eight-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter because they had watched the attack in Ghazni province.
In August 2010, a pregnant woman was publicly executed by the Taliban for alleged adultery. Bibi Sanubar, 48, was flogged up to 200 times before being shot in the head and chest in the remote Qades district. Her alleged lover managed to escape.
Fcking savages -- Why the hell is this allowed to keep happening??? - Fx
