UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

after their release. 660 UNAMI HRO reported that female corpses are usually not claimed
from the morgue for fear of damaging the family “honour”. During November and
December 2006, more than 140 female bodies remained unclaimed and were buried in
Najaf by the morgue. 661
The Iraqi Penal Code 662 contains provisions that allow lenient punishments for “honour
killings” on the grounds of provocation or if the accused had “honourable motives”. The
punishment is between 6 to 12 months imprisonment. 663 Article 409 further provides that if
a person surprises his wife or a female relative committing adultery and kills/injures one or
both immediately, the punishment will not exceed three years. 664 The law does not provide
any guidance as to what “honourable motives” are and therefore leaves the door open for
wide interpretation and abuse. Women who fear “honour killings” will not be protected
within their communities by their tribes in view of the increasing weakness of tribal
structures and mediation systems as a result of the overal situation of violence in Central
and Southern Iraq.
With the rise in religious extremism, both Muslim women and women of other religious
groups have increasingly been pressured to conform to strict Islamic dress and morality
codes. For example, they are forced to cover their hair and leave the house only when
accompanied by a male relative. If they do not do so, they risk being subjected to
harassment and death threats. Islamist groups, which largely control public institutions such
as universities or hospitals, strictly apply these rules to women. For example, female
students in Mosul received leaflets warning them to wear “proper Muslim attire” at
universities. 665
b) Situation of Women in the Region of Kurdistan
In the Kurdistan Region, despite the fact that a law defines “honour killings” as murder,
crimes of this type still take place. Women who are, for example, victims of sexual
aggression, are frequently ostracized and even killed by their family members in an attempt
660
IRIN, Iraq: Appalling conditions of women prisoners disputed, 13 December 2006,
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=62518. See also: UNHCR, 2005 Country of Origin Information
Iraq, p. 35-36, see above footnote 53.
661
UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 12, see above footnote 10.
662
See also “Criminal Sanctions”.
663
Article 128(1) of the Law No. (111) of 1969, Penal Code reads:
“Legal excuse either discharges a person from a penalty or reduces that penalty. Excuse only exists under conditions
that are specified by law. Notwithstanding these conditions, the commission of an offence with honorable motives or
in response to the unjustified and serious provocation of a victim of an offence is considered a mitigating excuse.”
Article 130 of the Penal Code reads:
“If there exists a mitigating excuse for a felony for which the penalty is death, the penalty shall be reduced to life
imprisonment or imprisonment for a term of years or detention for a period of not less than 1 year. If the penalty is
life imprisonment or imprisonment for a term of years; the penalty shall be reduced to a period of detention of not less
than 6 months unless otherwise stipulated by law.”
664
Article 409 of the Law No. (111) of 1969, Penal Code reads:
“Any person who surprises his wife in the act of adultery or finds his girlfriend in bed with her lover and kills them
immediately or one of them or assaults one of them so that he or she dies or is left permanently disabled is punishable
by a period of detention not exceeding 3 years. It is not permissible to exercise the right of legal defense against any
person who uses this excuse nor do the rules of aggravating circumstance apply against him.”
665
See also “Persons Accused of “Un-Islamic” Behaviour”.
123