I have RIGHTS

Newsletter of the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation

January 2011

UK. We also look forward at the remaining

challenges for NGOs like IWKRO and for the
government.

This newsletter is also an opportunity to celebrate

other good news for IKWRO and our partners. In
2010 we launched two new projects - The Training
You Need and our I Have Rights campaign. We
also generated new funds for advice work with a
grant from the EC’s Daphne programme.

In addition, last year IKWRO continued to expand

our services, reaching more than 1,500 women
and girls with confidential advice, emotional
support, referrals, translation and advocacy. 504
Dear friends,
of our clients required extensive casework and of
We hope that you enjoyed the holidays and had a
these, more than 100 were at high risk of forced
very happy Christmas and New Year. IKWRO is
marriage or honour killing. Our support has
delighted to ring in 2011 with the first edition of
enabled them to understand their rights and
our new quarterly newsletter, I have rights.
entitlements and to take control of their lives.
With this newsletter we aim to increase awareness
Of course, there remains much to do. In 2011 we
of IKWRO’s work and of the needs of our clients.
will step up the long term support we offer to
Content has been written by IKWRO staff
clients, enabling them to develop new confidence
Fionnuala Murphy, Joanne Payton and me. In
and to become activists and change-makers.
future, we will also welcome content from clients,
Working with sister organisations, we also want to
volunteers and partners and we hope to translate
help clients to gain new skills and improve their
future editions into the languages of the
employment prospects.
communities we work with.
We also plan to step up our Stop Honour Killings
Each newsletter will highlight a topic that relates
campaign and in 2011 we will be calling for a cross-
to IKWRO’s mission, and this edition focuses on
government Honour Based Violence Coordinator,
our Justice for Banaz campaign. The campaign
who will work to improve the national response to
launched in 2006 after the killing of Banaz
honour based violence across all government
Mahmod, a 20 year old Iraqi Kurdish woman living
departments and bodies. We look forward to
in London who was murdered by her family after
working with you on this and other campaigns.
she fell in love with a man they did not approve of.
In November the final two suspects in the murder, Finally we would like to thank you for all the
Mohammed Ali and Omar Hussain, were convicted support you have given to IKWRO in the last year,
and sentenced to over 20 years in prison. and especially for supporting our justice for Banaz
campaign.
24 January is the fifth anniversary of Banaz
All the very best from us all,
Mahmod’s death. We look back at how her
Diana Nammi, IKWRO Director.
murder changed attitudes to honour killing in the

I have RIGHTS newsletter, January 2011

Banaz Mahmod: five years on
Five years ago Banaz Mahmod had her whole life ahead of her. By the age of
20 she had already had the courage to leave a violent marriage and to start
over again – something that was difficult in her conservative Kurdish family.
She was in love with her boyfriend Rahmat Sulemani and looked forward to
beginning a new life with him. Then her father and her uncle decided that
she had to die.

On 24 January 2006, Banaz Mahmod was raped, tortured and strangled with a shoelace in the sitting room of
her parents’ house in Mitcham, South London. Three months later police discovered a suitcase containing
Banaz’s naked body buried under a patio in Birmingham.

Banaz Mahmod’s story is the story of countless women and girls who have become the victims of ‘honour’
killing. As in Banaz’s case their ‘crimes’ - having a boyfriend, refusing a forced marriage, wanting to make their
own choices – are deemed to have brought shame on their families. Their families sanction the murder and
then carry it out in cold blood, often with the support and collusion of the wider community. The UN
estimates that there are 5000 such murders each year, although the real figure may be much higher.

But Banaz Mahmod’s case is different from most ‘honour’ killings, because her killers have been punished.
Unfortunately, while she was alive Banaz Mahmod did not get the help she needed from the police. Before
her death she had approached them six times and had told them that her father was planning to kill her. She
even handed in a letter naming those she believed would murder her. Sadly this didn’t save her life, but after
her death Banaz’s letter did help police to bring those
responsible to justice. Three men including her father and
uncle were convicted of her murder in 2007, and two others
who initially fled back to Iraqi Kurdistan, Mohammed Saleh Ali
and Omar Hussain, were also sentenced to life in prison at the
end of last year. They were the first suspects ever extradited
to Britain from Iraq after a sustained campaign by IKWRO, and
their conviction sent out the important message that the UK
will hunt down and prosecute those who kill in the name of
‘honour’, even if they seek a safe haven overseas.

But how widely, and how loudly, can this message really resonate? In many countries the perpetrators of
honour killing have widespread public support. The police may refuse to investigate or charge suspects, and
even when they do the judge will have his own ideas about what constitutes justice, rarely sentencing honour
killers to more than a year or two in prison. Politicians can be part of the problem too, and in some countries
they have voted in laws which exempt those who kill in the name of honour from punishment. Many
offenders are sheltering in these countries and if the UK government is serious about bringing them to justice,
then major diplomatic pressure will sometimes be needed.

Problematically, the UK does not have extradition treaties with some of the countries where honour killing is
most prevalent. British Pakistani Iqbal Zafar fled from London to Pakistan in 2001 after strangling his wife
because she had insisted on a divorce. He cannot be returned to the UK to face justice because there is no
extradition treaty between the Pakistani and British governments. Indeed, even in the Banaz Mahmod case
the Crown Prosecution Service initially did not want to attempt extradition because they were unsure whether
the extradition treaty between Britain and Iraq was valid.

I have RIGHTS newsletter, January 2011

Even within the UK there are major challenges in protecting women and holding offenders to account. The
Home Office estimates that there is one honour killing here each month, but it is unclear where this figure
comes from. Certainly, a much larger number of women and girls face honour based violence. From April to
October 2009 police recorded 211 honour-related incidents in London alone, 129 of them criminal offences.

On 24 January it is five years since Banaz was murdered, and as our interview with Caroline Goode shows,
these years have brought significant progress. Banaz’s death highlighted police failures in recognising honour
based violence and in responding appropriately, and an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints
Commission found that the conduct of two officers was sufficiently poor to warrant a disciplinary hearing.
Unfortunately, disciplinary proceedings were called off after one of the witnesses, Banaz’s boyfriend Rahmat
Suleimani, decided not to testify. IKWRO strongly believed that the IPCC could have continued with the
proceedings as there were several other witnesses, and we publicly challenged the IPCC on their decision.
Unfortunately the IPCC would not reconsider and we were unable to apply for a judicial review of the decision.

The IPCC did make a series of recommendations aimed at improving police practice on honour based violence.
As a result the Metropolitan Police now have a number of officers who are working to improve the force’s
ability to identify and respond to honour based violence. The Association of Chief Police Officers has an
honour based violence strategy which identifies priorities including training, setting up a resource tool for
officers and making honour based violence part of the performance management and inspection regimes of all
police forces.

Unfortunately though, there are still examples of bad practice. In November we took a client who was facing
death threats to make a report at a police station in London. The first officer we saw had no understanding of
honour based violence or of the risk posed to the woman by her family and our advisor had to fight to get him
to take the complaint seriously. Had the advisor not been there the client probably would have given up.

During the summer we worked with a woman who had gone to the police when her husband threatened to
throw acid on her. The officers she reported these threats to went directly to her husband, in breach of the
guidelines. He naturally denied his wife’s claims, and before they’d even taken our client’s statement the
police had already decided that there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed.

These examples – like Banaz’s murder - illustrate why it is absolutely vital that all Police Officers receive
honour based violence training, especially those who have contact with the public. Police must be able to spot
honour based violence, and must know what they should and shouldn’t do in order to protect victims and
prevent crimes before they happen.

These examples also suggest that existing laws and policies may not be adequate for dealing with cases of
honour based violence. It may be necessary for parliament to enact specific legislation on honour based
violence, as it has already done for other areas such as forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

Of course the problem doesn’t end with the police or parliamentarians. Social workers, doctors, nurses,
midwives, teachers, the UK Borders Agency, refuge staff and all others who come into contact with potential
victims of honour based violence need to know how to identify cases of honour based violence and what they
can help. IKWRO provides training to many of these bodies, but we can’t reach them all ourselves and the
government needs to address the knowledge gap. IKWRO is calling for the Home Office to install a cross-
government Honour Based Violence Coordinator who could oversee training for government agencies and
could help to build awareness and activism against HBV at community level. A coordinator could also
reconvene the national HBV forum, which is an important space to ensure that all government departments
are playing their part and that existing mechanisms for dealing with violence against women, such as multi-
agency risk assessment conference, to ensure that they are appropriate for dealing with cases of honour based
violence.

I have RIGHTS newsletter, January 2011

The UK’s response also shouldn’t end at the UK border. Our government is a major player in the global aid
architecture and in international institutions such as the UN. It should use its influence to challenge attitudes
to honour killing and to improve women’s access to justice. The UK can take the lead by allocating part of its
overseas aid to projects which protect women at risk of honour killing, wherever they are in the world.

Finally, what is really vital is to ensure that government spending cuts do not undermine efforts to tackle
honour based violence. Progress has been made since January 2006, but there is more to do. The government
must ensure that they have the resources, the staff and the will to prevent honour killing, protect all women
and girls at risk and bring perpetrators to justice. Banaz Mahmod’s death was a tragedy and it should never
have happened, but it taught us many lessons. Now, five years on, we must not forget them.

Research news Asylum Aid report exposes UKBA failures in

Joanne Payton, IKWRO’s Information and Research
Officer, recently began a PHD at Cardiff University.
Joanne’s research looks at the experiences and
family circumstances of HBV survivors from
Soraani-Kurdish backgrounds, and examines the
strengths and weakness of the policies and
procedures in place in the UK from the perspective
of professionals working on HBV.
As part of her research, Joanne will interview
IKWRO staff and service users over the coming
months. In the longer term she will talk to a wider
range of stakeholders including other Soraani-
Kurdish speaking women, policy makers, police,
social workers, staff from NGOs and other
professionals working in agencies which provide
services to victims of honour based violence.
Also, if you would like to read more about the
Banaz Mahmod case and IKWRO’s work, Joanne
has also written ‘Collective Crimes, Collective
Victims: A Case Study into the Murder of Banaz
Mahmod’. The article is published in ‘Honour,
Violence, Women and Islam’ (Idriss and Abbas).
processing of women’s asylum applications
Asylum Aid’s latest report, entitled Unsustainable,
has found that women are too often refused
asylum on grounds that are arbitrary, subjective
and demonstrate limited awareness of the UK's
legal obligations under the Refugee Convention.
The research examined 45 cases and found that 50
per cent of the UKBA's decisions were overturned
when subjected to independent scrutiny in the
immigration tribunal.
New study into honour based violence in Iraqi
Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora in the UK
November 25 – the International Day for the
elimination of violence against women and girls -
saw the launch of new research into ‘honour’
based violence in Iraqi Kurdistan and among the
Kurdish diaspora in the UK. The study by Bristol
and Roehampton Universities, calls on the Kurdish
Regional Government in Iraq and the UK
Government to urgently address HBV against
women and girls in Kurdish communities.

Announcing the True Honour Awards!

Do you know someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the fight against ‘honour killing? In 2011, IKWRO
will grant two awards in recognition of the hard work and dedication of individuals and organisations who are working
to prevent honour based violence in the UK. We will launch a call for nominations early in the New Year, and will host a
gala awards ceremony to showcase the winners in June.

Can you help to fund the awards? IKWRO urgently needs funds for the True Honour Awards to help ensure that they
are as big a success as possible. If you can help us by making a donation please email campaigns.ikwro@gmail.com.

More information on nominations and donating will be posted on our website www.ikwro.org.uk in late January.

I have RIGHTS newsletter, January 2011

Leading the Way
Diana Nammi and Fionnuala Murphy in an interview with DCI Caroline Goode
When Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode
received a phone call about a missing woman in
January 2006 she had no idea that she was about
to embark on a life-changing investigation that
would last almost five years and would take her all
the way to Iraq.
Caroline Goode is the hard working, committed
and decisive woman who led the Met investigation
into the ‘honour’ killing of Banaz Mahmod. In
November, Mohammed Saleh Ali and Omar
Hussain were sentenced to life for Banaz’s murder
at the Old Bailey. Three other men including
Banaz’s father and uncle were convicted in 2007,
all under DCI Goode’s leadership.
‘Banaz Mahmod’s murder was just about as
dishonourable as anything could be’ she says when
asked to describe what happened to Banaz
Mahmod. ‘It was the ultimate betrayal. Banaz
was a totally innocent person who was killed by
the very people who should have been protecting
and caring for her. I can’t think of anything less
worthy of the title honour than that’.
As DCI Goode admits, like many Police Officers she
knew very little about ‘honour’ killing before she
was put in charge of investigating Banaz’s
disappearance.
‘I had to gain a massive amount of cultural
knowledge incredibly quickly. As often happens in
cases of honour based violence the family were
saying “we’re not that kind of people, we’re very
liberal”, and I had to balance not wanting to
stereotype them and wanting to find out what had
happened to Banaz. It was very challenging. I was
trying to get my head around a completely
different mindset, and nothing I’d learnt in my
thirty years as a police officer was in any way
useful to me.’
After Banaz Mahmod’s disappearance DCI Goode
and her team found themselves up against a tight-
knit community which was willing to cover up for
Banaz’s murderers. Determined to find a focus for
their investigation they searched 47 addresses,
I have RIGHTS newsletter, January 2011
seized thousands of exhibits and arrested 30
people. Among them was Mohammad Hama, who
had been named by Banaz in a letter she gave to
police before her death.
When questioned, Hama persistently denied any
involvement in Banaz’s disappearance but DCI
Goode was not convinced. She charged him with
Banaz’s murder and he was remanded in custody.
In prison, while unaware that police were listening
to his conversations, he boasted of raping and
strangling Banaz. Her body, he revealed, was
buried inside a suitcase in a back garden.
A complicated operation followed. DCI Goode’s
team analysed mobile phone records and learnt
that Hama and his accomplices had been to
Birmingham around the time that Banaz went
missing. They knew certain details about the
garden where she was buried, but still it was
impossible to find. Then Hama threw them a
lifeline – he was overheard saying that there was a
freezer in the garden. This made it much easier to
find and on 28 April 2006 police discovered
Banaz’s body in Handsworth.
‘There was a mass of dandelions growing around
where she was buried’ DCI Goode says. Her tone
is one of sadness, like a caring friend. ‘Every time I
see dandelions I think of her. It was a very
poignant day.’
Mahmod and Ari Mahmod - Banaz’s father and
uncle - were charged soon after her body was
found. During a ‘massively complex’ four month
trial they used every tactic they could to avoid
conviction, and on top of this PC Angela Cornes, an
officer who had dismissed Banaz as an attention
seeker when she contacted police for help, gave
evidence that she did not believe Banaz was a
truthful person. Nonetheless DCI Goode’s hard
work paid off and they, alongside Hama, were
convicted and sentenced to life on 11 June 2007.
‘Convicting the Mahmods was an enormous relief,
but it was only half the job. Mohammad Ali and
Omar Hussain had fled back to Iraq soon after
Banaz’s murder and I worked with DCI Brent Hyatt
who had worked on the Heshu Yunes case to
extradite them. Ali was arrested after a road
accident, and women’s rights organisations in Iraq
campaigned to keep him in custody. His
extradition would never have been possible
without them. Those women came to meet me
when I arrived in Iraq for the extradition hearing,
and it was extremely humbling. They’ve shown
enormous bravery. One said to me that she
couldn’t believe I would go to all this effort for one
Iraqi woman. I found that so shocking – I would do
this for any murdered woman. When they were
extradited it was a personal triumph, especially
when everyone had said it wasn’t possible.’
Mohammed Saleh Ali arrives in the UK, with DCI Goode (right)
DCI Goode believes that Banaz’s murder, and
vitally the conviction of her killers, has been an
enormous catalyst for change.
‘It’s ironic,’ she says. ‘Banaz’s family wanted to
wipe her name off the face of the earth but
instead her name has become a beacon of hope
for people all over the world. Through her death
Banaz has done a lot of good for a lot of people.’
Banaz’s death has certainly brought changes to
how UK police respond to honour based violence.
‘There has been a huge increase in training on
honour based violence in order to raise awareness’
DCI Goode explains. ‘I’m one of a core group of
officers who have built up expertise and are there
to help and support local teams. We’ve even been
overseas - to Sweden and the US amongst others –
to train Police there. And we’re doing more multi-
agency work, helping social services and health
and education partners to improve their response.’
I have RIGHTS newsletter, January 2011
‘Of course there’s always more to do’ she adds.
‘We don’t want to lose the momentum that’s been
created. The Met has a new lead on honour based
violence and we’re working with the Association of
Chief Police Officers on ways forward. One of the
most important things is making sure we’ve got
the true intelligence picture, by way of strong
recording systems. We want to see more training
too, and a 24 hour information base to guide
officers in dealing with cases of honour based
violence.’
‘Is there anything else you want to say?’ we ask
DCI Goode at the end of the interview. She pauses
a moment, then answers with the same
candidness she’s shown throughout the whole
interview and with a determination that belies her
wholehearted commitment to reaching other
women like Banaz.
‘To girls or women at risk, I want to say get in
touch with the police or a women’s rights
organisation because we do have the knowledge,
the skills and the willingness to understand what
you’re saying. We will take you seriously, we will
keep you safe and we will investigate any
allegation relating to honour based violence. But
we can’t do that unless you trust us and tell us
what’s going on’.
Do you want to strengthen your approach to
honour based violence?
IKWRO has been working with women and girls
affected by honour based violence since 2002 and
our staff members have strong expertise in this
area. We regularly advise police, social workers,
teachers and voluntary sector providers on how to
deal with cases of honour based violence.
We can provide tailored training sessions to all
frontline professionals who may come into contact
with victims of honour based violence, forced
marriage, FGM and other issues. We also offer
training sessions to groups of women and to
women’s organisations.
If you would like to find out more about what’s on
offer, please email our Training Officer on
ikwro.training@gmail.com.
New projects
In the second half of 2010 IKWRO obtained funding for two new projects, each with a full time staff member.

The first, The Training You Need, is funded by Comic Relief and will deliver training to agencies working with
minority ethnic and refugee women. Service providers will gain a better understanding of the needs of women
who have faced domestic violence, “honour” based violence, forced marriage or FGM.

The project also includes a training and development programme for minority ethnic and refugee women,
particularly those who have experienced violence, to build their awareness of their rights in the UK. In the
long term this programme aims to increase women’s access to services, to strengthen their voice in speaking
out against violence and to help them learn new skills. We have already led training sessions for professionals
in many London boroughs and training at our office for Farsi speaking women, and soon hope to expand the
service to reach Kurdish speakers.

Our second project, I Have Rights, is a campaign aimed at improving the national response to ‘honour’ based
violence, forced marriage, FGM and domestic violence. The campaign will focus on improving government
policy, law and practice in these areas, by targeting government stakeholders and mobilising the public. The
campaign links closely with our advice, outreach and training programmes and is funded by the Esmee
Fairbairn foundation. Our main focus for 2011 is to push for a cross government Honour Based Violence
Coordinator to lead UK government efforts in this field.

In November, the EC’s Daphne Programme announced plans to fund an international project between IKWRO,
the Refugee Women’s Association and the German-Turkish Women’s Organisation, offering advice and
counselling to Middle Eastern women living in the UK and Germany. We hope to recruit new staff and launch
the project in early 2011.

In addition, almost £30,000 of funding which goes towards our advice team through the Women Together
Against Abuse project was saved after campaigning by IKWRO and other organisations persuaded London
Councils not to cut funds to violence against women services. London Councils had initially threatened to cut
our grant as part of their ongoing review, with changes effective from March. Funding will run until the end of
2012, as planned.

While IKWRO’s funding has so far been protected from the cuts, we are aware that many of our partner
organisations are suffering, as will our clients as successive cuts to benefits and other state support are
introduced. We are continuing to engage with dialogue and campaigning around the impact of the cuts on
women, and are currently preparing a submission into the government’s consultation on cuts to of legal aid.

Upcoming events in 2011

IKWRO AGM: January 26, 6-8pm

IKWRO’s AGM is open to service users, supporters, colleagues in other organisations and all other
stakeholders. It’s an opportunity to look back at progress made in 2010, to shape our strategy for
future activities and to learn more about our work and how you can become more involved in it.
Location: IKWRO offices, London
RSVP: admin.ikwro@gmail.com

International Women’s Day: March 8

Keep an eye out for upcoming training events in Kurdish and Farsi as well as other activities.

I have RIGHTS newsletter, January 2011

International news - Sakineh’s ‘confession’ only implicates Iran
Women’s rights activists across the world were bitterly disappointed
last month when Sakineh Ashtiani Mohammedi, the woman until
recently facing stoning to death in the Islamic Republic of Iran, was
taken back to her home in order to film a ‘confession’. The filming
took place during a judicial review of her case, showing the complete
contempt for due process of law that is characteristic of Iran’s
attitude to justice for women.

Sakineh, her son, and her lawyer have been imprisoned in Evin, an
institution renowned for torture and abuse of prisoners. Sakineh has
been imprisoned for abetting the murder of her husband, and her
son and her lawyer for their attempts to save her from stoning and
for showing Iran’s shame to the world. Her son, who prior to his
imprisonment campaigned tirelessly and courageously for her
release, was previously forced to witness Iranian ‘justice’ at just 17 when he was made to watch her receiving
99 lashes for adultery. An adultery conviction requires no proof in Iranian law - under Article 105, judges are
permitted to base their decision on ‘intuition.’

Iran’s charges against Sakineh are confused. Having already been punished for adultery in 2006, this year her
case was reopened and she faced stoning for the very same offence. International outcry led to the sentence
being abandoned, but Iran then stated that her crime was murder - despite having already convicted a man for
the murder. Interestingly, if Iran’s claims that Sakineh had a relationship with this man and conspired with him
to murder her husband, then logically he would be equally guilty of adultery. Yet ironically he is now free.

Iran has no policy or resources for women suffering domestic violence, despite 60% of Iranian women
reporting marital abuse. The Iranian government refuses to provide assistance to abused women on the
grounds that it is against Islam for women to leave the home without their husband’s permission. In fact a
woman cannot even seek medical attention for her injuries without her husband’s permission, which is
unlikely if he has caused them himself. Rape in marriage is not illegal, few women can obtain divorces
financially, and those who do lose custody of their children and are normally unable to support themselves.
Meanwhile, men kill their wives, daughters and sisters with impunity.

Iran may be able to torture ‘confessions’ out of vulnerable women like Sakineh, to use the threat of torturing
their children against them, to imprison and execute political prisoners, and to lock up and torture lawyers
who care about human rights. But despite all of this, it can never hide its own guilt, corruption and misogyny.

Can you help with our newsletter? We are looking for volunteers to help translate our quarterly newsletter into Farsi,
Dari, Kurdish and Arabic. If you can help us please email campaigns.ikwro@gmail.com. We are also interested to hear
from you if you have comments or suggestions about this newsletter or would like to write an article for future editions.

Contacting IKWRO: You can contact IKWRO by telephone from 9.30 to 5.30 Monday to Friday on 0207 020 6460. If you
want to contact us out of hours please call the following numbers:
- 07846 310157 (for assistance in Farsi or Dari)
- 07846 275246 (for assistance in Kurdish or Arabic)
Find out more on www.ikwro.org.uk or www.stophonourkillings.com, and follow us on facebook and twitter.

I have RIGHTS newsletter, January 2011