Domestic Accidents; Self-Immolation Kill More Kurds than War

[TexasLawyer]

Another feel-good factoid from VOA-- America's Pravda. Knowing that more Kurds are dead from self-immolation than from war is about as comforting as knowing that more US troops died in Viet Nam than in Iraq (so far).

Domestic Accidents; Self-Immolation Kill More Kurds than War
By Margaret Besheer
Irbil, Iraq
29 July 2006


In the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, which has seen little of the sectarian violence plaguing much of the rest of the country, doctors say they treat more people burned in household incidents than injured by explosives. Many of the patients at one specialized hospital are women who doctors say have set themselves on fire in suicide attempts. A higher number are children, who are injured in domestic accidents.


The adult burn unit in Irbil, Iraq

A terrible phenomenon is manifesting itself in Kurdish society here. Women who have problems with their husbands, parents or in-laws are attempting suicide by setting themselves on fire. In the largely patriarchal society, women have few rights, are often illiterate, and often have no one to turn to for help.

At the Emergency Management Center in Irbil, head surgeon Dr. Husen Ibrahim Taha says the mortality rate among these types of burn victims is extremely high. "Most of them die, unfortunately, because most of the burns are big burns, more than 70, 80, 90 percent ," he said. "Most of them are above 90 percent, because they use kerosene or gasoline to burn themselves."

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[Heidi]

1. Locking.

Duplicate of: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2422016