Hitmen charge $100 a victim as Basra honour killings rise

[kpete]

Source: The Observer

Hitmen charge $100 a victim as Basra honour killings rise

Fathers and husbands who openly hire assassins on the streets of the city are going unpunished

Afif Sarhan
guardian.co.uk, Sunday November 30 2008 00.01 GMT

Authorities in the southern Iraqi city of Basra have admitted they are powerless to prevent 'honour killings' in the city following a 70 per cent increase in religious murders during the past year.

There has been no improvement in conviction rates for these killings. So far this year, 81 women in the city have been murdered for allegedly bringing shame on their families. Only five people have been convicted.

During 2007 the Basra security committee recorded 47 'honour killings' and three convictions. One lawyer in the city described how police were actively protecting perpetrators and said that a woman in Basra could now be murdered by hired hitmen for as little as $100 (£65).

The figures come despite international outrage which followed The Observer's coverage of the death of 17-year-old Rand Abdel-Qader, who was murdered by her father last April in an 'honour killing' after falling in love with a British soldier in Basra. The 4,000 British troops stationed in the city since the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003 withdrew to the airport last September.






Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/30/iraq-honor-killings-women

[BlooInBloo]

1. Wow. Talk about a buyer's market.

[silverojo]

4. There's that "peaceful" religion for you, again

I guess we can be thankful that--so far, at least--the fundies have only limited themselves to bombing abortion clinics. :sarcasm:

WTF is it with religious wackos, anyway??

[Alamuti Lotus]

5. and wedding parties, houses, markets...

ours use tanks and airplanes, and have a much more sophisticated Marketing Department than those others..

[DS1]

2. Government Get Out of My Way!

[DeSwiss]

3. Barbaric

- K&R

[aquart]

6. That's how men spend their money?

Hiring other men to murder their sisters? Trying to pretend their filthy hands are clean?

Such men have no honor. Never did. Never will.

[emilyg]

7. Disgusting.

[Eryemil]

8. Why of all places in the Universe did I have to be born here?

I want the fuck off this bleeding rock!

[Azooz]

9. Basra is owned by 35 death squads

They run the place just as smoothly as the Somali and Afghani war lords do - it's more to do with Bush's friends in action than Islam. There is a death squad dedicated to gays, one dedicated to whistle blowers and many others, and they all make good money of the oil, shipping, protection, so assassinations are not far from their typical line of work. 2 months ago they killed women who did not have the proper head covering - bored mostly and they are easy targets especial when unarmed.

One and a half million Iraqis were killed by those death squads, and they are now much better armed, so you will hear a lot more sad stories but the death squads will stay in place.

That was all "cut and paste" from my reply to this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4561820&mesg_id=4562390

When anything about Islam is mentioned in relation to Somalia, Afghanistan or Iraq please remember that they are occupied countries ruled by death squads, there is lots of propaganda but they also have their own bloggers online and many local news sources for more accurate info about what is really going on there.

[BoneDaddy]

10. But God forbid anyone criticize Islam

I am so tired of people defending the indefensible.

[OwnedByFerrets]

11. Thank you for posting Kpete. I heard it on Thom today and was

going to post it.