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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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May 3rd,
2007 - The Moment a Teenage Girl was Stoned to Death for Loving the Wrong Boy |
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The Moment a Teenage Girl
was Stoned to Death for Loving the Wrong Boy Daily Mail May 3, 2007 A 17-year-old girl has been
stoned to death in Iraq because she loved a teenage boy of the wrong
religion. As a horrifying video of the
stoning went out on the Internet, the British arm of Amnesty International
condemned the death of Du’a Khalil Aswad as "an abhorrent murder"
and demanded that her killers be brought to justice. Reports from Iraq said a
local security force witnessed the incident, but did nothing to try to stop
it. Now her boyfriend is in hiding in fear for his life. Miss Aswad, a member of a
minority Kurdish religious group called Yezidi, was condemned to death as an
"honour killing" by other men in her family and hardline religious
leaders because of her relationship with the Sunni Muslim boy. The teenager was dragged
outside by 8 or 9 men and stoned for half an hour until she died. Her
boyfriend is now in hiding in fear for his life They said she had shamed
herself and her family when she failed to return home one night. Some reports
suggested she had converted to Islam to be closer to her boyfriend. Miss Aswad had taken shelter
in the house of a Yezidi tribal leader in Bashika, a predominantly Kurdish
town near the northern capital, Mosul. A large crowd watched as
eight or nine men stormed the house and dragged Miss Aswad into the street.
There they hurled stones at her for half an hour until she was dead. The stoning happened last
month, but only came to light yesterday with the release of the Internet
video. It is feared her death has
already triggered a retaliatory attack. Last week 23 Yezidi workmen were
forced off a bus travelling from Mosulto Bashika by a group of Sunni gunmen
and summarily shot dead. An Amnesty International
spokesman in London said they receive frequent reports of honour crimes from
Iraq – particularly in the predominantly Kurdish north. Most victims are women and girls
who are considered by male relatives to have shamed their families by immoral
behaviour. Kurdish authorities have
introduced reforms outlawing honour killings, but have failed to investigate
them or prosecute suspects, added the Amnesty spokesman. Kate Allen, the
organisation’s UK director, said: "This young girl’s murder is truly
abhorrent and her killers must be brought to justice. "Unless the authorities
respond vigorously to this and any other reports of crimes in the name of
'honour', we must fear for the future of women in Iraq." External link: http://tinyurl.com/3xmrv9 |