Her Name is Ameneh Bahrami and She Wished No Harm........So Why Harm Her?.........Iran Acid Attack

Her Name is Ameneh Bahrami and She Wished No Harm....... So Why Harm Her?.............

To Spend YOUR LIFE in DARKNESS......

KEY POINTS OF AMENEH BAHRAMI'S STORY (IRAN)

• According to Bild.de on 25 March 2009 (German Article) (English Article), Majid Movahedi Will Be Blinded on 15 April 2009.

• A man blinded Ameneh in an acid attack after she spurned his marriage proposals. He has been sentenced to the same punishment, in a literal application of Iran's sharia Eye-for-an-Eye Qisa laws.
• Tehran province criminal court has ordered Majid Movahedi, 27, to be blinded in both eyes from drops of acid in response to a plea from his victim, Ameneh Bahrami.
  
• The punishment is legal under the Sharia Code of Qisas, which allows retribution for violent crimes.
  
• Bahrami was left horrifically disfigured after Movahedi threw a jar of acid in her face in October 2004. Her injuries led to the loss of one eye and left her blind in the other.
  
• She had previously complained to police about being threatened and harassed by Movahedi, but had been told no action could be taken.
• Asked by the judge if she wanted Movahedi's face to be splashed with acid, she replied: "That is impossible and horrific. Just drip 20 drops of acid in his eyes so he can realise what pain I am undergoing."
• Ameneh Bahrami, said Movahedi's family had asked her to marry him several times, but she had refused. Movahedi later threatened to kill her. Movahedi said he decided to attack Bahrami after she told him she had married someone else, and pleaded with him to leave her alone.
• "I decided to splash acid on her face so her husband would leave her and I could have her," he told the court.
  
• Tehran's deputy public prosecutor, Mahmoud Salarkia, said the publicity surrounding the case would deter future acid attacks.
• Majid is allowed to appeal the verdict.

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RELATED POSTS

On the 3 February 2009 I updated this Story at Majid Movahedi - Iran State Supreme Court Rejects Appeal. On the 5 March 2009 in: Ameneh Bahrami - Why Acid Attacks Will Continue on Muslim Women/Children in the 21st Century and Beyond - I make reference to Ameneh's recent Interview in Spain and refer to the articles in the Iranian Constitution and Penal Code, responsible for Driving Inequality of Justice for the Physically Weak in Iran.

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Sources of Information

Woman Blinded by Spurned Man Invokes Islamic Retribution - Washington Post - 14 December 2008

An Eye for An Eye according to Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Qisas)

Court orders Iranian man blinded - BBC - 28 November 2008

Eye for an Eye: Iranian man sentenced to be blinded for acid attack - The Guardian - 28 November 2008

Iranian court sentences man to be blinded by acid - AP NEWS - 27 November 2008


Acid Attacks: What can be done? - BBC - 8 August 2003
Just over a year ago someone crept into Zarina Ramzan's home and poured acid over her face.

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Ameneh's Bahrami's Website (As Shown on CNN 19 Feb 2009) is http://amaneh-bahrami.blogfa.com
This site also has some information: http://www.helpamaneh.com/
Both in the Persian Language, At the Moment.
Before transferring any funds to help Ameneh, PLEASE ask CNN to confirm bank details.

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An Eye for An Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth is a Recognized Deterrent - Great Britain, United States, Israel, India, etc.

Pakistan - Jafferabad - Baba Kot - This is Not Cricket!

Pakistan - Jafferabad District - Baba Kot - This is Not Cricket!

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Five Women (with Brains and obvious Intelligence), wanted to pick their OWN husbands

- Buried Alive in Mass Honour Killing

Five women have been buried alive by their tribe in a mass honour killing, prompted by their wish to choose their own husbands. The victims, who included three teenagers, were abducted at gunpoint, beaten and shot before being thrown into a ditch. They were still breathing as their bodies were covered with rocks and mud, according to media reports and human rights activists.

The incident occurred in Baba Kot, a remote village in Jafferabad district, after the women decided to defy tribal elders and arrange marriages in a civil court, according to the Asian Human Rights Commission.

They were said to have been abducted at gunpoint by six men, forced into a vehicle and taken to a remote field, where they were beaten, shot and then buried alive, it said, accusing local authorities of trying to hush up the killings.

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OLYMPIC GAMES

What does a country's global achievements say about their level of education, ingenuity, values system and their contribution to the advancement of human civilization?

Pakistan (PAK)

Silver - National team - 1956 Melbourne - Field hockey - Men's competition
Gold - National team - 1960 Rome - Field hockey - Men's competition
Bronze - Mohammad Bashir - 1960 Rome - Wrestling - Men's freestyle welterweight
Silver - National team - 1964 Tokyo - Field hockey - Men's competition
Gold - National team - 1968 Mexico - Field hockey - Men's competition
Silver - National team - 1972 Munich - Field hockey - Men's competition
Bronze - National team - 1976 Montreal - Field hockey - Men's competition
Gold - National team - 1984 Los Angeles - Field hockey - Men's competition
Bronze - Syed Hussain Shah - 1988 Seoul - Boxing - Men's middleweight
Bronze - National team - 1992 Barcelona - Field hockey - Men's competition

Pakistan has not won any medals since 1994.

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A Pakistani lawmaker provoked outrage by defending the men from the Baluch tribe who had carried out the killings. Israr Ullah Zehri told stunned members of Pakistan's parliament: 'These are centuries-old traditions and I will continue to defend them,' 'Only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid.' He claimed the tribal traditions helped stop obscenity - and then asked fellow lawmakers not to make a big fuss about it.

Many stood up in protest, saying the executions were 'barbaric' and demanding more discussion. But a handful said it was an internal matter of the deeply conservative province of Baluchistan.

'I was shocked,' said lawmaker Nilofar Bakhtiar, who pushed for legislation calling for perpetrators of so-called honour killings to be punished when she served as minister of women's affairs under the last government. 'I feel that we've gone back to the starting point again,' she said. 'It's really sad for me.' The incident apparently occurred about a month ago.

Accounts about the killings have varied, largely because police in the tribal region have been uncooperative.

The Asian Human Rights Commission, however, said the two older women may have been related to some of the teenage girls and were apparently murdered because they were sympathetic to their wishes. There have been claims one of the perpetrators was related to a top provincial official.

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The word tradition comes from the Latin word traditio which means "to hand down" or "to hand over." It is used in a number of ways in the English language: Beliefs or customs taught by one generation and transferred to the next, often orally. It can refer to maintaining an established status quo in the favour of some of the participants. The word Tradition is sometimes incorrectly used, in situations driven by Self Interest and Profit.

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Famous Male Pakistanis (Females are Absent From Defining Pakistan's National Identity)

The poet and philosopher of a revitalized Islam, Mohammad Iqbal (1873–1938), who wrote in Urdu, Farsi, and English, first called for the establishment of a Muslim state on the subcontinent in a statement made in 1930.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876–1948), the Quaid-e-Azam, or "Great Leader," rallied the Muslims to this cause and became the first governor-general of the Commonwealth of Pakistan.

The Pakistani-born scientist Abdus Salam (1926–96) shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work in electromagnetism and the interaction of elementary particles.

In literature, the paramount position is still held by the great Urdu writers who lived before the establishment of Pakistan. Ghalib (1796–1869) and Iqbal are recognized as the two greatest Urdu poets.

Foremost among Pakistan's artists is Abdur Rahman Chughtai (1899–1975).

World-class cricket players such as Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad, Sarfaraz Nawaz, Mushtaq Mohammad, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir, Wasim Akram, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar, Waqar Younis, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Akhtar. Ismail Gulgee - Famous Painter

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Sources of Information

Pakistan investigates 'honor killings' of 5 women - (Associated Press)

Five women who wanted to pick their own husbands buried alive in mass honour killing (Daily Mail - Great Britain)

Shot, then buried alive in honour killings (The Sydney Morning Herald - Australia)

Honour Killings & Violence - Why Do They Happen?

HONOUR KILLINGS & VIOLENCE - WHY DO THEY HAPPEN?
ignorantia iuris neminem excusat - Ignorance Of The Law Excuses No-One

The following Articles in the ECHR are relevant to Honour Violence and Killings.

Article 2 - Right to Life
Article 4 - Prohibition of Slavery and Forced Labour
Article 5 – Right to Liberty and Security
Article 9 – Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion
Article 12 – Right to Marry

Brian Whitaker's article "Rights in Practice - Considering How to Deal with 'Honour' Killings may provide a Model for Human Rights Activism in other situations" presents what I also believe are the main driving forces behind Honour Violence/Killings today. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jan/07/rightsinpractice

• "Honour" killing is a very old practice that pre-dates Islam. It is a hangover from the days when order was maintained by tribes, families and local communities in the absence of an effective state. In some countries these old systems of tribal law still exist to a degree alongside the machinery of state - and sometimes in competition with it.


• The concept of family honour is also very old. Basically, it's an extreme version of "Whatever will the neighbours think?" and, in theory, it imposes discipline on family members for their collective good but today it can also be oppressive and tyrannical, denying individuals the right to make their own choices about careers, marriage partners, etc.


• Then there's the gender issue. According to Sharif Kanaana, professor of anthropology at Birzeit University in Palestine, "honour" killing is the product of a patriarchal and patrilineal society: "What the men of the family, clan, or tribe seek control of in a patrilineal society is reproductive power. Women for the tribe were considered a factory for making men. The honour killing is not a means to control sexual power or behaviour. What's behind it is the issue of fertility, or reproductive power."

• I would also like to add family members are essentially financial/material commodities when no welfare state exists. A family member has either the status of being an expense/burden or a source of financial/material profit to the family, clan or tribe. This will influence attitudes and behaviour. A human being who is viewed as an expense/burden for life, is far more likely to be targeted with honour violence/killing.

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HONOUR KILLINGS - VICTIMS IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

In my post Honour Killings - Victims in European Countries, I presented 24 examples of Honour Killings in Europe. The people responsible for these crimes came from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kurdistan, India and Pakistan. The fact that the people responsible for these deaths had been given British Citizenship astounds me.

Honor Killings have also been reported in the following countries - Albania, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Egypt, Iraq, Israel (within the Arab, Druze and Bedouin communities), Italy, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Uganda and the United States.

The following reports go into more detail on the subject, in Pakistan and Egypt.

Pakistan: Honour Killings of Women and Girls
This report describes the different facets of the phenomenon of honour killings in Pakistan. It looks at the traditions that form the framework of such killings, particularly the commodification of women and the notion of honour. Honour killings may happen for a variety of reasons, including seeking a divorce, rape or choosing a marriage partner. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA33/018/1999/en/dom-ASA330181999en.html


Honour Killing In Egypt "Violence against women: Good practices in combating and eliminating violence against women" UN Division for the Advancement of Women in collaboration with: UN Office on Drugs and Crime - 17 to 20 May 2005 - Vienna, Austria http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw-gp-2005/docs/experts/khafagy.honorcrimes.pdf

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FORGETTING HISTORY AND IGNORING ESTABLISHED LAWS

Brits sought to ban Sati, destroy the Thug Cult and stop Female Infanticide in India but, they do not appear to have done anything to reduce/stop Honour Violence and Killings, during the days of empire.

Today the Western Press is presenting Honour Violence/Killings as a Shocking Recent Phenomena. These brutal acts are being freely imported into every European Country, even the USA today. Many western countries had prior knowledge of countries with histories of honour violence/killings. Why therefore didn't European countries implement sound immigration policies in the first place and enforce specific laws banning honour violence/killings when these immigrants arrived, before awarding residence and citizenship?

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Having Somewhere to Turn...

Great Britain Emergency Hotlines
For those needing Protection from Human Rights Violators, here are some emergency contact numbers in Great Britain.

Honour Network Helpline - 7 Days A Week 9:30 - 21:00 / 0800 5999 247
Forced Marriage Unit - 9:00 - 17:00 / 020 7008 0151 / Outside UK (0044) 207 008 0151
In Emergencies Contact Domestic Violence 24 Hour Hotline - 0808 2000 247
Help and Advice in Farsi, Kurdish, Turkish and Arabic - 0207 4900 303 / 07862 733 511