How Honor Killings In Iran Are Protected By Culture And Fear — And The Law

-Analysis-

In Iran’s southwest province of Khuzestan, a man buries his twin sons alive, but is soon released. In nearby Abadan, a young man who killed his female cousin five years earlier in a so-called “honor killing” on behalf of his clan, is already free. More recently, a father killed his teenage son in the northwestern province of Tabriz, for his “effeminate” mannerisms : “We couldn’t show our face around Tabriz,” he later told the judge.

These are the kinds of reports that seem to show up more and more in the back pages of local and national Iranian newspapers.

Typically in these cases, the killer does not flee the scene but goes straight to the authorities, showing no remorse for the act. Because, he will explain, the killing happened to safeguard or cleanse the honor of a family, clan or tribe, and restore peace of mind to its members, evidently outraged by some shameless conduct.

And then we might discover that the killers are released from jail, often just months later — and often with the consent of the victim’s relatives.

Yet experts explain that honor killings such as these do not fall under the principle of “eye for an eye” that exists in Iran’s legal code that allows for certain justifiable homicides. So why are these killers of women relatives walking free?

Killers walking free, journalist in jail

Take Mobina Souri, a 14-year-old child bride killed in August 2021 by her husband, reportedly a Shia cleric or seminarian, in the western province of Lorestan. Eleven months later, the killer was spotted walking free, whereas the journalist who reported the case, Sina Qalandari, was given a 26-month jail sentence for publishing the victim’s pictures and “inciting opinion with fake news online.”

In Iran, a victim’s family can and often does consent to pardon a killer or reduce a sentence.

The Tehran paper Sharq also reported on the case, stating that the murderer’s father had told the judge that his son had simply carried out tribal laws. “That’s the custom here,” the father said in court.

The newspaper observed that it was in fact the victim’s parents who were taking legal action “fearfully,” as they felt they were going against social or local norms and expectations. The local judiciary had not even seen fit to “compile a legal dossier.”

“Right to kill” for fathers and grandfathers

Mahnaz T., an Iranian women’s rights activist, told Kayhan-London that these honor killings are a reflection on what is taught in Iran’s education system, and not even harsh legal penalties would deter such acts. In Iran, a victim’s family can and often does consent to pardon a killer or reduce a sentence.

In any case, the activist explained, perpetrators of honor killings are not subject to the law of talion or “eye-for-an-eye” (qisas), as a common murderer would be (pursuant to Article 381 of the Islamic Penalties Law).

They “perpetrate such killings knowing they can expect a mandatory jail sentence of between three and 10 years, and that somehow, with such lenient laws, they will end up walking free, either in the form of prison leave or conditional release.”

The Islamic Republic’s criminal code allows a father or paternal grandfather to kill a child without risking retaliatory execution. This law is implemented if the victim’s immediate family insists on it, though evidently not if, as in cases of filicide, the immediate family were involved in the killing.

False reports of female suicides

An attorney living in Tehran has told Kayhan-London that the cause of honor killings should be sought in the socio-cultural conditions of those parts of Iran where tribal, clan or religious identifications are strongest. The law however acts as an accomplice, he said, citing several legal articles that specifically absolve a father or grandfather from execution if they kill their child or grandchild, replacing it with prison terms of between three and 10 years.

Somehow, this legalist nuance has trickled into people’s minds and they know they would eventually walk free in particular conditions, considering a brief spell in prison to be a worthwhile price to pay to salvage a family’s honor.

Public reports of honor killings are often being reported as female suicides.

Furthermore, the Tehran jurist adds, “judges dealing with such cases are themselves influenced by this cultural shield, so all these join together in effectively downgrading these killings that are often perpetrated in the most horrific way… and increasing their frequency.”

Today, honor killings have gone beyond girls and wives to include boys and sons not conforming to majority social norms. In January 2021, Masuma Tamimi, an Iran-based writer and translator, observed how public reports of honor killings had become rare in rural districts and villages, often being reported as female suicides.

“They might say a girl poisoned herself for example,” said Tamimi, as reported by government news agency IRNA. “Last year we heard a girl had burned herself to death in Abdalkhan, before it became clear the people there had burned her. There was another girl, related to a friend of mine, whose brother forced her to drink acid.” She said she would hear of such incidents on a monthly basis.

Another shocking incident emerged last May, when a teenage girl, Haideh Hasanzadeh, went missing for four months. Initially the family claimed she had left Iran, before police found her body. Her father later admitted to killing his daughter, explaining she had come home late one evening.