State Responses to Honour Killings
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CONTENTS TIIVISTELMÄ .....................................................................................V ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................... X 1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................1 1.1 DEFINING AND CONTEXTUALISING HONOUR KILLINGS ....................................4 1.2 WHY ‘HONOUR KILLINGS’? SOME TERMINOLOGICAL REMARKS AS TO HONOUR AND PASSION ................................................................................................9 1.3 AIM AND STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY.............................................................13 2 STATE RESPONSES TO HONOUR KILLINGS .........................................15 2.1 LEGISLATION, LAW ENFORCEMENT AND ADJUDICATION RELEVANT TO HONOUR KILLINGS.....................................................................................................15 2.1.1 Codified means for mitigating penalties in honour killing cases................16 2.1.1.1 Discriminatory provisions relating to provocation and extenuating circumstances...................................................................................................16 2.1.1.2 The Qisas and Diyat Ordinance of Pakistan ........................................19 2.1.2 Discriminatory application of general provocation and extenuating circumstances provisions .....................................................................................21 2.1.3 Honour killings and the impact of culture, traditions and customs on justice systems .....................................................................................................23 2.1.3.1 The ‘cultural defence’..........................................................................23 2.1.3.2 Tribal justice systems: Pakistan and Palestine.....................................26 2.1.4 Problems relating to law enforcement ........................................................29 2.1.5 Debates on legal reform: Pakistan and Jordan............................................30 2.2 GOVERNMENT STATEMENTS CONCERNING HONOUR KILLINGS ......................33 2.2.1 Turkey.........................................................................................................33 2.2.2 Lebanon.......................................................................................................34 2.2.3 Jordan..........................................................................................................34 2.2.4 Egypt...........................................................................................................35 2.2.5 Pakistan.......................................................................................................36 2.3 STATE RESPONSES TO HONOUR KILLINGS – INITIAL CONCLUSIONS................38 I 3 INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HONOUR KILLINGS AS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS...........................................................................40 3.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................40 3.2 A POSITIVE OBLIGATION TO PROTECT THE RIGHT TO LIFE UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW………....................................................................................45 3.2.1 The right to life and positive obligations under human rights treaties .......45 3.2.1.1 Acts of private persons and the scope of positive obligations to ensure the right to life ......................................................................................46 3.2.1.2 Conclusions..........................................................................................52 3.2.2 A positive obligation to protect the right to life in customary international law?......................................................................................................................53 3.2.3 Summary.....................................................................................................58 3.3 ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HONOUR KILLINGS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUALITY ...............................................58 3.3.1 Discriminatory laws and application of laws relating to honour killings as discrimination ......................................................................................................59 3.3.2 Honour killings as discrimination...............................................................62 3.3.2.1 Honour killings in the context of violence against women..................62 3.3.2.2 Failure of the state to protect against, prevent or respond to honour killings as discrimination .................................................................................64 3.3.3 Honour killings in migrant communities – a case of multiple discrimination?.....................................................................................................68 3.3.4 Summary.....................................................................................................71 3.4 WHERE TO TURN FOR REDRESS? ISSUES OF IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT ........................................................………………………………..72 4 HONOUR KILLINGS ON THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AGENDA ....................................................................................................................77 4.1 MEASURES TO COMBAT HONOUR KILLINGS WITHIN THE UNITED NATIONS CHARTER BASED BODIES...........................................................................................77 4.1.1 UN General Assembly ................................................................................77 4.1.2 UN Commission on Human Rights ............................................................79 4.1.2.1 Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions ......................................................................................................80 II 4.1.2.2 Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences....................................................................................................83 4.1.3 UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights 85 4.1.4 UN Commission on the Status of Women..................................................85 4.2 HONOUR KILLING ON THE AGENDAS OF UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS TREATY-MONITORING BODIES ...................................................................................85 4.2.1 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.............86 4.2.2 Committee on the Rights of the Child ........................................................87 4.2.3 Human Rights Committee...........................................................................88 4.2.4 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ................................88 4.3 HONOUR KILLINGS ON THE AGENDA OF UN SPECIALIZED AGENCIES.............89 4.4 HONOUR KILLINGS ON THE EUROPEAN HUMAN RIGHTS ARENA.....................90 4.5 NGOS AND HONOUR KILLINGS......................................................................93 4.6 NO LONGER “ONLY A CRIME”........................................................................95 5 HUMAN RIGHTS, CULTURE AND STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS HONOUR KILLINGS...............................................................................................97 5.1 PERSPECTIVES ON HONOUR KILLINGS, CULTURE AND HUMAN RIGHTS ..........97 5.1.1 Impact of culture and the occurrence of honour killings ............................97 5.1.2 Multiculturalism and the limits of tolerance: respecting culture or individual human rights?....................................................................................100 5.2 HUMAN RIGHTS ARGUMENTS AND THE ERADICATION OF HONOUR KILLINGS.................................................................................................................104 5.2.1 Cultural relativism and feminist critiques of the human rights approach.......................................................................................................... 104 5.2.2 What is the relevance of a human rights perspective to campaigning against honour killings? .................................................................................................108 5.2.3 Finding common ground – enhancing the legitimacy of the human rights approach.............................................................................................................109 5.3 CONCLUSIONS.............................................................................................113 6 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................115 6.1 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................115 6.2 RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................116 III 6.2.1 Short and middle term legal or judicial measures to be taken by governments.......................................................................................................117 6.2.2 Protective and preventive measures to be taken by governments with a short and middle term perspective .....................................................................119 6.2.3 Long term measures and strategies to prevent and eradicate honour killings............................................................................................................... 121 BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................123 IV Tiivistelmä Tämä tutkimus pyrkii tarkastelemaan