Empty paper for the cover photo Under the Guise of Honor: Women Continue to Fall Victims to Violence Across Syria This special report sheds light on honor killings and other violence against women in Idlib, Daraa, As-Suwayda, and Aleppo’s countryside between January 2020 and February 2021 www.stj-sy.org Page | 2 Executive Summary Even as populations across Syria continue to suffer large-scale violations at the hands of all authorities in charge, women still struggle to survive a specific type of violence: crimes committed in the name of family honor. Monitoring gender-based violations throughout the country, Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) documented at least 24 incidents of domestic violence against women which resulted in the deaths of 22. STJ recorded that 16 of these victims were killed by a spouse or other male family members on the pretext of bringing shame on the family. The remaining six were killed for unidentified reasons, but their murders were likely shame-motivated as well. This report covers the period between January 2020 and February 2021, documenting only the cases that STJ could access and gather evidence for. However, these cases remain a fraction of the likely greater number of crimes and violations committed against women in Syria. In Idlib province— almost entirely controlled by the military faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)—STJ documented five honor killings, committed in the villages of Salqin, Atmeh, and Killi, among others. In the northern countryside of Aleppo— controlled by the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA)— STJ documented at least seven honor killings, mostly committed in the areas of Azaz, Afrin, Jarabulus, and al-Bab. In Daraa province—dominated by the Syrian government forces— STJ’s field researcher documented at least two honor killings. He recorded a third similar crime in the nearby province of As-Suwayda. The stories and information obtained by STJ indicate that security chaos, absence of the rule of law and the spread of weapons, have contributed to the increase in honor killings in various areas throughout Syria, enabled by deeply rooted principles of the honor culture. In this report, STJ recounts the stories of women and girls murdered by spouses, brothers, or other male family members. To put an end to alleged family “shame”, women in the documented cases were shot, stabbed, and even burned alive. Additionally, STJ covers the legal response of de facto authorities to honor killings in this report. For instance, in Idlib, the HTS-run courts sentenced perpetrators to a maximum of 10 months in prison. In Aleppo’s countryside, the SNA-run courts addressed similar crimes only theoretically, supposedly putting into effect laws mirroring those of the 1949 Syrian Penal Code. Female and male field researchers with STJ overcame serious challenges as they collected testimonies and documented the reported murders because honor killings remain a highly sensitive issue within Syrian society. Information obtained by a female researcher confirms that the actual number of shame-triggered crimes is actually greater than the figures reported here or known by the community, particularly since numerous murders are documented in www.stj-sy.org Page | 3 police reports under other names, including involuntary manslaughter and other criminal offences to which family members, fearing social stigma, usually claim responsibility for. The honor killings reported herein are part of the vicious circle trapping women across Syria. In 2019, STJ documented at least 10 honor-motivated murders in al-Hasakah province, controlled by the Autonomous Administration, and As-Suwayda province, controlled by the Syrian government forces. STJ recorded an additional 10 similar killings over the first half of 2019, one occurring in Turkey, killing a teenage girl, and two murders in the SNA-held northern countryside of Aleppo. Methodology This report draws on a total of 21 interviews, mostly from sources close to the victims’ families, in addition to eyewitnesses from the province of Idlib, the northern countryside of Aleppo, and the province of Daraa, south of Syria. Pertaining to the factors that contributed to the rise in the number of honor killings in the covered regions, STJ interviewed an Idlib-based social researcher and a Daraa-based women’s rights defender. Furthermore, STJ reached out to informed local sources, who relayed the responses of the de facto authority’s legal systems to these crimes in Idlib and rural Aleppo. Additionally, STJ obtained a commentary from a Daraa-based legal researcher regarding the crimes committed in the southern province. STJ’s field researchers conducted these 21 interviews with sources either online or in person between January 2020 and late February 2021, consulted several open sources that addressed the crimes, and conducted thorough information crosschecks. Due to the report’s highly sensitive subject matter in the communities where reported incidents occurred, pseudonyms will be used throughout the report. 1. Honor Killings in Idlib and Aleppo’s Countryside In Idlib province, STJ’s field researcher documented at least five honor killings. In the countryside of Aleppo, the field researcher recorded at least seven honor killings. These crimes occurred in the areas of Azaz, Jarabulus, Bulbul, and Afrin, as well as in the region where camps have been established for the internally displaced. A. “He shot his little girl, allegedly for taking off her hijab.” On 24 February 2021, in the Abu Dafneh Camp, set up in Killi town in Idlib’s countryside, Muhammad K.— displaced from Homs’ countryside with his family—shot and killed his daughter Rahaf K., 16, for allegedly taking her hijab off on the street and bringing dishonor to his name. A relative of the family recounted the details of the murder to STJ: “I never thought that a father would actually kill his own daughter, especially if she has mental impairment and cannot truly understand what is going on around her. The victim www.stj-sy.org Page | 4 used to live with her parents and brother in the Abu Dafneh Camp. Their financial situation was extremely poor. At 6:00 p.m. sharp, on the day of the murder, the father quarreled with his daughter, allegedly because she was taking her hijab off in the street. He first beat her, and when she ran away from him, he followed her and shot her. One bullet hit her head and killed her on the spot. Witnessing this tragedy, the victim’s mother fainted. The father managed to escape and remains at large. The HTS security services still have not captured him.” B. “He stabbed his daughter, a widow and a mother of six.” On 15 November 2020, in Ein Elsoda village, in Idlib’s countryside, a father stabbed and killed his daughter Suwad B., 25, for bringing dishonor upon the family name because she became pregnant after an affair. A relative of the family told STJ: “Suwad lost her husband to airstrikes on the town three years ago. She and her six children have been living with her parents ever since. Helped by her parents, she made a living for herself and her children. Her paternal cousin fell in love with her and used to secretly sneak into her house. She got pregnant and her parents did not notice it at first. Eventually, her pregnancy became visible, and she wanted to keep the baby. Her father finally noticed and asked her to visit a female gynecologist. When the pregnancy was confirmed, the father could not take it and stabbed Suwad several times. HTS security personnel arrested him, and Suwad’s dead body was taken to the coroner. The cousin fled town, fearing arrest and death at the hands of the victim’s family. The father was later sentenced to three months in prison.” C. “He set fire to his wife, who was eight months pregnant.” In January 2021, in the town of Atmeh on the border with Turkey, Malik H., 35— displaced from Daraa—set fire to his wife Hiba M., 20. The young wife was pregnant and already a mother of three children, the oldest of whom was barely four years old. The husband also deliberately set the house ablaze, most likely to hide evidence of his wife’s murder. Commenting on the incident, an informed local source told STJ: “Malik, his wife, and three toddlers lived in Atmeh town on the border strip [with Turkey]. On the day of the murder, a fire broke out in their house and Civil Defense teams were called to the site. The teams put out the fire, but it consumed the house almost completely seriously burned the husband. He was transported to the Atmeh Hospital. When the fire was finally extinguished, the Civil Defense teams discovered the body of the wife. The wife’s body was charred, her legs and arms both tied. She was eight months pregnant. Interrogated about the incident, the husband confessed to setting fire to his wife’s body for honor-related reasons and to committing arson, alleging he was under the influence of drugs.” www.stj-sy.org Page | 5 D. “He fired a load of bullets at his sister’s body.” In January 2020, a young man, Noureddine Sh., shot and killed his sister Rahaf Sh., 26. He emptied a load of bullets into his sister’s body, killing her on spot, allegedly for having “an affair.” A source close to the family said that the brother did not attempt to hide after he committed the disturbing murder. Instead, he stayed in his tent until the camp’s police— operating under the Ministry of Interior of the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG)— arrested him. The source added that after a month and a half the court finally sentenced the brother to only nine months in prison.