Love that can be lethal: Muslim couples in fear of 'honour' killing

(Photo for illustrative purposes only)

By Jerome Taylor
Published: The Independent, 29 June 2007

Rebin and Khaleda never thought falling in love would force them into a life of hiding. At first glance, their London flat looks like the home of any other newlyweds. By the front door, five pairs of his-and-her shoes are lined up in a row and the kitchen fridge is plastered in little heart shaped magnets and private notes.
But for the 25-year-olds, this small and cramped one-bedroom apartment is the only place where they feel safe. Two years ago, they were forced to go on the run after gun-wielding members of Khaleda's family threatened to kill them.
For dozens of couples in the UK, such threats have become all too real. Police are now investigating more than 120 deaths they suspect of being "honour killings". It has been estimated that 12 women a year die in the UK as a result of such terrifying acts.
The supposed "honour" comes from the claim among killers that they are protecting their family's reputation. Yet for those whose only crime was to fall in love there seems little honourable about the threats being made against them.
The full horror of these killings was highlighted earlier this month when the father and uncle of Banaz Mahmod, a Kurdish woman from south London, were convicted of murdering her.
Like Banaz Mahmod, Khaleda fell for someone that members of her family did not approve of. Khaleda was born in the West Midlands to conservative south Asian parents who wanted her to marry a distant cousin from her ancestral village. Instead, she fell for the boy next door.
Their forbidden love first sprang from fleeting glimpses through the kitchen window. "The first time I saw her she instantly grabbed my attention," Rebin, 22, said. "I thought she was the most beautiful person in the world, so calm and innocent."
As a teenager, Rebin had fled Saddam Hussein's persecution of the Kurds and had moved into the West Midlands street Khaleda had grown up on. Eventually, he plucked up the courage to talk to the shy but alluring girl next door.
Desperately in love, the couple were shattered when Khaleda's parents flew her cousin to the UK to organise her marriage to him. As the cousin moved into her room and began the negotiations, Khaleda and Rebin simply eloped and married.
Any notion a compromise could be reached was dispelled when more than 20 of Khaleda's family and relatives arrived at Rebin's father's house brandishing knives, machetes and guns.
Those most keen to kill Khaleda and Rebin were not the older first generation family members who had been born and brought up in south Asia, but her brothers and cousins - young men who had lived their whole lives in the UK. According to the UN, at least 5,000 women a year are killed worldwide by their relatives in such killings. There have been more than 5,000 documented cases in Pakistan in the past five years alone.
Khaleda is mortified that anyone might believe Islam justifies honour killings. "It has nothing to do with Islam," she said. "In the Koran it says a Muslim girl can marry anyone as long as they are also a Muslim and it clearly states she has the right to say no. They make you believe it's justified by religion but it's not, it's cultural. Either way, I think forcing a girl to marry someone they don't love it's like raping your own daughter."
Had it not been for the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation, a charity that helped them relocate, Rebin and Khaleda could have ended up like Banaz Mahmod. She had fled an abusive two-year marriage and warned police of the danger she was in. But still she died.
Horrified by the number of killings taking place in Britain, Diana Nammi set up the charity in 2002. "Since we started, we have been able to save at least 50 women's lives," said Ms Nammi, in her east London office. "We have even saved two men." As Rebin knows, men's lives are in danger too. A year after fleeing, Rebin and his wife are safe but the pressures of living in hiding are immense.
The threats have become more severe. One day, Rebin received a phone call from one of Khaleda's cousins.
"He said he was holding a gun to my friend's head and if I didn't send Khaleda back he'd shoot him."
Khaleda is still too scared to leave the house and Rebin, who gets by working 60 hours a week as a driver, says he is always looking over his shoulder.
But they are convinced they did the right thing. "We fell in love," said Rebin. "It's a beautiful thing and we shouldn't be ashamed of it. How any parent can believe love is a shameful thing I will never understand."

ANALYSIS: 'Training is needed to recognise dangers'

By Diana Nammi, founder of the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation.

When Khaleda and Rebin came to me last year their story was one I had heard numerous times before. As a Kurdish woman from Iran, I had grown up in a country where women were made victims both by their own family and through their government's perceptions of honour.
In Kurdistan a woman could be killed or executed for simple "crimes" such as wearing make-up, rejecting an arranged marriage, dressing inappropriately, seeking divorce or being in love. Little did I know that when I came to Britain, a place where women's basic rights are supposedly respected and guaranteed, some women would still be at risk of death for bringing "shame" on their families.
In 2002 I set up the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation (IKWRO), a charity that helped Kurdish, Farsi and Arabic-speaking women in London to find the protection they desperately needed. At the time, honour killings were usually treated as nothing more than domestic murders and were simply not dealt with properly. Not wanting to appear culturally insensitive or - worse - racist, the police tended not to realise how much danger some of these women were in.
Then, two months after we set up IKWRO, Heshu Yones was murdered by her own father. A bright and beautiful teenager, Heshu's "crime" was to have fallen in love with a Lebanese boy. Her father, Abdulla, stabbed her 17 times and then slit her throat, all in the name of regaining his "honour". The judge sentenced Abdulla to just 14 years in prison, arguing that the lenient sentence should take into account his cultural background.
Heshu's murder should have forced the police and the Government to confront the fact that honour killings were not just incidences of domestic violence but a deeply serious and organised crime that could not be excused regardless of cultural sensitivities. They promised to learn from her death, increase training for police officers dealing with these crimes and thankfully began re-examining more than 100 murders that may have been honour killings.
But I am yet to be convinced that the police have learnt. Last month, the father and uncle of another Kurdish girl, Banaz Mahmod, were found guilty of her murder. Banaz had gone to the police for help four times but was turned away.
Honour killings do happen in Britain and whether we like it or not we must stop them. Care workers, teachers, GPs, hospitals, welfare officers should all be trained to recognised when someone is in danger of becoming a victim of an honour killing and help them. Rebin and Khaleda were lucky. They have been able to start their lives again. But they will always be looking over their shoulders.
Diana Nammi is the coordinator of the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation: 020 7490 0303.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2720096.ece

Born in Korean gulag, punished for no crime

(PHOTOS: Jerome Taylor)

By Jerome Taylor

Published: The Independent, 20 June 2007

For the first 22 years of his life Shin Dong Hyok's home address was Political Prison Camp No 14, Gaechon County, South Pyeongan Province, North Korea.

He grew up in unimaginable hardship in one of North Korea's kwanli-so, the gulag system built by Kim Il Sung in 1972 to work prisoners until they died.

His "crime" was to have been born to parents cate-gorised by the regime as from the "hostile classes" - the 27 per cent of the population considered national enemies, impure elements and reactionaries. Under Kim Jong Il's "three generation" policy, the family members of anyone who commits a political crime are punished alongside the perpetrator, even if they have yet to be born.

Two years ago, Mr Shin did the unthinkable. He escaped from the labour camp of his birth, then from the world's most secretive and repressive state. Now he is trying to rebuild a new life in South Korea. He has never told his story in public before but, as the international community courts the regime of Kim Jong Il in an attempt to wrest nuclear weapons from his grasp, Mr Shin has broken his silence about the estimated 200,000 people held in labour camps.

With no education beyond the simple writing and maths taught in Camp 14's school, Mr Shin speaks slowly and unsteadily, but in concise sentences. "I don't know why I was there," he says. "I was simply born there. I knew nothing of the outside world. I had no complaints; I just accepted my lot."

In 1996, at the age of 14, he was forced to watch the executions of his mother and brother. They had been caught trying to escape. His mother was hanged, and his brother was shot.

Lifting his shirt, Mr Shin reveals a wild and angry scar left by the camp's torturers as they applied hot coals to his back during interrogation after the failed escape. Even the weathered, wrinkled skin above the scar looks like it should belong to someone at least twice his 24 years. The end of the middle finger on his right hand is missing, sliced off as punishment for dropping a sewing machine table.

On 2 January 2005, Mr Shin and a friend were collecting firewood. They noticed that a section of the electrified barbed wire fence surrounding the camp was unguarded and decided to make a run for it. His friend was electrocuted and died instantly but Mr Shin managed to crawl through, suffering horrific leg burns.

For 25 days he walked and hitched his way towards the Chinese border. "I broke into three houses and took what food and money I could find," he says. "Eventually, I came across a group of merchants heading into China and joined them." Despite possessing no papers (political prisoners are not classed as citizens) he got past the border guards by bribing them with cigarettes.

Owing to the secretive nature of the North Korean state, Mr Shin's testimony is almost impossible to verify. But Kim Sang Hun, an activist with a decade's experience of defectors, says he is telling the truth. "Whether he will ever be able to overcome the psychological trauma of what he's been through I don't know," says Mr Kim. The two men met the Tory leader, David Cameron, yesterday and they plan to visit the Foreign Office today.

Rights groups are concerned that the international community is ignoring North Korea's appalling human rights record.
A new Christian Solidarity Worldwide report says abuses in North Korea are so systematic and widespread that they constitute crimes against humanity which individual states and the United Nations have a responsibility to prosecute.

Mr Shin cannot forget those he left behind. "Please don't make me out to be a hero," he says. "I was a coward. In the prisons there were real heroes, people who refused to confess as the guards executed them. There are many more people just like me in there." news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2679480.ece

Tavener's homage to Allah angers Catholics

By Jerome Taylor
Published: The Independent, 16 June 2007

The eclectic religiosity of John Tavener and the beautiful sacred music it has inspired have made him one of Britain's foremost and best-loved composers. But for some of the country's more vocal Roman Catholics, his latest work appears to constitute an ecumenical step too far.
"The Beautiful Names", which sets the 99 sacred names Muslims give to Allah, was commissioned by Prince Charles and has been well-received throughout the Islamic world. Next week Tavener flies off to Istanbul to become only the second non-Turk to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Istanbul International Music Festival.
But the decision to premiere the piece inside Westminster Cathedral has incurred the wrath of some Roman Catholics who are outraged that a Christian place of worship could be used to glorify Islam. Having failed in their bid to have the concert cancelled, some have threatened to protest outside the cathedral on the night of the performance.
The idea behind the piece, which the BBC Symphony Orchestra will play in public for the first time on Tuesday evening, is to bring the names of Allah to a wider audience and help increase inter-faith dialogue and understanding. The one-and- a-half hour piece will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and will feature a horn section, a double choir and a host of somewhat less common symphony instruments (a Tibetan temple bells, a powwow drum).
In the introduction to his score, the 63 year-old Tavener writes, "Perhaps, by doing this in the language of music, one may contribute to an inward healing of the strife that permeates the modern world."
The anger of his fellow Christians appears to have upset Tavener, who has been composing pieces for decades and gained prominence after one of his pieces was played at the close of Princess Diana's funeral.
"This is the most important work that I have ever written," he said. "It is a kind of 'summation' of all that I have tried to do over the past 60 years. If the work contributes towards healing a shattered world, then this is of great importance."
A deeply devout Christian, John Tavener has never shied away from using the world's religions both for personal and musical inspiration. Born a Presbyterian, he converted to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1977: he felt eastern Christian faiths were closer to their original roots. Since then he has openly expressed interest in Islam, Sufism and Hinduism and regards himself a follower of the mystic philosopher Frithjof Schuon who preached the unity of all religions. A new piece he is writing, "The Flood of Beauty", draws inspiration from a 9th century Sanskrit text and "shows God in the feminine aspect, as beauty".
Such interests in the world's non-Christian religions have made the composer firm friends with Prince Charles, who has also stated he would like to improve inter-faith dialogue.
To Muslims, the 99 names of Allah are some of the most important and sacred words in existence, the very essence of everything that is perfect about their one true god, Allah.
So crucial are they to the faith that all except one of the chapters of the Quran begin with a phrase that incorporates two of the most well known, Bismillah ir Rahman ir Rahim, which means "in the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate". Muslims are encouraged to memorise as many as possible, as the attributes act as guidelines for living.
In the Muslim community itself, Sir John's new work was widely welcomed.
"I have yet to hear the piece but the Quran encourages all Muslims to remember these beautiful attributes," said Sheikh Imam Ibrahim Mogra, a Leicester-based Imam. "They are often put to music because they are so wonderfully emotive. When you hear the words sung it creates a sense of ecstasy, a buzz."
He was delighted that non-Muslims could draw inspiration from the various names of Allah. "Muslims don't have a monopoly on God's name," he said. "God is for everyone."

http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/news/article2663202.ece

Imran Khan to take Pakistani political rival to court in UK

(Photo: BBC)

By Jerome Taylor
Published The Independent: 02 June 2007

Imran Khan, the former Pakistani cricketer, is planning to use the British courts to sue a prominent political opponent who, he claims, was responsible for the violence in Karachi last month that left more than 40 people dead and scores wounded.

Mr Khan, who heads his own political party, Tehreek-i-Insaaf, is flying to the UK today and intends to bring either criminal or civil proceedings against Altaf Hussein, the leader of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), a party which has the backing of the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf.

Mr Hussein holds British citizenship and runs the MQM from an office on Edgware Road, London. Although one of Pakistan's most prominent politicians, he refuses to lead the party from his home country, arguing that he is at risk of assassination by political rivals if he returns home.
Last night Mr Khan called the MQM "a mafia". "Put simply it is a terrorist organisation. How Mr Blair can allow such terrorist organisations to exist in London while supposedly fighting the war on terror I have no idea."

MQM opponents and human rights groups have accused the MQM of deliberately stirring up the rioting in Karachi last month, which constituted some of the worst and most brutal political violence to hit Pakistan in recent years. MQM has vehemently denied those charges.

If Mr Khan is successful in his bid to launch legal proceedings against a political rival it would be a remarkable twist in the already turbulent world of Pakistani politics. Speaking from his home in Islamabad, Mr Khan said: "I have huge numbers of people who are willing to testify against [Mr Hussein] in a British court."

Last night a spokesman for the MQM dismissed Mr Khan's threats as little more than political grandstanding and vowed to fight any legal proceedings.

"Unfortunately this is dirty Pakistani politics," Tariq Mir, who heads up the MQM's legal team in Britain, said.

"Mr Imran Khan is a one-man band creating an issue for political gain. It's just slinging mud. Our leader Mr Hussein has done nothing against either UK or Pakistani law. If he issues a legal threat we would strongly contest it in court. Short of that we won't take any notice of him."

Over the past 12 months political assassinations and disappearances have become an increasingly grim feature of Pakistani politics and most of the country's political parties have accused each other of carrying them out.

Pakistan is in the midst of a judiciary crisis sparked by President Musharraf's sacking of the country's Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhury. The riots in Karachi began when Mr Chaudhury was banned from holding a rally there on 12 May.

Mr Khan said he was spurred into taking legal action against the MQM after a number of his supporters were fired at during the riots. "Ten of my party members received bullet wounds in Karachi," he said. "That's when I thought I have to take the fight to the UK.

"There is no point going to a court in Pakistan as there is no justice there, as can be seen from the current crisis with the judiciary. That's why I'm having to pursue this in the British courts because [Mr Hussein] is a British citizen."

Mr Khan's supporters plan to hold a rally outside Downing Street tomorrow.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2606394.ece