Campaign Declaration against so-called honour killings in Germany
On Monday, February 7th 2005, three bullets wiped out the life of Hatun, a young German woman of Turkish background in Berlin's district of Tempelhof. The shots came from the gun belonging to Hatun's youngest brother!
Hatun, who was also known
as Aynur, is not the first and also not the last victim of a so-called "honour"
killing. According to an imprecise statistic, each year 500 young girls and
women become victims of death sentences, passed on them by Islamic families.
Death sentences which are mostly executed by the women's closest relatives.
The number of murders is really much higher in fact. What is even worse is
when the girls and women are forced to commit suicide or to burn themselves
to death. The death sentence is passed and the victims become their own executioners.
This kind of so-called "honour" killing is never reflected in the
statistics.We are not living in the Middle Ages. It is a disgrace for humanity
in the 21st century when women and girls are murdered only because they wanted
to choose their own partner for life or because they have a more liberal and
progressive vision of their basic human rights. This disgraceful chapter of
human history must be closed for once and for all times by means of widespread
protests and by eradicating its roots.
There can be no doubt that such crimes are inherent in the Islamic culture,
morals and the Islamic traditions and are practised by families and societies
infected by Islam. The core countries for so-called honour killings are Iran,
Iraq, Pakistan and Turkey and also there where refugees and immigrants from
these countries are concentrated in western societies.
The increase in so-called "honour killings" is directly connected
to the strengthening of Islamic currents and their unhindered interference
in the lives of women and girls as well as with the discrimination and oppression
of women and the offical announcement of gender apartheid against women. In
today's world, the Islamic laws and prescriptions are produced and reproduced
by an ominous and reactionary movement. The culture and prescriptions of this
movement are implemented by means of murder, terror, torture and execution.
Our campaign is a challenge to so-called honour killings. We who defend human
rights, we women's organisations, we who have fled from the ruling hell of
Islamic terrorism, we German citizens, female and male, we who denounce these
crimes, call for an uncompromising, public and generalised struggle against
the murder of women and against a political Islam!
We want to hold up the human rights of women and to defend the universality
of human rights, regardless of gender and religion. We are for secularism
and we want to put an end to these crimes.
In order to effectivly combat so-called honour killings it is indispensable
to activate broad public interest and to criticise and fight against the most
important causes of these social problems.
By now there exists a strong and dense network of Islamic currents in Germany
which propagate gender apartheid and which are even privileged enough to receive
state subsidies. This network is busy spreading extremely reactionary and
misogynist ideas and is organising terrorist cells for the purpose of murdering
women in Germany.
Is it so difficult to understand that behind each so-called honour killing
there is an active network of Koran schools, mosques and propagandists who
preach hatred of women and who transport their ideas into society under the
guise of "other cultures" and "multiculturalism"?
Is it so difficult to see these so-called honour killings as the logical consequence of the activities of these so-called Islamic cultur clubs? Networks which are in league both with Islamic governments such as those of Iran and Saudi Arabia, with political Islamic organisations as well as with the mosques and Koran schools in Germany and Europe?
Is it so difficult to
understand the horrific facts that the open crimes of these Islamic groups
is made possible by the financial and moral support of the intellectual fathers
and propagators of the idea of "cultural relativism", not to mention
the appeasement policies of western states and political parties towards these
reactionary Islamic movements?
In order to defend the universality of human rights and the rights of women
in the family and in Islam-infected societies, in order to counter the attacks
of political Islam on the most basic and obvious principles of human life
and in order to defend secularism.
We demand sufficient broadcasting time in the media to enable a fundamental discussion about the causes of so-called honour killings to take place and we also demand that an open and honest critique of the reactionary, misogynist attitudes and cultures be given expression;
We demand a ban on religious and Islamic schools and the immediate closeure of Koran schools for children in Germany;
We demand the prohibition of Islamic forced veiling of children under 18 years of age in Germany;
We demand an end to every possible type of subsidy for mosques as well as for religious and Islamic centres in Germany;
We demand sufficient financing of centres for girls and women threated by so-called honour killings in order to provide them with adequate protection.
The campaign against so-called honour killings in Germany is being organised in conjunction with other human rights organisations and institutions which are active in the fight against so-called honour killings, are against this undisguised misogyny and against these organised crimes against women.
So-called honour killings are brutal and out-dated by many hundreds of years. They must be denounced by the widespread protests of all progressive peoples of the world. We can and must put an end to this crime. Join the campaign against so-called honour killings!
16 January 2006
Founders:
Mina Ahadi, International Campaig against stoning
Siavash Modarresi, Journalist a TV- Presenter of programmes ‚Pusche'
in NCTV
Nazanin Borumand, Iran-CRC (Iran Civil right committee)
Mahboube Siahmardi, International Campaign for the defence of women's rights
in Iran
Reza Nouri, International Workers' solidarity committee Party Irans
Shahla Khabazzade, (Woman's Liberation - Iran)
Rabee Ashta, International Comitte against executions
Soheyla Khosravi, Iran-CRC (Iran Civil right committee)
Shahnaz Moratab, International Federation of Iranian Refugees
This campaign is supported by:
Azar Majedi, spokesperson for Woman's Liberation - Iran
Homa Arjomand, Speaker for No Shari'a , Campaign against Laws in Canada
Maryam Namazie, TV presenter in NCTV and commentator on topics such as human
and women's choices, cultural relativism, secularism, religion, political
Islam