International campaign against stoning initiated by Kurdish activists

A petition written by Houzan Mahmoud and released on April 26 condemns the recent murder of a young Kurdish girl by stoning. Doa, a 17-year-old girl of Yazidi faith, was stoned to death on April 7 in the town of Bashiqa in front of hundreds of people when it was discovered that she had fallen in love with a Muslim Arab. The authorities did not do anything to prevent or stop the brutal “honor killing.”

The petition calls on all human rights and women’s rights organizations, political parties and activists to firmly condemn the stoning. The Kurdistan Regional Government is held responsible for failing to protect women and enforce laws against criminals. The condemnation of Doa’s stoning relates to a larger campaign to protect women from inhumane and backward practices in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The petition demands that the Kurdistan Regional Government bring Doa’s killers to justice; sets laws against terror, killings and oppression of women; and criminalizes stoning to death so as to avoid its establishment as a norm and a practice in Kurdish society.

LCHR’s Iraqi staff is part of the effort to prevent honor crimes in the region.

For the full text of the petition, click here.