Louise Nousratpour
Tuesday June 30, 2009
The Morning Star
British-based Kurdish women's campaigners have welcomed a ruling by the High Court in Iraqi Kurdistan to extradite a man accused of raping and "honour" killing Banaz Mahmod.
Jude Shaykh Latif, chairing the Criminal Court in Suleymania, ruled last Friday that Mohammed Saleh Ali would be extradited to Britain to face trial for the killing of the 20-year-old Kurdish woman in Birmingham in 2006.
Mr Ali is now being held in a prison in Lewisham, south London, awaiting trial.
The Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation (IKWRO) have hailed the decision as "a victory for justice."
In a statement, the group said: "We hope this decision forms part of a new trend towards the recognition of women's rights in the region and the elimination of all forms of violence against them.
"We believe that without the grass-roots support - both in Britain and in Iraqi Kurdistan - for our Justice for Banaz campaign, the extradition would not have taken place."
Ms Mahmod was killed by members of her family after falling in love with a man her parents did not approve of. In June 2007, her father Mahmod Mahmod and uncle Ari Mahmod were convicted of her murder.
But the other two alleged culprits fled Britain to hide in Iraqi Kurdistan. While Mr Ali is to stand trial in Britain, Omar Hosain Agha has walked free.
"We will not rest until Omar Hosain Agha is also extradited and faces justice," IKWRO director Diana Nammi pledged.
Ms Nammi added that, while the Metropolitan Police had "learned its lesson" in taking "honour" crimes more seriously, the group was "unsatisfied" with how the force and the Independent Police Complaints Commission had handled the case.
