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Iranian Families of Raped or Murdered Women Must Pay "Blood Money"
Leila Fathi left her village in the mountains one day to pick wild flowers and never came home. The 11-year old girl was raped and killed. Seven years later, her parents are still seeking justice and Iranian human rights activists say the case illustrates how the countryâs laws are fundamentally discriminatory against women. Three men were accused of killing Fathi in the predominantly Kurdish region of Sarghez, northwest of the capital Tehran. One of the suspects confessed and later hung himself in prison. The other two suspects denied the charges but said they had helped bury the body. They were tried and found guilty. After a series of appeals, the Supreme Court confirmed the guilty verdict. The case has been appealed yet again and proceedings are due to resume soon in the Kermanshah provincial court. But what has attracted the attention of Iranian newspapers and human rights activists is the death penalty sentence handed down in previous rulings. Under Iranâs laws that determine compensation, a womanâs life is worth half that of a manâs life. As a result, the killersâ lives are worth more in financial terms than the murdered girl. Bizarrely, Fathiâs family was required to come up with thousands of dollars to pay the "blood money" for the execution of their daughterâs killers. .... The familyâs lawyer is the winner of this yearâs Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi, who has long argued for scrapping the blood-money law. She said in a recent interview with Womenâs eNews that the murdered girlâs parents sold their house and most of their possessions to try to raise the necessary funds and had moved into a tent outside the local courthouse. The victimâs elderly father, a day laborer, tried to sell his one of his kidneys to raise a total of about $18,000. His doctor refused. Leylaâs disabled brother also tried to sell a kidney, and the doctor refused again. Appalled by the familyâs desperate situation, the doctor went to the judiciary to demand the state provide the remaining funds needed to pay for the execution of the victimâs killers. Ebadi says the doctor threatened the judges that if they failed to take action, he would tell the French medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres--known in English as Doctors Without Borders--about the case. Ebadi, a prominent advocate on womenâs issues, says she took on the case to illustrate the inherent injustice of blood money law. "This case is a result of this terrible law. The victimâs family is homeless now and the case is still not closed," Ebadi said. "They are decimated by all of this." The judiciary decided earlier this year that the state would help pay one third of the sum required, an unprecedented ruling that came partly as a result of the media coverage devoted to the case. But Ebadi said the ruling does not represent any victory because the law remains. She said she hopes the publicity will force the law to be changed, to make compensation equal for men and women. .... .... Other powerful clergy disagree ... and have blocked previous attempts to change laws on blood money and other issues. The conservatives that wield ultimate authority in Iran see any change in womenâs legal status as a threat to what they describe as "Islamic tradition." .... The parliamentâs initiatives have been repeatedly blocked by the ultra-conservative Guardian Council--an appointed body that includes hard-line clergy and jurists--that vets all legislation. The council has been particularly reluctant to approve proposed laws designed to improve womenâs status. .... Ebadi said that there are many other cases in which victimsâ families struggle to come up with the blood money to finance punishment of convicted murderers or rapists. The law also includes contradictory rules for the loss of limbs or other body parts. The penal code defines blood money compensation for a man as one of the following: 100 camels, 200 cows, 1,000 sheep, 200 silk dresses, 1,000 gold coins and 10,000 silver coins. These older forms of valuation are not carried out in practice and the courts have opted for cash equivalents instead. ... Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-03-30 |
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