Saturday, February 04, 2023

Tiba al-Ali

A murder in Iraq has sparked global attention.  ALJAZEERA carries AFP's report:


The death of a young YouTube star at the hands of her father has sparked outrage in Iraq, where so-called “honour killings” continue to take place.

Tiba al-Ali, 22, was killed by her father on January 31 in the southern province of Diwaniya, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan said on Twitter on Friday. 


Her murder is prompting numerous Tweets.  Here's a sample.












The European Union's Ambassador to Iraq Tweets:


And some more Tweets.










Julian Bechocha (RUDAW) notes:                                                                            

Unverified recordings of conversations between Ali and her father appeared to indicate that he was unhappy about her decision to remain in Turkey, according to AFP. In the recording, Ali also revealed to her parents that she was raped by her brother in 2017. Her parents acknowledged the assault but told her to forget about the incident.

After strangling his daughter to death, Ali's father surrendered to the authorities, according to Maan.


So her brother rapes her, her parents know and the response of the father -- for 'honor' -- is to kill her and not her brother who raped her?


There is no such thing as 'honor' killings and if that was never clear to you before, it should be now.  He raped his own sister but the one to be killed was the woman?

Amnesty International issued the following:


Iraq: Action must be taken on gender-based violence after murder of Tiba Ali by her father

Reacting to the horrific murder of blogger Tiba Ali, who was murdered by her father in a family dispute, Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:  

“Until the Iraqi authorities adopt robust legislation to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, we will inevitably continue to witness horrific murders such as that suffered by Tiba Ali, apparently at the hands of her own father.  

“Iraq has failed to criminalize domestic violence despite an increase in reporting of incidents of domestic violence by national NGOs. Shockingly, the Iraqi penal code still treats leniently so called “honour crimes’ comprising violent acts such as assault and even murder. There is also no effective system in place for reporting domestic violence nor adequate shelters to protect women and girls. 

“The murder of Tiba Ali must be investigated, the perpetrator brought to justice and the sentence must be commensurate with the gravity of this terrible crime, without recourse to the death penalty.”

Background 

Tiba Ali had, local media reported, been living in Turkey and was under threat by her family but she had returned to Iraq for a visit, only to be killed on 1 February 2023. Her father has reportedly surrendered to the authorities. News of her murder broke on Wednesday night and social media users began to condemn the killing and call for accountability under the hashtag ‘We Demand Tiba’s Rights.’ 

A draft law on domestic violence was tabled and debated in the Iraqi Parliament in 2019 and 2020 but has stalled since then. In 2020, UN agencies in Iraq expressed their concern at the rising number of domestic violence cases during the Covid-19 pandemic.



The following sites updated:




 

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