"Fighting 'honor killings' mitigated
Saturday, July 15, 2006
A study by the Diyarbakır Bar Association Women's Rights Consultation Center showed that courts had accepted rape, rumors about cheating or simply walking around with men as mitigating factors in 46 of 59 �honor killing� cases in Diyarbakır courts between 1999 and 2005.Diyarbakır Bar Association Women's Rights Commission President Meral Danış Beştaş said 94 percent of those who committed the murders were men and 50 percent of those who were murdered were women. Beştaş said the judicial system and judges had failed to distance themselves from prevailing public perceptions. �Courts can't reach a decision free from the public mentality and the concept of honor.�"
More:Fighting 'honor killings' mitigated - Turkish Daily News Jul 15, 2006
