Petition by “Stop honor Killings” in Iran Campaign

To: Professor Javaid Rehman, Special rapporteur on human rights in Iran
Copy:
His Excellency, Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary General
Ms. Michelle Bachelet Jeria, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Ms. Dubravka Šimonovic, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women

Every year in Iran, a number of women and young girls are murdered in the most brutal way by
male family members under the pretext of preserving their “honor”. The Iranian judiciary
system and the law makers are indifferent to such murders.
A number of women’s rights activists and gender equality advocates have organized the “Stop
Honor Killings” in Iran campaign to put an end to such murders that face little to no
punishment. The murder of women and young girls at home in Iran attracts little attention, but
in April and May, 2020, the pre-planned murder of Romina Ashrafi (14) by her father by an axe
and the murder of Reyhaneh Ameri (22) and Fatemeh Barhi (19) found their way into the social
media and exposed the extend of the catastrophe of murder of women and young girls
portrayed as protecting the “honor” of family or the tribe.
Articles 301, 302,309 and 630 of the Islamic Penal Code which recognize the right of father and
grandfather as head of family are the foundations of unreasoning prejudice of male family
members against women and girls. According to the Islamic Penal Code, the father as head of
family is exempt from conviction for harm done to the female members of the family. It should
be noted that the Campaign is against death penalty & the practice of Quisas.
The campaign “Stop Honor Killings” is urging you as the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in
Iran to:

 Demand the replacement of all discriminatory laws against women by laws based on full
equality regardless of gender,
 To establish safe houses for women across the country,
 To ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW),
 To put into action the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC),
 To revise the contents of educational books on the basis of gender equality and to put
an end to the discriminatory language systematically used in the official media.
Campaign “Stop Honor Killings” in Iran
Signatures: