Connolly
22nd June 2007, 13:47
Posted by "seabird" at http://theplough.proboards57.com/index.cgi
It is the so-called "honour killing" of 17-year-old Du'a Khalil Aswad by an angry mob of Yezidis on April 7, 2007.
I know this has been out there for a couple of months now, however, I felt it was important to share this poor girl's story with our readers at ICB. This is a different sort of true crime story than what most of us are used to, but it will still break your heart.
Du'a Khalil Aswad, 17, fell in love with a boy. A Muslim boy. A major no-no in the Yezidi religion. The Yezidis are a Kurdish pre-Islamic sect with uniquely different beliefs. They worship the "Peac*** Angel" known as Melek Taus, also commonly referred to as "Satan" by Muslims. The Yezidis still prefer to settle differences amongst themselves with throat slitting and stoning.
Du'a had fallen in love, ran away to marry her love, and intended to convert to Islam. She was subsequently ostracized from her family. Cross-religious relationships are forbidden in Yezidi tradition and dealt with in the most serious manner -- execution. Fearing for her life, Du'a was sequestered into hiding by her boyfriend and a Muslim cleric (some sources say a Yezidi cleric) for several months.
Apparently, Du'a's family convinced her that she was forgiven and welcomed her back to her village. When she arrived, she was horrified to see the raging mob of at least 1,000 men waiting for her. Blood lust in their eyes. Cell phone cameras at the ready. Dozens of large stones. And two large concrete blocks nearby.
Her own family had tricked her.
As with the Ertman/Pena killings, there are several issues that can be discussed in regard to Du'a's death: religious intolerance, religious strictures, male-domination, suppression, and subjugation of women are just a few that come to mind.
But I want to look at something more primordial, more animalistic -- the sadistic nature of a mob of men when deciding to end the life of a young girl.
In the Ertman/Pena murders, six teenage boys violated two teenage girls for nearly an hour. When they were done raping them, they decided to terminate the teenagers. First with a belt around one's throat. A pair of shoelaces around the other's throat. When those did not work, they kicked the girls in the mouth, in the face, in the ribs. They smashed in their faces, all the while, whooping it up and having a grand old time. Afterwards, one of the killers bragged that he had "the blood of a virgin on his underwear."
If you were able to watch the Du'a video, you witnessed how an unruly mob takes on several qualities that may not necessarily be present within an individual. The ability to desecrate another human being rises. The level of taunting increases. The outright brazenness of the mob rises to levels never before seen. The willingness to help gets tossed out the window.
In Dua's murder, several people are wielding cell phones. They look like lighting directors on a film set holding up their light meters to their subject in preparation for the next shoot. These Yezidi men, who claim that Du'a should die based on a thousand-year-old tradition, willingly document her demise with the latest tools of modern technology.
The gruesomeness of the stoning is obvious. The girl is dragged into the town square in a headlock. Police officers stand by and do nothing. The girl is tossed to the ground and kicked repeatedly. Her bright red tracksuit top is an eerie percursor to what she will eventually look like. Dozens of men surround her, taunting her. One man throws a concrete block on her back. Not a single man does anything to stop the punishment. Instead, they all cheer each time a new blow is landed. The poor girl rolls onto her back, her bloody face worn out from exhaustion. She has been tortured for nearly an hour. Her black panty-clad bottom is exposed only to be covered up by one of the murderers. Apparently, physical destruction of a human being is acceptable, black panties are not.
Several of the men (I use the term loosely) gather around D'ua only to repeatedly stomp on her head, her back, her legs. Finally, one psychopath takes a large cinder block, walks up to the spent girl, and tosses it down forcefully upon her head. The life literally drains out of the girl as a large river of blood begans to spill from her broken skull. The roar is unanimous! The crowd loves it! The cell phone Spielbergs step in closer for a better look. They hold their tools of documentation directly into her face. Another man, witnessing her exposed bottom one more time, again covers up the offending body part.
Meanwhile, the blood flows. And flows.
But that is not enough for these men. They must make a statement. They must display their machismo for the world. Besides, the cameras are on. Might as well put on a good show. Another man crushes her skull yet again with another large block of concrete. The crowd cheers. Block to the head, crowd cheers. Repeat ad nauseum.
A partial price has been paid in the Ertman/Pena killings. Five of the six boys received the death penalty. The sixth, "Yuni" Medellin, testified against the other five, including his brother, Joe Medellin. Two of the five who received the death penalty had their sentences reduced thanks to a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that claimed murderers aged 17 and under could not be considered to be adults. Joe Medellin, currently has an appeal before the Supreme Court that argues he did not receive proper representation because he was born in Mexico and never became an American citizen, despite living in Texas for nine of his eighteen years. Peter Cantu awaits his execution. Sean O'Brien was executed last summer.
In Du'a's case, retribution came quick. A busload of Yezidis and others were pulled over by a group of Iraqi Muslims on April 22, 2007 outside of Mosul. Twenty-three Yezidis were forcefully removed from the bus and executed with guns.
Just last month, two of her own family members were arrested in their participation of the so-called "honour killing" of their own flesh and blood.
In each case, the male species comes off more like a pack of wolves than as decent human beings. Hungry, ravenous, vengeful. Together, as a group, men are even more capable of engaging in some of the most depraved and unacceptable behavior ever witnessed.
I don't know the real reason behind such gruesome behaviour. Somehow, I don't believe it will ever stop. Hopefully, drawing attention to events like this will force some people to reasses how they look at and treat women.
We can only hope.
Here's a petition you can sign to help stop the murders of Kurdish women.
http://www.petitiononline.com/kurdish/petition.html
International Campaign against killings and stoning of women in Kurdistan
It is the so-called "honour killing" of 17-year-old Du'a Khalil Aswad by an angry mob of Yezidis on April 7, 2007.
I know this has been out there for a couple of months now, however, I felt it was important to share this poor girl's story with our readers at ICB. This is a different sort of true crime story than what most of us are used to, but it will still break your heart.
Du'a Khalil Aswad, 17, fell in love with a boy. A Muslim boy. A major no-no in the Yezidi religion. The Yezidis are a Kurdish pre-Islamic sect with uniquely different beliefs. They worship the "Peac*** Angel" known as Melek Taus, also commonly referred to as "Satan" by Muslims. The Yezidis still prefer to settle differences amongst themselves with throat slitting and stoning.
Du'a had fallen in love, ran away to marry her love, and intended to convert to Islam. She was subsequently ostracized from her family. Cross-religious relationships are forbidden in Yezidi tradition and dealt with in the most serious manner -- execution. Fearing for her life, Du'a was sequestered into hiding by her boyfriend and a Muslim cleric (some sources say a Yezidi cleric) for several months.
Apparently, Du'a's family convinced her that she was forgiven and welcomed her back to her village. When she arrived, she was horrified to see the raging mob of at least 1,000 men waiting for her. Blood lust in their eyes. Cell phone cameras at the ready. Dozens of large stones. And two large concrete blocks nearby.
Her own family had tricked her.
As with the Ertman/Pena killings, there are several issues that can be discussed in regard to Du'a's death: religious intolerance, religious strictures, male-domination, suppression, and subjugation of women are just a few that come to mind.
But I want to look at something more primordial, more animalistic -- the sadistic nature of a mob of men when deciding to end the life of a young girl.
In the Ertman/Pena murders, six teenage boys violated two teenage girls for nearly an hour. When they were done raping them, they decided to terminate the teenagers. First with a belt around one's throat. A pair of shoelaces around the other's throat. When those did not work, they kicked the girls in the mouth, in the face, in the ribs. They smashed in their faces, all the while, whooping it up and having a grand old time. Afterwards, one of the killers bragged that he had "the blood of a virgin on his underwear."
If you were able to watch the Du'a video, you witnessed how an unruly mob takes on several qualities that may not necessarily be present within an individual. The ability to desecrate another human being rises. The level of taunting increases. The outright brazenness of the mob rises to levels never before seen. The willingness to help gets tossed out the window.
In Dua's murder, several people are wielding cell phones. They look like lighting directors on a film set holding up their light meters to their subject in preparation for the next shoot. These Yezidi men, who claim that Du'a should die based on a thousand-year-old tradition, willingly document her demise with the latest tools of modern technology.
The gruesomeness of the stoning is obvious. The girl is dragged into the town square in a headlock. Police officers stand by and do nothing. The girl is tossed to the ground and kicked repeatedly. Her bright red tracksuit top is an eerie percursor to what she will eventually look like. Dozens of men surround her, taunting her. One man throws a concrete block on her back. Not a single man does anything to stop the punishment. Instead, they all cheer each time a new blow is landed. The poor girl rolls onto her back, her bloody face worn out from exhaustion. She has been tortured for nearly an hour. Her black panty-clad bottom is exposed only to be covered up by one of the murderers. Apparently, physical destruction of a human being is acceptable, black panties are not.
Several of the men (I use the term loosely) gather around D'ua only to repeatedly stomp on her head, her back, her legs. Finally, one psychopath takes a large cinder block, walks up to the spent girl, and tosses it down forcefully upon her head. The life literally drains out of the girl as a large river of blood begans to spill from her broken skull. The roar is unanimous! The crowd loves it! The cell phone Spielbergs step in closer for a better look. They hold their tools of documentation directly into her face. Another man, witnessing her exposed bottom one more time, again covers up the offending body part.
Meanwhile, the blood flows. And flows.
But that is not enough for these men. They must make a statement. They must display their machismo for the world. Besides, the cameras are on. Might as well put on a good show. Another man crushes her skull yet again with another large block of concrete. The crowd cheers. Block to the head, crowd cheers. Repeat ad nauseum.
A partial price has been paid in the Ertman/Pena killings. Five of the six boys received the death penalty. The sixth, "Yuni" Medellin, testified against the other five, including his brother, Joe Medellin. Two of the five who received the death penalty had their sentences reduced thanks to a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that claimed murderers aged 17 and under could not be considered to be adults. Joe Medellin, currently has an appeal before the Supreme Court that argues he did not receive proper representation because he was born in Mexico and never became an American citizen, despite living in Texas for nine of his eighteen years. Peter Cantu awaits his execution. Sean O'Brien was executed last summer.
In Du'a's case, retribution came quick. A busload of Yezidis and others were pulled over by a group of Iraqi Muslims on April 22, 2007 outside of Mosul. Twenty-three Yezidis were forcefully removed from the bus and executed with guns.
Just last month, two of her own family members were arrested in their participation of the so-called "honour killing" of their own flesh and blood.
In each case, the male species comes off more like a pack of wolves than as decent human beings. Hungry, ravenous, vengeful. Together, as a group, men are even more capable of engaging in some of the most depraved and unacceptable behavior ever witnessed.
I don't know the real reason behind such gruesome behaviour. Somehow, I don't believe it will ever stop. Hopefully, drawing attention to events like this will force some people to reasses how they look at and treat women.
We can only hope.
Here's a petition you can sign to help stop the murders of Kurdish women.
http://www.petitiononline.com/kurdish/petition.html
International Campaign against killings and stoning of women in Kurdistan