Reforming the Syrian Penal Code: Honor Crimes
Dr. Abboud Al SarrajPhoto linked from Arab European University
At the Syrian National Forum on Honor Crimes, held 14-16 October 2008 in Damascus, Dr. Abboud Al Sarraj, the former Dean of the Damascus Faculty of Law, delivered a speech on the need to reform Article 192 and to repeal Article 548 of the Syrian Penal Code because these honor-crimes exemptions are inconsistent with Islamic Shari’a law. Currently, Article 192 allows a judge to excuse or reduce the punishment from a minimum of 15 years to a maximum of one year where the person committed an honor crime. Article 548 exempts males from the penalties of murder and assault when they are provoked by the “illegitimate sex acts” or “suspicious state” of female family members or by extramarital affairs. He argued that these exemptions not only allow for male perpetrators to escape punishment but also contribute to gender injustice. Dr. Mohamed Farouq Al-Basha, the legal adviser at the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, argued that Article 548 violates key provisions of the Syrian Constitution. Further, it is inconsistent with Syria’s obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of all Form of Discrimination against Women. Notably, Article 242 allows a judge to reduce the punishment for men and women equally when the crime is provoked by passion.
The final recommendations adopted at the National Forum called for the reform of the punishment under Article 192, the repeal of Article 548, and the strengthening of the penalty for adultery for both men and women. Women’s rights advocates in Syria see this as a step towards the abolition of honor crimes or at least a review of the unequal treatment of women under those articles of the Penal Code.
About the Syrian National Forum on Honor Crimes
The 2008 National Forum was sponsored by the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs (SCFA) in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Religious Endowments (Awqaf). Read an unofficial English translation by Norma Ibrahim of the final recommendations.
About the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs (SCFA)
The Syrian Commission for Family Affairs (SCFA) was established as a government entity in 2003 to promote gender equality, gender mainstreaming and monitoring of the implementing of the Platform for Action and the Convention on the
Elimination of all Form of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). As background, on 23 March 2003, Syria became a state party to the Convention on the Elimination of all Form of Discrimination against Women but with reservations to Articles 2, 9(2), 15(4), 16(1)(2), and 29(1). In 2007, Syria withdrew its reservation to Article 2.
1. He who catches his wife, or one of his ascendants, descendants or sister committing adultery or illegitimate sex acts with another and he kills or injures one of both of them benefits from an exemption of penalty.
2. He who catches his wife, or one of his ascendants, descendants or sister in a suspicious state with another and he kills or injures one of both of them benefits from an exemption of penalty.
- Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
- OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women (OPAAW)
- Syrian Women’s Observatory (Nesasy)
Women’s Resources in Syria
- The Trust Hotline
In November 2007, an NGO started Syria’s first hotline for abused women and victims of domestic violence. The hotline provides psychological and legal assistance. Callers may remain anonymous. The hotline has limited operating hours. Lawyers are needed as volunteers to staff the phones. - The Oasis Shelter
The Oasis Shelter, Syria’s first officially licensed shelter for battered and abused women, opened in September 2008. It receives funding from the Japanese Embassy.