BREAKING NEWS

Syria increases punishment for honor killing

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

JANUARY 10, 2011 21:48

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria has ordered the sentence for those convicted of honor killings tripled to between five and seven years.

The local press reported Monday that President Bashar Assad amended the current law which stipulated a jail sentence of just two years for those convicted of killing a relative for having illicit sex.

Activists say some 150-200 women are killed every year in Syria by their relatives in order to preserve conservative tribal notions of family honor. The killings, they say, are abetted by lenient punishments.

Honor killing in Syria mostly takes place in rural areas.

Basam al-Qadhi, director of the Syrian Women Observatory, criticized the new law as still too lenient and demanded a minimum penalty of 15 years.

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