Honour killing story

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Ayse Dizim
Born: 1981
Stabbed: August 23/24, 1999
Residence: Bremen
Origin: Turkey
Children: none
Perpetrators: four Kurds: Sehmus M., Ahmet T., Iskender T., Mehmet E.
In 1999, three Kurds, all PKK members, drowned eighteen-year-old Ayse in the mud on the banks of the Weser River. Against the will of her parents and against the will of the party, she lived with 23-year-old Kurd Serif Alpsozman. The latter had fought for the PKK in Turkey, his feet shattered, his spine injured. Yet he must devote his life to the party. Even if he comes to Germany paralyzed, he is not allowed to marry, at least not to a PKK comrade.

At a pro-Kurdish demonstration he meets Ayse and moves in with her. But not only the party, but also her father is against it. He has already promised his daughter to someone else. Another newspaper report says that after his return Serif stayed with Ayse's family and met her there.

Despite this, the two marry in secret. So the father turns to the PKK to enforce his will. The young couple is summoned before a commission, but fails to appear. The area manager responsible for Bremen North, Mehmet E., then orders three young men to kill the young couple. Ayse is suffocated, Serif is beaten to death and then run over.

In April 2001, the Bremen District Court labels the crime not murder, but manslaughter. There was no basic motive: the known suspects could not be charged with basic motives because of their strongly internalized indigenous values. Therefore, the crime was not murder, but manslaughter. Mehmet will receive nine years and six months in prison, the others between 13 and 15 years. One of them was represented by scandal lawyer Rolf Bossi, who has taken on a mandate in several honor killing cases.

In February 2002, the Federal Supreme Court overturned the convictions of the three main perpetrators. However, even in the new trial, it remains manslaughter because of "the upbringing tradition of their people." Ayse's father, whose honor was at stake, appeared as a co-plaintiff (not a defendant).

In the summer of 2014, the double murder is in the media again: there are still files on the killers' helpers that have not yet been dealt with by the Bremen District Court 15 years after the crime. The case is not progressing, in 2015 the file will be closed.

What is an honour killing?

An honour killing is a murder in the name of honour. If a brother murders his sister to restore family honour, it is an honour killing. According to activists, the most common reasons for honour killings are as the victim:

Questions about honour killings

  • refuses to cooperate in an arranged marriage.

  • wants to end the relationship.

  • was the victim of rape or sexual assault.

  • was accused of having a sexual relationship outside of marriage.

Human rights activists believe that 100,000 honour killings are carried out every year, most of which are not reported to the authorities and some are even deliberately covered up by the authorities themselves, for example because the perpetrators are good friends with local policemen, officials or politicians. Violence against girls and women remains a serious problem in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Serbia and Turkey.

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