2 Pressespiegel Juli 2009 2. Verschärfte Gesetzgebung für Ehrenmorde Per Dekret änderte Präsident Bashar al ‐ Assad den sogenannten„Ehrenmord ‐ Paragrafen“ des syrischen Gesetzbuches. Folglich gibt es in Syrien ab sofort keine Straffreiheit mehr für Männer, die im Namen der Familienehre ihre Ehefrauen, Schwestern oder andere weibliche Verwandte töten. In der neuen Fassung werden entsprechende Delikte mit mindestens zwei Jahren Haft bestraft. Syrische Frauenorganisationen begrüßten die Entscheidung, erklärten jedoch, die Änderung sei nicht weitgehend genug. Syria increases penalty for honour killings “ The decree abolishes Article 548 of the Syrian Penal Code and replaces it with the following provision; ‚He who catches his wife, or one of his ascendants, descendents or sister committing adultery(flagrante delicto) or illegitimate sex acts with another and he kills or injures one or both of them, either deliberately or non ‐ deliberately, then the penalty for this should be a prisoner sentence of no less than two years in the case of murder.’ Prior to the amendment, Article 548 stated that anyone who commits an honour killing after catching his wife, or one of his ascendants, descendents, or sister committing an act of adultery or an illegitimate sexual act could claim mitigating circumstances and benefit from a reduced sentence. (…) The Syrian Women Observatory(SWO) has stated that between 200 and 300 honour killings are committed in Syria every year, the majority of which occur in rural and Bedouin communities. The SWO stated that half of the annual murder cases committed in Syria are cases of honour killing. However official figures indicate that only 38 honour killings occurred in Syria in 2007 out of a total of 533 murder cases. Official figures also revealed that during the first eight months of 2008 only 29 honour killings took place throughout Syria(…). Last year, the Syrian government sponsored a national forum on honour killings that both religious figures and jurists took part in. The forum ʹ s final recommendation was to call for fatwas to be issued forbidding honour killing, and forbidding those that commit this crime from making use of the mitigating circumstance article, ensuring a prison sentence of no less than 15 years be imposed upon those who commit this crime.” Saad Jarous, al ‐ Sharq al ‐ Awsat, 8.07.2009 When Salma is loved... she is killed „Salma was murdered by her brother a few hours after Mr. President, Bashar Al Assad, had issued the decree No. 27(01/07/2009), which annuls article No. 548 from the penal law concerning honor crimes.(…) A recorded video, by a cell phone, for her kissing and receiving kisses with her lover, had been circulated among people until it reached one of her relatives ʹ cell phone, whose manhood, ardency, honor and fervor had extremely inflamed. So he prompted her brothers to kill her and wash the honor of the whole family which has become dirty by her misbehavior.(…) Salma had become a story to be told all over Addrbassya City at the north western part of Syria. Her story served as a passtime for the people there, some of them may say: May God honor her family! They have avenged for their honor, others may ask for killing the young man too, just to ornament the honor by vengeance, some may think that Salma had committed a blunder and she deserves this punishment.(…) Salma was a victim of a backward community, where the honor is represented by a female ʹ s maidenhead, no more, nothing less. Despite keeping your maidenhead intact, yet you were not forgiven by such a community whose bullets were faster to pluck your soul out of this life.“ Messoud Akko, Thara 16.07.2009(www.thara ‐ sy.com) 3. Baath-Partei will interne Strukturen modernisieren Angesichts des sich vertiefenden Grabens zwischen der sozialistischen Ideologie der Regierung und der zunehmend marktorientierten Realität scheint die syrische Baath ‐ Partei einen Erneuerungsprozess zu erwägen. Ayman Abed al ‐ Nour, reformorientiertes Baath ‐ Parteimitglied und