October 29th 2009, what a sad and gloomy day in which a Syrian court decides that a man who killed his sister is a hero, only because he committed his crime under the pretext of "honor"!

Hundreds of women are being killed every year under this pretext, while the Syrian government stands by and even supports these sinful acts.

Thousands of women are being killed in Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, and other countries where governments fail in acting to enforce its very reason of existence which is "stopping citizens from killing each others".

Tens of thousands of women are being killed around the globe each year, in what is so called "honor crimes", which reflect the lowest deterioration of the human soul; while the whole world stands by watching and issuing mere "condemnations" that rarely make difference on the ground.

It is time for this dirty crime to stop. We are now living in the twenty first century and it is time to say no for the mild actions and responses for the "honor killers". It is time to implement deterrent punishments for all those who incite, agree, or collude in these crimes.

For all of this, we announce October 29th, an International Day of Solidarity with Victims of Honor Crimes. A day to remember that this sinful crime will not be part of the history unless every body starts opposing it by all means possible.

We call for the United Nations, all the organizations that work on the issues of human rights, including women rights, all the political parties that claim to be working for better societies and all media outlets to adopt this day in order to delegitimize these notorious crimes.

Notes: This statements is not limited to Syrian Women Observatory. It is up to anybody to adopt it in the way he/she finds suitable, and even without mentioning Syrian Women Observatory.

source in Arabic..