JORDAN NOMINATES RANA HUSSEINI FOR WOMEN OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 002578

SIPDIS

STATE FOR S/WGI FROM AMBASSADOR BEECROFT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KWMN PREL KPAO PHUM JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN NOMINATES RANA HUSSEINI FOR WOMEN OF
COURAGE AWARD

REF: A. STATE 111471

B. AMMAN 2324

C. AMMAN 2307

D. AMMAN 1885

E. AMMAN 1884

F. AMMAN 1821

G. AMMAN 1673

H. AMMAN 1618

I. AMMAN 1558

J. AMMAN 1509

K. AMMAN 1397

L. AMMAN 1318

M. AMMAN 471

N. 08 AMMAN 3280

O. 08 AMMAN 3123

P. 05 AMMAN 1783

Q. 04 AMMAN 10217

R. 04 AMMAN 181

S. 03 AMMAN 6027


1. Summary: It is an honor to nominate and strongly recommend
Rana Husseini for the 2009 Women of Courage Award. Ms.
Husseini is the definition of courage. Ms. Husseini's work
single-handedly broke the silence of honor killings in Jordan
and her 15-year crusade has resulted in greater justice for
victims of these terrible crimes and produced a national
dialogue on the issue. End Summary.


2. Background: Activists characterize so-called "honor
crimes" as the murder of women committed by brothers,
fathers, or other male family members who kill to "cleanse
their family's honor." "Justifications" for murder have
ranged from seeing the victim wear make-up, being told the
victim was talking to a man, or the victim's absence from
home for several hours to allegations of infidelity and
premarital sex. In some instances, neighborhood rumors are
enough to prompt the killings. There have been twenty
reported honor crimes in Jordan from January - October 2009.
The number of killings in Jordan have ranged between 15 - 25
per year over the past decade. However, activists believe
the number is higher due to unreported honor crimes in rural
areas or crimes covered up as suicides or accidents. The
United Nations estimates that over 5,000 women are victims of
honor crimes around the world each year, and it is believed
that honor crimes are reported more in Jordan than in most
Middle Eastern countries. End Background.


3. In 1994, as a 26-year-old crime reporter fresh out of
college, Ms. Husseini stood alone in Jordan to raise
awareness on the killing of women to cleanse family honor.
Rana's campaign started while covering the murder of a
sixteen-year-old girl. The young girl was killed as a result
of a series of events which began when she was raped by her
brother. A pregnancy resulted, forcing the girl to tell her
family. They arranged for an abortion and then quickly
married her off to a man fifty years her senior. When he
divorced her six months later, she was murdered. Ms.
Husseini ventured into the extremely conservative East Amman
neighborhood, whose citizens openly criticized her presence,
to uncover the truth. The girl's family, during the
interviews, justified the murder because she was a "bad
girl." Ms. Husseini's resolve was set. She knew it would
not be easy but was determined to change mindsets. Over the
15 years she has worked tirelessly to uncover and tell the
story of every honor crime victim in Jordan and to highlight
each injustice as courts handed down lenient sentence after
lenient sentence.


4. As Ms. Husseini started to investigate and report on honor
crime after honor crime for the Jordan Times, a daily English
language paper, she was met with a wall of resistance.
Family members and communities refused to speak with her and
often excused the murders. The police and prosecutors, many
of whom were sympathetic to the perpetrator, were not
cooperative. Ms. Husseini was also banned from visiting
Jordan's sole woman's prison, where she tried to tell the
story of women jailed for their own "protection." In the
face of the resistance, Ms. Husseini showed courage and
determination. She learned the art of investigative
journalism, in which she now trains fellow journalists, and
found openings within the system to obtain information.
Slowly Ms. Husseini cultivated relationships in the police,
judiciary, and throughout the Jordanian government. Through
these relationships, she began to establish support from
officials. Slowly the silence was being lifted, slowly
public awareness among decision makers increased, and slowly
the call for action grew.


5. Ms. Husseini's fight for justice carried great personal
risk. Still today, she is personally assailed for her work;

AMMAN 00002578 002 OF 003


from those who believe condone the crimes to those who feel
she is tarnishing the image of Jordan. Additionally, others
argue she is promoting pre-marital sex and other immortal
acts and, therefore, her work must be stopped. She has
received death threats with gruesome claims. Yet through it
all, Ms. Husseini states that these threats have the opposite
of the intended effect; they do not deter her but make her
more determined than ever to carry on speaking for the
victims of these atrocious crimes. Ms. Husseini has reported
on hundreds of crimes over the past 15 years and has spoken
out against these crimes in any fora possible. Her cause has
been endorsed by numerous non-governmental organizations,
activists, journalists, and many others.


6. How is the situation after 15 years of diligently
reporting murder after murder in the face of adversity and
threats? Ms. Husseini no longer stands alone. Today, when
an honor crime occurs in Jordan, it is widely covered by the
local Arabic-language media. Ms. Husseini continues to
conduct trainings for fellow journalists on how to report on
crimes against women and women's issue because the crusade is
not over.


7. Ms. Husseini's work has led to more than a change in
public attitudes and media coverage, which in of itself is
hugely significant. She was a founding member of a national
campaign to combat honor crimes, established over 10 years
ago, which called upon the government to cancel laws that
allow perpetrators to receive lenient sentences. They
collected over 15,000 signatures from local citizens and
received support from the Queen, members of the royal family,
and high-ranking government officials. The campaign had an
impact. In 2003, the government proposed amendments to the
penal code that deal specifically with honor crimes.
However, the tribally conservative parliament voted down the
amendments. Ms. Husseini and her growing number of
supporters continue to push for change. The government has
once again drafted penal code amendments to address lenient
sentencing and will again submit them to parliament. In this
version of amendments, sympathetic judges would no longer be
able to hand down six-month sentences to perpetrators by
stating they acted in a "fit of rage" after hearing an
"immoral" act had been committed by a female relative.


8. Ms. Husseini's work is producing tangible results on a
number of fronts. She successfully fought for changes to the
judicial handling of honor crime cases and worked closely
with reformers to implement the changes. In July 2009, the
judiciary announced a new honor crime tribunal. This
tribunal, in its first verdict, set precedent by sentencing
the perpetrator to a full 15-year sentence for murder without
reducing the sentence for mitigating circumstances. This
marked the first time in memory that a honor crime murderer
did not receive a reduced sentence. She is also on the
advisory committee of a project conducting a public awareness
campaign against honor crimes. This project includes well
known religious, tribal, media, government, and other
leaders. Other organizations are stepping up to take on the
cause, including a student group conducting an awareness
caravan in their home communities and an organization that
protects at-risk women.


9. What started as an effort to cover one murder in East
Amman has turned into a world wide effort to raise awareness
and to discover ways to combat honor crimes. Ms. Husseini
has spoken on the issue in Venezuela, Egypt, Belgium, Norway,
Qatar, Switzerland, Egypt, Spain, and the United States,
among other countries. She is acknowledged by international
organizations, governments, and non-governmental bodies
around the world as a leading expert on honor killings.


10. Ms. Husseini recently completed her first book, "Murder
in the Name of Honor." The book examines the issue of honor
crimes in Jordan and societies around the world, including
Europe and the U.S. She continues to tell the stories of
victims and fight for legislative, judicial, and societal
changes that are needed to prevent future murders. Public
attitudes have started to shift in Jordan and elsewhere.
This shift could have only been initiated through the acts of
courageous individuals, who like Ms. Husseini, stood up and
called these crimes what they are - murders.


11. Ms. Husseini is as warm and interesting as she is
courageous. Her favorite mode of transportation is a
scooter, which she still uses to travel around the streets of
Jordan covering stories. Contacts state that after only a
few minutes with Ms. Husseini you feel as if you have been
friends forever. Joanne Clark at the Meridian International
Center recently programmed a VOLVIS for Ms. Husseini to
discuss her work with organizations in Washington DC. After

AMMAN 00002578 003 OF 003


the program, Joanne remarked to Post "she is one of the most
impressive visitors I have had the pleasure of working with
in my 24 years as a programmer." Ms. Husseini is also active
in many other areas and numerous causes, including the
National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation. She was
the team captain of the Jordanian Women's National basketball
team from 1995-2000 and continues to work with the team. Ms.
Husseini received a Bachelors in Mass Communications and a
Masters in Liberal Arts from Oklahoma City University.

Nomination Details
--------------


12. As requested, here are the personal details of the
nominee. Rana Ahmed Husseini is a Senior Jordan Times
Reporter, author, and women's rights activist. Ms. Husseini
was born on June 2, 1967 in Amman, Jordan and maintains
Jordanian and Canadian citizenship. Her passport number is
I989664. Ms. Husseini is fluent in Arabic and English. Her
e-mail address is honorcrimes@ranahusseini.com and phone
number is 962-79-554-5776.


13. Ms. Husseini has been notified of the nomination and will
accept the award, if chosen.


14. The eighteen reftel cables either mention the work of Ms.
Husseini specifically or discuss the issue of honor crimes in
Jordan. Post regularly meets with her, and she is
instrumental in informing Post engagement on the issue.


15. (U) Embassy point of contact for the nomination is
Political Officer Garret Harries; work phone number
962-6-590-6597, work fax number 962-6-592-0159, cell phone
number 962-79-732-0508, and e-mail harriesgj@state.gov.
Beecroft