B. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government bring national laws into
conformity with the Convention
The Iranian legal framework does not specifically criminalise honour killings. The Islamic Penal
Code (2013) stipulates that the qisas punishment (retribution in kind) that applies to a perpetrator
of a murder, does not apply to a father or a paternal grandfather who kills his own child. As such,
they are not subject to proportional punishments but rather reduced sentences. For instance, the
father, if found guilty, may face between three and 10 years in prison.3 Such exemptions and
absence of deterrent punishment may well exacerbate the risk of honour killings.4
Honour killings generally fall under the law of qisas (retribution in kind). However, in practice,
the family often refuses to file a complaint or pursue punishment for cases of honour killings.5 6
Even if the government intervenes, homicide prosecutions for crimes under qisas require a
complaint in order for the prosecution to pursue typical homicide sentences, which will prosecute
the crime under the law of ta’zir (crimes for which fixed penalties are not provided under Sharia
law).7 In such cases, punitive sentences can be set much lower than they would be under the law
for non-familial adult offenders.8 Even when families of victims join cases as plaintiffs and the
perpetrators of violence are found guilty and sent to prison, the offenders are often released soon
afterwards or serve no prison term at all, because the family formally forgives them, resulting in
the retribution being legally settled.9 In effect, the murder of a child due to a father’s act of
domestic violence, including “honour killings,” receives a lesser punishment than a murder where
the victim and assailant are not related. The result is reduced accountability for those guilty of
filicide.
There are no readily available and official statistics or data on the prevalence of honour killings in
the Islamic Republic of Iran, nor on investigations and prosecutions carried out for such crimes.
However, recent cases indicate that the practice still occurs in the country and light sentences for
perpetrators have been reported. 10
3
Penal Code, arts. 301 and 348. See note 25.
See Articles 299 to 303 of the Islamic Penal Code (2013)
5
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/gender-inequality-and-discrimination-the-case-of-iranianwomen/
6
Suuntaus Project, Finnish Immigration Service- Country Information Service, ‘Violence against women and honour-related
violence in Iran’, 26 June 2015, https://migri.fi/documents/5202425/5914056/61597_Suuntausraportti_VakivaltaIran_finalFINAL_kaannosversio_EN.pdf/04123eff-529a-457a-aa0d-d5218d046ffe
7
Penal Code, Book 3, arts. 301, 302. In the absence of a family member as plaintiff, the government can act in place of the
family member, but the prosecution then moves away from qisas charges and shifts to tazir charges, which is under the Islamic
Penal Code Book 5 (1997), including arts. 610, 612 and 616, carry much lighter sentences
8
Ibid
9
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, consultation with Iranian lawyer Hossein Raeesi (20 February 2015).
10
Radio Farda, https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iranian-father-s-light-sentence-for-honor-killing-rekindles-controversy-over-islamicpenal-code-/30808734.html
4
2