Banaz's body was only found in April 2006, months after she was killed.
"Banaz was a caring, loving young woman with the whole of her life in front of her and that life has been brutally cut short by the very people that should have loved her and protected her," said Detective Inspector Caroline Goode.
The court had been told that Banaz had been forced to marry an Iraqi Kurd when she was 17 but the relationship collapsed and she returned to live with her parents in 2005, later falling in love with Rahmat Suleimani.
Her family decided to kill her because they believed the relationship had shamed them as Suleimani was an Iranian Kurd and not a strict Muslim.
"I don't think I have loved anyone as much as I have loved Banaz," Suleimani said in a statement. "She was my first love. She meant the world to me." |
Cultural sensitivity Honor killings were almost unheard of in Britain until a few years ago but police and the Crown Prosecution Service now estimate there are about a dozen such murders a year.
Campaigners say that the issue was misunderstood and that the authorities had been unwilling to get involved in minority community matters for fear of being culturally insensitive.
Indeed, Banaz had contacted police a number of times before her death, saying she believed her father was trying to kill her, but no action was taken.
Hannana Siddiqui of Southall Black Sisters, an organization experienced in dealing with honor killings, said the authorities were worried about being seen to be heavy handed.
"That's often been the reason why agencies like the police and social services have not wanted to get involved in cases of abuse within communities because they think it would be culturally insensitive to do so," she told Reuters.
Mahmoud Mahmoud, Ari Mahmoud and Hama will be sentenced at a later date along with Pshtewan Hama, 26, who admitted perverting the course of justice.
A fifth man, Darbaz Rasull, 24, was cleared of perverting the course of justice.
The United Nations estimates there are 5,000 honor killings worldwide every year, many of them in the Arab world.
Jordan, with its strong tribal culture, has a high incidence of this type of killing. In an interview with Time Magazine in May, Jordan's Queen Rania was asked what the kingdom was doing to eliminate the practice.
"As a woman, as an Arab, as a Muslim, I would like to state very clearly that this is a heinous and totally unacceptable practice," she said. "It is not condoned by Islam, and honor killings are not limited to the Arab or Muslim world. In Jordan, we are challenging this disgraceful practice.
"Progress has been slow because we need to build awareness, and that takes time," Queen Rania added. |
