Du'a Khalil Aswad (دعاء خليل أسود) (c. 1989 – c. 7 April 2007) was a 17-year-old Iraqi girl of the

Yazidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The majo ...

faith who was stoned to death in

Bashiqa Bashiqa ( ku, بەعشیقە, translit=Başîqa; ar, بعشيقة, translit=Ba'shīqah; syr, ܒܥܫܝܩܐ) is a town situated at the heart of the Nineveh plain, between Mosul and Sheikhan, on the edges of Mount Maqlub. The urban area of Bashi ...

Ninawa Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ba ...

, northern Iraq in early April 2007, the victim of an

honor killing An honor killing (American English), honour killing (Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of t ...

. It is believed that she was killed around 7 April 2007, but the incident did not come to light until video of the stoning, apparently recorded on multiple cell phones, appeared on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. The rumor that the stoning was connected to her alleged

conversion to Islam Conversion to Islam is accepting Islam as a religion or faith and rejecting any other religion or irreligion. Requirements Converting to Islam requires one to declare the '' shahādah'', the Muslim profession of faith ("there is no god but Allah; ...

prompted reprisals against Yazidis by

Sunnis Sunni Islam () is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia ...

, including the 2007 Mosul massacre.

Motive

Some reports claim that Aswad was murdered for having converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

to marry an

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...

boy. Other sources instead indicate that Aswad was killed in punishment for being absent from her home one night."Iraq: 'Honour Killing' of teenage girl condemned as abhorrent"
.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

. 2 May 2007, Retrieved 23 October 2016. According to a reporter who interviewed

sources on site,

Asylum and return

Some news agencies reported that Aswad was being sheltered by a

tribal leader in

Bashika Bashiqa ( ku, بەعشیقە, translit=Başîqa; ar, بعشيقة, translit=Ba'shīqah; syr, ܒܥܫܝܩܐ) is a town situated at the heart of the Nineveh plain, between Mosul and Sheikhan, on the edges of Mount Maqlub. The urban area of Bashi ...

in fear of her life until her family persuaded her that she had been forgiven and could return home. Other reports indicate that she was instead given asylum by a local

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

. It is not known whether the same members of her family that convinced her to return home were responsible for her death. It is not clear from the video whether she was ambushed while returning to her home, or if the mob stormed her home and dragged her into the street. Estimates of the number of attackers range from hundreds to one thousand to two thousand men.

Stoning

Aswad was taken to the town square; according to reports she was stripped naked to symbolize that she had dishonored her family and religion. In the video, though stripped from the waist down, she is wearing an orange sport jacket and black underwear, and at least some of the crowd tries to keep her lower body covered with what looks like another jacket. During the stoning, which lasted approximately 30 minutes, Aswad can be seen in the video attempting to sit up and calling for help as the crowd taunts her and repeatedly throws large chunks of rock or concrete on her head. After her death in the town square, Aswad's body was tied behind a car and dragged through the streets. She was buried with the remains of a dog, to disrespect her. Eventually, her body was "exhumed and sent to the Medico-Legal Institute in Mosul so that tests could be performed to see whether she had died a virgin."

Response and retaliation

A protest in Arbil against Aswad's killing attracted hundreds of

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

who called for an end to

honor killings An honor killing (American English), honour killing (Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of ...

. It is believed Aswad's murder sparked, or was used as a pretext for, a reprisal attack in

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

on 22 April in which 23

s were killed"Yazidis Ask Iraqi Government for Protection"
23 April 2007 (retrieved 7 May 2007). and for which the

Islamic State of Iraq The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; ar, دولة العراق الإسلامية '), commonly referred to as al-Qaeda in Iraq ( ar, القاعدة في العراق '), is a militant Salafist jihadist group that aimed to establish an Islamic sta ...

claimed responsibility. The same day also witnessed another reprisal attack, claimed by

Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna Jamaat Ansar al-Sunnah ( ar, جماعة أنصار السنه, Jama'at 'Anṣār as-Sunnah, lit=Jamia, Assembly of the Ansar (Islam), Helpers of Sunnah), also known as Jaish Ansar al-Sunna (Army of the Ansar (Islam), Helpers of Sunnah), Ali ib ...

, of a suicide car bomb that targeted the village of

Tel Isqof Tesqopa ( syr, ܬܠܐ ܙܩܝܦܐ, ar, تسقوبا) or Tel Skuf ( syr, ܬܠ ܣܩܘܦ, ar, تللسقف), also ''Tel Eskof'' or ''Tall Asqaf'' is a town in northern Iraq located approximately 19 miles (about 28 kilometres) north of Mosul. ...

, killing 25 Yazidis and Assyrian Christians. Both Aswad's murder and the reprisal were condemned by

and by the

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the m ...

which asked the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

to investigate. Authorities in Northern Iraq have arrested four people in connection with the killing. The devastating terrorist attacks on the Yazidi towns

Kahtaniya Til Ezer ( ku, تل ئه‌زه‌ر, translit=Tel Ezêr, ar, القحطانية, also known in Arabic as ''al-Qaḥṭānīya'' or ''Qahtaniyah'', also spelled ''Giruzer, Kar Izir, Kahtaniya'') is a village located in the Sinjar District of the ...

and Jazeera in August 2007,Survivors of bombs left to die in rubble
by Ayhem Omar, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 19 August 2007 carried out by Sunni Muslims and killing at least 800 and wounding another 1,500 people, are said to have been claimed by the killers to be a response to the stoning.

References

External links