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RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHAM #2578/01 3291517
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251517Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6365
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE

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