IV 
107TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 496
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding so-called ‘‘honor killings’’. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 2, 2002
Mr. NADLER (for himself, Mr. ROHRABACHER, and Mrs. LOWEY) submitted 
the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on International Relations 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding so-called 
‘‘honor killings’’.
Whereas thousands of women around the world are killed and 
maimed each year in the name of family ‘‘honor’’; 
Whereas the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 
56th Session, January 2000, working with the Special 
Rapporteurs on violence against women and extrajudicial, 
summary, or arbitrary executions, received reports of so-
called ‘‘honor killings’’ from numerous countries, includ-
ing Bangladesh, Jordan, India, Pakistan, Ecuador, 
Uganda, and Morocco, and noted that such killings take 
many forms, such as flogging, forced suicide, stoning, be-
heading, acid throwing, and burning; 
Whereas according to the Department of State’s Country Re-
ports on Human Rights Practices for 1999, ‘‘crimes of
•HCON 496 IH 
honor’’ in Bangladesh include acid-throwing and whip-
ping of women accused of moral indiscretion; 
Whereas authorities in Bangladesh estimate there will be up 
to 200 ‘‘honor killings’’ in that country this year; 
Whereas thousands of Pakistani women and girls are 
stabbed, burned, or maimed every year by husbands, fa-
thers, and brothers who accuse them of dishonoring their 
family by being unfaithful, seeking a divorce, or refusing 
an arranged marriage; 
Whereas Jordan, which had 20 reported ‘‘honor killings’’ in 
1998, still has laws reducing the penalty for, or exempt-
ing perpetrators of ‘‘honor crimes’’, and the Jordanian 
Parliament has twice failed to repeal these laws; 
Whereas His Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan should be 
commended for the recent formation of Jordan’s Royal 
Commission on Human Rights, chaired by Her Majesty 
Queen Rania, which will primarily address obstacles that 
prevent women and children from exercising their basic 
human rights, including the persistence of ‘‘honor 
crimes’’; 
Whereas more than 5,000 ‘‘dowry deaths’’ occur every year 
in India, according to the United Nations Children’s 
Fund (UNICEF), which reported in 1997 that a dozen 
women die each day in ‘‘kitchen fires’’ designed to be 
passed off as accidents because the woman’s husband’s 
family is dissatisfied over the size of the woman’s dowry; 
Whereas women accused of adultery in countries such as Af-
ghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and a 
host of other countries are subject to a maximum penalty 
of death by stoning;
•HCON 496 IH 
Whereas even though ‘‘honor killings’’ may be outlawed, law 
enforcement and judicial systems often fail to properly 
investigate, arrest, and prosecute offenders and laws fre-
quently permit reduction in sentences or exemptions from 
prosecution for those who ‘‘kill in the name of honor’’ 
typically resulting in a token punishment, impunity, and 
continued violence against women; and 
Whereas the right to exist is the most fundamental of all 
rights and must be guaranteed to every individual with-
out discrimination, and the perpetuation of ‘‘honor 
killings’’ and dowry deaths is a deliberate violation of 
women’s human rights that should be universally con-
demned: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) the United States, through the United 
States 
Agency 
for 
International 
Development, 
should—
(A) work with foreign law enforcement and 
judicial agencies to enact legal system reforms 
to more effectively address the investigation and 
prosecution of so-called ‘‘honor crimes’’; and 
(B) make resources available to local orga-
nizations to provide refuge and rehabilitation 
for women who are victims of ‘‘honor crimes’’ 
and the children of such women;
•HCON 496 IH 
(2) the Department of State, when preparing 
yearly Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 
should include—
(A) information relating to the incidence of 
‘‘honor violence’’ in foreign countries; 
(B) the steps taken by foreign govern-
ments to address the problem of ‘‘honor vio-
lence’’; and 
(C) all relevant actions taken by the 
United States, whether through diplomacy or 
foreign assistance programs, to reduce the inci-
dence of ‘‘honor violence’’ and to increase inves-
tigations and prosecutions of such crimes; 
(3) the United States should communicate to 
the United Nations its concern over the high rate of 
honor-related violence toward women worldwide and 
request that the appropriate United Nations bodies, 
in consultation with relevant nongovernmental orga-
nizations, propose actions to be taken to encourage 
these countries to demonstrate strong efforts to end 
such violence; and 
(4) the President and the Secretary of State 
should communicate directly with leaders of coun-
tries where ‘‘honor killings’’, dowry deaths, and re-
lated practices are endemic, in order to convey the
•HCON 496 IH 
Nation’s most serious concerns over these gross vio-
lations of human rights and urge these leaders to in-
vestigate and prosecute all such acts as murder, with 
the appropriate penalties.
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