Syrian penal reform flat, critics say

DAMASCUS, Syria, July 8 (UPI) -- Syria amended its penal system to include mandatory minimum sentences for so-called honor killings, though rights groups complain that is not enough.

Article 548 of the Syrian Penal Code had offered reduced sentences to those convicted of honor killings related to adultery and similar acts. President Bashar Assad recently abolished Article 548, replacing it with a provision that calls for "a prisoner sentence of no less than two years in the case of murder."

Article 242, however, allows defendants in cases pertaining to crimes of passion to "benefit from the excuse of mitigating circumstances."

Other provisions allow defendants to use the excuse of mitigating circumstances to lessen their sentences to less than a month in prison.

The Syrian Women Observatory claims more than 200 honor killings are carried out every year. Government figures, however, claim that of the 533 murder cases in 2007, only 38 were classified as honor killings.

Human-rights officials told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that the new provision enacted by Assad falls short of necessary reforms for women's rights.

"Tightening the penalty to a minimum sentence of two years in prison is not enough, and does not represent a strong deterrent," they said.