Lawyer Seta Kerechekian believes that the cancellation...

Lawyer Seta Kerechekian believes that the cancellation of a law in the Penal Code could eventually change people's mentality, if not by conviction, then by fear of punishment. Kerechekian, also a member of the Lebanese Council to Resist Violence against Women, said Art. 562 of the Penal Code actually encouraged men to commit such crimes. The article stipulates that a "man who surprises his wife, daughter or sister practicing adultery or illicit intercourse and kills or harms one of the two partners without premeditation shall receive a commuted sentence." It was only in February that the law was amended to make a man's action punishable. Before that, the law acquitted a man for such an action. A second section of the article, canceled in February, stipulated that a man who kills or harms a female relative if he surprises her in a "suspicious situation" would receive a commuted sentence. "One would think that with the second section canceled, men and women would be punished equally in cases of adultery," said Kerechekian. The Penal Code punishes a woman who commits adultery with a prison sentence of between three months and two years. A man committing adultery has to be caught in the act in his own home or be known by others to be conducting an illicit affair to be sentenced to imprisonment for one month to a year. Kerechekian and other activists believe the article should be canceled altogether. "Murder is murder. People in tribal or traditional families may not be deterred by a light sentence and would be willing to face punishment to clear the family's reputation," she said. If the article were canceled, and the law dealt with so-called "honor killings" as it does other crimes, Kerechekian said that people would be more inclined to think twice if they risked being given the death sentence.